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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Great Dresden book. Lots of cool mythos, a fantastic fantasy battle, a great arc for Harry. Loved it.
Audio book
I think I like the narrator (James Marsters or "Spike") more than the actual story, but it was enjoyable.
I think I like the narrator (James Marsters or "Spike") more than the actual story, but it was enjoyable.
A good continuation of the series, more and more elements to the world are coming to light and it's interesting. Still, the repeated cycle is wearing on me a bit, and this felt like Dresden was just along for the ride unlike previous novels.
I really enjoyed this one. I think partly because so much of it takes place in Faerie. I also love Butcher's sense of humor, like at the end were the wizard and werewolves sit down to pizza and a role-playing game.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This would have been 4 stars but the beginning has some extremely cringey racial descriptions that I couldn’t get past
O.k. I've never been a "fantasy fiction" fan. Never, or at least not much of one. Last year I read the Outlander series. L O V E D it! But, really, it wasn't so much fantasy as historical fiction (which I've loved for some time now) done with a bit of fantasy woven in. My sweet husband has been a devout fantasy fiction fan for as long as I've known him! I think that my reading Heinlein was a prerequisite for us to have dated, if I can remember that far back. A prerequisite I met obviously. I read Douglas Adams during our first year of marriage which helped us through a difficult year. But for the bulk of our time together (yesterday was 24 years married as a matter of fact), I've read different books than he has for the bulk of our recreational reading. Historical mystery fiction and a series set in the National Park system the only common ground between us. Thank goodness for Gordianus and Anna Pigeon!
All that being said, his absorption in the Harry Dresden novels intrigued me. He fell into them the way I fell into the Outlander series. Wholly, deeply and with much smirking and mirth noted as he read to himself. He spent many hours engrossed in the books. He neglected familial obligations, begging off that he'd rather just spend the night-in reading. I finally caved and asked to read one from his collection.
The first I liked well enough. The second one was rough going, but not without some promise to it. The third one was better. This, the fourth novel in the series, was damn good! And I had to marvel at how it was that I, scoffer at such fluffy devices as fairies and pixies, was digging this book! I don't read this stuff! I mean, really. I have to attribute it to Butcher's grounding the stories in a very real Chicago and with a very human protagonist. After all, Harry is a gun-totting wizard. Reminds me of that scene in Indiana Jones where you are ready for him to use that whip and do amazing things (dare I say magical?) with it against the equally amazing swordsman, however he rather pedantically shoots him instead. The Dresden novels are like this scene. Impossible things only when impossible things are called for in the story. Otherwise it is wits, wisdom, persistence, and often sheer tenacity that wins the day. As noted earlier (comments on another post I made about this book series) the women in it are not all fluff-headed dolts who are simply fodder for the protagonist's oft-stated need to rescue damsels-in-distress. He does get his butt kicked by a woman or two. And the women he love(s/d) are not intellectual lightweights by any measure. They hold their own.
In short: reasonable guy who happens to be a wizard, but lives in the real world (most of the time) who doesn't overly patronize the women in his life. Who is surrounded by women who wouldn't let him do so anyway. Oh, and there are fairies and pixies and magical stuff. I can deal with that. I plan to continue reading this series. I'll try not to inundate you with reviews. But when I find a book I really like, in a genre I've not liked much before, it is worth posting.
I should note, in case you were going to call child protective services on us, that we did read the Harry Potter series with our child, as a family. The paterfamilias going so far as to stand in line at midnight releases among miniature Harrys, Rons and Hermiones to safely obtain our next fix as soon as was possibly. We read them without stopping the first weekend they were available, invariably. I made sandwiches or ordered chinese delivery so I didn't have to stop to cook. I didn't say I didn't read fantasy, just that I'd never thought myself a "fan" of it. Now I don't know.
T.
All that being said, his absorption in the Harry Dresden novels intrigued me. He fell into them the way I fell into the Outlander series. Wholly, deeply and with much smirking and mirth noted as he read to himself. He spent many hours engrossed in the books. He neglected familial obligations, begging off that he'd rather just spend the night-in reading. I finally caved and asked to read one from his collection.
The first I liked well enough. The second one was rough going, but not without some promise to it. The third one was better. This, the fourth novel in the series, was damn good! And I had to marvel at how it was that I, scoffer at such fluffy devices as fairies and pixies, was digging this book! I don't read this stuff! I mean, really. I have to attribute it to Butcher's grounding the stories in a very real Chicago and with a very human protagonist. After all, Harry is a gun-totting wizard. Reminds me of that scene in Indiana Jones where you are ready for him to use that whip and do amazing things (dare I say magical?) with it against the equally amazing swordsman, however he rather pedantically shoots him instead. The Dresden novels are like this scene. Impossible things only when impossible things are called for in the story. Otherwise it is wits, wisdom, persistence, and often sheer tenacity that wins the day. As noted earlier (comments on another post I made about this book series) the women in it are not all fluff-headed dolts who are simply fodder for the protagonist's oft-stated need to rescue damsels-in-distress. He does get his butt kicked by a woman or two. And the women he love(s/d) are not intellectual lightweights by any measure. They hold their own.
In short: reasonable guy who happens to be a wizard, but lives in the real world (most of the time) who doesn't overly patronize the women in his life. Who is surrounded by women who wouldn't let him do so anyway. Oh, and there are fairies and pixies and magical stuff. I can deal with that. I plan to continue reading this series. I'll try not to inundate you with reviews. But when I find a book I really like, in a genre I've not liked much before, it is worth posting.
I should note, in case you were going to call child protective services on us, that we did read the Harry Potter series with our child, as a family. The paterfamilias going so far as to stand in line at midnight releases among miniature Harrys, Rons and Hermiones to safely obtain our next fix as soon as was possibly. We read them without stopping the first weekend they were available, invariably. I made sandwiches or ordered chinese delivery so I didn't have to stop to cook. I didn't say I didn't read fantasy, just that I'd never thought myself a "fan" of it. Now I don't know.
T.
Audio version: It's starting to distract me how often Marsters misses pronunciation on a word. I'm not talking about regionalisms, I'm talking about saying "bow" (as in tie) instead of "bow" (as in gesture). Simple mistakes, but a Producer should have caught them.
Otherwise, these books are always great entertainment and I look forward to each one. Our Hero gets into more scrapes than an active 8 year old and I can never tell just how the heck he's going to get out of it THIS time. I'm happy that the author decided it was time for Harry to allow people to be his friends now though. OK where's the next book?? ;)
Otherwise, these books are always great entertainment and I look forward to each one. Our Hero gets into more scrapes than an active 8 year old and I can never tell just how the heck he's going to get out of it THIS time. I'm happy that the author decided it was time for Harry to allow people to be his friends now though. OK where's the next book?? ;)
This is a great modern or urban fantasy. I've read the first nine books in the series and don't intend to review all of them, so this is a review of the series. There is a formula to the series, and it becomes a bit too apparent about mid-way through the books I've read, but the writing is good enough to overlook it.
The characters are interesting and the action is well paced. Highly recommended to anyone interested in magic set in the modern world.
The characters are interesting and the action is well paced. Highly recommended to anyone interested in magic set in the modern world.
This series is getting better as it goes. I find it interesting that this book brings back Billy and the Alphas after completely ignoring them in book 3 (though this book completely ignored Michael Carpenter who was Harry's best bud in book 3). You also didn't get beaten over the head with how exhausted/at the end of his rope Harry is in this book, which was refreshing. Lots of interesting monsters with clever applications of magic and household goods to beat them. Keep it coming.