The setting is somewhat reminiscent of Crown Duel, by Sherwood Smith. That earthy, natural way of presenting a land and its inhabitants that almost smacks of firsthand experience in the reader's mind. A well-grounded knowledge of terrain and nature, and a very descriptive (though not repetitive) use of exposition where characters' locations are concerned.

And the characters, as I said, behave like real people. Furthermore, they are motivated by their hopes, dreams, and emotions...their actions tinged and constantly shifting with the latter. They flow and ebb against one another...no character is static or stagnant within the arc of the story.

Butcher's grasp of pacing is, in my opinion, top-notch. I never felt the reading experience bog down. I read four hundred pages in one evening/morning, without a break. He anticipated with great foresight when and where a reader might begin to tire of a character's role, and transitions fluidly to another to balance out the flow of the story. Besides that, all of his characters are fascinating studies in humanity. No two are alike, though some are intentionally compared (but different enough to generate a host of questions, insights, and laughs regarding their respective backgrounds).

The main character is not a gung-ho type. Not a quick learner. Not especially gifted (certainly not in the traditional 'fantasy' sense of the word). In fact, it is his stark comparison to our brand of humanity that makes him endearing. Butcher paints him as sort of an underdog, and we feel for the MC as we would feel for a young person in real life under analogous circumstances.

Butcher's dialogue is also quite good. While it came off sounding a little...hokey...at times, he was very careful in crafting a realistic web of communication between the various POV characters. Each spoke differently, as one might expect, and it was apparent to me that each is very well delineated in Butcher's mind. These characters, to be portrayed so well, must be writing for themselves, so to speak. This is my favorite way of describing characters that are so realistic, so well thought out that they come alive for the writer. Subsequently, their dialogue and actions are measured against what they would do, rather than the writer's preconceived vision or plot.

Overall, Furies of Calderon stands out as one of the most enjoyable works of fantasy I have read in years. Not since Wizard's First Rule, by Terry Goodkind, have I been so enthralled in this genre. I look forward to reading the three sequels he has written since the publication of the first book in the 'Codex Alera' series, and highly recommend the first book if you are looking for a good work of fantasy.

Inkwell
------------------
"The difference between a writer and someone who says they want to write is merely the width of a postage stamp."
-Anonymous