Codex Alera

Codex Alera is a fantasy book series by Jim Butcher. The series chronicles the coming-of-age of a young man named Tavi in the realm of Alera, an empire similar to Rome, on the world of Carna. Every Aleran has some degree of command over elemental forces or spirits called furies, save for Tavi, who is considered unusual for his lack of one. As the aging First Lord struggles to maintain his hold on a realm on the brink of civil war, Tavi must use all of his intelligence to save Alera.

Alera is part of a large continent that is inhabited by the Icemen to the north. They are connected to another large continent held by the Marat via a land bridge, which is the location of the Calderon Valley. The Canim reside across the ocean to the west, staging regular, bloody raids on coastal settlements. A map of the realm, illustrated by fan Priscilla Spencer, was published in First Lord's Fury.

The inspiration for the series came from a bet Jim was challenged to by a member of the Del Rey Online Writer’s Workshop. The challenger bet that Jim could not write a good story based on a lame idea, and Jim countered that he could do it using two lame ideas of the challenger’s choosing. The “lame” ideas given were “Lost Roman Legion", and “Pokémon”.^[1]

Books in the series

Furies

Furies are elemental spirits (earth, water, fire, wind, metal, and wood) that inhabit all aspects of Alera. Some are small and cannot be seen, and others are powerful enough to manifest when called upon by their wielders. There also exist "Great Furies," the most powerful and ancient of these spirits, by which Alerans swear and curse. They manifest as geographic formations of great elemental power, such as volcanoes and oceans, and are far more often restrained or provoked than explicitly commanded, and then only by fury-crafters of exceptional strength. Many Alerans are unaware of the Great Furies' actual existence, imagining them to be more mythic than real, but this disbelief is incorrect.

While Proto-Aleran ruins show no sign of fury-crafting ability amongst humans of the past, the Aleran people at the present day manifest personal furies in their early childhood or adolescent years, and control them with their minds. They are used to aid them in whatever task undertaken from housework to combat. This fury-based magic is accomplished in one of two forms. First, an Aleran may draw from the strength of their fury to increase their own. For example, earth crafters often draw physical might from the ground, through their furies, to allow them to lift loads far too heavy for normal people, while wind crafters can increase their speed and metalcrafters their endurance. The second form of fury-crafting is to "manifest" a fury. This involves the fury taking a visible form, often the shape of an animal, though taking the shape of a human is not unheard of. Manifested furies are necessary for the most powerful forms of fury-crafting, including flight (windcrafting) and healing (watercrafting).

Most Alerans display some type of rudimentary ability in all areas of fury-crafting, but are highly skilled in only one or two types. High Lords and their offspring generally show considerable talent in all areas of fury-crafting well beyond the capabilities of a typical person, indicating that heredity plays some role in fury-crafting. Residents of large cities typically treat furies as generic entities while those in rural areas forge close personal bonds with specific furies usually tied closely to particular natural landmarks. All Alerans of sufficient talent and strength in fury-crafting to be named to the Citizenry are obligated by law to marry someone with similar strength, in the interest of producing children with strong fury-crafting ability.

During "Princeps' Fury", the First Lord is shown to have a fury named Alera that he can commune with as if the fury was a human. She is an amalgam of all the fury types. She came into being when the first Gaius Primus took stone from all over Alera and incorporated it into the mural in the First Lord's meditation chamber. The fury takes the form of a woman, and her eyes constantly change color, from the color of steel (Metal fury) to the colors of gemstones, such as emerald (Earth) and sapphires (Water). Her clothing has been described of being made of thick, shimmering fog (Air), and her face is youthful, while her hair is gray with streams of red (Fire). She appears to Tavi at the very end of "Princeps' Fury", and says that his grandfather called her Alera. She is the source of much of the power always held by the First Lord above his fellow High Lords. She can give a fury-crafter unmatched power but her help must always affect everyone equally.

Types

Watercrafters are not conventionally used in the front lines of battle. In the series, Tavi himself also uses them almost strictly as medical staff that actively tend to the injured. Given the amount of casualties during battles, any and all Watercraft specialists are assigned to that position. As a result, there is no real Watercraft rank of Knight.

A group of raw recruits, or "fish," who acquitted themselves remarkably well under Tavi's command, were given the nickname "Knights Pisces".

