Princep's Fury - Jim Butcher - only 3 this time...for some really good reasons!

Princeps' Fury by Jim Butcher


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Let me just start of by saying that I am a huge supporter of Jim Butcher. I have devoured all of the Dresden files (all eleven with in 3 weeks). So when I say the Captain's Fury and the Princep's Fury sitting their on the library shelf I was grinning ear to ear.

However a sad reality of my beyond humanly possible high expectations is that every one is human and tries to please the masses by what is known and comfortable. This is a good summation of about 75-100 pages of the story. One of my worst pet peeves in a series is when the formulation behind the writing to so obvious.

Don't get me wrong I love the book. I love the series. I would recommend all of them in a heart beat and I am super geeked to get the First Lord's Fury (knowing that they are gonna kick some serious butt.

The comfort of staying with the main sympathetic characters was a bit flat this time around. I would have liked to seen further insight into some of the more perverse characters. Like answering what made them so whacked up.

There were so many more characters that would have stirred up the intrigue during the chapters that were used to describe "how they got to where they are." I'm cool with a chapter ended with and they sailed for their destination" and then the very first line of the next chapter "As they pulled up to the shore line."

Of course I am simplifying my point.

Butcher's ability and adaptability to produce such satisfying and complex tales of Dresden and Alera is a testament to his genius and craft of story telling.

Although he only received a 3 this go'round - God Bless Jim Butcher!!!

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Captain's Fury - Codex Alera 4 Series - 5 Stars

Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The 4th installment of the Codex Alera did not disappoint! Some books in the middle of a series serves as a filler to bridge the first few and the last few in the series. Not the case with this one!

This book could easily be a stand alone read without a newbie to the series getting lost. An additional positive is that Butcher does not take more than a paragraph or two to give the "background" of the previous books. It is so aptly done that the seasoned Codex Alera reader's eyes don't roll in the back of their head out of sheer boredom with the recap (can you tell I hate recaps?).

More than just a "small town boy makes good" type of story. Travi's growth during this installment is not just physical but also in character. This is evident as Travi sacrifices himself in multiple ways for the benefit of the realm. Too bad the realm would rather he die.

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