BOOK BLURB:Power-hungry Kalare has rebelled against Alera's aging First Lord, Gaius Sextus. Ill-equipped to face this attack, Gaius must seek support - even from the combative High Lord of Aquitaine. Kalare has also seized valuable hostages that could mean the difference between victory and failure. And Amara, the First Lord's Cursor, has been tasked with their rescue. She has earned this trust but are her allies as worthy - or does the Lady Aquitaine see the time as ripe for betrayal? Treachery is rife elsewhere, as young Tavi of Calderon will find. Posted away from the war, Tavi joins a legion anyway, under an assumed name. Then Kalare does the unthinkable - uniting with the brutish Canim. When treason wipes out the army's command structure, Tavi finds himself leading an inexperienced legion against the might of the Canim horde - the very last resort of a war-torn realm.
REVIEW:
After the difficulty I had getting behind the original novel, I decided to persevere with the series at least for another couple of books. What unfurled has done a lot to restore my faith with Jims writing although it’s still not on par with Harry from my own POV.
Many will just wax lyrical about whatever Jim writes but I have to be impressed heavily by an author with an established reputation as I won’t forgive what I perceive as newbie errors. He has learned as the series has gone on and added to the mythos with accrued world-building. It’s interesting and it’s a series that has numerous twists to keep the readers glued but for me its still standard fantasy fare that’s a tad too predictable although that said his character building is working better and with each successive tale increasing the readers pleasure at the result. With a few more books I think its going to be something special but for me, its been a very slow fuse of a start.
BOOK BLURB:
Tavi of Calderon, now captain of his own Legion, has been fighting a bitter war for two years. Then he discovers the invading Canim warriors are harbingers of a far greater threat. The Canim are being hunted in their turn by a savage race that forced them from their homeland - and which has pursued them to the Aleran borders. With options fast running out, Tavi proposes an alliance with the Canim. But the Senate's new military commander wishes only to wipe out the Canim 'scourge', and would also kill Aleran slaves that have sought freedom with these aggressors. Tavi must reconcile Aleran and Canim, slavemaster and slave, Citizen and Proletarian, if an alliance is to be forced. And he must lead his Legion in defiance of the law, against both friend and enemy - before the greatest army of all launches its assault.
REVIEW:
In this latest release of Jim’s Codex series that some are comparing to a modern Tolkien interpretation. Personally I prefer his Dresden Files over this one, however that said since I treated these as something completely different and started to get behind it on its own merits. Its acceptable but nothing new and definitely owes more than a tip of the hat to Tolkiens world, however, it also goes on to expand into its own through the use of a mythical battle where the forces of good and evil are struggling for the upper hand.
It is well written and with the sheer scope available for Jim to explore it’s a series that should have legs for a good number more tales. It will be interesting to see what Jim does next and with the growth available between each book it’s a series that might yet win me round.
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