I thought the series got better once Tavi became a military leader. Rather enjoyable "popcorn" fantasy, but still there was something missing to make me love the characters and really care about the story. ( )

This series continues to impress.
Books 2,3,4 have all received 5 stars from me.
Couldn't tell you which was my favourite. All of them have had me wanting to get home from work so that I can read a bit more. ( )

It was a slow start because I hadn't been able to read the earlier books. Who were all these people with similar sounding names (who turned out to be on different sides)? Anyway there were a few "unexpected" plot twists, but once the action started I couldn't put it down. Before I knew it the book was down. Over all I found it satisfying for what is was Boston Chicken for the mind. And there are also a few good things to look forward to in the next book. ( )

El autor demuestra que no pierde el hilo con la historia, que es fluido, que tiene descripciones bien echas a pesar de que este no sea una saga totalmente inolvidable ni extraordinaria no se puede dejarla a medias porque no es mala, simplemente le falta un plus que la haga memorable.
Tenes los condimentos de la evolucion de los personajes en su lugar en especial el principal, la historia es creible, podria haber resumido muchos echos y llegar con la misma suavidad a las revelaciones esenciales aunque por ahi pecan de ser comunes en libros de fantasia y otros generos.
Espero que me sorprenda con algo mas en el par de entregas que me faltan.
De todas formas es mejor que los libros con contenido Young Adult mas basicos. ( )

The whole series is readable ( )

[b:Captain's Fury|346087|Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, #4)|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1315083292s/346087.jpg|6614434] takes the 'Alera at war' feel of [b:Cursor's Fury|29394|Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera, #3)|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388360145s/29394.jpg|6614461] and really turns it up a notch. Tavi has done the impossible and fought a war against the Canim for two years now, holding them in place and building the trust of his followers to impressive levels. But now a new foe is coming for him--a foe far more terrifying than the Canim, or even than the Vord (who are much less interesting when you don't see them on screen for a book or two)... politicians.

Characterwise, Tavi remains among the best part of these books:

"And you've got that look on your face again."

"I can't help it, "Ehren said. "You're about to walk to breakfast, arn't you, regardless of who is in the way?"

"Yes," Tavi said.

Ehren sighed. "Let's hear it."

Tavi told him the plan.

"That's insane," Ehren said.

"It could work."

"You aren't going to have anyone come along to bail you out this time," Ehren pointed out.

Tavi grinned. "Are you with me?"

"The plan is insane," Ehren said. "You are insane." He looked around inside the tent. "I'll need some pants.”

Although to be fair, the characters surrounding him are well done as well. Kitai is just different enough to be interesting and Max/Ehren/Crassus shine in both Legion and Cursor scenes. You want to root for Amara and Bernard, pushed through as much as they are, even when things go sidewise--although that hike across what feels like most of Alera could certainly have been shorter. The Senator earns the hate coming his way.

There aren't huge strides in world building in this book, mostly filling in the cracks. But one thing... do you remember how in [b:Cursor's Fury|29394|Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera, #3)|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388360145s/29394.jpg|6614461], I commented on how awe inspiring it was to see a High Lady let loose? Well. Now you get the First Lord himself. Oy. We'll leave it at that.

Overall, this is probably the weakest book of the series since the first, but only because there has to be a weakest book. It's still a wonderful read and I couldn't put down my headphones through long parts of it. The parts towards the end where Gaius sets off a volcano just as Tavi proclaims himself Gauis Octavian. That's writing.

It's a pity there are only two more to go... ( )

Captain’s Fury is the fourth out of six books in the Codex Alera series. This may be one of my shortest reviews ever because I don’t have anything new to say about it that I haven’t already said about the previous books, but I continue to really enjoy this series.

