Skin Game, by Jim Butcher

Today I finally come to the (as of writing) end of the Dresden Files series with the novel Skin Game. I actually liked this book quite a bit and I think part of it was it went a little outside the rut that I'd felt the series had fallen into. There's some big world-ending emergency and Harry has to go save the world, which we've been seeing a lot in the series lately. In this book the stakes are much lower, so it feels like a breather and we're back to Harry having awesome magic adventures.

Dear and gentle readers, as I have said before with this long-running series, it is basically impossible to speak coherently about this book without going into some spoilers. If you wish to avoid such things please turn back now. 

The problem for this book is the parasite in Harry's head that's been growing and causing the migraines he's been suffering. Unfortunately for Harry it's getting very close to the point the parasite will burst straight out of his head and kill him. Mab is willing to help Harry with his problem, but as always with fairies there is a price. And since Harry's the Winter Knight, he's not in much of a position to say no either. It turns out that Mab owes a debt to Nicodemus, leader of the fiendish Denarians, and she intends to repay that debt by loaning Harry and his services to Nicodemus. Harry, understandably, is not exactly thrilled with this idea but Mab being Mab she's put him in a position where he can't exactly refuse.

The job that Harry is obligated to assist Nicodemus with is a robbery of a treasure vault belonging to Hades, lord of the Underworld. Yes, that Hades, the Greek god. Obviously the treasure vault of one of the most covetous and powerful figures out of mythology is going to be absurdly difficult, if not impossible, for anybody to break into. Hence Nicodemus has assembled a team of top criminals from the magical underworld including a fire mage, a shapeshifter, a spirit binder, and one of the best ordinary human safecrackers to pull of the heist of the millennium. Now, ordinarily I don't go around watching, reading, or listening to heist stories, but they can be fun from time to time. And since this is a magical heist story, where the characters have to break into a vault protected by more than just mundane defenses, it makes the story all the more interesting to me.

There are a few other interesting developments in the book which I thought really showed how the series had grown. Waldo Butters, originally the timid polka-obsessed medical examiner, has become something of a magical vigilante, making use of low-magic devices and the help of Bob the Skull to help make the mean streets of Chicago a little safer. (And without spoiling it, Butters gets a truly epic moment towards the end of the book. Seriously. It's awesome.) Harry also finds out that the ''parasite'' in his head is actually a spirit of intellect that he and Lash, the shadow of the fallen angel Lasciel, created and has been growing in his head. The migraines have been because she's getting too big for Harry's head (not a surprise) and needs more room to grow. Granted, she's only very, very barely in the book, but I'm actually looking forward to seeing her in future books. Although I sometimes wonder how smart a spirit of intellect that comes from Harry's head really can be.

Overall I liked this book and I think it was because it was a change of pace with some awesome tidbits. Because the stakes are lower, only robbing the vault of the lord of the underworld opposed to saving the entire world, it feels like a little breathing space and we can have some more fun with the adventure. However, the overarching plot does get advanced at least slightly and we get to see Harry continue to develop, as well as quite a few other characters. Hopefully I'll get to see where the series goes from here.

- Kalpar

Cold Days, by Jim Butcher

In another case of excellent timing, this Halloween I'm reviewing Cold Days, the fourteenth book in the Dresden Files series. This is particularly appropriate because the events of the book occur on Halloween, something that happens a couple of times in the Dresden-verse because of all the mystical connections which make Halloween a Very Special Day when magic is involved. Once again the fate of the world is in the balance and our old pal Harry Dresden has to step in to save the day once again.

Obligatory Warning: Dear and gentle readers. As you probably know by this point, it's basically impossible to review this book intelligently without revealing spoilers. If you wish to avoid such things please avoid the rest of the review now. If you've already read the book or don't care, please continue. Thank you for your patience.

So, Dresden's back from the dead. Perhaps not well but definitely alive and in service to Mab as the Winter Knight. Dresden starts off going through rehabilitation therapy from hell as Mab tries to kill him dozens of different ways. As a result Harry ends up all the more paranoid and stronger than ever. Finally Harry is introduced to the Winter Court and Mab gives Harry his first official mission as the Winter Knight: kill Maeve, the Winter Lady.

Needless to say this is a pretty tall order for Harry. Not only is Maeve an order of magnitude far more powerful than him, but as an immortal it's not even certain Harry can kill her. To make it even more complicated, Harry doesn't know why Mab wants Harry to kill Maeve, which he finds just as unsettling. As always with fairies, despite them being creatures unable to lie nothing is ever straightforward. Oh, and then there's the issue of the island of Demonreach possibly exploding in the very near future unless Harry does something about it. So as usual there's absolutely no pressure or time limit whatsoever.

Honestly, this book is a lot like the others in the general outline. There's a problem. Harry has a limited amount of time to solve the problem. Ass gets kicked, magic gets done, and problem is eventually solved. I think what I liked most about this book was seeing how far Harry's advanced power-wise just by becoming the Winter Knight. He has the resources of the Winter Court at his disposal, and Toot-toot and the Za Lord's Guard have become formidable allies for Harry. Plus, Harry's allies like Molly, Murphy, and Thomas have gone up in power level as well. These guys definitely feel like they're the A-team when it comes to taking care of magical business threatening Chicago.

And I think that's what's most powerful about this series is we've seen Harry grow. At least, power-wise anyways. He's still pretty stubbornly stupid, refusing to bring his allies in until he realizes they'd get involved anyway so he should have asked for their help in the first place. But it definitely feels like we're operating on an entirely more powerful level than we were before.

Another thing I like is that we're finally getting to see the people who were behind all the bad things going on. We finally learn a lot more about the Outsiders who...really just hate reality. That seems to be their main motivation. And they've taken the brute force approach of attacking reality from the outside, but the forces of Winter are keeping them at bay. So the Outsiders have had to use other, subtler methods to try and worm their way into reality, which is what most of the world-ending events Harry has been preventing have been. Well, at least a significant percentage of them.

Honestly, this book, like so many of the others, is more of the same but at a much higher power level. If you're a fan of Dresden, I don't think you'll have anything to complain about in this book, and if you're not a fan you probably haven't made it this far in the series anyway.

- Kalpar

Ghost Story, by Jim Butcher

Dear and gentle readers, as I've mentioned countless times in the previous books the Dresden Files series has gotten to the point it's basically impossible to talk about the books in a meaningful way without spoilers. This is especially true after the events of Changes. As a result, I will be including spoilers in this review. If you wish to avoid these, then please proceed elsewhere for the time being. Anyway, on to the review.

