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loganvw's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
[audiobook] still a fun series.
gazook's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aceinit's review against another edition
2.0
I want to like these books. I just...
I can’t.
And most of that is due to spending too much time wanting to throttle the novel’s narrator/protaganist, Harry Dresden.
I have friends who love these books. Who swear by them. Who wait months and months with baited breath for each volume and who won’t shut up about how awesome they are and how, if I like urban fantasy, I HAVE to read Dresden because it’s one of the pioneers of the genre and Harry is so amazing and...
You get the point. We all have books like that. The Dresden Files, however, just isn't one of them for me.
I tried the series once before and gave up after reading two volumes. They were cute, but nothing that held my interest or that was particularly worthy of investing my time in. Mostly because the title character, Harry Dresden, struck me as more annoying than endearing, though I could never put my finger on why.
I am trying them again, a few years later, because I discovered the audio books, read by James Marsters. And, well, James Marsters. I could listen to Marsters read the phone book. And, at this point, Marsters is really the only thing keeping me going in this series. Because I need something to listen to during the first couple of hours at work when I have the office to myself.
My main problem with Dresden is that he’s an idiot when it comes to women. And let me just note here that I never thought I would go off on a book to this extent about its treatment of women, but brace yourselves, because here we go:
Dresden is a wannabe paragon of chivalry who more often comes off as an overprotective macho man who keeps making moronic mistakes because he can’t seem to get it through his head that women are Capable Creatures Who Can Handle Themselves and Be Just as Big of Bastards as the Menfolk.
In the last installment, or whatever installment it was that dealt with the Shroud of Turin, Harry kept getting set up and betrayed by a female agent because he could not stop thinking of her as a poor, helpless victim who needed his protection. Even after the second or third time she betrayed him, he just couldn’t shake the mindset.
This time, Dresden’s called to work in the porn industry, sort of, and as soon as that little tidbit came to light, I groaned inwardly.
Dresden is, go figure, a guy who’s not into porn. Apparently it exploits women. He’s never heard of the porn starlets who he encounters on the set. So of course, its female stars are not given serious consideration as suspects in the novel’s actual plot until it’s way too late.
Then there’s Lara Raith, who betrays both Harry and Thomas, tries to get them both killed, and who teams up with Harry solely for the purpose of saving her own ass when a bigger, badder enemy intervenes before she can finish offing Harry and Thomas. Harry seems to think this makes them allies, as he later helps Lara advance considerably in the vampiric hierarchy of her house. Apparently she’s the lesser of two evils. And he can trust her. Because she’s a woman. And women never screw anyone over ever. Nevermind that Harry learns Lara’s father is considerably weakened. Never mind that Lara’s already tried to kill him.
Then there is the literal growling with jealous rage when Kincaid helps Murphy slide her jeans off to perform a maneuver reminiscent of Catherine Zeta-Jones dancing around laser beams in "Entrapment". Nevermind that Murphy has to perform a maneuver reminiscent of Catherine Zeta-Jones dancing around laser beams in "Entrapment," except without pants, and then gets to fight crime and vampires in her little pink undies.
And don't even get me started on Harry’s reaction to the morning after the whole Justine debacle. Seriously, don't. Suffice to say that particular moment of “poor helpless little woman” narcissism turned me off of Dresden’s character completely. It's been a very, very long time since I wanted to punch a fictional character in the face quite that badly.
The macho, protective part of him just asserts itself too damn many times. And, at too damn many times, interrupts the flow of the narrative completely. I’ve managed to roll my eyes at it and move on, much like I do with the continued overuse of “Hell’s Bells” and the fact that Butcher just downright repeats himself in paragraphs, but this book was something of a snapping point for me. The fact that the climactic showdown was actually interrupted for Dresden to devote an entire chapter to Murphy being a Girl In Danger that He Couldn’t Protect killed any redeeming potential. Never mind that Harry was the one who asked Murphy to tag along with him. Never mind that Murphy knew the risks and is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. No, we have to stop the showdown so Dresden can spend a few pages feeling guilty.
Yes, I’m going to keep moving on with this series. Because of Marsters reading it. Because of characters like Karrin Murphy, Thomas Raith, Michael Carpenter, Kincaid, Ivy, and Bob the Skull, who I do care about and want to follow into future installments.
But not because of Harry Dresden. To be completely honest, the series would be much improved if he wasn’t in it.
I can’t.
And most of that is due to spending too much time wanting to throttle the novel’s narrator/protaganist, Harry Dresden.
I have friends who love these books. Who swear by them. Who wait months and months with baited breath for each volume and who won’t shut up about how awesome they are and how, if I like urban fantasy, I HAVE to read Dresden because it’s one of the pioneers of the genre and Harry is so amazing and...
You get the point. We all have books like that. The Dresden Files, however, just isn't one of them for me.
I tried the series once before and gave up after reading two volumes. They were cute, but nothing that held my interest or that was particularly worthy of investing my time in. Mostly because the title character, Harry Dresden, struck me as more annoying than endearing, though I could never put my finger on why.
