A fun fantasy novel that is a good start for this series. Jim Butcher is great at getting a plot rolling, and like a snow ball rolling down hill, it gets bigger and faster and picks up material as it goes. There are three main strands to the plot, Tavi's adventures in the Steadholt, the shenanigans in the Empire, and the traitors and the Marat hordes that they are allied with. Butcher gets them tangled together quickly, not drawing out the exposition like many other fantasy authors.
Butcher writes battle scenes well and takes full advantage of that ability during the course of the novel. He has also created an interesting frenemy in the Marat. It is Tavi who is smart enough to realize that they may not be human, but they share the love of their families and a sense of personal honour and responsibility with the steadholders and that they don't necessarily need to be enemies. Perhaps because Tavi has no talent for the furycrafting that everyone else seems to practice, he has to use his wits and skills.
Tavi is your typical epic fantasy main character: he is an orphan, he has unexpected depths and courage, he has luck in leadership, and he downplays all these aspects of himself. I had to laugh as this reminded me of The Princess Bride—it has battles, farming details, kissing, honour, revenge, hate, beautiful women, handsome men, traitors, loyal friends, whatever you dig, you will find it here. The magic system (furycrafting) is interesting and Butcher plunges right into it without doing too much explaining. If you're like me, you catch on quick and that's not a problem. Butcher truly does show rather than telling and could teach some other writers a thing or two. If your systems and societies make sense, you don't need to over-explain it to your readers.
I will need to request the next book from another library, so there will be a natural pause before I get to it, but I can hardly wait to see what happens to Tavi, Fade, Isana, Bernard, and Amara. Not to mention the Marat who seem to be entwined in their fates now. What a good feeling with which to conclude a book.
Book Number 462 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project
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