Hi. As of a few days ago, I have read the first four books of "The Codex Alera" by Jim (The Dresden Files) Butcher.
Book one "Furies of Calderon" begins the story and set up of the world of Alera where every citizen has a sacred bond with the furies; elementals of fire, water, air, earth, wood, and steel. Everyone, that is, except young Tavi of Calderon, who, at sixteen years of age, has no fire fury to light his lamps, no air fury to help him fly. But things change when the oldest enemy of the realm, The Marat Horde, return to the valley. Tavi's courage and resourcefulness become a weapon greater than any other...one that could prevent the valley from open war.

In book two, "Academ's Fury", Tavi is now a student at The Academy, the finest school in all of Alera, and training to become a "Cursor"; the personal guard/messengers for the lords of Calderon. But, while in training, an attack from overseas weakens the First Lord's rule. If he should fall, a violent civil war is inevitable. At the same time, the Calderon Valley is slowly being invaded, and Tavi may well be the only one who could prevent everything from total destruction.

In book three, "Cursor's Fury", Tavi is now a Cursor for the First Lord of Alera. And when the the power-hungry High Lord of Kalare launches a merciless rebellion against the First Lord, Tavi of Calderon joins the newly formed legion under an assumed name. But after joining, he finds himself leading an ill equipped, inexperienced legion...the only thing standing between Alera and certain doom.

In book four, "Captain's Fury", Tavi is now Captain of the legions. And after two years of bitter conflict with the Canim (A race of anthro wolves), he realizes that a far greater threat exists...the one that drove the Canim to flee their homeland. Tavi suggests forming an alliance with the Canim against their common foe, but his words go unheeded, as the newly formed military captain has long since sought to wipe out the "Canim scourge" and their slave allies. Tavi must find a way to overcome centuries worth of hostilities if an alliance is to be formed, and lead his army in defiance of law, or none at all will have any chance of survival.



And so, that is that set up for the first four books. Each one, as you can see, has a unique story line. It has many, many other things to like in each book. Each has a very large cast of characters, a complex plot with many twists and thickenings, a continuous and constant fast pace, and nearly non-stop action. Each one in the series follows a pattern: Book two is better than book one, book three is better than book two, and book four is better than book three; unlike most series these days where they only get worse the further you get! This series is quickly becoming my all time favorite of all time! And those of you who love high fantasy, but are tired of all the reused elements, plot lines, and characters, DO NOT MISS IT! It has barely any traces of familiar elements to be found!
Thank you! That is all!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Alera