When we last left Harry he had been shot in the gut and had landed in Lake Michigan, a situation not conducive to his continued existence among the living. When we join Harry again he finds himself in a place called Between, cunningly named because it's between the mortal world and What Comes Next. Dresden meets the ghost of Captain Jack Murphy, Karrin Murphy's dad, who is in charge of a supernatural police agency affiliated with Heaven. Captain Murphy informs Harry that there's been an irregularity in his death so he can't go straight on and offers Harry a choice: either he can stay in Between and help the force, or he can go back to the mortal realm as a ghost and figure out who killed him. If Harry goes back to the mortal world it will definitely be an extremely dangerous operation. If he fails, Harry will be trapped forever, or possibly even cease to exist. But if Harry doesn't try, his friends will be in great danger without him. So it hardly seems like a choice to Harry.

Harry arrives to find that six months have gone by and in those six months things have started to come apart. Between the destruction of the Red Court and the disappearance of Harry, two very big fish in very big ponds, the balance of power in the supernatural world has shifted dramatically. Attacks on small-time practitioners and even ordinary humans has increased dramatically. Harry's friends and allies in Chicago have been working desperately to keep things under control, but it's been very much a losing battle for them. If they ever needed Harry's help, now is an excellent time. Unfortunately for Harry, there are only a handful of people who can interact with him at all. It's only through the help of Mortimer the Ectomancer that Harry's even able to make initial contact with his team. Plus, as a ghost Harry won't be able to go wandering around in daylight and it'll be the end of him if he's caught out in the dawn. If Harry's going to find out who killed him it's going to be a difficult operation.

I feel like this book is a definite continuation of the theme in Changes of breaking the setup of the old series and establishing a new setup, especially with Harry being mostly dead for this book. On the one hand, I can appreciate Butcher wanting to make a dramatic change in the series to ratchet the stakes up to even higher levels. Which can be pretty hard to do when the fate of the world has been in the balance numerous times already. But on the other hand I feel like Butcher effectively wiped the board clean and reset it between Changes and Ghost Story and I can't say that I like it. One of the things I came to appreciate about this series was the introduction of elements over time. We met Murphy, we met Toot-toot, we met Billy and the Alphas, Michael and the Knights of the Cross, Thomas, and a whole host of other characters over a series of books. At first it was a little annoying but I realized it was necessary background material to establish a regular cast that could cycle in and out of Harry's adventures. It made the universe feel deeper and more developed.

Additionally, as the books went on, Harry's relationships with his friends, allies, and enemies grew and developed. Harry took losses, but also made definite gains. It felt like progress was being made in Harry's life and he had built and expanded upon. I was getting to the point of feeling that Harry had a base of operations to work from. And then Butcher comes down, knocks the table over, and sets up entirely different pieces. It does result in an important character moment for Harry but otherwise I personally don't like that approach.

Otherwise the book is fine. I was kind of suspecting part of the end because I knew there were at least two more books after this so it seemed very unlikely to me that Harry would stay dead. With Harry being part of the Winter Court now, I think we're going to be moving to a much larger arena with much greater forces in play than we've seen before. (If that was even possible. But hey, magic!) Hopefully the next two books get Harry more involved against the Black Council or whoever the big bads who have been pulling the strings turn out to be. I'm willing to concede this book being mostly a transition if it pays off later.

- Kalpar

Changes, by Jim Butcher

So in a pleasant surprise from the local library, I was able to borrow the twelfth book in the Dresden Files series right away, Changes. And wow. Just wow. This is some pretty heavy stuff and as the title suggests, it makes some pretty serious changes in the universe as well. Which I think meshes well with my theory that Turn Coat represented a major dramatic shift in the series. And considering how this book ended it leaves me curious to see where the series can possibly go from here.

Dear and Gentle Readers: As has become a regular fixture in the reviews of this and the Honor Harrington series, this is the fair warning that there are spoilers contained within this book. In fact, it's literally impossible to talk about the book without discussing at least one spoiler. If you wish to avoid spoilers I advise turning aside now. 

Out of the various books in The Dresden Files, I feel like this one starts off right out of the gate and never lets up on the gas at any point in the book. ...I'm aware I mixed metaphors there but it makes sense. In the very first paragraph Butcher throws a literary brick through our window by declaring that not only does Dresden have a daughter, conceived on a rather interesting night with his old girlfriend Susan Rodriguez, but his daughter Maggie has been kidnapped by a high ranking member of the Red Court. Susan is rushing back to Chicago to get Dresden's help and while Susan doesn't know what the Red Court is planning for their daughter, they can both be certain it isn't good and it'll probably happen soon.

The result is an insane race against the clock to figure out what's happened to Maggie, where the vampires have taken her, and if they can hope to get there in time to rescue her. Dresden's obviously had time constraints before. Summer Knight, for example, had a ticking clock element. But this book more than any other has a strong and desperate sense of urgency as Dresden races across the globe to get answers and call in as much help as he can muster.

And Dresden does basically call in every favor he can get his hands on throughout this book. He calls on the White Council and through Ebenezer McCoy the Gray Council for help. Despite the issues from the last book, Dresden calls in his brother Thomas who's, at least in this case, willing and eager to help. Sanya, the only remaining Knight of the Cross manages to show up at a fortuitous moment. Murphy is adamant about helping Dresden, despite obvious risks to her police career. Toot-toot, Johnny Marcone, and Queen Mab all show up at various points and give help in varying degrees. You can really see how Harry is pumping every resource he has at his disposal and calling in every favor to be able to rescue his daughter in time. There's hardly a moment to rest throughout this book.

Butcher also doesn't hesitate to more or less burn Dresden to the ground over the course of this book as well. And I mean that very literally. The Red Court knows that Dresden will be trying to find his daughter and has sent a team of assassins after him. During a number of attempts on his life, Dresden's PI office gets blown up, the trusty Blue Beetle gets crushed into scrap, and Dresden's home gets firebombed. Not to mention the various attempts to just kill Dresden outright. I was seriously wondering if the Red Court would try burning down McAnally's pub as part of their ongoing campaign to destroy everything in Harry's life. Fortunately they don't get that far but it's very nearly a close-run thing.

