Codex Alera

Ah, but some of the wordplay in dialogue suggests that they are actually speaking English. For instance, when Tavi is trying to explain to Kitai what a lie is, she thinks he means to lie down.

Point. Just let it go, man. And regarding Araris/Isana, they knew each other from before the series.

Oh, I'm just messing with deathpigeon. I'm well aware that the language in fantasy novels never makes sense if you think about it too hard.

Anyway, regarding Araris and Isana, yeah they knew each other back then, and then they spent 20 years barely speaking to each other. I still don't buy it.

But the names are clearly Roman.

I'm reading Cursor's Fury right now, too. I'm at the point where Kalares has made his move against the Crown. It's mostly been chapter after chapter involving Isana, Bernard, and Amara though. Nothing mentioned of the Crown Legion except that they're a few days away from Ceres, marching to help defend it.

Hopefully during that time Max's stepmother will meet with an accident of some kind >.>

So does anyone else (I'm on Princep's Fury now btw) think it's weird how everyone is completely okay with Demos? The man is complicit in aiding the attempted assassination of the first lord, transported the Vord to Canea, directly leading to the Canim invasion, and assisted Lord Kalare in his coordination with Sarl. By all rights, Tavi should have the bastard executed, but he seems to treat him as a decent man with a few regrettable vices. He seems more concerned with the man's occasional slave trading, despite it being a legal practice that Tavi never had a huge problem with before, than his actions resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Alerans. It just comes off as rather inconsistent considering the books are usually very good at making character motivations believable and understandable.

Anyway, I'm very excited to see Canea now. I think the Canim are my favorite part of the series, which I never really expected. I absolutely love the emphasis on body language, it makes them actually feel alien. When they smile by lolling their mouths open and panting just like a dog though, it always makes me laugh. One minute: terrifying honorable yet bloodthirsty monsters. The next: adorable happy puppies.

One thing from the end of Captain's Fury: All this time, whenever someone like Isana went off about how awful Gaius was and how he couldn't be trusted and such, I could never believe it. Up until now he's shown himself to be immensely smart, competent, wise, just, and pretty much a wonderful leader all around. And then he went and murdered tens of thousands of people who never had a chance to survive. I never would have expected such a thing, but I guess now I know why everyone wants him to step down. With decisions like that, he's no longer fit to rule.

Keep in mind, there was nothing else Gaius could have done. It was either step in and kill thousands or do nothing and let millions be killed.

No, those were the only two options he gave himself. He narrowed it down to a binary choice in order to make it sound justified. For one thing, Kalarus wasn't going to do it until the Legions arrived at his city. So if he'd held off the assault, he'd have had time to try and find another option. I expect Tavi would have found a better solution had it been up to him.

Yeah, Sextus was in a lose-lose situation there. Kalarus had rigged his trap so that an atrocity would happen no matter what anyone did. What Sextus did was horrifying, but the really horryifing thing was that it was almost certainly the best outcome. Once the Great Fury had been stirred up, the only question was when it would go off, and there would be no way to evacuate the area without Kalarus triggering the thing out of sheer spite. Any attempt to grab or kill him would have the same result.

EDIT:Tavi might have been able to find a solution, but he's probably one of the only people who could. And if I'm not mistaken, Sextus admits near the end that Tavi is a better man and will be the better ruler.

EDIT II: Don't underestimate High Lord Kalarus's skill and capacity for dog-kicking. The man could teach it at a university level. I've no doubt that the instant he thought Sextus was in the area, he'd be more than willing to blow himself up if that's what it took to finish him. This is the guy who basically created the settinng's equivalent of a ticking nuke and sat on it. I don't think his stability or survival instinct is all that high at the moment.

edited 18th Jul '12 7:50:11 PM by MasterGhandalf

Maybe Tavi would have, I don't know, gone up to Kalare and convinced it to chill out with The Power of Friendship or something. But I think the book makes it clear that it was gonna blow up, Kalarus or not.

If anybody could find a solution, it would be Tavi, but I'd still put his odds pretty low. Kalarus is probably the most evil, by this point deranged villain in the series, and a Great Fury is basically Cthulhu plus a nuclear warhead. You might- might- be able to save the people if you could somehow subdue Kalarus without him setting off the Fury, but the land of Kalare itself was doomed from the moment its High Lord woke the thing up.

Well finally finished...and goddam I want a Codex Alera movie series even more now! Casting would be a beast though, but I think it could be pulled off if given the write amount of love.

Despite it being set in a whole fantasy world, I think Special Effects would be easier for Codex than for The Dresden Files, considering the vast majority of magic used in the series is internal and has no noticeable outward effect.

All right then, since someone has mentioned a movie its Fantasy Casting Game time! Who would you cast?

Getting the ball rolling:

Nicole Kidman as High Lady Placida

Joseph Gordon Levit as Ehren

Joseph seems too old for Ehren, honestly. I'm terrible with picking actors, but if they did make this series into a movie, I'd love to see Karen Gillan or Matt Smith doing something.

edited 20th Jul '12 9:27:06 PM by Accela

Who's a good fit for cranky yet badass old men for Sextus?

Tommy Lee Jones?

Jeremy Irons? It would be nice for him to be in a fantasy film that doesn't suck.

Hmm. Irons might work. Who for Doroga and Kitai?

The problem with Doroga is the sheer physical size required to play him. The phrase walking mountain of muscle comes to mind.

Hugo Weaving for Gaius!

Kitai? Maise Williams is doing a damn awesome job as Arya as since she is one of the few young(ish) actresses she could play the part the entire time.

And for some reason I see Sean Bean as Fideleus and considering how often he "dies" I think that could work rather nicely.

Arnold for Doroga? Jason Mamoa would work as well. Hmm my cast list seems to include a good number of Game of Thrones people.

The best option would be to do what Harry Potter did, cast the mains of Tavi, Ehren, Max, etc young enough that they can age along with the film.

edited 21st Jul '12 3:41:42 AM by syvaris

I think the actress for Arya is a bit young right now, maybe in a few years. For Doroga... well, maybe look for a bodybuilder with some acting talent.

Well considering Tavi/Kitai are fourteen or so during Furies of Calderon I think she could work rather well. Say the movie starts getting thought up in the next year, so filming begins in two, she'll be great. Plus playing two kickass young ladies would be pretty awesome for her.

Well, but considering Kitai's, um, development in the following books, that actress may not be able to... fill out the role.

Did Kitai really filled out all that much? I was under the impression she was always kinda waifish.