The Anarchism of the Dresden Files

    The Dresden Files justifiably gets a lot of criticism over the years (reasons vary according to individual readers). I, on the other hand, love the books and they remain one of my all-time favorite series. Their action, humor, and world-building are things I've only found a few series like and it has been a major influence on my own writing.

    However, one area I'll always give the books credit is their handling of anarchist sentiment. What? You don't think it’s an anarchist series? Allow me to disagree. The books are incredibly anti-authority, hierarchy, and systems of control. This essay will prove this by showing his relationship to the White Council, police, and how Harry uses anarchist methods to undermine both in the name of justice. It will, necessarily, also contain spoilers up to the most recent book, Battle Ground, as well.

    I hope you enjoy!

WHAT IS ANARCHISM?

    For the purposes of this essay, we'll be going with the dictionary definition of anarchism: belief in the abolition of all government and the organization of society on a voluntary, cooperative basis without recourse to force or compulsion. This isn't to say that Harry isn't going to believe in certain undying principles, very much the opposite, but these have to be compelled through willingness to follow the rules out of a desire to do so rather than through fear of force.

    It will come up repeatedly that the fear of punishment is something that flat out doesn't scare Harry and it is an attitude he encourages in his apprentices. Instead, Harry teaches his reasons for following principles like the Laws of Magic on the basis of them being good ideas. It also sets the stage for his everlasting hostility to authority and those who attempt to govern through the threat of force like the White Council and police.

HARRY AND THE WHITE COUNCIL

    The books are noir pastiches and while they moved toward high fantasy, they've never entirely shed their detective novel roots nor have they lost the unremitting hostility they have toward hierarchy. Our protagonist, Harry Dresden, begins the book as that classic staple of Les Miserable "the innocent man hunted by a rabid cop."

    In this case, Harry killed a dirty cop (his mentor, Justin, was a Warden despite being a warlock) in self-defense and has been harassed and pushed toward violence by Morgan for decades thereafter. Morgan won't just gun Harry down but wants to agitate him into giving him plausible deniability. Interestingly, enough, Harry believes passionately in the Laws of Magic and continually makes excuses for the White Council as well as their harsh methods even as he's a subject of their persecution. They even are willing to wage war on the Red Court when he starts a war on them, which buys them a lot of points with Harry.

    However, from the very beginning, the White Council's support of Harry is tepid at best and there are questions of turning him over to the Red Court for peace and Harry never improves in his opinion of their handling of the Laws of Magic's enforcement. We also slowly find out that Harry gets as much slack as he does due to nepotism. Literally, the only reason he wasn't executed was the Blackstaff was his grandfather and chose to adopt him after Justin's death.

    The corruption and arrogance of the White Council goes beyond the "few bad apples" Harry initially suspects the Black Council to be but soon become clear to be entirely the ethos of the organization and how it relates to the rest of the world. They are heavy-handed, ruthless, and dismissive of any talents not powerful enough to be full wizards to the point of doing nothing to protect them against persecution by groups like the White Court. Harry, himself, is also the only wizard to actively defend the public against supernatural threats since most of them are covered by the Unseelie Accords.

    At one point, Harry himself, becomes a Warden and the lover of their leader. This should have been a great moment for establishing the White Council's perspective as well as how Harry has been misjudged. Instead, it just further exposes Harry to the dark side of "his" supporters and after successfully stopping a Black Council agent that had been mind-controlling them all for years, they blame Morgan as well as elect another corrupt agent to their highest ranks.

    It's no wonder that by the time Harry returns from his "coma" that he's lost all cachet with the younger Wardens, who have become radicalized true believers in the White Council's "us against them" mentality and every bit as eager to believe in Harry's guilt as Morgan. Truly, a sense of how Jim views authority can be shown with the kangaroo trial of Molly Carpenter where they come within inches of killing a holy knight of God's daughter even if it would destroy dozens of lives as well as alliances.

HARRY AND THE POLICE

    Harry works with the police, which would normally disqualify him as an anarchist hero, but Butcher nicely lays the seeds for just how fragile and one-way his relationship with the Chicago PD really is. While they're willing to hire him as a consultant, he is a figure of derision and mockery even as he continually aids them against horrifying threats. No matter how many innocent lives Harry saves, the police view him as a necessary evil at best.

    Many longtime fans of the series believe I'm exaggerating because Harry's most permanent ally in the book is Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, who would right at home in a Law and Order spin-off. Surely as an honest cop, Karrin is a rebuttal that the Dresden Files are anti-authority. Indeed, it is the lengthy arc of said character that mirrors Dresden's own in reverse and helps show exactly where the series stands on its politics.

    For me, the groundwork was laid in Fool Moon rather than Storm Front. While Storm Front established Harry was a rogue hated by the White Council's chief enforcer, Fool Moon shows just how easy it is to get the police to turn on Harry. Indeed, Karrin herself shows that allying with the police necessitates turning on Harry and she even blames him for not informing her of the supernatural goings on. As we later discover, telling the police about the supernatural doesn't help matters and most of them are either in the pocket of Marcone, the Formor Court, the Red Court, the White Court, or some combination thereof.

    It's not too much of a spoiler to say Murphy's character arc is to have her attempt to follow the spirit of the law and protect the public, only to be slowly edged out of the police before being expelled entirely. By contrast, the originally seemingly decent cop, Rudolph, increases his wealth as well as influence within the CPD the more he becomes a contemptible corrupt weasel.