I am trying them again, a few years later, because I discovered the audio books, read by James Marsters. And, well, James Marsters. I could listen to Marsters read the phone book. And, at this point, Marsters is really the only thing keeping me going in this series. Because I need something to listen to during the first couple of hours at work when I have the office to myself.
My main problem with Dresden is that he’s an idiot when it comes to women. And let me just note here that I never thought I would go off on a book to this extent about its treatment of women, but brace yourselves, because here we go:
Dresden is a wannabe paragon of chivalry who more often comes off as an overprotective macho man who keeps making moronic mistakes because he can’t seem to get it through his head that women are Capable Creatures Who Can Handle Themselves and Be Just as Big of Bastards as the Menfolk.
In the last installment, or whatever installment it was that dealt with the Shroud of Turin, Harry kept getting set up and betrayed by a female agent because he could not stop thinking of her as a poor, helpless victim who needed his protection. Even after the second or third time she betrayed him, he just couldn’t shake the mindset.
This time, Dresden’s called to work in the porn industry, sort of, and as soon as that little tidbit came to light, I groaned inwardly.
Dresden is, go figure, a guy who’s not into porn. Apparently it exploits women. He’s never heard of the porn starlets who he encounters on the set. So of course, its female stars are not given serious consideration as suspects in the novel’s actual plot until it’s way too late.
Then there’s Lara Raith, who betrays both Harry and Thomas, tries to get them both killed, and who teams up with Harry solely for the purpose of saving her own ass when a bigger, badder enemy intervenes before she can finish offing Harry and Thomas. Harry seems to think this makes them allies, as he later helps Lara advance considerably in the vampiric hierarchy of her house. Apparently she’s the lesser of two evils. And he can trust her. Because she’s a woman. And women never screw anyone over ever. Nevermind that Harry learns Lara’s father is considerably weakened. Never mind that Lara’s already tried to kill him.
Then there is the literal growling with jealous rage when Kincaid helps Murphy slide her jeans off to perform a maneuver reminiscent of Catherine Zeta-Jones dancing around laser beams in "Entrapment". Nevermind that Murphy has to perform a maneuver reminiscent of Catherine Zeta-Jones dancing around laser beams in "Entrapment," except without pants, and then gets to fight crime and vampires in her little pink undies.
And don't even get me started on Harry’s reaction to the morning after the whole Justine debacle. Seriously, don't. Suffice to say that particular moment of “poor helpless little woman” narcissism turned me off of Dresden’s character completely. It's been a very, very long time since I wanted to punch a fictional character in the face quite that badly.
The macho, protective part of him just asserts itself too damn many times. And, at too damn many times, interrupts the flow of the narrative completely. I’ve managed to roll my eyes at it and move on, much like I do with the continued overuse of “Hell’s Bells” and the fact that Butcher just downright repeats himself in paragraphs, but this book was something of a snapping point for me. The fact that the climactic showdown was actually interrupted for Dresden to devote an entire chapter to Murphy being a Girl In Danger that He Couldn’t Protect killed any redeeming potential. Never mind that Harry was the one who asked Murphy to tag along with him. Never mind that Murphy knew the risks and is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. No, we have to stop the showdown so Dresden can spend a few pages feeling guilty.
Yes, I’m going to keep moving on with this series. Because of Marsters reading it. Because of characters like Karrin Murphy, Thomas Raith, Michael Carpenter, Kincaid, Ivy, and Bob the Skull, who I do care about and want to follow into future installments.
But not because of Harry Dresden. To be completely honest, the series would be much improved if he wasn’t in it.
easmith29's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
diredreamings's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.5
capgambit's review against another edition
1.0
I've been liking this series but I will be skipping this one. The previous books have been MOSTLY okay with a little bit of sensuality. I started listening to this one and with the plot surrounding an executive producer of porn movies and Harry being a production assistant and can just imagine how far Butcher can take the sensuality and I really don't need to hear that much.
elbyxo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
linzthebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Blood Rites honestly wasn't my favorite of the Dresden Files so far. I still enjoyed it because of the world that Jim Butcher created, but this sixth book fell flat for me. I felt like it lacked plot and was mainly centered around Dresden's horniness. If it wasn't about Lara's weird Vampire Succubus vibe, it was about Karrin's ass.
What brought this to three stars for me is that it still had a lot of the humor I've come to love in this series and a great deal of back story that I felt had been previously missing. We get to learn a lot more about Dresden's family and why he was sent to Ebenezer. Those parts were exciting, but the rest? Meh.
Read my full review: https://linzthebookworm.blogspot.com/2021/04/book-review-blood-rites-by-jim-butcher.html
What brought this to three stars for me is that it still had a lot of the humor I've come to love in this series and a great deal of back story that I felt had been previously missing. We get to learn a lot more about Dresden's family and why he was sent to Ebenezer. Those parts were exciting, but the rest? Meh.
Read my full review: https://linzthebookworm.blogspot.com/2021/04/book-review-blood-rites-by-jim-butcher.html