I think a big appeal of this series is the fact that the main character actually improves. He starts near-pathetic, and moves towards epic and a steady, and considering the genre, believable rate. No "oo wow I'm actually the son of the Legendary Furycrafter who'se powers have been biding their time till now!", no "Now that I have a proper teacher I'm suddenly uber!" and no "I'm just a lucky sumbitch who will never even attempt to make up for my shortcomings!".

He's a genuine, hardworking hero who OVERCOMES and WORKS AROUND his handicap, instead of having it arbitrarily removed or simply staying in a pathetic state and relying on Deus Ex Machina every time.

EDIT: HOLY FUCKING GOD. I just read Tavi's first major fight scene in Academ's Fury... so much fucking concentrated win... The following chapters as well...

It's official. Tavi is now tied with Bean as my favorite main character of all time.

 

Meh, I'm just going to go steal them from Barnes and Noble. Southpole jeans have deep pockets.

 

Finished book two just now. A bit disappointed with the final twist (or foreshadowing, though it is kind of obvious), though only because of what it may or may not mean for Tavi.

If Tavi ever get's a fury, I will be downright pissed off. If he does not get a fury, ever, than I can 100% live with the twist.

Gonna buy the third book sometime morrow.

 

Yeah, it's so annoying when the main character of a series gets stronger, amirite? Everything should be static and unchanging, forever.

 

Err... I never said I wanted Tavi weak. Quite the opposite. I'd just prefer him Furyless. Tavi getting a Fury would be disappointing because I'd like to see him become kick ass with the use of magic. It makes him an under dog, and makes it all that much more awesome when he is victorious via his wits.

As for the twist I was refering to... umm... I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with his strength.

EDIT: I could definitely live with him slowly developing fury powers or something, don't get me wrong. I just don't want a "heir to such and such" and "inherited power" bull shitting the likes of many Indy HP fics. I was only really thinking about that outcome, instead of a gradual one, which could actually be done very well. It's the whole "I am suddenly uber unlcoked!" that I want to avoid.

Calm down, Tehan =P

 

I envy you for the fact that you still have the experience of reading the Alera books for the first time ahead of you. The books just keep getting better and better, and you can actually get more out of the first couple of books if you re-read them later.

Butcher is a good enough writer that he can take a basically stupid premise (lost Roman legion + Pokemon) and make it a good story. I also really respect his two novel per year working rate. The problem is that it will ruin you for a lot of fanfiction, and even some other published fiction.

Another book you might like if you enjoy the Alera series is The Lies of Locke Lamora; it's like Ocean's Eleven in a fantasy setting.

 

I assume that Tavi will one day soon have a fury. When he does, that will be even more awesome. Why? Because, unlike the rest of the Fury users who rely on their magic, he learned how to kick ass as much as possible without it. So, once he gets a fury, it will just be another logical step up on the totem pole.

 

This I'm fine with. I've just been filled with horror that Tavi will suddenly reveal he's the heir of Fury-lin, and can now command all furies.

Apparently, I need more faith in Butcher.

 

lol, irony.

 

...afraid to ask, but why?

 

Wow. I just finished the four books that are out right now, and all I can say is wow.

Amazing series of books. Absolutely stellar. And the best part, they improve in quality as they go along. It might take a little bit to figure out what's going on, since Butcher kind of throws the reader into the fire to start off, but once the storyline gets going, it's incredible.

I

<3

Butcher.

So much.

 

Book store still doesn't have Dresden #1 =P

Picked up Cursor's Fury, can't wait to read it.

Is the fifth book going to be the last for Alera, or will it continue ala Dresden? I noticed there are a LOT of Dresden books...

Butchers novel output is impressing me even more than Card's, and he puts out a LOT by most authors standards (JKR...).

 

I'm pretty sure that Codex Alera is a six book series.

I think Butcher said so somewhere.

 

Ok, I 'acquired' this the other night and intended to just read the first couple of chapters and then go to sleep. I ended up staying up till 5 in the morning.

I'm lovin these books.

 

If I enjoy them, I will.

I'd prefer to properly read them, but I'm testing the waters first.

I think he may be finding some of my hard cash in his account soon though, unless this series goes to hell in the next books.

 

The only real problem that I have with both of Butcher's series is that I discovered them before they were finished so now I have to endure the horrible waiting game for the next books. Luckily he puts out two books a year so there is not much lag time between new stuff. I really enjoy that Tavi gets by on pretty much wits alone and is not given random powerups to ensure that he succeeds. You can figure objectively that he will prevail in each book, but the path to his victories are hard won and very engaging.

 

Book 4 Spoilers:

Spoiler

I can't wait for the huge change in scenery that will occur in Book 5. Tavi's interactions with Canim so far have all been epic, so I can't wait to see what he does in the Canim home land. I can see him bringing his own Canim army home to enforce his position as the Princeps.