Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher

Academ's Fury (Codex Alera, #2)

by Jim Butcher

For centuries, the people of Alera have relied on the power of the furies to protect them from outside invaders. But the gravest threat might be closer than they think.

Tavi has escaped the Calderon Valley and the mysterious attack of the Marat on his homeland. But he is far from safe, as trying to keep up the illusion of being a student while secretly training as one of the First Lord's spies is a dangerous game. And he has not yet learned to use the furies, making him especially vulnerable.

When the attack comes it's on two fronts. A sudden strike threatens the First Lord's life and threatens to plunge the land into civil war. While in the Calderon Valley, the threat faced from the Marat is dwarfed by an ancient menace. And Tavi must learn to harness the furies if he has any chance of fighting the greatest threat Alera has ever known . . .

Reviewed by Linda on

5 of 5 stars

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4.5 stars

The story was very slow in the beginning, but it truly had to be so, in order to make sure all the politics of Alera was clear. I thought it was very clever to make the different peoples as different as they were. With different customs, different looks, different ways to teach the young and different ways of dealing with problems. Because through all these differences, they showed that they can still be very much alike, and that is something that people in the real world sometimes forget. The fact that the Aleran's were almost a different species form the Morat's made Kitai and Tavi's friendship even more of a treasure.

The story followed the four lead characters from the first book, Tavi, Bernard, Amara and Isana. However, the fact that both Doroga and Kitai were present as well made the voyage in the capital of Alera a little easier, as the navigations were made everywhere by characters the readers already knew.

Tavi had already grown a lot from the first book to the second, and his growth in this book was amazing. He is so smart and quick, and even without furycrafting, he is very strong. He is the kind of hero I can easily cheer for.

Bernard and Amara's story is both sweet and sad, but they both needed to figure out what is important to them in their own lives, and not only in their oaths to the realm.

The fight scenes were totally awesome! All of the fight scenes were extremely well written, and I actually almost felt a little winded at some points. Because the readers enter the mind of the characters, and the characters are so well written that it feels like we actually know them, the fight scenes seemed more real than in most books I have read. And all of the fights were pushed forward both by a sense of greater duty as well as the love the characters had for someone in their fighting party.

The ending was something I had already thought about when I finished the first book. Tavi must be Isana's and Gaiu's son And I really look forward to seeing how this will continue to fold out and move along.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 22 January, 2012: Finished reading
  • 22 January, 2012: Reviewed