The final confrontation with the Red Court is also truly epic. Harry manages to get a rag-tag team of friends and allies together and charges into the very center of Red Court magical power, challenging his daughter's kidnapper to a duel and ultimately having to take on the entire Red Court when they decide to back out of the deal. It's huge, it's intense, and it feels like a truly epic conclusion to a series. This is only underscored when Harry manages to not only wipe out the entire Red Court, but also gets shot and falls into Lake Michigan at the end of the book, presumably dead. I mean, I know that there are a few more books so I know that this is very obviously not the last that we've heard from Harry Dresden, but I wouldn't have been overly surprised if this had been the absolute end of the series. Considering one of the main antagonists has been removed and Harry's...well...dead, I'm curious to see how this series can possibly continue.

- Kalpar

Turn Coat, by Jim Butcher

Today I'm looking at the eleventh book in the Dresden Files series, Turn Coat. There's some pretty important stuff plot-wise that happens in this book and I feel like it's a pivotal moment in the series, possibly where things take a turn for the worse and Harry finds himself in deeper and deeper trouble. It's also basically impossible for me to talk about this book without getting into plot spoilers so I'll just have to advise everyone who doesn't want spoilers to go away now. As usual, I will have my red warning

Dear and gentle readers: As this is the eleventh book in an ongoing series and a major shift, it is basically impossible to adequately talk about this book without spoilers. If you wish to avoid these, I advise leaving now. Come back next week for spoiler-free writings.

The book begins with David Morgan, the Warden who was Dresden's parole officer for years and attempted to kill Dresden on more than one occasion, Coming to Dresden's door badly wounded and himself on the run from the Wardens. Morgan reveals that he's wanted for the murder of one of the seven members of the High Council but the entire set up is a frame job and Morgan's completely innocent. And knowing that Morgan is loyal to the White Council unto death and this can't be anything other than a frame job, Harry believes him. However the Wardens are now launching a global manhunt for Morgan and Harry only has a few days to find evidence proving Morgan is innocent.

The situation gets even more complicated when a mysterious party sets up a Craigslist ad offering five million dollars for Morgan, clearly not the work of the White Council but possibly that of the Black Council. Which means Harry could find himself fighting against every cutthroat and mercenary in the magical community to protect Morgan, and very soon gets in over his head.

There are a ton of big events in this book which move the plot forward and set up conflict for later novels. Most important is the Black Council, the hypothetical force behind the strangeness and discontent upsetting the magical balance of power, is finally unmasked as a real threat. Although factions of the White Council, including the Merlin, continue to publicly deny that anything such as a ''Black Council'' exists, internally the White Council has no choice but to accept that this is a real and credible threat. Dresden and McCoy also start putting together the idea of a Gray Council, their own secret faction preparing for when the Black Council inevitably strikes again. I'm thinking that wizard politics are going to play a much larger role in later books.

There's also a major shift with Thomas, Harry's vampire brother, who's been working to combat his biological need to feed on other people's life force and exploit them. I've actually liked Thomas quite a bit, partly because I've joked he seems to be using the family brain cell, and partly because I like that he's not happy with being a vampire and is trying to find a way to be better than what the demon inside him wants him to be. Unfortunately in this book Thomas goes through some torture and anguish and by the end he's fully embraced the demon and become just another White Court vampire, seeing people as food. This upsets Harry quite a bit, and it upsets me as well.

Something which has annoyed me greatly, ever since the third season of Heroes, is when a character goes through a redemption arc and then decides, ''No, being good's too hard. I'm just going to go back to killing people.'' I'm not sure why this annoys me so much but it's something I absolutely hate seeing. And I'm seeing that with Thomas here as well. Thomas has been fighting against his need to consume people's life force and be a better person, but it's been difficult because he still has to get energy as a vampire somehow. And he managed to come up with a clever solution with his hair salon. So I'm not exactly thrilled that Thomas has decided to just embrace the demon and eat people. I am hopeful that Harry will be able to reach through to Thomas and bring him back, so I'm not totally sworn off, but that remains to be seen.

Other than that there were so many things I liked about this book. Toot, who is turning into quite a badass, is hilarious and awesome and I'm hoping to see more of him and his little buddies. Listens to Wind also gets a really awesome scene, even if it was pretty stereotyped, not to mention all the other cool stuff that happens in this book. Overall I think this book is a mix of good and bad, serious and silly, and I think Butcher does a pretty good job of striking a balance. The series may be getting a little darker in its tone, but Dresden still snarks like the best of us.

- Kalpar

Small Favor, by Jim Butcher

Today I'm looking at the tenth book of The Dresden Files, Small Favor. I did find myself enjoying this book and I appreciate seeing how Harry's grown as a character because he actually asks for help from people and goes into situations with an actual plan which makes his chances for success all that much greater. Opposed to the earlier books where he just went off half-cocked most of the time. And as much as Harry hates putting his friends in danger, he's finally come around to accepting that he needs their help and he can't do everything alone. So that's definitely some positive character development that I appreciate from the series.

I also remember mentioning in earlier books about how I was kind of confused with all these new characters that keep showing up in different books with backstories already related to Harry in some cases. But at this point in the story I'm beginning to appreciate the work Butcher did in slowly introducing us to a cast of various characters over several books because now Harry has a variety of friends and allies he can call on for aid. It makes the unvierse seem that more rich and complex. Unfortunately, this is where the spoiler-free part of the review ends.

Dear and gentle readers, as has been said before with this series, it has gotten to the point where it's impossible for me to talk about the book at this point in the series without revealing some spoilers. If you wish to avoid these, I would suggest skipping the rest of this review.

On what starts off as a perfectly normal winter day in Chicago, involved in a snowball fight with the Carpenter family, Harry suddenly gets attacked by gruffs, goat-shaped fairies known for slaying trolls and being some of Summer's toughest hit men. Harry can't think of anything he's done to piss off Queen Titania of Summer, at least recently, but since the snow has come earlier than usual it comes as not much of a surprise when he finds out Titania and Mab are up to their fairy power games again. Mab also informs Harry that John Marcone, recently declared a Freeholding Baron under the Unseelie Accords, has been kidnapped by another signatory of the Accords in clear violation of both the letter and intent of the laws. If Harry manages to rescue Marcone, Mab will consider one of his two remaining favors he owes her to be repaid. And since Mab is, after all, a fairy queen, Dresden's not exactly in a position to refuse.

