Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher - The Fourth Book in the series that is not the Dresden Files

 I marked off one for my March to-read list without a moment to spare!

I started reading this more than a year ago, one of my children lost my spot and in my frustration because I was more than halfway done I gave up on reading it. For far longer than I felt I had so forgive me on this review because restarting a 600+ page book just didn't sound fun, no matter how good it is. 

Tavi, now a Captain in the first Alerean Army, discovers that the Camin that invaded two years ago may have had a good reason for it. It seems the Vord have taken up residence in their home inland. Tavi knows that with this knowledge he may be able to end the war between Alerea and the Camin he's just going to have to break a few laws to do it. In the meantime, his Uncle, Amera, and the First Lord himself set off to end a rebellion, but the cost to end it may be far too high of a price to pay. 

I'm just going to start out by saying I love the characters in this series. Each and every one of them. Kitai is my absolute favorite but she doesn't rank much higher than the rest of them. I have to say though that the growth we see from Tavi over the course of the series is remarkable. He goes from this incredibly intelligent but kind of clumsy farm kid who consistently underestimates himself in the first book to a leader who has learned to trust in himself and his sharp wit completely. I'm sure I could think of another character whose growth is as stunning and brilliantly written as Tavi's is but, to be honest, I don't want to. 

As always the action is non-stop and wonderfully descriptive. There are scenes in this book (in all of the Codex Alera books) where you almost feel like you are right there in the midst of it. And in this one, the scene in particular that stands out is when Isana is watching Tavi's final battle. It was simply awesome.

One thing that I found myself enjoying particularly in this one that I may have overlooked in the previous books is that Butcher will go over the same scenes from different characters' perspectives and I love that. It really gives the reader a 360-degree view of what's going on. Not every character is going to see something in the same manner and it's nice to get all of their perspectives. And I know some authors will go and write an entire follow-up novel to do just this but Butcher really shows that a completely separate book isn't necessary if handled correctly. Which is great for my wallet. 

Luckily, since I had really planned on finishing this series a long time ago I have the remaining books already and cannot wait to finish it up! 

Also, as my FB friends know I can't miss up the opportunity to point out that this is sssoo much better than the Dresden Files. 🤣 Seriously, that's just a potshot at a few of my friends no one takes it too seriously.