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Jim-Butcher.Com: Books – Codex Alera.

I read some professional’s review of the last book of this series.  It wasn’t a very flattering one, but I actually love this series.  When I look for books to read, I don’t look for complex and ground-breaking ones.  I’ve had enough of mature reading in school and would rather read to enjoy reading.

Jim Butcher’s story-telling style is easy on the brain and reads easily like watching a movie.  Some people say this series is not as creative as his other, more popular, Dresden Files, but compared to other classic fantasy novels I’ve read, the world is actually very unique, but still not hard for the reader to grasp.  Things don’t just happen “magically” as things are explained with digestible logic, there are many different societies with unique rules and interactions but it’s not hard to differentiate and understand them, and characters are actually “relatable,” believable, and…  practical.

I think that last character trait is the one I like best.  I hate characters that have no common sense and main characters that are as much observers as readers also frustrate me.

The lastly, another thing I like about this series is that it also incorporates old style military tactics.  Something I’m fascinated about.

As the critic criticized the last book about, these are not stand-alone novels.  It would be confusing and frustrating to start in the middle of the story.  The entire series is really just one long story.  It reminds me of how the Harry Potter books are divided by years.  Codex Alera itself is divided by different chapters in the main character’s life.

So to enjoy this series, read from the beginning!