As I’ve said in other reviews, the progression of the main character and the story in general is somewhat predictable and not particularly twisty. However, I also really, really like the main character, as well as many of the secondary characters, I like the direction the story is going in, and I think it’s written well. It has a lot of the elements I tend to enjoy most in epic fantasy. ( )

The world and character building across this series is pretty darn spiffing. This one had a lot of David Weber flavor to some of the action sequences as well, which I rather enjoyed. ( )

This series gets better and better with each book. This one was a labyrinth of political intrigue and decisions and out-maneuvering ones opponents both literally and figuratively. I loved it and can't wait to read the next two.

Ratings:- ( )

The ongoing adventures of Tavi, Isana and Amara. Tavi continues to prove his skills as a commander, even when forced to work under a commander with no command skills and one that is a political opponent. The action is still good in these books and so are the characters. There is more exploration of what can be done in this magical system in this one, compared to the previous. ( )

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Captain's Fury
Series: Codex Alera #4
Author: Jim Butcher
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 656
Words: 175K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia

Two years have passed after the Night of the Red Stars and the Battle at the Elinarch (in book three of the Codex Alera, Cursor's Fury). Rufus Scipio/Tavi had been repelling attacks from the Canim forces for two years and the war against Kalare raged on. Senator Arnos, who is in charge of the war committee, is pushing for the destruction of all of the Canim forces in Alera. Isana is faced with telling Tavi who his father is and confronting her own abilities. Tavi must find a way to end the conflict between the Canim and Alera or it may mean the destruction of all of his forces. Gaius Sextus and the Count and Countess of Calderon take on a secret mission to stop Kalare.

Senator Arnos comes to the Elinarch to take over military command against the Canim. Senator Arnos is working with Invidia Aquitaine to remove Tavi as the leader of the battle and to eliminate him entirely. Arnos is accompanied by several singulares, who are a constant threat to Tavi and who attempt to eliminate him throughout the book.

Isana, after several attempts of trying to tell Tavi that she is his mother and that his father was Gaius Septimus, was unable to do so. Araris delivers the message instead.

Tavi has a meeting with the Canim leader, Nasaug, where he tells Nasaug that he knows that the Canim are trying to build ships to get them back to their homeland. He strikes a deal with Nasaug that he would help them but Nasaug says that the only way that a deal can be struck is if Tavi returns Ambassador Varg to them. Arnos spies on this meeting and through the plotting of Arnos, Invidia and Marcus/Fidelias, Tavi is removed from his command as Captain for conspiring with the enemy. Prior to leaving, Tavi places Crassus in charge of the Alerian forces.

Tavi escapes from the prison and with Isana, Kitai, Ehren, and Araris, they board a ship to take them to Aleria Imperia. During the voyage, they are attacked by Arnos’ singulares and the group uses furycrafting to board the enemy ship and kill the witchmen that are hiding their presence from the leviathans. The enemy ship is destroyed by leviathans but Arnos’ singulares escape. During this battle, Isana’s powers grow and she is able to heal Araris who was seriously injured without a bathtub, a feat usually performed only by the most powerful healers and high lords and ladies.

Gaius takes Amara and Bernard into Kalarus’s lands, as he tells them that Kalarus has woken one of the Great Furies in the Kalare mountains and if Kalare is killed, the mountain will erupt and kill everyone in the region. Gaius intends to disarm the Fury. During their journey, Gaius cannot use his powers as this will signal Kalare that he is on Kalare’s lands and ruin their mission. Gaius gets an infection as his feet blister from walking 300 miles to the mountain and he must be tended to along the way. As they approach the mountains, the group is discovered by a legion of Immortals led by Brencis Minoris, Kalarus’s son. Gaius heals himself and destroys the legion. He then releases the great fury which destroys Kalare and all who reside in the area. Amara, who is angry at the First lord for lying to her, throws her silver coin in his face and leaves him.

At the same time, Tavi is able to free Varg from the Grey Tower and returns him to the Canim forces. He then announces his identity as Gaius Octavian and challenges Arnos to a Juris Macto. Phrygiar Navaris, who is the deadliest cutter/sword in all of Alera, represents Arnos in the duel. Marcus (Fidelias) is instructed by Invidia to kill both Arnos and Tavi after the duel, using a balest, to make it look like a Canim attack. Marcus aims the balest and is able to strike both Arnos, as he tries to escape after Tavi wins the duel, and Invidia who Arnos grabs for protection. Invidia survives the initial injury but has the poison of the garic oil in her system.

