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betaluchs's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Sexual assault and Slavery
romiress's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I loved this series when I first read it, but I'm a bit more iffy on parts of it now. The main 'romance' feels forced and frankly awful, and there are a lot of bits that make me squint. The battles, though - some of the best battle writing I've read in ages, and I LOVE the way the magic system is handled.
Graphic: War, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Gore, Trafficking, Murder, Death, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Misogyny, Confinement, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual content
codythegirl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, and Sexual violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
**After much reflection, I think that the problematic treatment of fantasy-indigenous people in this series is inextricable from the story and, as much as I personally enjoyed these books as a teenager, I don’t recommend the series.
Furies of Calderon is sword and sorcery, political machinations and longstanding grudges, elemental familiars, interpersonal drama driving the fate of nation-states, and some really good action scenes, all kicking off one of my favorite series.
If you like high-ish fantasy stories with political machinations and elemental familiars, then this is the series for you. The action is described vividly, gruesome scenes are given an appropriate mix of description and implication, and it's the first book of a series that lives up to its start and then goes on to be even better. If you wanted to like [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]'s writing, but The Dresden Files just aren't for you, try this series.
Several years after I first read it, I heard that the premise resulted from combing two disparate inspirations, Pokemon and the Lost Roman Legion. Whether or not that's true, this is a series with elemental-based creatures bonded to humans, all of whom have names of Roman derivation, who came to this place through a portal some thousand years ago... so I'm inclined to believe the internet rumor on this one.
Regardless of the inspiration behind the premise, I feel at home in this series. I love witty banter, interpersonal and national politics, and while I don't read books just for their fight scenes, I do appreciate when they're descriptive and evocative enough that I can follow the action and get a sense of the physical space the characters inhabit in the heat of battle. This sense of space starts when the book is calm and continues as things heat up, so it makes everything feel like it happened in a real place that you could visit and walk around in.
This book, in particular, needs content warnings for discussions of human trafficking, sexual assault, murder, cannibalism, and body horror of various kinds. But, to borrow language from our ratings on the podcast, these are often moderate to severe, but generally handled with care (or at least enough care). Often the depictions within the text involve someone slowly understanding the horrific implications of another character's actions (current or intended), with many of the more horrifying details either relayed flatly or heavily implied instead of described in detail. There's a lot of aftercare, and whenever it's missing, that absence itself serves a narrative purpose.
*I do feel it’s important to mention that this series canonically doesn’t take place on Earth, but there are several types of quasi-indigenous peoples in this series that are clearly inspired by real peoples. I’m not in a position to speak to whether these portrayals are insensitive or triggering, but the series does a lot of specific work to fight against the idea that they are lesser in any way. It also sets up the idea in the first place that they could be lesser, so I don’t know how much leeway the author should get for solving a situation he also created.
Furies of Calderon is sword and sorcery, political machinations and longstanding grudges, elemental familiars, interpersonal drama driving the fate of nation-states, and some really good action scenes, all kicking off one of my favorite series.
If you like high-ish fantasy stories with political machinations and elemental familiars, then this is the series for you. The action is described vividly, gruesome scenes are given an appropriate mix of description and implication, and it's the first book of a series that lives up to its start and then goes on to be even better. If you wanted to like [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]'s writing, but The Dresden Files just aren't for you, try this series.
Several years after I first read it, I heard that the premise resulted from combing two disparate inspirations, Pokemon and the Lost Roman Legion. Whether or not that's true, this is a series with elemental-based creatures bonded to humans, all of whom have names of Roman derivation, who came to this place through a portal some thousand years ago... so I'm inclined to believe the internet rumor on this one.
Regardless of the inspiration behind the premise, I feel at home in this series. I love witty banter, interpersonal and national politics, and while I don't read books just for their fight scenes, I do appreciate when they're descriptive and evocative enough that I can follow the action and get a sense of the physical space the characters inhabit in the heat of battle. This sense of space starts when the book is calm and continues as things heat up, so it makes everything feel like it happened in a real place that you could visit and walk around in.
This book, in particular, needs content warnings for discussions of human trafficking, sexual assault, murder, cannibalism, and body horror of various kinds. But, to borrow language from our ratings on the podcast, these are often moderate to severe, but generally handled with care (or at least enough care). Often the depictions within the text involve someone slowly understanding the horrific implications of another character's actions (current or intended), with many of the more horrifying details either relayed flatly or heavily implied instead of described in detail. There's a lot of aftercare, and whenever it's missing, that absence itself serves a narrative purpose.
*I do feel it’s important to mention that this series canonically doesn’t take place on Earth, but there are several types of quasi-indigenous peoples in this series that are clearly inspired by real peoples. I’m not in a position to speak to whether these portrayals are insensitive or triggering, but the series does a lot of specific work to fight against the idea that they are lesser in any way. It also sets up the idea in the first place that they could be lesser, so I don’t know how much leeway the author should get for solving a situation he also created.
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
CW for sexism, discussion of sexual assault, slavery, violence, death.
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