    Butcher's depiction of the Chicago PD is actually fairly vicious and contrasts heavily on the romanticized view presented by television or other media. Marvel comics was incredibly hesitant to have Frank Castle AKA The Punisher ever kill a cop (even a dirty one). The first one he did was actually a SHIELD agent to avoid the controversy. However, Jim Butcher has Molly Carpenter openly confessing to doing so in Ghost Story as she explains that the Chicago PD was turning a blind eye to the trafficking in children by the Formor.

    Perhaps the most blatant example of how contemptible the police in the Dresden Files is when Rudolph accidentally kills Murphy in what is the most controversial moment of the series. He isn't even attempting to do it but it happens because of poor trigger discipline, cowardice, and incompetence. His misplaced sense of priorities in a crisis paints what is arguably the most realistic example of police malfeasance I've seen in urban fantasy yet.

    The Dresden Files rarely gets into specifics regarding issues of profiling, minority abuse, and police brutality but the depiction of the police is largely one of a useless organization when not actively abetting the forces preying on the public. They have their moments, especially when the Formor turn on their allies and openly attack the city, but there's no indication the organization will change for the better. Especially as Rudolph planned to go after Harry and Murphy just hours before.

HARRY THE ANARCHIST

    All of this could just show the world is a crapsack one and that Harry isn't an anarchist, but I actually think Jim shows our protagonist using said philosophy's methods to undermine the traditional authority of his world. As early as Fool Moon with Kim Delaney and later reinforced with the death of Kirby in Turncoat, Harry realizes that keeping himself above his less powerful allies is a recipe for disaster. This actually lays the groundwork for Harry, not as a lone wolf soldier, but as the unlikely agitator and organizer of a large scale anarchist resistance.

    Harry's aid is important in helping lay the groundwork for the Paranet that protects practitioners against the supernatural forces that used to prey on them with impunity. He and Karrin recruit the Alphas, Order of the Large Cooking Pot, and others to start becoming a power block outside of traditional structures. Their alliances with individuals like Odin and Marcone are uneasy ones but show how grassroots organizations can become entangled with questionable forces in the name of larger goals.

    Harry attempts reform from within as well by helping create the Gray Council and working as a Warden among younger forces but these things are ultimately unsuccessful. The Blackstaff, his own grandfather, proves willing to murder him due to his hatred of Thomas Raith. Ramirez, his closest ally among the Wardens, turns on him as we've mentioned before. To quote Audre Lord, "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house."

    Ironically, it is Harry's relationship forged with the Demifae that provides one of his largest advantage. Even Harry doesn't seem to realize that by simply acting with kindness and letting them organize under his protection, he had created a vast alliance of a overlooked minority. This proves decisive in the Battle of Chicago when the White Council and Unseelie Accords prove useless along with the US military.

    Harry is a champion of the people, and his army is the people against the Man.

CONCLUSION

    The transformation of Harry into an anarchist and his fraying relationship with authority figures isn't something that happens overnight. Indeed, his relationship has many ups and downs before the final break between the White Council happens in Battle Ground. It is, coincidentally, also when his final break with the police is symbolically achieved with the death of Murphy.

    Harry is an unwilling anarchist in many ways because he wanted to work with the system and believe that the forces of order actually knew what they were doing. This despite the fact he was an innocent man persecuted for decades by hostile authority figures. However, in the end, he is forced to become a protective force for his community against not only the people outside the law like Marcone or the Red Court and Formor but also the people supposedly protecting the public from them.

    “The Council has spoken,” he said, just as tiredly, and turned to go.

    “No,” I said.

    He paused. “What?” 

    “No,” I said again, a little firmer. “The White Council has gotten to bully wizards for a long time, and they think they have the right. I say they don’t.” 

    Ramirez tilted his head. “Don’t talk yourself into something I can’t ignore, Dresden.” 

    I grimaced. “Carlos. I mean to live my life. You’ve cast me out, and you think that means I’m vulnerable. Maybe you ought to rethink that.”

Battle Ground (Dresden Files #17) by Jim Butcher review

    BATTLE GROUND by Jim Butcher is the immediate sequel, perhaps better described as second half, to the novel PEACE TALKS released earlier this year. The book was originally one enormous volume but due to the lengthy wait between previous books and the size of the final work, it was split into two. If you haven't read Peace Talks then you should probably shy away from this review as it's impossible to talk about this volume without addressing some of the plot points from its predecessor. You have been warned.

    The premise is that Harry Dresden has found himself at ground zero of the biggest supernatural war in centuries, if not millennium. The Last Titan, Ethniu, has returned at the head of an army of Formor that have removed themselves from the Unseelie Accords. Faced with the revelation of the supernatural to humanity and total war, the remaining Unseelie Accord nations band together for a fight that will end with one side destroyed.

    The book is essentially one enormous Saving Private Ryan-esque war movie. Harry does battle with kraken, hordes of Formor goons, mutated children, Black Court vampires, and the Titan herself in his efforts to save the millions of citizens living in Chicago. Along the way, Harry will be forced to confront numerous old foes as well as deal with the fact he's burned a lot of bridges with former allies that he didn't even bother to inform he was still alive past the events of Changes.

    Jim Butcher manages to establish some amazing twists in this volume as well as answer some longstanding questions about the franchise as a whole. A familiarity with Peace Talks is healthy not just because of the fact that events here are a direct sequel but there's a lot of foreshadowing in that volume for plot developments here. A number of things I guessed were foreshadowed events in Peace Talks turned out to happen in Battle Ground. For example, we get the delightfully creepy answer to why Thomas did the horrible thing he did and I am pleased by the result.