What unfolds is a plot with the Denarians, the fallen angels bound to the thirty pieces of silver given to Judas Iscariot, who have kidnapped Marcone and seem to be involved in a much longer game of their own. Although Harry also discovers that the Denarians themselves are hardly a unified force and separate factions are pursuing their own agendas. Plus Harry learns just a little bit more about the mysterious Black Council, although who they are and what their overall plans are remains highly vague and mysterious and only future books will hopefully reveal what the heck's going on.

As I said before Harry calls on a lot of help, including his fellow Wardens, Murphy, the surviving Knights of the Cross, and Thomas. And instead of storming the enemy's fortress with the haziest of ideas at best, Harry sits down and makes a detailed plan that manages to work more or less as he intended. Of course, we're not told what the plan is ahead of time, that would ruin the suspense and leave us with nothing to read about. But it's good to see Harry using his mighty wizard brain for once instead of relying on brute force.

Overall I thought this was pretty good because I could see how Harry had developed as a character and how the series is progressing. I think we might be turning our wheels a little bit with the overall plotline because the Black Council is still pretty much a mystery, but at least the stakes feel pretty important in this book rather than a sideshow.

- Kalpar

White Night, by Jim Butcher

Today I'm looking at the ninth book in the Dresden Files series, White Night. This is also the point where I may have run out of the audiobooks the library has available in this series so it'll probably be some time before I get to the next book, Small Favor.

Usual Disclaimer: As I am nine books into this series, it is difficult to talk meaningfully about this book without mentioning at least some plot spoilers. I will endeavor to keep those at a minimum, but some necessary spoilers will be included in the review. Read at your own peril.

This book begins with Harry being called in by now-Sergeant Murphy on a suicide where something doesn't quite add up. With a little investigation Harry is able to conclude that these apparent suicide is a magical murder, in fact one of several incidents happening in Chicago. Someone is targeting female practitioners of magic with almost surgical precision. Some have been found dead, and many more have disappeared, never to be seen again. What's worse, before many of these women were killed they were seen with a tall man in a gray cloak, the symbol of the White Council's Wardens. This has made many in the magical community suspect that the Wardens themselves, including Harry Dresden, are behind these murders making it that much more difficult for Harry to investigate.

What unfolds is a plot of intrigue which includes members of the White Vampire Court and an internal power struggle between the three major houses of the White Court. But more chilling is the prospect that the future of wizards and other magical practitioners might be cut off forever by this unofficial genocide campaign by vampires.

Overall much like the other books in this series, I thought this was pretty good and enjoyed myself immensely listening to it. There's just something weirdly compelling about Dresden as a character despite his various flaws and foibles. Plus characters like his half-brother Thomas, Detective Murphy, Bob the Skull, and Harry's super-dog Mouse make me enjoy the series that much more. I will say in this book, there's more evidence of Harry acting intelligently than I've seen in some of the earlier books so I appreciated that. Granted, Harry still can be kind of an idiot sometimes, and some of the decisions of his apprentice, Molly Carpenter, also leave me rolling my eyes with frustration. I almost feel that magic is an evolutionary compensation for wizards being bloody-minded. But without such behavior there isn't sufficient conflict plot-wise so I guess I shouldn't care as much as I do.

There's also the ongoing sub-plot with Lasciel and it turns out that Harry's had a reason the entire time for not giving up the denarius that contains the majority of Lasciel's spirit. I'm not sure if I agree entirely with the logic because I can't quite see how Harry was following it, even in hindsight. But at least it fits with the larger theme of Harry acting fairly intelligently, which I appreciate.

I also like that this book showed how the war between the White Council and the Red Court has effects on people beyond just the White Council. Sure, they've taken an extreme licking and lost the overwhelming majority of their Wardens, but we haven't seen how this has spilled over into other areas of the magical community. With the attack on non-Council wizards, we and Harry begin to see the collateral damage of the war and why working to protect not just the Council but everyone is important.

As I've said before and I'll probably say again, I enjoy this series quite a bit. Harry's definitely a bit of an idiot, but a lovable idiot as far as I'm concerned. It does make me wonder if I should go back and look at the Hollows series again and if Rachel gets any better at her job as well.

- Kalpar

Proven Guilty, by Jim Butcher

Today I'm looking at the eighth book in the Dresden Files series. Wait, eighth? Really? I'm eight books into this series? How the heck did that happen?

Anyway, so by now we're all fairly familiar with Harry and Butcher isn't so much building his universe as expanding within it and building upon preexisting storylines, which I greatly appreciate in a multi-book series. I remember mentioning in earlier books that it was kind of weird to me that Butcher kept introducing new elements, sometimes without much warning. But now I feel like I have a better understanding of what's going on and I'm enjoying it a lot more.

Dear and gentle readers, as this is the eighth book in a series with ongoing plotlines it is difficult for me to adequately discuss it without mentioning some spoilers. If you would like to avoid this please leave the blog now.

As with most of the Dresden books, there are a couple of things going on at once that end up connected towards the end of the book, although I feel like this connection is somewhat stronger than say, for example, Death Masks. First we see that the White Council, which was badly bloodied in the last book, dealing with the problems of being stretched thinner than ever. Harry is forced to attend the execution of a teenage boy from Korea who had fallen prey to the temptation of dark magic and had become completely twisted himself. As Harry muses repeatedly through the book, it just shows that the White Council isn't finding enough of the kids with magical talent soon enough to keep them from turning to black magic, at a time when they need every potential wizard they can get.

Ebenezer McCoy, Harry's old mentor, also asks Harry to investigate into why the fairy courts, whose territory was violated by the Red Vampire Court, had not responded to their invasion. As Harry investigates he learns that Mab, the Winter Queen, has been acting erratically which has not only set the Summer Court on the defensive, pinning their forces and making them unable to attack the Red Court, but her behavior is causing some concern among the Winter Court as well. Over the book we get hints that something far more serious is going on which (hopefully) will be explored in further books.

The biggest plot concerns Molly Carpenter, Michael and Charity's oldest daughter, who calls Harry from a police station asking him to bail her out. It turns out that Molly had dropped out of school and run away from home, joining her friends at SPLATTERCON!!!, a massive horror film convention going on in Chicago. Molly brings Harry in because some people are getting hurt or dying in mysterious ways and she thinks magic might be involved. Harry quickly determines some seriously bad magic is going down and he has to stop it before more people get killed. Eventually it turns out Molly's been involved and through Dresden's intercession with the White Council, he ends up saving her life and becoming her teacher.