Races of Carna

Alerans

Alerans are humans, taking their name from the country they inhabit. They are the most developed civilization on Carna, and they exert their influence over all other sentient races through their use of furies. Their far-flung empire spans most of an entire continent, but they are pressed on all sides by hostile enemies. Their government is a feudal monarchy with institutions derived from the Roman Empire. The government is headed by a single patriarchal monarch, the First Lord, who controls the high lords and their territories. The Senate is the political body for the empire, establishing laws and government appropriations. All of the high lords and senators are part of an aristocracy called Citizens, as are lesser lords and nobles. To become a Citizen, an Aleran must either win a duel with a Citizen called the juris macto or be appointed by the First Lord. Citizens are similar in status to Roman Patricians.

Aleran culture is male dominated and allows for people to be bought and sold as slaves. Women's rights are lacking in many respects but a highly influential Dianic League is winning support for more rights. The country is organized into city-states, with each of the major cities ruled by a high lord. The outlying areas of the cities are inhabited by farms, called Steadholts. Each Steadholt is led by a steadholder who rules that area of Alera, under the authority of the local High Lord.

The Aleran military is organized into legions similar to those used by the Romans. Each High Lord is allowed and responsible for maintaining three full legions (containing Knights and foot soldiers called legionares) and a contingent of bodyguards (singulares). Each legion has sworn loyalties to their High Lord, which causes issues when conflict arises between the First Lord and a High Lord.

Canim

The Canim are large, anthropomorphic wolf-like creatures and fierce warriors. They are long-lived, with a society organized in a caste-like social hierarchy which is susceptible to political in-fighting. Canim speak a growling barking language more suitable to their muzzles than the mangled Aleran that they attempt. Most Aleran contact with the Canim is through Canim raids along the west coast of Alera. They are capable of sorcery, as revealed in Academ's Fury when the Canim use their influence over the elements to batter the coast of Alera with violent storms and in Cursor's Fury when they shot bolts of concentrated red lightning to hit the officers of the First Aleran legion. The blood of living (or formerly living) intelligent beings is necessary in the use of Canim sorcery, in contrast to the fury-based magic of the Alerans. Their current ambassador to Alera is Varg, who was imprisoned after the events of Academ's Fury. In Cursor's Fury, a large contingent of Canim invade Alera with the intent of creating a permanent colony on the continent. In Captain's Fury, it is revealed that the Canim are invading Alera with such massive forces because their homeland has been invaded by the Vord. In "Princep's Fury" it is revealed that Canea used to consist of several countries, or ranges as the Canim term them, each of them as big as or bigger than Alera itself. Yet by the time the Canim invasion force returns home only one range, Shuar, remains. Shuar is described as a cold, northern, range with tundra and hardy people. The Shuarans are known for their golden fur and their monumental defense engineering. They had turned the plateau that defined their range into a monstrous fortress, which is the reason they have survived against the vord longer than the others. The Narashans are Canim with mainly Black fur and are called the "tree people" by other Canim, suggesting that they once lived in forests. Their range was south of Shuar. Ambassador Varg is a war-leader of Narash. Most Canim view Alerans as unnatural demons and call them as such. Historically, only the Canim of Narash viewed the Alerans as anything more than vermin to be eventually exterminated.

Four classes in the Canim caste system are described:

• The warrior caste consists of the elite warriors. These professional soldiers are the Canim analog of legionnaires. They are taller and stronger than the other castes and much more disciplined. They are issued military standard armor and weapons. Warriors often ride on animals called Tuarg, which are giant bull-like creatures that are very irritable and will eat their rider or trample them if not held in check with Canim discipline. The heads of Canim armies are known as Warmasters.

• The Maker caste consists of the farmers and artisans, the Canim equivalent of an Aleran steadholder. In the invasion of Alera, the Maker caste is deployed in raiding parties that attack Aleran travelers and raid steadholts with improvised weapons. They are not very disciplined and pose a threat mainly because of their numbers and sheer Canim strength. By the end of "Captain's Fury" the Raiders that were a part of the Canim invasion have been trained by Nasuag into a force that approaches the warrior caste in capability.

• The Ritualist caste consists of the Canim's spellcasters. They gain their power from the blood of intelligent creatures. They have the power to summon red cloud-like creatures with acidic tentacles to guard the sky from flying Alerans. They can also summon fire or acid from the sky and cause devastating damage to their foes. They use their own race's and Aleran blood for power. Originally, their role in Canim society was to grant luck, bless family lines, and grant a plentiful harvest, but by the time of the invasion of Alera, they are vying with the warrior caste for political control of the Canim. They often use the skin or body parts of their enemies as clothing or tools. For example, many ritualists have cloaks made of human leather or helmets made of Vord skulls.

