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The Crown Tower
Michael J. Sullivan
First Lord's Fury - Jim Butcher Book: 3.5
Series: 3.5

Soooo here we are, at the end of this unnecessarily long series. This review will be over all six books of the Codex Alera series.

Overall I was majorly disappointed in how this series turned out. Codex Alera could have been an amazing series if it didnt have the same problems pop up in each book.

1.There was way too many main characters and alternating POVs throughout this series. There is like six if not more, viewpoints that you are continuously juggled in between in each book. Its annoying, slightly confusing at times (Especially when you have to read the same event that you JUST got done reading, from another characters POV) and fluffs up the books length. The worst part about it is that most of the different main and side characters are either boring, annoying, useless or just pointless. It got to the point to where I was skipping whole chapters when certain characters names appeared (Im looking at you Amara/Bernard). That overall makes for a horrible reading experience by itself.

2. The overdescription(Is that even a word?) of everything. Im sorry Jim but you are not required to reintroduce every blade of grass or piece of equipment each character is wearing in high detail, EVERY CHAPTER. Im sure if we were to cut down on that alone we could have lost two books in this series and it would have been better for it.

3. Finally the predictability and the fact that each main character is invulnerable. I wont spend alot of time here but If this series isnt one of the most predictable and obvious than I dont know what is. Most of that is due to the fact that by book two or three you know for a fact that the main characters will win against any obstacles EVERY SINGLE TIME . With that knowledge you already know the outcome of every event which makes the events themselves not interesting.

One of the only characters I really did learn to care about would have been the only one chosen to die, the Vord Queen. She really grew during the last book and I found myself surprising rooting for her instead of all the "Heros". I found her very interesting, she was virtually alone in the world, a world which wanted her dead, and on top of that she was struggling with human emotions she wasnt supposed to have. I hoped she was going to be a major character in this book and that we would see and learn alot more about her. But no we only got a tease and then she was dead. :(

If not for the problems listed above Jim could of had an amazing fantasy series on his hands. I had alot of hope for this series which made me keep reading each book, even after I wanted to stop.