As with a lot of these books, there are some things I like and some things I don't like, but it seems to balance out in the end. On the one hand, I find myself calling Harry an idiot for numerous reasons, such as his refusal to talk to Michael about his problems with Lasciel and the blackened denarius. (Of course he finally comes clean with Michael and Michael reveals he knew all along, which frustrated me on some level.) That and his tendency to go off half-cocked into things leaves me wondering if Thomas is the one using the family brain cell that week. I'm also wondering at the wheels-within-wheels-within-wheels plot that we're getting peeks of behind everything that's been going on for the past several years with Harry, suggesting much larger forces are at play. On the one hand, it's a great way to tie the series together, on the other hand, I'm left worried whether it will fit together as well as Butcher hopes it will.

My issues aside, there are plenty of things I enjoyed in this book. Harry's dog Mouse, for example, who is apparently as some sort of magic, evil-detecting tank of a dog. And I'm quite fond of dogs in the first place, so it's hardly a surprise. I also like Harry and company gearing up in steel mail and with steel weapons to invade Fairy, although I'd have recommended taking a steel tank along as well, just for good measure. And we get to see Harry be a decent person, protecting Molly from a summary execution by the White Council and outmaneuvering the Merlin to save his friend's daughter. Sometimes we don't always see Harry being what we might call a straight good guy, but this definitely makes up for it.

So overall, the book was enjoyable. If there's one thing I've found it's that these books are fun to listen to. If you're this far in the series you're probably already a fan and will look forward to more of Harry's adventures as the books continue.

- Kalpar

Dead Beat, by Jim Butcher

Dear and gentle readers. As you may have figured, I have gotten pretty deeply into The Dresden Files series what with this being book Seven of the series. Ultimately because there are ongoing plot elements I simply cannot avoid them and talk about the book in a meaningful way. So for all those who do not wish to see spoilers now is your chance to run off. (Come back Thursday! I'll have something for you then!) Anyway, onwards with the review.

So, as regular readers can probably figure, I've been enjoying The Dresden Files. If nothing else it's something I can download from the library and I find myself reliably enjoying the books in the series. Even if I find myself rolling my eyes at Harry from time to time. And since I'm seven books in I guess you could say I'm kind of a fan. I wouldn't say this is my favorite series ever, but so far I've been enjoying it.

Dead Beat starts out with Dresden getting a message from Mavra, the Black Court vampire who he's tangled with before and is apparently very far from dead. Mavra has some blackmail on Murphy she's going to release unless Dresden obtains something called The Word of Kemmler for her. Although Mavra really only exists in this book to send Harry on the investigation that turns into a tangle with several powerful necromancers who also want the Word. I feel like it's almost superfluous to have her because as soon as Harry found out some big, bad necromancers were in Chicago he certainly wouldn't have been sitting around idle and would have gotten involved anyway. That's just how he is. Either way Dresden soon finds himself dealing with people well above his power level and trying to figure out what exactly they're trying to do and keep them from accomplishing it within a matter of days.

This is also a breakout book for Waldo Butters, the timid Medical Examiner who's beginning to be exposed to the world of magic. Butters had been introduced in a previous book as a sort of side character but he really becomes a major part of the cast in this book and goes through some character development of his own. Which I thought was really cool and I liked seeing, especially since Butters is in many ways an audience surrogate.

In this book the White Council also takes a massive beating from the Red Court and something like 75% of the existing Wardens, the enforcers and defenders of the White Council, get wiped out. This results in Dresden being drafted into their ranks, something he's less than thrilled about because of his long antipathy for Warden Morgan. However, I think this is a positive change because it sounds like Harry's going to be more involved in the affairs of the White Council and the ongoing war with the vampire courts and apparently other factions that have decided to join the fray. Which seems only fair considering Dresden kind of started the whole war by burning Bianca and her retainers in a giant firestorm. But it has seemed kind of weird that Dresden's been sort of sitting on the sidelines of the war effort after dragging a significant faction of the wizarding community into a global war. So hopefully we can see Dresden being more involved in the larger plot that's sort of been brewing in the background.

Plus there's just a really awesome part to this book which I'm actually not going to spoil here because it's right at the climax towards the end. But believe me, it is ridiculously awesome. Granted, Harry has to make some compromises to do it, but I almost want to say the ends justify the means in this case.

However, Harry does make some unfortunate compromises in this book. Specifically if you may remember a couple books back, there were some demons attached to the thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot. Well, technically fallen angels, but demon's equally apt in this case. Basically Harry knows he's being tempted by the power of one of the coins and interacts with the demon, Lasciel, and makes some sort of arrangement with her. Which is a very dangerous game that he's playing because he knows she's luring him in by saying she just wants to help him and doesn't want to control him, but it's just to get him to depend on her until she has all the power in the relationship. And yet he consents to her help anyway, which is a very dangerous precedent and he's aware he's on a very slippery slope. Plus, he does some very strong bending of the rules which, while awesome, are extremely technical in his explanation on how he's not actually breaking the Laws of Magic. So it looks like Harry's getting set up to drift into being a bad guy which is...less than good.

Overall I really liked this book, despite my concerns of Harry slipping over to the dark side. These books are pretty fun, even if I want to punch Harry from time to time. Fortunately the other characters call him out on some of his stupid behavior as well so at least I'm not the only one doing it. There are plenty of jokes and some of the scenes really are pretty awesome. So it's fun to listen to and that makes it worth the effort as far as I'm concerned.

- Kalpar

Blood Rites, by Jim Butcher

Today I'm looking at the next in the Dresden Files series, the book Blood Rites. I did enjoy how this book started, with Dresden desperately trying to save a box of puppies from a burning building. How can you not root for a hero saving a box of puppies? I hate to say it, though, but this book was sort of mediocre for me. It was more enjoyable than some of the stuff I've been listening to because it's more up my alley, but compared to some of the other Dresden books this feels like a bridge between story arcs rather than a fully-fledged story in its own right.

Usual warning, spoilers ahead.