    Jim Butcher doesn't spare the cast from casualties and several characters that have been long parts of the series are struck down during this event. I was really stunned at a couple of the fallen and think they were handled with great dignity. This is one of the most devastating battles of Harry's career and I give Jim props for having the courage to go the direction he did. Military fiction with no casualties on the good guys' side isn't heroic, it's just silly.

    There are a few flaws in this book, I admit. I think this really would have been better as one enormous volume because a lot of the story in Peace Talks flows directly in this volume. I also believe that there were a few "random encounters" that didn't add much to the book. I think they could have been eliminated without interrupting the narrative much. None of them are boring, though, and many of them are quite entertaining. I just felt that a superpacked Peace Talks/Battle Ground would have been a stronger story.

    The politics at the end of Battle Ground also strike me as something I wish the books had gotten into. I was hoping Peace Talks would get into the subtle and not so subtle court bickerings of the Unseelie Accord Nations. Mab proves to be an expert politician in forging alliances, some including some really surprising ones, with a few shocks that I actually approve of. I also note the White Council continues to be a bunch of jerks. Their decision makes sense but also shows a fantastic lack of gratitude that is entirely consistent with their previous behavior.

    In conclusion, Battle Ground is a really solid piece of writing. It is full of non-stop action from beginning to end but isn't hurt for characterization in the process. While I think the book suffered from being split from Peace Talks. Still, anyone who was disappointed on the lack of payoff in that book will be blown away by all of the results from actions taken here. If you're a fan of the books then this will surely be one of your favorites--unless one of the deaths breaks you.

8.5/10

Available here

Peace Talks (Dresden Files #16) by Jim Butcher review

    I am one of Jim Butcher's biggest fans. Indeed, I did a massive re-read of his DRESDEN FILES books on RPG.net and was briefly a beta-reader before I had to drop out due to my father's death (that was a bad year for me). Still, I have waited for baited breath and great anticipation for the next installment of the adventures of Harry Dresden, Wizard for Hire. Was the book worth the wait? Yes and no but mostly yes.

    Harry Dresden is one of the biggest influences on my writing career and without him I wouldn't have completed Straight Outta Fangton, Esoterrorism, or I was a Teenage Weredeer. However, he's been gone since SKIN GAME in 2014. The Dresden Files have always had a strong forward momentum with near yearly releases keeping it going. The six year delay between books isn't the fault of Jim Butcher but still hampered fandom's ability to keep up with one of their favorite characters. I feared I wouldn't be able to keep up with what was going on.

    So, what do I think of PEACE TALKS?

    SPOILERS FOR UP TO BOOK 15#: Thankfully, this is not the problem as the book manages to give us an update on the status quo without too much confusion. Murphy is still recovering from her injuries sustained at Nicodemus' hands [and will never be 100% again or even 80%], Harry is still the Knight of Winter, Molly is the youngest Queen of the Unseelie, and Butter is now a Knight of the Cross. Things seem to be going actually quite well when he receives the bombshell that the Fomor want to have a peace conference with the White Council after several years of low-level war.

    Harry is not in a great space with the White Council due to being a representative of the Unseelie Court and it's surprising that they still recognize him as a member of the White Council. I actually assumed they would have removed him as a member but his position would have gone up due to the fact the Knight of Winter is an important delegation for a friendly(ish) foreign power. Harry can't be a FBI agent (Warden) while serving as head of China's secret service (Winter's Knight), at least that's how I assumed it would go. So when they threaten him with removal it doesn't really have the same level of sting to it.

    I won't spoil the rest of the plot but Harry finds one of his loved one's endangered and must choose between their welfare versus starting an international incident that could derail the titular peace talks. We've been down this road before as far back as GRAVE PERIL. Harry is never going to be able to put the big picture ahead of the small one. The question is how he's going to screw things up, not if. Much to my surprise, I have to say the book did not go in the direction I expected though. It is full of believable but unexpected twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

    The standout character of this book is undoubtedly Ebenezer McCoy a.k.a the Blackstaff. Always an important part of Harry's life, we get new insights into him and what happens when their ideological differences come to an end. Ebenezer will always do what he feels will yield the greatest good while Harry will never cross certain lines in the name of love. Seeing this rock and a hard place crash is amazing and the reasons are entirely believable.

    I also really appreciated the appearance of both Lara Raith as well as Molly Carpenter. I really enjoy whenever Harry has sexual tension with either of them. I'm not a Karrin/Harry shipper and think they should never get together like Mulder and Scully. Unfortunately, this book leans heavily into that and I hope the next one will crash and burn the relationship. That's a very personal bias, though.

    In fact, this is the best book for Lara Raith since maybe BLOOD RITES. I've always been a fan of Lara Raith but she's rarely gotten a chance to show her vulnerable side. Here, we find out that she effectively raised Thomas from diapers and is as much his mother as his sister. Watching her and Harry work together in a Marvel team-up is enough to justify the book's existence by itself.

    Fans of BRIEF CASES or the short stories that make it up will get a lot of this book as it references quite a few of those tales. I personally enjoyed the entire Sasquatch trilogy and if Jim Butcher had been a bit more flexible with his build-up to the epic conclusion of his series (note: not a criticism) think we could have had an entire novel about Bigfoot the same way we did in the earliest days of the series.

