Okay, so... Jim Butcher's a fairly well known author, having put out such books as the Dresden Files ( which is now a fairly decent TV series). But the book's I'm gonna be reviewing are.. well- fairly recent and known as the Codex of Alera, consisting of (so far) three books, Furies of Calderon, Academn's Fury and Cursor's Fury. And, aside from what I'm about to mention below- they are quite good books, and everyone should read them.
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Right- So. The whole series takes place in a world called Alera, a sort of post-roman.. well... Rome practically. There's mention of the Tiber and Gaul rivers- and everyone's name sounds like you could have plucked them right out of the ancient senate, for the most part. The political structure of this world consists of the First Lord (basically the king) named Gais Sextus, and a bunch of High Lords (a senate of sorts) who spend most of their time seemly either plotting against the First Lord or defending him. Though, there is something special about this world- everyone has a type of "magic" in the form of furies. Furies come in six varieties- earth, metal, air, wood, fire, and water- each with their own special attributes and downfalls. A person who has strong metal furycrafting can be a badass swordsman, and ignore pain to great extents- but they're useless if you can wrap them in wood. Etc. Etc.
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That's as much of a summary as you're getting for me.
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Spoilers Ensue. Fair Warning.
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That said- Chekhov's gun makes SEVERAL rather startling appearances. Not startling in the fact that you sit back and go Hey! I remember that thing/person/place from the other book- but startling the way it would be startling if Chekhov jumped on stage during random intervals during the first and second act and began waving said gun around screaming "I'm not saying I'm about to shoot someone but check out this gun!" "Are you looking at the gun?" "Have you noticed the gun yet?" Let's face it, a teenaged boy living out in the boondocks with his aunt and uncle- not totally unbelievable except for the fact that during the entire first and second book we never hear a damn thing about either of his parents. We're not sure if Bernard and Isana are his maternal or paternal aunt and uncle- and the fact that Isana remains unmarried and childless even though she's supposed to be a mature woman in a time when marriage = security. So by the second chapter of the first book- I'd pretty much formulated the opinion that Isana was probably Tavi's unmarried mother, and thus disguised herself as his aunt to avoid any sort of problems that could arise from being an unwed mother. And though this isn't confirmed until the end of the second book and further extrapolated on upon the third- it's as obvious as a slap in the face. It's usually easy for writers to fall into this trap- they don't want to make the idea too vague that no one will pick up on it, but then they make it so obvious I feel like I don't need to read the rest of the book because I know what's going to happen already. Word of advice on Chekhov's gun- after you've written the first PING moment of realization- go back... cut the moment of realization. Leave the PING.
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Another literary problem; Deus Ex Machina anyone? I swear these books make it seem like God is sitting around with nothing better to do than watch these battles and send in the calvary at EXACTLY the right moment. Of course, the right moment does vary, ever so slightly- but mostly, the RIGHT MOMENT is the exact moment after the heroes small band of soliders beats down the more numerous, more vicious, more well trained army that surrounds them by taking out their leader and the army runs in disarray- but still killing plenty of the little band of heroes. As soon as the little band of heroes have made peace with the end of their existance- out from the sky with a blazing sword swings Michael to kill the rest of the army. AFter all, the little band got the main mission done by themselves (I.E. killing the leader)- so why shouldn't they be saved? Sure, it makes us all happy when the heroes win and live to fight another battle- but does it have to happen EVERY battle? Each one seems to be a matter of Hold The ____. Hold the Garrison until reinforcements arrive. Hold the Cave until reinforcements arrive. Hold the City until Reinforcements arrive. Hold the freakin' Bridge until reinforcements arrive. I'm not sure if it's better or worse because the characters know that reinforcements will arrive. And of course, reinforcements seem to consist of a bunch of lazy, slow moving but powerful soliders who make a two day trip take two weeks... just to piss off the little band of heroes trying to Hold The ___.
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Having beaten that dead horse well enough, let's move onto to Characterization.
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Characterization. It happens. For some characters. The rest of them are the same character with different abilities and names. Example, Tavi. Tavi undergoes some GREAT growth throughout the story. Everyone else is pretty much static. Let me extrapolate.
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The Women: The women are mostly bland and overpraised for their very tiny accomplishments, and the misogynistic undertones (while still undertones) are pretty damn obvious. I'm told that the female characters in the Dresden Files make up for it, but, having never read the Dresden Files myself- I can't vouch for it.