As you may remember, the war between the White Council of Wizards and the Red Vampire Court has been going on for some time, although apparently Dresden's been more concerned with making enough money rather than dodging assassinations by the Red Court. Granted, the fact that a satellite crashed into the villa of the Red Court's most powerful hatchet man probably had something to do with that. But ever since the war started in Grave Peril it's been there in the background and influencing events. In Blood Rites it feels...less so. Dresden actually spends the book dealing with both the White and Black Courts, two of the other vampire organizations. The book gives an explanation that the other vampire courts have been called by the Red Court into the war against the White Council but it feels kind of weird to me. The Black Court at least makes sense because it's a vampire that Dresden has tangled with before and personally wants revenge against Dresden, but the White Court makes less sense. I had gotten the impression that the vampire courts all vied with each other for power as much as they vied with other magical factions and any weakening of the Red Court would be beneficial to the other vampires. Especially since each court has its own distinct flavor of vampire.

The thing I've liked the most about Dresden is he's actually going into situations prepared now rather than going off half-cocked, which feels like some significant character development. Dresden's been practicing hand-to-hand combat with Lieutenant Murphy, working out on running, and developing some new magical tricks to help him out in various situations. It shows that Dresden is actually taking this seriously and trying to craft situations to his advantage rather than relying on sheer dumb luck to save him. So the fact that Dresden is being proactive and making extensive preparations is something I greatly appreciate. Granted, he still has to rely on fortuitous circumstances from time to time, but I feel like he's developed.

Dresden's also gotten better at communicating with Murphy and working with other people rather than trying to tackle everything on his own. He's gotten much better at recognizing when he's gotten in too deep and while he's still not crazy about putting other people in danger, he's at least willing to recognize that he needs help and asks for it. Overall I see this as good development for Harry and making him better as an individual.

I say that this feels like a bridge between arcs because we're introduced to the fact that Thomas Wraith, a White Court vampire who's helped Harry a couple of times in the past, is actually Harry's half-brother and their mother used to run with the White Court. By the end of the book Thomas and Harry have forged a familial bond and it looks like Harry's getting a better and stronger support network. The book also ends with an ominous cliffhanger because Harry not only has the name of a fallen angel burned into his hand, but he also seems to have access to hellfire. I'm interested in seeing how these developments, good and bad, unfold in later stories.

Overall I enjoyed this book. As I said, it feels like it's setting up things for later books and being a bridge between arcs rather than a full story in and of itself. The plots-of-the-week feel oddly manufactured which makes the book feel more clumsy. However, considering some of the other things I've been listening to lately this book seems pretty good by comparison. Which probably says more about my selection of books than anything else.

- Kalpar

Death Masks, by Jim Butcher

This week I'm continuing with the fifth book in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, Death Masks. In this book there are a couple of plotlines going on at once, which is pretty normal for a book in this series, although in this case I feel like we've sort of got two main plot tracks going at once rather than one. First there's the overarching plot of the war between the White Council of Wizards and the Red Court of Vampires. The Red Court has sent a high-level warlord, Duke Ortega, to challenge Dresden to a duel. If Dresden wins Chicago will become neutral ground and it will end the intermittent Red Court attempts on his life. If Dresden loses, then the Red Court may make peace with the White Council and end their current war. And of course Dresden has plenty of pressure to make him comply with a duel he stands a very good chance of losing. Further complicating matters Susan, his old half-vampire girlfriend is back in town as well.

If that wasn't enough, a group of very powerful demons, known as the Denarians because of their connection to the thirty pieces of silver given to Judas Iscariot, are active in Chicago and all three Knights of the Cross are involved. More to the point, they say the Denarians have some sort of plan for Dresden and he should not get involved, which he of course does anyway. Plus the Shroud of Turin's been stolen and Dresden's been hired to find it. Wait, the Shroud of Turin? The Shroud? Man, things got super serious all of a sudden. Well...more serious than usual I guess I should say.

The biggest thing that struck me about this book was it felt more...muddled than the other books. As I said, all the previous books usually have a couple things going on at once which all tie into a larger plotline towards the end of the book. In this case, it feels much more like there are two plots going on at once. You can probably tell just from my description of the plot that there's a lot going on and I feel like it's slightly to the book's detriment. I feel like maybe Butcher could have focused on one plot or the other for the book. The story with the Shroud and the Denarians is definitely the lion's share of the book and the duel with Ortega feels a little tacked-on. To be honest, most of the war with the Red Court has felt tacked-on at best so I'm hoping there's more focus on that later.

As I said in my last review, I'm noticing that there's kind of a formula to these books as well. Especially where Bob's concerned. Usually Dresden gets introduced to a situation, has to find out more information, go talks to Bob, and then doesn't use Bob again in the book. (The exception being Grave Peril.) I think I'm really only noticing this because I really like Bob as a character. That being said, I'm still enjoying these books for their entertainment value.

I also enjoyed getting to meet two more Knights of the Cross, Shiro Yoshimo and Sanya. The Denarians were really bad news so Michael has to call in the other two knights. And to be honest, I kind of like them. Michael's okay but also a little sanctimonious which can make him off-putting. I love Shiro's backstory that he became a Baptist by mistake because someone asked him if he wanted to meet the King and Shiro thought he meant Elvis. And, what's even more appealing to me, Sanya is an atheist. Seriously. Atheist paladin. Had his sword handed to him by the archangel Michael himself. And yet still not entirely sure about the whole god thing. I'm personally hoping I get to see more of him in the future because it's just a really cool idea to me.

Overall, the book's okay. I've come to accept that the Dresden Files are basically entertainment for me. There are good parts, there are bad parts, and there are parts in between. Is it perfect? No, but it's a lot of fun and I've enjoyed listening to the books. And that's okay.

- Kalpar

Summer Knight, by Jim Butcher

Today I'm continuing with the Dresden Files with the fourth installment, Summer Knight. I will say that this book definitely feels like we're starting to move forward in the series rather than introducing new elements. Characters that have shown up before, such as Billy and the rest of the Alphas werewolf pack, the White Council, and Lea, Dresden's fairy godmother, are all included in this book so it connects with past storylines. In addition while it introduces new elements, it feels like it's building on existing material rather than introducing entirely new concepts. So I kind of enjoyed this and saw this as the series starting to grow with plotlines instead of introducing new characters and settings.

The plot for this revolves around the Summer and Winter Courts of the fairies. The Summer Knight, a human champion of the Summer Court imbued with a significant amount of magical power has been killed. More importantly his power, which should have reverted to one of the three queens of the Summer Court, has gone missing. This has created a difference in the balance of power between the two courts and almost certainly war will follow.