    My biggest complaint about the book is the fact it very much ends in a cliffhanger and we won't find out what happens next until BATTLE GROUND. I really wanted to know more about the investigation, the peace talks (which I think didn't have nearly as much time as they deserved), and other central mysteries. There's also an absolutely bizarre scene where we discover Butters is living the Hugh Hefner lifestyle with poly werewolf girlfriends. Way to respond to criticism he was becoming too much of a wish fulfillment character, Jim. Does your fictional creation have dirt on you? Has he somehow bribed you? Inquiring minds want to know.

    I could have given this book a 4 out of 5 with these flaws but I'm just glad to have Harry back and have pre-ordered the sequel already. This is a solid and entertaining story with humor, action, good characterization, and pretty good follow-up on Skin Game's many changes to the status quo. Harry is one of my all-time favorite urban fantasy heroes and this is a return to form for him. I don't think I've enjoyed any book of his as much since CHANGES.

Available here

The Dresden Files: Brief Cases review

    BRIEF CASES is the second collection of short stories by Jim Butcher. The first one, SIDE JOBS was one I tremendously enjoyed because it was a nice mixture of Harry Dresden stories as well as his supporting cast. I also enjoyed seeing more of the Formor, who are my favorite of Jim Butcher's creations even if they mostly serve as cannon fodder and mooks following the destruction of the Red Court.

    Brief Cases is a very entertaining collection of short stories which include three stories introducing "Bigfoot" into the world of the Dresden Files, Anastasia Luccio in the Old West, Molly Carpenter versus the Formor, Gentleman Johnny Marcone versus a Formor wizard, Butters' first outing as a Knight of the Cross, and a story where Harry Dresden takes his daughter to the zoo.

    So, what did I think of Brief Cases? It's good. I actually was a beta-reader for some of the Big Foot stories back when I was still a super-fan of Jim Butcher's work versus writing my own urban fantasy. The Big Foot stories are easily the best in the collection and I kind of think it was a mistake to make three short stories about the premise versus one big novel called BIG SHOES TO FILL. There's certainly enough material to do a book and the characters are interesting enough to keep me interested.

    As for Harry Dresden becoming a dad like Kratos and other aging characters in genre fiction, I'm glad to see he's making an effort to get to know his daughter. Sadly, Maggie doesn't really make that much of an impression in her initial appearance. She's a brave and adorable little tyke but doesn't have much in the way of personality versus, say, Ivy the Archive. Maybe that will change once she ages up.

    Molly Carpenter is the character who gets the most development after Harry himself. We get to see her doing her best to fight the Formor threat in Chicago as well as forge alliances for the Paranet. I never much cared for Bat-Molly in GHOST STORY but prefer her being mostly the same Goth Girl she was before, just older and more mature. This book runs her through the ringer, though, especially when we discover what being the Winter Lady entails.

    Most of the stories follow the formula of, "X character meets Y monster, they fight" so I can't say it's quite as interesting as Side Jobs. I don't think we get as much insight into new characters as we did in that collection. I think Marcone's story remains the most interesting as we really get to see how prepared and dangerous he is for dealing with a supernatural threat like Harry Dresden.

    In any case, I think the best part of this book is it nicely puts me in the mood for a return of the Dresden Files after the long absence following Harry's adventures in SKIN GAME. My greatest regret is we didn't get an idea of what the White Council thought when Harry did his "doomsday hex" in Changes.

8.5/10

The Dresden Files: Cold Days review

    I'm very pleased to say we're finally drawing to a close to my project to "catch up" to the (at the time of posting) latest release of the Dresden Files in Skin Game (reviewed here). Having had a chance to re-read and review all of these books has been a pleasure and I'm glad for all of my fans who have decided to stick by me as I did so. I'm looking forward to the next book on the list, "Peace Talks."

    So where were we?

    Ah, yes, Cold Days.

    Harry has gotten over his whole 'dead' thing and become the Winter Knight for the Queen of the Unseelie fae. This is a job which Harry has dreaded taking up since it requires him to be the assassin for the decidedly less-than-moral Mab. A sense of how things are go is given when Mab assigns him a physical therapist to recover from his brush with death and, as part of his training, she tries to kill him every day. Harry makes the obvious Princess Bride joke, for which I am very grateful.

    After recovering his full strength, in no small part due to the efforts of a attractive half-blooded fairy named Sarissa, Harry has a "coming out" party which presents him to the Winter Court. He gets to meet Santa Claus, a King of Winter, and the Cat Sith who is the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland's Cheshire Cat. During a slow dance with Mab, he receives his first assignment from her: to kill Mab's daughter Maeve.

    Impressive set-up, especially since Maeve has been a longstanding character in the series as well as Mab. It's also complicated by the fact that, despite having a body count in five figures, he's not the sort of man to serve as an assassin. He also isn't the kind to just accept an assignment like that since he knows Mab loves Maeve despite her, literally, cold-blooded nature. Harry can't just refuse the assignment, though, and Maeve isn't exactly his friend either.

    This moral dilemma is just a small part of a complex story of Harry trying to adapt to his new situation. Gone are so many constants of Harry's life like his apartment, his office, and even his business as a consulting wizard to the Chicago PD. Finding out where he stands with many of his friends and loved ones is a major thrust of the story and Jim Butcher handles it well.

