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Nerdarchy > Reading List  > Books  > Codex Alera – Awesome Fantasy Setting – Great Source of Inspiration

Codex Alera – Awesome Fantasy Setting – Great Source of Inspiration

A Guide to the fantasy writings of Ty Johnston
Free fiction from Ty Johnston

codex aleraNerdarchist Ted here and today I am going to share one of my favorite book series with you.  Last week I opened up the Star Wars Beginner Box Force and Destiny.  You can read that one here.

Many of you may not be into novels, but I strongly recommend it.  Not only do you get to see a whole new world but you typically get to see plot and character development.  Whether you are a player or a DM it can help your role playing as well as keep you in the fantasy setting when you can’t get the group together.  It is also a great source of inspiration.

In case you are planning on reading this there will not be any major spoilers here but I will talk a little bit about the series and some of the minor things that happen over the course of the series so you can just go get your copy and stop reading or continue with this little warning.

Codex Alera – Awesome Fantasy Setting

In Alera the humans all posses one or more magics of the following type:  Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Metal or Wood.  This magic is different from all other types of magic I have read or played.  It is more about fantasy settingthe imagination of the user than about just using a list of powers.  There are several times when people are surprised by the effects that happen because someone tried something new.  This magic is through the use of Furies, which are creatures that exist but rarely come up unless summoned by the person they are bound to.

The book series is 6 books long and the series is complete, so if you are worried about starting a book series that might never finish or have to wait forever for the next one fear not this is ready to go for your reading pleasure.

This series also some something that is very cool.  Each book looks at some of the other races that share the campaign world and you get to learn about a new fantasy race throughout each book.  Each race has source of inspirationtheir own culture and unique point of view.

When reading this book series I was hooked, and bad, by page 9.  I own it in both print form and on audio and I cannot tell you the number of times that I have gone back and listened to it.  The characters are compelling and diverse.  If you have had times where you read a book series and you have loads of characters that you suffer through reading their vantage point just to get back to the characters you like fear not as this book has only a small handful of vantage points that you get so you are never far from the story you want to follow.

You learn about a rich history of the world that they live in possibly with some mystery behind it.  You get to see the events unfold all because of some crazy events that happen.  You can learn about Savage barbarians, Wolf people and the furry snow people of the north.  You see amazing acts of magic that differs from the worlds of D&D.

If that is not enough inspiration to either right a campaign or a campaign world I do not know what is.  This is a great story and as some would say a real page turner.

So you can grab your copy here and start reading right away.

As always thanks for reading.  Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!

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Ted Adams

The nerd is strong in this one. I received my bachelors degree in communication with a specialization in Radio/TV/Film. I have been a table op role player for about 20 years 17 of which with the current group. I have played several itterations of D&D, Mutants and Masterminds 2nd and 3rd editions, Star wars RPG, Shadowrun and World of Darkness. I am an avid fan of books and follow a few authors reading all they write. Favorite author is Jim Butcher I have been an on/off larper for around 15 years even doing a stretch of running my own for a while. I have played a number of Miniature games including Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy, Heroscape, Mage Knight, Dreamblade and D&D Miniatures. I have practiced with the art of the German long sword with an ARMA group for over 7 years studying the German long sword, sword and buckler, dagger, axe and polearm. By no strecth of the imagination am I an expert but good enough to last longer than the average person if the Zombie apocalypse ever happens. I am an avid fan of board games and dice games with my current favorite being Quarrios.

2 Comments

  • Burt Thedm
    March 19, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    I tryly enjoyed this series of books. The magic system seems to me to have some basic in the oriental elemental spirits belief system which I have found interesting ever since playing the game Bushido many years ago.

  • David Friant
    March 20, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    It was a fun read with some nice twists on your typical fantasy stories.

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