Further complicating matters, the war between the White Council and the Red Court of the vampires is heating up and starting to go very badly for the wizards. The wizards, who cannot rely on modern forms of transportation, have asked both the Summer and Winter Queens for permission to use pathways through their realms in the Nevernever to safely attack or retreat from the Red Court. The Summer Court has declared strict neutrality, but the Winter Queen has said she will grant the White Council safe passage if Harry Dresden completes a task for her. And since Lea has sold the debt Harry owes her to the Winter Queen, Harry doesn't have terribly much choice in the matter.

I really liked this book and I think a big part of that was because, as I said above, this book does less introduction than the previous three books and instead builds on existing material. I especially like that the events tied back to the war between the White Council and Red Court which is shaping up to be a multi-book storyline. I also liked that Dresden was actually pretty clever during the book and went into situations fairly prepared. Again, he got three kinds of hell beaten out of him by the end of the book but he seemed...more prepared than in previous books which I take as a sign of him learning. Although to be fair he still benefitted from a lot of help elsewhere. Also Dresden's becoming more willing to call on allies like Murphy and Billy and the Alphas which is helping him a lot. He's realizing he doesn't have to go it alone, which is making him much more effective as a wizard.

This isn't to say there weren't some things that didn't bother me about the book. First and foremost was the use of the word ''Injun'' for a character's name in the book. Like, I understand that the character who's saying it is a 300 plus year old backwoods Missouri hillbilly but this book came out in 2002. It feels grossly inappropriate to have any character referred to as such. Like...to the point I'm not sure if I should be using that word on my blog or not because it's clearly a slur. It just doesn't feel okay for it to be in the book.

I also just don't understand Morgan's hatred for Harry. For those who might not remember, Morgan is a Warden, sort of the police force for the White Council who usually summarily execute anyone found violating the laws of magic. Morgan was Harry's...probation officer of sorts until the events of the first book Storm Front. But Morgan's back with a vengeance and he basically can't wait to find an opportunity to cut Harry's head off. And I honestly just don't get it. Maybe it's because Morgan has had a hate-on for Harry for years now, but it feels really weird to me and I just don't understand it. Maybe it'll get explored in later books but we'll just have to see.

Overall I liked this book. It gives me a good feeling for where the series is going and, hopefully, the series will continue to build on the existing plotline which promises to be pretty interesting.

- Kalpar

Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher

This week I'm taking another look at the Dresden Files series with the third book: Grave Peril. And I will say at this point I'm starting to have some second thoughts about the series and how it's been going so far. I'm reminded especially of my concern with the Hollows series which is very similar but where I was frustrated because Rachel, the main character, wasn't terribly good at her job. And there are points where Dresden is starting to seem not very good at his job either. But more on that later.

Plot-wise, in Grave Peril Dresden and a new character Michael Carpenter, one of the Knights of the Sword, are investigating an increase in ghostly activity in Chicago. Something has gotten the ghosts riled up more than usual and it's starting to bleed into the mortal world. They soon discover that the increase in activity is only part of a larger plot, involving a demon cultist that they defeated some time ago, and some of the less savory parts of Chicago's magical community. The book also ends with Dresden starting a war between the White Council of wizards and the Red Court of vampires, which promises to be a major, multiple book-spanning, story arc.

So, before I get into the things that I didn't like, let me talk about the things I liked. First of all, I liked Michael. And this is probably no surprise to anyone because Michael's basically a paladin, complete with a holy sword forged with one of the three nails from the crucifixion of Christ himself and Michael's holy powers being based entirely on his faith in god. And it's a little neat how things seem to always work out through divine providence for him. True, I found Michael a little too sanctimonious at times and giving the holy knight the last name of Carpenter was a bit on the nose, but he's a paladin with a holy sword and actually goes around dressed in armor and with a crusader cloak. I'm totally on board with this and I hope to see more of him and the other Knights of the Sword in later books.

Since this is an audio book version, I also really enjoyed the voice work of James Marsters because he actually accomplishes a very good range while reading the book. He does a very convincing emotionally distraught ghost, and also does a very good voice for a dessicated, centuries-old vampire. Plus the way that Marsters does Bob, Dresden's magical assistant, is making Bob by far my favorite character in the series. There's just something that Marsters manages to bring to the table and it makes listening to the books a much more enjoyable experience.

As for the things I didn't enjoy, I was honestly kind of annoyed with the way both Michael and another new character Lea, Dresden's fairy godmother. This is something I noticed in the last book as well, where elements of Dresden's backstory are introduced piecemeal into the series with each new novel, without necessarily answering questions raised by what we learned about Dresden in previous stories. Now, how Dresden and Michael met may have been covered in a short story or a tie-in novel that I simply haven't been exposed to, which makes sense. But Dresden's fairy godmother is introduced without much fanfare and there are references made to a bargain made between the two in the past which Lea keeps trying to collect on in the novel. What exactly this bargain entails, why Dresden made it, and so on are only referenced partially and I really wish it had been explained better in this book. I get the feeling we'll run into her again, but I really just want Harry's backstory fully explained by now, rather than adding more bits to it.

I was also kind of disappointed with Dresden and the fact that he made a further deal with Lea to get himself out of a sticky situation, rather than thinking his way out. The kicker is she actually gave him a cryptic clue before he reaffirmed his bargain with her, and using that I was able to figure out the correct solution anyway. And once he made the bargain, Dresden only got another cryptic clue. Granted, Dresden was pretty damn beaten up at the time and probably had some trouble thinking, but I just want my main characters to be smart enough not to make deals with magical entities where the relationship is entirely one-sided. Dresden also is apparently absolutely indestructible because I saw him nearly die several times over the course of this book, and that doesn't count the amount of physical punishment he's taken in previous books. And somehow, he manages to still fight fairies, vampires, demons, and nightmares. It's a little ridiculous.

Overall, the book's okay. I'm a little concerned because each new book seems to bring more elements of Harry's backstory into play without fully explaining what the heck actually happened in Harry's backstory which seems to be a REALLY BIG DEAL. I honestly want to find out what the big deal is and why it's so important. I also kind of go back and forth on Harry because when he has time to prepare and plan, he's actually a really good wizard. But when he rushes into things or ends up on the defensive he actually does rather poorly. But as long as I can get audio books from the library I'll probably keep listening.