    Sarissa is a fun new character and one I enjoyed. Given how crazy the majority of the cast has become after years of oddball adventures, it's nice to have someone perfectly sane to contrast them to. The fact she's Mab's BFF (as Harry says), also adds an interesting new layer to the latter's personality. I look forward to seeing more of Sarissa even if I don't hold out much hope we'll have any follow-up to Harry and her sexual tension but I also liked it for however long it lasted too. Harry needs a stable relationship and none of the women in his life can presently provide it.

    I also enjoyed seeing a softer side of Queen Mab. For years, we've been told she's the most ruthless and hate-filled being in the entirety of the series but this didn't always gel with her actions. Here, we get a nuanced portrayal which shows her hard-edged persona may just be what happens to a person who wants to do good in a world as soul-suckingly evil as the Dresden Files world. You don't just have to be ruthless to survive in the world of the supernatural, you have to be the most ruthless individual. The fact Harry has been steadily going down that road himself for over a dozen books now is an enjoyable bit of fridge brilliance.

    Longtime fans of the series will be pleased to see the return of Fix and Lilly from Summer Knight, characters who have been absent for the majority of the series. While they have made enough appearances to let you know they still exist, both have grown significantly since Harry last saw them. The fact they're familiar and friendly without being Harry's friends makes the twists very believable. Neither is particularly pleased that Harry is allied to the traditional enemy of the Summer Court and this fact bears in on the plot our hero is currently caught up in.

    I'm especially interested where the story involving Molly Carpenter, my favorite of all Dresden Files characters, goes. The twist at the end of the book regarding her future is one I did not see coming and I enjoyed being pleasantly surprised there. I hope we'll also get to see her and Harry have a few conversations about in the future. Harry has looked at her as someone less than himself, either in experience or age for a long time, and this has the potentially to finally reverse that dynamic.

   Cold Days also gives us some insight into the overarching story of the series. We meet a new enemy in "Nemesis" which seems to function as a contagious form of mind-control that is related to the Outsiders. I have no idea if this is responsible for the Black Council, is unrelated, or is related to it somehow. I won't lie to you, fellow Dresden fans, but I won't be happy if the Black Council plot is completely replaced by Nemesis. Nemesis is fine as a villain but the Outsiders are too one-dimensionally evil to be the powers behind folk like Cowl. I'm hoping the Black Council is able to give an explanation for its evil even if it's not one Harry would accept.

    In conclusion, this is another excellent entry into The Dresden Files. I liked the ending as well. It managed to make the loss of some characters meaningful while taking others into bold new directions.

10/10

Buy at Amazon.com

The Dresden Files: Ghost Story review

    The ending of Changes was, in a word, epic. It also ended in a manner which left fans sincerely curious as to how the series would continue. If you haven't read up to Changes, now would be a good time to stop as it's impossible to discuss Ghost Story without discussing the finale of the previous book.

    Still here?

    Harry dies at the end of Changes.

    Shot by a sniper rifle, probably wielded by Kincaid the Assassin (a rival/friend/enemy), Harry fell into Lake Michigan and disappeared. Much like Superman, you know Harry was going to come back but some believed the series might have a major time skip followed by a switching to Harry's newly discovered daughter.

    Instead, the story starts with the very intriguing premise of Harry as a ghost. This status, again, is something no serious fan would expect to last but allows the consequences from the previous book to continue. Awakening in a state between life and death, Harry is charged by the Archangel Uriel to investigate the circumstances of his death and becomes embroiled in a conflict with the ghost of an enemy.

    The book's appeal is watching how Harry's friends and associates have dealt with a world without their protector. It is a sobering realization for Harry that Chicago is a far darker place without him yet his friends are capable of defending it. They have formed a "Justice League of America" which works as a network across America, fighting against the aggressively expansionist monsters of the world.

    The destruction of the Red Court of Vampires saved the White Council but like the fall of many dictators, the sudden chaos and power vacuum hasn't made things easier for humanity. The Formor Court is a collection of gods, fairies, and monsters kept in check by the Red Court and White Council's power for centuries but now one is gone while the other is terribly weakened.

    Perfect for expansionism.

    Throughout the book, Harry struggles to deal with his friends who are used to dealing with imposters and not wanting to believe their friend is dead. I loved Murphy's reaction best because she has stepped up to be the new hero of Chicago but the "unsolved" mystery of Harry's murder burdens her tremendously. Seeing her come to terms with Harry's death in the way a fan might is a great bit of writing.

    Also great is the development of Molly Carpenter. Previously Harry's spunky Goth girl sidekick, she's evolved into the "Ragged Lady." A woman who uses illusions and misdirection to punish not only the supernatural evils of Chicago but its corrupt police force. The change was unexpected, heartbreaking, and yet believable given what we know about her.

        The action in the book is well-written with a conflict between Harry and an archwizard's ghost. The fact Harry, as a ghost, is deprived of the majority of his supernatural mojo makes the story have higher stakes than normal. You can usually count on Harry to be able to blast himself out of problems and he doesn't have that as an option here.

        The Corpsetaker's ghost and her spirit army reminds me of the old Wraith: The Oblivion tabletop roleplaying game, which isn't a bad thing. I also enjoyed reading about how Harry struggles to adjust to being an invisible incorporal specter who can't do any magic. The Formor are worse than the Red Court in many ways and I look forward to seeing them as foes in future volumes. I can't say I really buy the world is worse off than when the Red Court was alive, though, since they were such a titanic force for evil. You'd think at least some of the world would be a better place without soulless marauding psychopaths.