• The Hunters are the Canim version of Cursors. They are the spies, scouts, and assassins of the Canim. They use short black lengths of chain, small javelins, and iron bars for throwing. These light weapons allow the hunters to sneak up on people. They are only mentioned in passing in the books until Princeps' Fury, in which they make their first appearance. Unlike cursors, they have no overt authority, remaining as pure covert operatives. They are considered to already be dead, having received their blood song (Canim form of last rites) when they became hunters. The Hunters are usually assigned to a Warmaster. They are most commonly tasked with missions where the letter of the Canim codes of honor must be violated in order to preserve the spirit of the codes. The Hunters justify their role by renouncing their right to their life, removing their obligation to observe the codes. With extreme skills in stealth and assassination, Hunters are able to sneak in and out of the most guarded positions in Canea and Alera. This is often used to the advantage of Warmasters who can cause dissenters or enemies to simply "disappear".

Icemen

Very little is known about the Icemen except that they are a savage enemy of Alera, held at bay along the northern fringes of the empire by the Shieldwall. The expense of maintaining the northern defenses, as well as the slave trade, has caused a political rift between the cities of northern Alera and the cities of southern Alera. The Marat use the hair of female Icemen to make incredibly strong, lightweight ropes that will not freeze and break, even in the coldest of climates. In the Marat language, they are called the Gadrim-ha. Icemen first appear in the prologue of "Princeps' Fury" where they are described as being apelike creatures, the tallest the size of a legionnare but with broader shoulders and chest. They hurl icicles as javelins. In "Princeps' Fury", some light is shed upon their method of communication; they make use of considerable mental powers to share emotions. The use of this ability is also available to watercrafters, as Isana demonstrates during negotiations with the Icemen. She also theorizes that this, in conjunction with some type of firecrafting, is the accidental cause of the conflict between Icemen and Alerans, igniting passions that escalated into war. It is also hinted that they wield some form of control over the weather; their military movements are almost always accompanied by snow storms.

In First Lord's Fury, Tavi announces that Alera will lease the Wall from the Icemen before eventually tearing it down. After the Vord War is concluded, the Icemen become a part of the new racially integrated society of Alera, receiving their own recognized state. An Iceman even attends Tavi and Kitai's wedding, with the aid of a coldstone amulet around its neck.

Marat

The Marat are a silver-haired, pale-skinned people who reside on a continent connected to Alera via a land bridge (where the Calderon Valley is located). The Marat appear in many ways to simply be barbaric humans, but their culture and physiology show several key differences, including night vision and exceptional physical abilities, and are noted to have a much higher body temperature than Alerans. They are an aggressive race who routinely fight one another in small scale conflicts. The Marat bind themselves to another creature (such as a Wolf, Herdbane, Gargant, Horse, Fox, Lion and even in one case an Aleran) and call this creature their Totem (chala), gaining many of the creature's strengths and abilities; for example, the members of the Gargant clan have exceptional strength, while those of the Horse clan are faster than other Marat. They are also known for "partaking" in their fallen enemies, where they eat their adversaries (sometimes alive) in combat to gain their strength. It has not been shown whether this actually improves the physical abilities of a Marat or is merely superstition. When their hordes attacked Alera before Tavi was born, they killed the Princeps Septimus' Legion at the First Battle of Calderon. However, after a series of complicated events, their most powerful clans, the Gargant and the Horse clans, became allies of the Aleran nation and often help them against the other hostile forces in Carna. In Captain's Fury, the Marat are seen supplying the First Aleran legion with scout auxiliaries and are trading with the Alerans at the city of Garrison, with one of their headman offering to act as moderator in negotiations between the Icemen and Aleran representatives. In First Lord's Fury, the Gargant, Herdbane and other Marat clans come to the aid of the Alerans in the defense of their final holdout in the Calderon Valley.

