Academ's Fury - Jim Butcher

   2005; 529 pages.  Book 2 (out of 6) in the “Codex Alera” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Epic Fantasy; High Fantasy; Roman Empire Fantasy; Coming of Age.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

 

    Run for the hills, oh ye citizens of Alera!  The Vord are coming!  They’ve already overrun Marat, and kicked the stuffing out of the human fighting forces.  Alera is next on their list.

 

    It couldn’t be happening at a worse time.  Political infighting wracks the kingdom, and the current ruler, Gaius Sextus, First Lord of Alera, lies in frail health.  That’s actually being kept a secret because if word gets out, civil war is virtually a certainty.

 

    But all is not lost.  The Alerans rely on harnessing the magical power of the what they call the Furies—what you and I would call “Elementals”.  Masterly use of those enables one to do things such as fly through the skies, conjure of deluges, etc.  Pretty powerful stuff.

 

    But what if the Vord are more powerful?

 

What’s To Like...

    Academ’s Fury is Book Two of Jim Butcher’s Epic Fantast Codex Alera series.  I read the first book, Furies of Calderon, a few years back; it is reviewed here.  There’s plenty of Action and Intrigue present, and they both get going immediately.  Academ’s Fury is divided into 58 chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue, so there’s always a good place to stop reading for the night. 

 

    Tavi is still an Academy student.  He’s training to be a Cursor—a person who can control a Fury, but still hasn’t shown a whit of the required magical ability.  To compensate, he’s learning the martial arts under the steady tutelage of his blind mento, Master Killian.  Maybe swordsmanship can counter the powers the Elementals.  But I doubt it.

 

    I liked the monster development.  The Vord are bunch of blood-drinking shape-shifters, who also have the means of taking possession of a human or beast, and turning them into ruthless, mindless killers of their former comrades.  Plus if a Vord goes one-on-one with a Furycrafter, the Vord will always win.

 

    The storyline is complex.  The Vord attacks via three separate hordes, so the Aleran defensive forces have to be split into three parties, weakening them considerably.  The First Lord’s frailty is a constant worry, but so is the realization that someone is murdering Cursors in Alera.  The ambassador from Canim is acting strangely., and perhaps most worrying of all, why does one of the Vord groups seem to be trying to reach Tavi?

 

    The ending consists of several battles in diverse locations, and is suitably exciting and bloody.  The Vord invasion is halted (well, you knew that would be the case, didn’t you?), but at a terrible cost.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 6,155 ratings and 502 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.27/5 based on 74,138 ratings and 2,178 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    The evening’s mists were gathering thick and cold.  Tavi felt himself start to shiver as the cold found its way to his sweating skin.  He shook his head.  “Sorry, I suppose I’m not at my most alert.  But seriously, what are you doing down here?”

    Max grinned.  “There’s a young widow a couple of streets down.  She gets lonely on misty nights.”

    “This time of year, every night is misty,” Tavi said.

    Max beamed.  “I noticed that, too.”

    “There’s a reason people hate you.”

    “Jealousy is common among lesser men.”  (pg. 69)

 

    She blinked her eyes slowly open and said, “Oh, dear.”

    “Oh dear?” Bernard asked.

    She reached up and touched her throat, where Bernard’s ring still hung by its chain.  “Oh, dear.  We’ve survived.  We’re alive.  And . . . and we’re wed.”

    Bernard blinked a few times, then mused, “Why, yes.  I suppose that’s true.  We’ve lived.  And we’ve married.  I suppose now we’ll have to stay together.  Perhaps even be in love.”

    “Exactly,” Amara repeated, closing her weary eyes with sigh and leaning against the broad strength of his chest.  “This ruins everything.”  (pg. 469)

 

“I have no objection to education as long as it doesn’t interfere with my sleep.”  (pg. 160)

    The profanity level in Academ’s Fury is minimal—just three instances in the first half of the book.  Most of the time, when some cussing is called for, crows are referenced.  For example: “crows take you!” and “bloody crows!”

 

    I really can’t think of anything to quibble about.  I didn’t note any typos, which is an improvement over Book One.  I suppose a Cast of Characters would’ve been nice, but I keep notes with such things on every book I read, so that wasn't a drawback for me.

 

    For me, Academ’s Fury was an exciting, action-packed read, with lots of twists and powerful, intelligent adversaries to keep me turning the pages.  The characters were all well-developed, even the secondary ones; and there was enough wit and humor (and even a tinge of romance!) to keep the story’s tone from getting too dark.

 

    I am thoroughly hooked on Jim Butcher’s main series—The Dresden Files—but I’m coming to the conclusion that his Codex Alera series is just as captivating.

 

    9 Stars.  One last thing.  If you want a sneak peek at where this series is going, take a look at the titles of the remaining four books in this series.  Notice the progression?  This is going to be a great series.