Tavi is able to strike a deal with Gaius Sextus allowing the Canim to return home and to send a cohort with them to ensure their safe passage and assist them in destroying the Vord that have taken over their lands. In the end it is also revealed that Tavi is now able to furycraft.

My Thoughts:

Another fantastic entry in the Codex Alera series. By this point I hope you all realize I am hopefully biased in favor of this series (this is my 3rd read since 2010) and I simply cannot find any faults. I enjoy my time reading this and while I acknowledge it isn't at Dickens level of character development, it fulfills every expectation that I have for an Epic Fantasy.

If I HAD to choose something to complain about (because really, when don't I complain about anything online?), it would be the whole sub-story with Gaius, Bernard and Amara. Just like they were slogging through miles and miles of marshes and swamps, reading those sections was a slog too.

I really liked reading about Tavi though. You know what though? It took me until this time around, with the author shoving it right under nose, that “Tavi” was short for Octavian. Sigh, sometimes I wonder how I put my pants on in the morning and drive to work. Tavi is smart, kind, empathetic, charismatic, mentally pliable and above all, most competent. He is the wish fulfillment of all my dreams for myself.

On the story side, the Canim make for great antagonists. As a race they are 9ft tall bipedal wolves. Individually, Butcher has done a great job of creating some really interesting characters among them. Nasaug, Varg, etc are fun to read about and the interactions between them and Tavi gives me that feeling you get when going down a slide, one of fun and wonderment. The scene where Tavi and friends break Varg out of the maximum security prison was fantastic.

Finally, Tavi learning that Isana is his mother and that Septimus was his father hit the emotional side of things just right for me. Couple that with the continued assassination attempts by Senator Arnos and his fury-assisted Assistants and you get a perfect combination of action and emotion. I enjoyed it all.

★★★★★ ( )

Not as action packed as the previous books, and was more of a setup for the next two books/finale. While the conclusion is fast paced I found everything that happens on a boat to be tedious. And it follows the trope that if you take a boat anywhere in a fantasy setting, you will be attacked by a sea monster. ( )

Quite good, quite good. The series just keeps getting better and better with every book, and I am very happy that I still have two books to go.

I read the last 40% of the book in one go on a long train ride, and since there were a bunch of children in the same wagon, I put on some loud music. And I have to say, reading battle scenes while listening to The Classical Conspiracy by Epica is pretty damn epic. So, even though the story itself almost-but-not-quite-warrants a five star, the experience of reading it to that music elevated it to five stars for me.

I also have to reiterate my point that these books could make a kickass movie. There are so many cool descriptions that would make absolutely beautiful scenes in a movie that I actually wonder why no one has done so already.

Well, you'll have to excuse me now, I still got two books to go. ( )

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was great to see Tavi slowly progress in his fury-crafting and finally announce to the world who he is. I do have a few issues with the book, mainly with the Gray Tower and with the final duel, but those are minor. On the flipside, I'm starting to like Marcus more and more. Can't wait to see what happens when Tavi finally finds out. ( )

Tavi finally finds out who he is (c'mon, we knew all along) and develops his furycrafting. He also saves the realm using his new-won influence, resolving a terrible war peacefully. ( )

Loved this one, especially since it contains more than just battle scenes like the last book. Tavi continues to be a great character who's easy to love. It's almost 5-star worthy, but there were a few writing quirks that bugged me (people are grimacing nonstop, a few phrases were overused, and half the time Bernard is referred to as "Amara's husband." He has a name, geez). ( )

Hail Gaius Octavian! We journey back to Alera, and lots of things happen. To everyone.
Tavi is outed. Kitai still kicks ass, and I love her. Everyone gets character development, and the world grows. If you are reading this series, you obviously love it so I don't need to sell you on how great it is. If you aren't, you shouldn't be reading a review for book 4 in a series, so move along. Nothing for you to see here.

