The sixth (and final?) novel in the Codex Alera series was released last month, I waited till the xmas rush was over before importing a copy from the states.

I'm a huge fan of Jim Butchers Dresden Files but Codex Alera is far more complex and world encompassing and is closer to a traditional swords and sorcery epic.
I won't go into any spoiler level details but in the this novel we see perhaps the final few steps taken by the central character "Tavi" in his journey from an powerless freak and orphan to the most powerful human alive and and the fulcrum between the survival of his people and the triumph of the Vord invaders.



Jim Butcher Website