    In conclusion, Ghost Story is a great continuation of the saga and a way to write Harry out of the corner he was pushed into. The new status quo is exciting and full of promise as is the possibilities opened up by Harry's status at the end.

10/10

Buy at Amazon.com

The Dresden Files: Changes review

    Changes is, in its own way, an ending point for the Dresden Files. More precisely, it is the end of the "old" Dresden Files and the beginning of the new. The major plot arc for the first ten or so books of the series, the war between the White Council of Wizards and the Red Court of Vampires, comes to its dramatic close. We also bid farewell to the majority of the original series' trappings like the Detective story elements, its Noir trappings, and the idea this is anything but a very high fantasy urban fantasy series.

    Some of these changes are for the better.

    Some aren't.

    The premise of the book is Susan Rodriguez, the first love interest of Harry Dresden, has returned from a lengthy absence to inform her ex-boyfriend he's a father. Rather than bring them together, the discovery that she cut him out of his child's life without even allowing him the decency of knowing destroys any respect Harry has for his now-vampiric former lover. Worse, his child has been kidnapped by the Red Court of Vampires for an evil ritual which will probably result in her sacrifice.

    The Red Court is pulling out all the stops to destroy Harry, having grown absolutely gut-sick of the constant never-ending interference of our protagonist. This means attacks on Harry from supernatural, mundane, and spiritual corners. For once, they are portrayed as being every bit as deadly as their reputation implies. Watching Harry's life begin to disintegrate underneath the onslaught of terrible things is some of the most tense storytelling in the series.

    Changes makes excellent use of continuity without feeling the need to bog down the reader in irrelevant details. As Harry's life slowly unwinds, he proceeds to call in just about every single favor and ally he's made in the past ten books. He acts intelligently, with conviction, and proactively rather than reactively--at least to dealing with the problem at hand. It's one of Harry's finest moments, taking charge of his destiny to get back his daughter.

    Much of this novel is devoted to the moral question of what to do in order to accomplish your goals. Nietzsche formed an entire moral philosophy around this concept and what you should be willing to do. Here, Harry makes a statement he will do anything to save his daughter's life. Anything. That includes making a deal with the Queen of the Winter Fae and, if she refuses to help, darker sources of power. There's some genuinely shocking moments and they are all the more effective because you wouldn't think Harry would stoop to those levels.

    The ending of Changes is, sadly, something readers will never be able to experience the same way fans did when the book first came out. It was so shocking and unexpected everyone was seriously considering it to be the end of the series. Now that new volumes of the series are out starring Harry Dresden, some of the initial impact has been lost. Still, it's a surprising ending and more effective for that.

    In conclusion, this is one of the best books in the series but it's also one which is terrible for getting on the series with. Much of its appeal stems from the great use of continuity and previously established characters. Despite this, it's so well-written and such a classic story you could jump on it if you wanted to. The humor, action, and villains are great in this book. There's also a lot of powerful terrible moments like the resolution of the Harry/Susan plot.

10/10

The Dresden Files: Turn Coat review

    One of the more controversial figures in the Dresden Files series is Morgan, Harry Dresden's equivalent to Inspector Javert. A ruthless Warden and mage-hunter, Morgan believed Harry was a warlock and practitioner of evil magic with no amount of evidence or good deeds able to convince him otherwise.

    This proves to be a deterrent to Morgan's career as Harry not only ends up joining the Wardens but saving the world on multiple occasions. As Harry's star has risen, so has Morgan's star waned, until it seems that he's nothing more than a pathetic has been tilting at windmills. The premise is Morgan ends up plopping himself on Harry's door begging for help, because it's now HE who is being hunted as a traitor.

    Oh, karma.

    Further troubling this situation is the most vicious, hateful, and dangerous monster Harry has ever faced. Given the number of monsters Harry has faced, it's a tall order to say, "this is the worst of the bunch" but the naagloshii or Skinwalker qualifies. He starts off the story by doing something unforgivable and then proceeds to keep doing unforgivable things until the very end. Unlike Nicodemus, I feel genuinely sacred for Harry when they fight.

    Good show.

    Much of the book is devoted to attempting to salvage Morgan's character from the somewhat cartoonish figure he'd been portrayed as before to someone who fit into the more mature depiction of the series ambiguities. Morgan is shown to be a long-time veteran of the often insane and paranoia-inducing world of wizard politics, struggling to do the right thing when mercy is often merely a gateway to getting played by evil-doers. The fact Morgan has given his life to fighting evil, sacrificing the chance for love and children, is surprisingly moving in the face of Harry's almost ridiculously-large surrogate family.

    Warden Commander Luccio also plays a big role in this story, continuing both her romance with Harry Dresden as well as illustrating the vast age differences with the two when she reveals she'd mentored the Sean Connery-looking Morgan. There's a revelation about the Warden Commander and her romance with Harry at the end of the book I didn't like. I felt it was needlessly tacked on and done primarily to protect the Harry/Murphy ship I think should be abandoned and left to sink.

    Turn Coat has some excellent moments spread throughout the story. Watching Harry struggle to deal with the naagloshi, his failed attempts to protect his friends, and the increasingly obvious Quislings within the White Council are all very well done. I also liked watching Harry deal with the fact his apprenticeship of Molly Carpenter may not have been his best work. Harry is a bit too permissive with his student, treating her like the daughter of his best friend versus someone in dire need of correction on magical ethics.