- Kalpar

Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher

This week I'm taking another look at the Dresden Files series, although strictly speaking I'm taking more of a listen instead. I looked at Storm Front a pretty long time ago so I really have only a vague recollection of the events of the book. Which kind of hampered me when I started listening to Fool Moon. However, I did remember some of the important bits and the book managed to bring me back up to speed so it worked out all right.

Harry Dresden, as you might remember, is a professional wizard and sometime-consultant for the Special Investigations unit of the Chicago Police Department which deals with the unofficial magical cases in the Chicago area. After the events of Storm Front, Lieutenant Murphy has come under scrutiny from Internal Affairs and she's distanced herself from Dresden. But in the fall Murphy finally calls Dresden in on a very strange murder case. Which looks like it's been committed by a werewolf. But as Dresden soon finds out there's more than one type of werewolf in Chicago, and not all of them need silver bullets.

Overall I think this book was okay, and most of my issues probably came from me having read the first book so long ago that I'd gotten foggy on details. There's an important character arc for Dresden in this novel, and it sets up arcs for later story lines which are tempting enough to want me to keep going with the series. I really do hope that Dresden actually develops as a result of this arc and becomes a better character because his own self-conscious actually called him out on a lot of stuff in this book. And honestly? I think I have to agree with his subconscious. But if there's a sort of reset between this book and the next I think I'll justifiably be a little annoyed. So if the previous book did the job of establishing the world, its characters, and rules, then Fool Moon definitely helps the world grow and expand, while leaving plenty of room for exploration.

Otherwise? It felt kind of like a popcorn book for me. It's a little silly at times, a little scary, and a little sexy. I certainly didn't piece the mystery together before Dresden managed to do so himself, but I'm not very good at piecing mysteries together on a regular basis so I don't feel very bad about that. It's just good entertainment. There might not be a lot that's terribly substantial to the book beyond Dresden's own character arc, which makes up a fairly small part of the book, but it's pretty good entertainment.

And you know what? Sometimes that's okay. Not every book has to be super serious and deep and meaningful. Sometimes you just want to watch giant robot tanks fight. Or in this case watch werewolves fight. And quite frankly I was pretty well entertained by the book so I think it did its job.

I do want to make a note with the audio book edition I listened to, I think James Marsters, the narrator, did a pretty good job as well. He does a lot of the reading in a very tired voice, which I think works well for Dresden considering how much he gets beat up, dragged through the mud, and forced to stay out all night trying to catch werewolves. I think it was a very nice touch, especially since Dresden's basically a private eye but with magic.

Entertaining, if not terribly substantial, and I rather enjoyed it. If you like urban fantasy definitely worth reading if you haven't already.

- Kalpar

Storm Front, by Jim Butcher

This week I've thought it'd be fitting to return to the realm of Urban Fantasy by looking into the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. Some of my readers may recall that I tried reading a very similar series set in my native Cincinnati, however the author's attitude on vampires was not to my liking which lead me to dropping it. I will say that Storm Front had issues of its own, but I'm willing to try at least one more book in this series before I decide whether or not to go forward with the rest of the series.

The Dresden Files, from what little I've learned about them, is a series of books that focuses on Harry Dresden, a professional wizard and paranormal investigator working in Chicago. I will say that this book seems to have a lot of similarities with other Urban Fantasy I've read, (albeit, I haven't read terribly much of that) but they seem to draw heavily upon pulp noir fiction for inspiration. Which I find a little curious because when I think about it, fantasy and pulp detective mystery don't seem to be two things that go together naturally, but the results always seem to be rather entertaining. And it's definitely an excellent change of pace from the swords and sorcery high fantasy that seems to dominate the fantasy section at the book store.

Harry Dresden is your typical pulp detective: short on cash, constantly behind on his rent, a bitter man who sometimes gets called in to help with a case the police can't quite puzzle out. The main difference, of course, is that Dresden is a full-blown wizard with a staff, magic charms, leather books, the full works. In this book the Chicago police call Harry in to investigate a gruesome murder that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Dresden and his contact on the force, Detective Murphy, suspect that magic was involved, but of course her skeptical partner thinks Dresden's little more than a charlatan. To top this off, Dresden gets asked by an extremely worried woman to find her husband, who's been dabbling in magic. Soon enough it turns out that there's much more going on here than meets the eye, and some people think Dresden may be to blame.

I will say that compared to the Hollows series (which is really, really similar) Butcher sort of explains some things about how his universe works, but there is quite a lot that is left unexplained as well. I got the impression that magic is still largely hidden in this universe, opposed to being out in the open like it is in the Hollows, but I get the feeling Dresden's going to have to explain more about magic to muggles like Murphy and the reader as his activities become far less clandestine. Especially central ideas like the Laws of Magic or the Nevernever. I've of course got a vague idea as I'm more than passingly familiar with fantasy, but I'd appreciate a much more detailed explanation. Furthermore there are a lot of oblique references to Dresden's past, including actions which resulted in a death mark on his head, but we're really only given the general details. I really hope that later books will do a better job at expanding and better explaining Butcher's universe. But that remains to be seen. The Hollows was at least better at explaining how the universe worked and how it was different from our own.

The thing which I liked the most about this book was I think the much more intelligent take on vampires in this series. Of course this may be my inner paladin coming out against creatures of the night, but I'm always annoyed by literature that treats vampires as misunderstood bad boys rather than dangerous blood-sucking monsters. (The exception for me is Discworld, where vampires can transfer their addiction to blood to other things like photography or coffee.)  Butcher at least shows that there's something fundamentally wrong and perhaps evil with vampires, which I greatly appreciated.

I will say that the book shows potential, despite being rough around the edges. I will say that Dresden seems to get a few lucky breaks, rather than figuring everything out himself. And that was one thing that really frustrated me with the Hollows because Rachel was really not good at her job and tended to fly off the handle and had to rely on other people to solve her biggest problems for her. Dresden does, by contrast, go into situations rather prepared and with something approaching a plan. When the going gets tough, Dresden seems to get by through a combination of quick thinking and good luck. Hopefully he'll get better as the books proceed.

I would say this book in particular isn't anything to write home about. It's okay, but it's nothing spectacular. Granted, there are plenty of series that start off pretty rough and get better, including my all-time favorite of Discworld. I do plan on reading more of this series and seeing where it goes from here.

- Kalpar