Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1)- Jim Butcher

In the realm of Alera when people come of age they are bonded with a fury (an elemental spirit). However, fifteen year old Tavi never bonded with a fury and therefore is a bit of an outcast and an unlikely hero. When an agent of the First Lord named Alera runs into him in the middle of the storm, she brings with her a war in which Tavi will prove instrumental in making sure that the 'good guys' win.

Overall Merit: This story was meh. It got really good reviews on Goodreads.com, but to be honest I didn't like it that much. I didn't connect with any of the characters and while the technical writing was strong and cohesive, the story didn't really interest me that much. The plot was complex and well thought out, but for whatever reason I did not like this book. It wasn't bad, like I didn't put it aside for an extended period of time, I just didn't love the story or the characters. Score- 6

Characters: The two main characters, Amara and Tavi were fine I guess. They weren't caricatures or anything, but I couldn't relate to them at all and I didn't feel like I was given enough access to their emotions. I didn't feel their fear or anguish and there was no real tension for me. I mean I rooted for them if only because as a reader I was supposed to, not out of any sense of loyalty or attachment. Between the two, I definitely connected better with Tavi, he was a more convincing character and a bit more sympathetic, but Amara was really hard to link with on any level. For one thing, I didn't know enough about her past and what her story was, heck I couldn't even tell how old she was! She didn't have enough inner turmoil to make her interesting. In terms of antagonists, I felt like there were too many and that made it confusing, but on the other hand, none of them were very strong. Score- 6

Blush Factor: Essentially N/A. This was barely there and what was there isn't worth mentioning.

Structure: Structure was fine. Solid. I swear I did actually read this book, I just have very little to say about it. It switched between three or four perspectives, but mostly stuck to Tavi and Amara, easy to follow. The story was pretty much straightforward. There were a few too many side stories going on and I didn't exactly buy them. Also, I felt like the elemental magic has been done to death and while Butcher tried to make it a bit different, it wasn't different enough to carry the story. Score- 7

Plot: Again. Standard fantasy. There wasn't anything interesting done here. Like really there was nothing interesting done here. This was a fantasy book that didn't bend any boundaries or create anything new. Sure Butcher tried with some weird extra humanoid, but he didn't explain the Marat well enough to make it worthwhile. I really wanted this story to have some kick, to bring in something unique, but I swear he just took a list of fantasy elements, slapped them together into a book, and called it a day. Score-6

 Vervain Says: "The Marat are essentially human, I'm still trying to figure out what makes them different."