A love letter to Jim Butcher:

Dear Jim,
Alera is my favorite place, and you are my favorite author. I love you. Not in a scary stalker, wear your face as a mask way, but in a let's be best friends and have coffee and you can tell me all of your book ideas kind of way.

P.S. Please don't contact the authorities, I am harmless. But let's be best friends. Call me!

( )

Tavi, now acknowledging his title of Octavian, must try to make peace with the Canim in the face of a Senatorial guard, a Senator who wants glory and the Canim themselves. Meanwhile, Gaius sneaks into Kalare with the help of Bernhard and his wife and lets loose a Great Fury that Kalare is holding. It destroys the capital of Kalare and ends the resistance. Ends with Tavi going with the Canim back to their homeland to help fight the vord and to give him breathing room to learn to deal with his new status as Princep. ( )

I originally read this back in '10 [ My First Review ] and thought it was fantastic.

This time, I just flew through this book. It was great. I enjoyed the danger, the fighting, the tactics, the relationships and the story.

I love the fact that Butcher makes Tavi act outside the circumstances set up for him by others. Of course, it pisses me off when Tavi is maneuvered into impossible situations by people who call him on breaking laws while they themselves are grossly violating the laws.

Huh, kind of like liberals. Dang, maybe Butcher will make me political yet!" ( )

Still like the books and the series. Still lots of action. Still some coming of age. All of the main and critical secondary characters spend some time on page. Part war novel part political thriller. ( )

*Spoilers if you have not read the previous books
The short-Tavi's coming of age and power, the First Lord finally makes a move and love shines in Alera, War takes a huge toll.
It's all that and a bucket of chicken !
I feel like I have known Tavi all his life. Well, I have in a literary sense. He has gone from this little insecure child to an awkward teenager to this new confident capable man. He is in his early twenties now and faces some horrible circumstances, he must be the voice and mind of salvation. He takes extreme risks there is no other choice.
I admit I felt proud of him. Our Tavi, what a man he has turned into. :D
The war is on, blood flows like a river. Horrors come to light that show things are worse than ever thought. The First Lord has to make a move, finally. He heads out with Bernard and Amara on a quest that most likely will fail. There they will be involved in something so horrific, everything will change.
Araris and Isana win for best couple in this edition. What a pair they make. I loved seeing them work together while fighting the dangers before them and supporting Tavi.
Another great adventure, across land, swamp, field, and even over water. The mind games and the twisted lies all play together so perfectly. In the end I was left cheering, and clapping for these heroes and even the villains. ( )

This series is amazing! At first is comes off as kind of quirky, but man is it so good! ( )

4th book in the Codex Alera and Tavi is still going strong, doing the right thing. Now he is getting saddled with a Senator who thinks he knows how to run a military campaign to wipe out the Carnim. He's ambitious and has the backing of a powerful house, and his arrogance knows no bounds. He is likely to get everyone killed.

Tavi, learns the truth of his birth finally and once he gets himself arrested and banished from his army, he goes about his own way of trying to stop the war with the Carnim, a preferably much more peaceful one. During all of this, the High Lord Gaius is traveling across enemy lands without using his furies, since Kalare has put out watchers to intercept Gaius, should he use any of them in the Kalare lands. Kalare himself has awakened an old dangerous fury with the intent of unleashing it upon the world at his death. Gaius intends to mitigate that as much as possible.

Another good book, need to find book 5 in CD for a reasonable price now! ( )

More Alera goodness. This one may be my fave of the series. ( )

Another fun, quick read, although a bit predictable. The main character, Tavi, matures further & is slowly coming into his own, which is neat. The interactions with the Camin are interesting - different cultures meeting & clashing. It's nice to see that the 'good' guys aren't always perfect & often, no matter what they do, their options are limited so that they can seem pretty bad. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book. ( )