    This is a dark, moody, and surprisingly intrigue-ridden installment of the series. We get insights into how the White Council works, how the war is proceeding against the Red Court (answer: badly), and whether or not Harry can trust his fellow mages (answer: no). The Black Court, first introduced in Dead Beat, comes to prominence here and the paranoia its existence induces makes for some hair-raising moments. Harry's team doesn't emerged unscathed from this book and I'd argue this is the volume where he takes the most hits both emotional and physical.

    In conclusion, this is a good hard-edged volume but may not be for everyone. Harry gets raked over the coals and the book gets perhaps darker than it needs to be. Characters are raped and killed off-screen, violently murdered, plus longstanding heroes get summarily written out of the books. Still, it's very well-written. The book not only manages to redeem the Morgan character but make him one of my favorite in the franchise. That's impressive.

8.5/10

The Dresden Files: Small Favor

    Small Favor is the tenth novel of the Dresden Files, following Harry Dresden as he has his second encounter with his arch-nemesis, Nicodemus, from Death Masks. It also follows up on the "three favors for Mab." A plot point which was introduced in Summer Knight and would continue to have a major impact on the series up until Changes. Given the book focuses on the Denarians, it also has a big role for the Knights of the Cross, as well as Gentleman Johnny Marcone a.k.a Chicago's biggest crime-boss and the second most important human who knows about the supernatural in the series.

    Harry is recruited by Queen Mab to protect Marcone who is under attacks by a foe who turns out to be the aforementioned Nicodemus. There is much focus on the Unseelie Accords, those nebulous documents created by Queen Mab which are designed to limit the amount of chaos supernatural beings can cause in the modern world. The Knights of the Blackened Denarius, composed of Hell-serving fallen angels, are signatories but don't think much of the rules.

    Small Favor is a book which suffers for the fact it is heavily-reliant on continuity. While this is a feature, rather than a bug, for those familiar with series, it means this book would be less enjoyable for a starting volume. Likewise, I'll be honest, Nicodemus is not that great of a villain.

    While only the second time he's used, the character doesn't really have that much over Harry's other foes and his returns will become dreaded rather than enjoyed. I really think this should have been his last appearance in the franchise as there is a great moment in this somewhat unremarkable entry in this series which would have been a fitting finale for the demonically possessed mortal.

    One thing I dislike about Nicodemus' portrayal in this book is that a character who was initially defined as one of the most intelligent men in history, one of the greatest villains the world has ever seen, and a reader of the Evil Overlord List suffers a great deal of "Badass Decay" (thank you TVtropes.org). Harry and company run rings around him and there's even a moment which lampshades the wizard has a much more formidable foe facing him in the Black Council.

    The character is further hurt by the fact he is as close to a loyal servant of evil, which is a questionable motive at the best of times, as the series possesses. To be a good recurring nemesis, a villain must be cool on some level, and it's hard to think of Nicodemus as such when he tortures a twelve-year-old kid as in this book.

    In short, Nicodemus starts to wear out his welcome in this book.

    Of course, the book does benefit from more focus on the Knights of the Cross as well as series-favorite the Archive. I've always liked the Archive and really wish she'd gotten a bit more focus here. The sum-total repository of all written knowledge in the form of a twelve-year-old girl, Ivy has a spectacularly crappy life. Only Harry Dresden is willing to treat her as a little girl. The book puts her through a truly horrific experience and I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with it.

    While menacing a child is certainly a huge motivation for Harry, it's also uncomfortable to read about, and I lost a lot of respect for Nicodemus as an antagonist because of it. Sansa, my favorite of the Knights, also makes a reappearance. More Sansa is always appreciated. I mean, how can you not love a African-Russian atheist-communist Knight of the Christian God? There's also some fun stuff relating to the Three Billy Goats Gruff, except said goats are fairies with guns. No, seriously. Their plotline's resolution is a highlight of the book.

    In conclusion, Small Favor is not my favorite of the Dresden Files novels. The return of Nicodemus is underwhelming, there's a bit too much reliance on previous continuity, and the torture poor Ivy undergoes left a sour taste in my mouth. It's not a bad book, though, but suffers in comparison to the great ones which preceded it. Still, I'd rather read Small Favor than most urban fantasy.

8.5/10

The Dresden Files: White Night review

     As my reviews will indicate, I considered Jim Butcher to be on a role from Blood Rites onward. Subsequent novels Dead Rites and Proven Guilty were amongst my favorite in the series and introduced series favorites Butters as well as Molly. White Night isn't quite as good as these volumes but is still really-really good and one of the last of the books I unambiguously loved without qualification.

    Yes, that's a bit ominous isn't it?

    The premise of White Night is there's been a series of murders across Chicago by an obvious supernatural force. These individuals aren't killed in the traditional "blood and guts" sort of way but in more subtle ones, including death-by-sex whose discovery is rather hilarious. All of the victims turn out to be low-level practitioners of the mystic art, witches and magicians not powerful enough to join the White Council.

    Harry must find out who is interested in preying on those who have very little magic or involvement in the ongoing war with the Red Court of vampires. Complicating matters is Harry's possession by the demon Lashiel, a spirit who wishes to corrupt him to the Dark Side and is willing to do so through giving him everything he's ever wanted. Harry is losing ground every day through the temptation to use hellish powers to do good.

