First Lord's Fury

Well, crows, but Jim Butcher sure knows how to end a series on a high note. I would happily keep reading about the adventures of Tavi et al (and it's a pretty huge cast of characters at this point) every year until they all died of old age...but I guess that's not to be. But, rest assured, this final installment in the Codex Alera is epic. It is tightly plotted, with key characters slowly converging on the Calderon Valley where the whole series started. It's full of big magic, big battles, big disasters and it's likewise packed with sly scheming, witty conversation, and political intrigue. But wait! It also has romance, tenderness, and a new emphasis on the importance of family. We finally get our showdown with the Vord Queen...not a long buildup to a brief encounter, where Tavi and the Queen meet face to face and two pages later everything's decided. Not at all. All the characters we've grown to love have a part to play, and the battle stretches through half the book. I have rarely been so satisfied at the conclusion of a series. FIRST LORD'S FURY is a roller coaster, a really good one of the kind readers have come to expect from Jim Butcher, but it makes a soft landing. I'm happy with where we leave the characters on the last page. I'm still curious to know what happens next, but that's a good feeling too: Butcher didn't wring his story dry before drawing it to a close. Goodbye Tavi, Kitai, Isana, Bernard, Amara, Max, and Fidelias, I'll miss you. I think I'll even miss Invidia.

I like the style, as well as the content, of Jim Butcher's books. The characters are fascinating (and the minor ones often especially so), the plots intriguing and the pace is fast. If you haven't read the previous five Alera books, you could start with First Lord's Fury, but then you would deny yourself the delicious pleasures of letting this story unfold. Each book in the series is enjoyable on its own, but they tell an absolutely epic tale together and in sequence. Alera itself is a continent / world (seem to be used interchangeably in the books) which is an object of desire to several competing groups of humanoids -- the Alerians, who have a culture derived from Earth's Romans, but the exact connection is left decidely vague. They use latinisms for their names, but the chief unique characteristic, is that some of them (citizens) practice "fury craft", which is the art of gathering and focusing and controlling various (natural or supernatural) elemental factors called furies (hence the names of the books). Like the ancient Romans, the Alerans are high disciplined, highly greedy, generally quite conservative and ruthless, and very hard to get along with in general. They are ruled by an emperor called the First Lord, who is shakily above the usual unsettled pyramid of great lords, nobles, petty nobles, serfs, etc. Their presence seems to be about two thousand years old in this world, and they have conquered most of their continent. However, there are other humanoid groups -- the Marats, the Icemen, and a race of lupine warriors called the Canim who have had lengthy (and usually hostile) relations with the Alerians. The Great Lords are continually scheming to supplant the family that has ruled as First Lords for at least seven generations, and make and break alliances in ways that would make the ancient Romans blush. Into this caldron of conflict come the Vord, who are a collective or hive (insectoid) type of creature, ruled by a queen, and who very aggressively are determined to destroy every other form of life which on the planet. All of the groups are brilliantly individualized, characterized and detailed by Jim Butcher, and each is worthy of significant development and enjoyable in their own right. The threat of the Vord is so overwhelming that each of the other groups suddenly realizes they must unite against the common enemy or be exterminated. The power of the Vord is so relentless, formidable, and collectively intelligent that they are truly frightening. The hero of the series is now known to be the eigth First Lord, and designated "Octavian", and nicknamed Tavi. He was raised as a humble shepherd and ruthlessly protected by his mother from all knowledge of his real identity for his own protection. As the son of a deceased heir to the throne and grandson of the First Lord, he would be the object of many plots and machinations. At last, he knows who he is and his talents have been trained and honed to the fullest. What sets this excel

I was disappointed in the previous book in this series, "Princeps Fury", but, as it felt like a 'bridge', I suspected this one would be much better. I wasn't wrong. It ends the series with a major bang. Not a moment of down time. No, it's not a perfect story. The ending leaves questions and the epilogue feels like a hasty wrap-up. But the rest of this book is one gorgeous, bloody, exciting, suspenseful, heart-wrenching moment after another. Characters who should die, do. Characters who should die, don't. And other characters that we've come to love aren't safe at all. There is some genuine heartache along with the fast-paced action. And, even in the darkest moments of the book, it never feels bogged down by tedious hopelessness. Yes, I find hopelessness in fiction to be tedious. Heads up to many fantasy/sci fi writers who think it's hip and challenging to go bleak. It's not. Jim Butcher can rip your heart out, but you never feel like you won't get some satisfaction out of the story, and that's a rare talent when exploring such incredibly dark tales. Again, my only complaint is that a few things might have been wrapped up better at the end. I don't know if Butcher is planning to revisit this world at all, but there are plenty of questions he could answer for the readers. I'm trying so hard not to give any spoilers that I think this might be the most cryptic review I've ever written. I guess I should just recommend the whole series and be done with it. I'm very thrilled to have been taken on this ride. Thanks Jim. :D

As usual I approach the ending book of any saga with a little bit of worry that somehow the ending will let me down. In the case of this book though I was more than surprised. First Lords Fury contains all of the surprises, humor, and moments of sheer terror as the other books and does not let you down. If you are a fan of this genre and of Butcher's work I highly recommend this novel.