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You may say, Allison, you wonder of literary wisdom, if this is a post-Romanic medieval type setting, doesn't that in itself make up for the low spot these women have on the totem pole? No. It doesn't. I understand as well as anyone that women aren't going to have the same political power as men in stories set in this time/space, fine. But when you introduce a women by basically saying "She's a badass" and then she isn't a badass... well- that says something. Isana is a particularly good example. She's got the respect of everyone in her Steadholt as early as the first book. She's apparently an amazing watercrafter- but half way through the first book, she's captured. Okay. I can live with that- gotta progress the plot line some way. But then she's kidnapped again in the second and basically incapacitated in the third? I don't buy it. And even in the third, while Isana isn't captured - two other High Ladies are, which requires Lady Aquataine, Odiana and Amara to dress up like sex slaves to get them free. Really? Sex Slaves? .... Okay then- I suppose we needed more scantily clad females. That brings me to another topic- Amara. I tried really hard to like this girl. Really- I did. I wanted to like her because I immediately liked Bernard. But, I don't. She's flat. Butcher tries so hard to make her the best of both worlds (the upper class political world and the boondock world of the Steadholders and everyone else) that she has absolutely no true personality. She doesn't have any enemies or dislikes of her own, just picks up on the enemies of the people she's loyal to (Gaius, specifically). The only truly intersting female characters are either the "bad" guys or bat-shit crazy. Lady Aquataine and Odiana spark to mind. Personally, I love love love Odiana. She's creepy-crazy. And Lady Aquataine... while not as fun as Odiana, she's certainly got more character than Amara. So I find myself rooting for the bad guys- who I KNOW (because of Chekhov screaming and waving his gun, and from Michael lighting up his sword) are not going to win.
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The Men: The Men are easier. We've pretty much three kinds of men as far as the Alerans go. You've got the good guys- who are all the same character. Bad Guy Group 1 and Bad Guy Group 2.
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Good Guys: Good guys are just that. Good Guys. They're all badass fighters, passionate lovers, and take everything personally. Think of the epitome of a man. Mix in what your girlfriend would think is the epitome of a man. There. Every Good Guy in these books. Let's list 'em- for the hell of it: Bernard, Gaius, Septimus, Araris Valerian, Max, Sir Miles, Giraldi, and even Tavi to some extent. Humble badasses who love their woman (or women in some cases) whole-heartedly, believe in an honest days work and hold extreme loyalty to some other man. "Legionaires to the core" so to speak. Plus, their tragic flaw is the same as well! They all take the weight of some extreme guilt for something they had no control over. Think about it- Bernard feels guilty that everyone dies. Araris feels guilty that everyone dies. Miles feels guilty that everyone dies, Tavi feels guilty that everyone dies. Gaius feels guilty that everyone dies and then blames him. It's like being trapped in room with someone's jewish grandmother.
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Bad Guy Group 1: Bad Guy Group one. I like them. Actually- despite what I've said, I like all the men, cept for Bad Guy Group 2. Hey- they're the epitome of man. It's sexy, if not plausible. In any case, Bad Guy Group 1. They're the same as the Good Guys, except with a different loyalty. They actually differ from one another quite a bit. You've got Aldrick ex Gladius, Lord Aquataine, and Fidelias for starters. They appreciate an honest day's work as well... as long as they're getting something good in return. Also sexy in that epitome of maleness sort of way, and these guys don't usually wave around their sympathetic sides. While they seem to feel at least affectionate towards their main women- perhaps even love them, they're not bug-eyed just because the girl is giving them some attention. I really don't have much crap to talk about these guys. I like them. Especially Aldrick. Whoof.
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Bad Guy Group 2: These guys are just bad. (I.E. Steadholder Kord and High Lord Kalarus and Kalarus son Brencis) And we're back to them sharing alot of "qualities". They're obsessed with monetary and power gain, to the extent of leaving their people to rot in their own filth while they boost up their own homes. They're both obsessed with slaves, and especially with female slaves that they can... *ahem* use. Now, you could say- but Allison, you stud you, isnt that what bad guys do? Sure they do! And why not? I'll buy it. But by the same token... Do we really need so many of them? Wouldn't one who just doesn't die have sufficed just as well as three or more of these guys? Yeah- they're the ones we love to hate, their innately bad, truly evil. But geeze, I'm getting so much hate I think it's going to backlash and make me hate the good guys- like... persey, Amara. Heh.
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But, all in all- I did actually enjoy the books, most of the time. I felt the surprises were predictable, the characters (though sexy) were mostly static and I was never once surprised when the angels descended to save the little hero band. But, I loved the Marat, Kitai and Doroga especially though Hashat was awesome as well. Kitai was a bit predictable as well- but not to the extent that I felt I was getitng slapped with her prescense. Loved what happens between she and Tavi in general. when you read the books you'll know what I mean. THAT I was surprised by. The Cane are pretty nifty as well.. not really many bad things to say about those guys either. So basically, I've only got problems with the Alerans.
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Go, seek, enjoy these books. Tell me if I'm totally off-target here. And for god's sake, someone give me something else to read and review!
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