First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher Series: Codex Alera #6
Published by Ace in November 2008
Format: ebook
Source: Library
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes and Noble
Goodreads
For Gaius Octavian, life has been one long battle. Now, the end of all he fought for is close at hand. The brutal, dreaded Vord are on the march against Alera. And perhaps for the final time, Gaius Octavian and his legions must stand against the enemies of his people. And it will take all his intelligence, ingenuity, and furycraft to save their world from eternal darkness.
**SPOILER ALERT: This review may contain spoilers for the Codex Alera series, including First Lord’s Fury. Please do not read this review if you do not wish to have any spoilers.
I did it, guys! I finished the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. Six long books. For the most part, I absolutely loved this fantasy series. There was lots of action, complex storylines, and interesting characters. I’d highly recommend this series if you enjoy fantasy novels. But anyway, let’s talk about First Lord’s Fury.
It surprisingly took me a while to finish First Lord’s Fury. According to my Goodreads, it took me about a month to read it. I think between my busy schedule and the length of First Lord’s Fury made this story a difficult one to get through. Believe me, I thought this book was LONG…
First Lord’s Fury culminates in the final battle between Alera and the Vord with some assistance from the Canim and Marat. There’s a lot going on in this book. Tavi (also Gaius Octavian) is making the treck to meet with the main Aleran forces. Aquitainus Attis (also Gaius Attis) is leading the charge of the main Aleran forces alongside the other High Lords. There are many battles. Most of which lead to a retreat on the Aleran side. There are many secrets kept and revealed. And so on.
My biggest issue with this book was the length of it. At many points, it just felt so long, and I simply wanted Tavi to finally reach Calderon Valley. I wanted to see if Tavi would have to confront Aquitainus Attis. I wanted Tavi to defeat the Vord Queen. I just wanted to see how it all would play out in the end. The middle minor battles didn’t matter much to me at all. Who cares about the new creatures the Vord have or why Bernard fortified Calderon Valley as much as he did? I just wanted to get to the final battle.
I’ll admit, the character development through the story was interesting. I particularly found the Vord Queen to be an intriguing character. There were some interesting twists along the way as well. Lots of secrets being held. Overall, however, it was just too long. I think it would have captured my attention more if the story progressed at a quicker pace.
As for the ending of the series, I liked the way it ended. Could it have been fleshed out a bit more? I think so. View Spoiler »
Have you read Codex Alera? What are your thoughts on the series? I absolutely loved it. (Cursor’s Fury is still my favorite book.) Do you agree? Let me know in the comments! 🙂