Vord

Little is known about the Vord. They are described repeatedly as an "alien" race, but no one knows where they come from. The Vord are originally found in Alera in the Wax forest, where their Queen slumbered. Events were set into motion by Tavi and Kitai which awakened the queen, and caused the Vord invasion. According to Marat tradition, they are shapeshifters. When they come, they possess members of a sentient race, consuming their souls and transforming them into the Taken. The normal vord scouts (called Keepers) have the appearance of large spiders and see in infrared vision. They feed on a translucent, waxy substance called croach, and resided in dormancy in the Wax Forest before they were awoken by Tavi and Kitai. After the Vord queen was awakened, she began producing members of the Vord warrior form; these vord warriors tend to take on the characteristics of the civilization that they are assaulting, and have colossal reserves of strength. When facing the Alerans, they take on humanoid forms, and emulate the Knights. For example, one type of Warrior Vord has a humanoid body, dragonfly-like wings, and two blade-like arms the same length as a legionnaire's Gladius (the Legion weapon of choice) and thus resemble a Knight Aeris. In another instance, they take on the characteristics of the Canim Warrior caste. While they can be killed by conventional methods, the most effective way to kill a Vord warrior is to burst the large, croach filled bubble on its back. At the start of each Vord uprising, there is a primary queen; this queen rapidly forms a nest, and spawns two additional queens who depart to form separate nests; each queen is capable of creating more queens, although in "Princeps' Fury," it is discovered that the primary queen birthed sterile queens in the Canim lands. The Keepers, venomous, spider-like creatures the size of dogs, maintain the croach; without the croach the Vord can not survive, for it acts as both air and food. Keepers take living creatures into the croach and they are slowly dissolved into it. The Vord's main objective appears to be to make all things like itself; in pursuit of this goal, the three queens will each occupy different areas of the places (in Carna) they wish to "infect." After the events in the book "Cursor's Fury," the prologue states that the Vord have taken over the savage Canim's homeland. After events in "Princeps' Fury," the Vord queen is described as looking like Kitai but greenish; this probably has something to do with the events that happened between Kitai and Tavi when they sought the Blessing Of The Night (a thorny mushroom that heals all wounds, injuries, and ailments similar to an elixir of life) in Calderon many years before, and awoke the creature. After "First Lord's Fury" the Vord in Alera are left in disarray and are slowly being exterminated, though wild Vord who learned to survive do remain. The Vord in Canea are left as a future threat to the realm, unifying the surviving races against the common enemy.

Extinct races

In "Princeps' Fury," a few races which were driven extinct by the Alerans are mentioned. These include the Children of the Sun (formerly of the Feverthorn jungle), the Malorandim, the Avar, the Yrani, and the Dekh. Nothing is known about them besides the fact that they all once had empires that were powerful enough to challenge Alera at the time; and that the Children of the Sun left a series of ruins in the Feverthorn jungle, as well as an unknown force which has kept Alerans out even centuries after their extinction.

Relation to Rome

Codex Alera takes place during the reign of a Rome-like empire. While the relationship between ancient Rome and the realm of Alera is only alluded to over the course of the series, having been lost to history, Butcher confirmed that the people of Alera are the descendants of the "lost Roman legion" (the Legio IX Hispana) and its camp followers, which had been transported to the continent of Carna—an effective "drop chute for the Bermuda triangle."^[2]

The realm's Roman ancestry endures in the hierarchical society; the military structure, fighting style, and weaponry; and the nomenclature of cities, geographical formations, people, and ranks. At least one book survived, as well. In the prologue to First Lord's Fury, the Canim Warmaster Varg is reading a book out of Alera's history, but comments that he does not believe "Julius" could have taught Tavi anything. Like the explorers of Earth, Alerans had a tendency to name the places they discovered and built after places in the world they left behind. The ruined city of Appia, one of the earliest Aleran settlements, most likely refers to the Appian Way, also known as Via Appia, which is one of the earliest and most strategic roads in Ancient Rome. It is in this city that Tavi and Maestro Magnus perform their research into Romanic technology at the beginning of Cursor's Fury. When questioned about the term "Romanic" by Max, Tavi responds, "The people were called Romans...you call something Romanic when it was built by Romans."

Other geographic features named for places in Rome include the River Gaul (from the region approximating present day France and Belgium), the Tiber River (from the main watercourse of the city of Rome), the city of Aquitaine (from the province of Gaul compromising Novempopulania and Gascony), the city of Phrygia (from a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Turkey), and the city of Rhodes (from a Greek island southwest of Turkey in eastern Aegean Sea).

Some of the names appropriated for Aleran geography are borrowed from Roman mythology, though the gods themselves did not survive. The city of Ceres shares its name with the Roman goddess of agriculture, and Placida was a surname of the goddess Venus.

Characters

Major characters

Minor characters

References

1. ↑ Butcher, Jim. "Jim Butcher interview". Short Story Geeks Episode Eleven. suvudu.com. Retrieved 18 January 2012. 
2. ↑ Butcher, Jim. "Jim Butcher question and answer session during San Diego Comic Con 2008". Jim Butcher question and answer session during San Diego Comic Con 2008. suvudu.com. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
3. ↑ "Cursor's Fury" page 508

External links

• Codex Alera website