Princeps' Fury

Executive Summary: Princep's fury was more enjoyable than I remember. Like it's predecessors, it's a blend of war, politics, romance, humor and magic that makes for a fun read.Audio book: Kate Reading once again does gives an enjoyable reading. I'm pretty much repeating what I've said for the last 4 books. She's becoming one of my favorite readers now.Full ReviewMy recollection was this book was a step down after [b:Captain's Fury 346087 Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, #4) Jim Butcher https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1315083292s/346087.jpg 6614434]. However I find myself changing my mind on this reread. Unlike that book all of the subplots in this book greatly interested me. There was no slowdown in the middle and this might be the only book where anyone's story was more interesting to me than Tavi's. I think this series shines best when dealing with internal politics of the Alerans followed closely by the interactions with the Canim. This series has large amounts of both. We learn a lot more about the Alerans, and see that people can be just as petty towards their fellow man under even the most dire of circumstances.My least favorite parts have to do with the Vord, but in this book they are still mostly relegated to the setting. In other words they are a looming threat hanging over everything and impacting the interactions between the characters, while not really being on screen all that much.Tavi still has to rely on his ingenuity more than his personal strength to overcome most obstacles which I think is what makes him such a likable character to me. The interplay between him and Max and Kitai are always my favorite scenes.Overall a pretty fun book, although compared to [b:Captain's Fury 346087 Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, #4) Jim Butcher https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1315083292s/346087.jpg 6614434], this ends on a pretty bad cliffhanger such that I jumped right into [b:First Lord's Fury 6316821 First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera, #6) Jim Butcher https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327903582s/6316821.jpg 6502096] immediately.

When I closed this book, I found myself short of breath. Not sure how long I'd been holding my breath, but never been happier that I read quickly. So much happens, yet so much just seemed like a set up for [b:First Lord's Fury 6316821 First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera, #6) Jim Butcher http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255672320s/6316821.jpg 6502096]. But it works, absolutely works. Butcher surprised and wowed me more than once. So looking forward to #6.

Pace continues relentlessly and there are definite high points when you want to stand up and applaud. The narrative is tight and I have come to realise that what makes Butcher so good is that even if the plot meanders, the writing is very tight and enough short term surprises are available to make up for the extension of the overall plot. This book focuses on filling up of more characters and tries to close some of the intrigue around Septimus death but I think there may be a couple of surprises in the last book still. Onwards!

In book five of the six book series, Tavi travels to Canea, Gaius Sextus sends Bernard and Amara on a dangerous mission deep in vord territory, and Isana is up north on an impossible peace mission. Once this book gets going it's tough to put down. There's a surprising finish but at the same time this book lays a lot of groundwork for the big finish. I'm reading book six right now. Love this series.