After being incredibly underwhelmed by the first entry in the Codex Alera series, I steeled my resolve to at least slog through the second one before tossing the whole series in the fire.

And was pleasantly surprised.

Butcher's second book in the series is a fantastic fantasy romp, shoring up all of the weaknesses from his first. Gone are the one dimensional characters and obvious plot twists. Gone are the Deus Ex Machnia saves, boring descriptions, boring characters, boring dialogue, and no consequence of actions for the parties (Spoiler, literally everyone of consequence in the first book that are 'killed' live because "reasons.")

There is real death and decision hinged on every action. Though the main players are all wearing their plot armor to some extent, the FEELING of danger exist. There are real plots and intrigue, and players in the game act with shades of grey as opposed to the first book and the plot moves and twists without it feeling forced or expected. The Fury Crafting magic system has rules, limitations, explanations, and in doing so makes it even more interesting rather than hindering it.

Highly recommend and hope the steam continues for Book 3.