    White Knight is an excellent story less because of the mystery, which is decent enough, than because of the follow-up on so many other plot-lines. We get a return of Elaine from Summer Knight, the Raith clan of White Court Vampires, Carlos Ramirez the Warden, Molly Carpenter, Butters, and even minor ones like Helen Beckitt. This is a very continuity-heavy story and yet for fans of the series, is quite enjoyable for it.

    Part of what I liked about the book is the strong relationships between all of the characters. Murphy and Harry's friendship, Molly's crush on Harry, Elaine's past relationship with Harry, Helen Beckitt's friendship with her fellow witches, Butter's increasing interest in the supernatural, and a general moving away from the episodic missions of the previous books to full immersion in the overarching plot.

    Another element I like is it goes further into analyzing what it means for Harry to be part of the Wardens now. Having been one of the criminals chased by the White Council for most of his life, he's now feared and hated by exactly the sort of people he used to consider himself to be a part of. Watching Harry try to deal with people who believe he's a mad dog killer as well as an instrument of the law is both funny as well as moving.

    The White Court of vampires politics are another great thing to be enjoyed here. Lara Raith is a fabulous villainess, basically Cersei Lannister if she had all of her father's intelligence and cunning. Her scenes with Harry crackle and I really wish those two would get together. She's the best femme fatale in a series filled with them. The fact she's confirmably evil but on our heroes' side is something which adds to the ambiguity of her character.

    The Lashiel subplot was one I felt was starting to drag after three books devoted to it but the conclusion to it here was quite satisfying, as well as a bit touching. I never thought I'd expect to be moved by a plot involving demonic possession but I was. Their interaction throughout the novel was a delight and you could see where each of them gave ground to the other.

    Despite this, White Night didn't quite grab me as much as its immediate predecessors. It relies heavily on past continuity and doesn't quite pop out the same way. It's still a great novel, though, and something I think every fan of the series would enjoy. It's perhaps not the best book to start the series on, though.

10/10

The Dresden Files: Proven Guilty review

    Proven Guilty is my second favorite Dresden Files novel (the first being Blood Rites), so don't expect anything resembling an objective review. This book introduces the adult version of my all-time-favorite character in the series, Molly Carpenter, and also focuses on one of my favorite movie genres: 80s horror! Yes, it's Harry Dresden versus Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and the xenomorph from Alien! Okay, he only fights thinly-veiled stand-ins for the first two but the latter he fights directly! He even quotes Sigourney Weaver's iconic line while rescuing Newt! You can't get much more awesome than that.

    The premise of the novel is Harry has been called to help Molly Carpenter investigate a series of suspicious deaths at a local horror convention. Simultaneously, there's shenanigans going on behind the scenes with the Summer and Winter Courts of the fae. This isn't surprising but their feud is costing the White Council a valuable advantage in their war against the vampiric Red Court. Harry must put all of his investigative skill to use in order to unravel who is doing what, to who, and how.

    As mentioned, a major part of this book's appeal is the (re)introduction of Molly Carpenter. While she's been introduced before, this is the book which really sets her place in Harry's supporting cast. Molly is a young Goth and Punk wizardess who is the daughter of what amounts to God's Chosen Warrior on Earth. A rebellious youth, to say the least, Molly is also blessed with the potential to do magic.

    While Michael Carpenter, her father, is best friends with Harry, her mother is decidedly against against her learning the ways of wizardry. This, amongst other problems of living in a house so straight-laced it would give the Osmonds diabetes, has driven her to run away. While much of the story is about the usual urban fantasy shenanigans Harry has to deal with, it's also about a relationship between a family which has lost the ability to communicate.

    Molly is a great character, not just because I'm unnaturally fond of Goth and punk girls (having married one), but her entire attitude. She's cheerful, irreverent, angry, and ambitious all in equal measures. She doesn't hate her family but she doesn't want their life either. The fact Molly nurses an enormous crush on Harry makes me want to see them get together at the end of the series too.

    There's a lot of great moments from the aforementioned battle between Harry Dresden and horror movie monsters from the 80s as well as a grand finale which takes our hero to the heart of the Winter Court. The book also elaborates on the setting's world-building, given us insights into how black magic works as well as the consequences should it go wrong. Many hints are given to the ultimate enemy of the series and the overarching plot is moved along without distracting from the book's strong central narrative.

     By this point in the series, Jim Butcher has really hit his stride. He knows who these characters are, what kind of world they live in, and is able to tell an effortless story which still manages to reveal new facets to the leads. Watching Harry struggle with being a Warden after books of being hunted by them is one of my favorite elements. It flips his perspective on events and shows him what it must have been like for his tormentors. Harry is still more merciful than most of his kind but the newly deputized Dresden has to make some uncomfortable choices this time around.

    In short, this book is awesome and one of the best in the franchise. Newcomers may be a bit lost but it's a read I wouldn't want to miss.

10/10

The Dresden Files: Dead Beat review

    Dead Beat is the first of the Dresden Files novels I chose to pick up. To any of you who don't believe covers can make the difference in purchasing a novel or not, know that I bought the book entirely based on the cover above. The whole badass Neo-Noir Private Eye with the big hat and the wizard's staff was just so cool, it compelled me to pick up the book even as I had no knowledge about what it was about. Given I eventually became a huge fan, you could say this book made a positive impression on me.

    Even as a new reader.

    The noir-horror-humor-urban fantasy mixture was unlike anything I'd read before. The closest thing I could compare it to was a slightly more adult Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. It was funny, serious, dramatic, human, and quirky all at the same time. This, of course, is a pretty good description of Angel but I liked this more than I ever liked it.

    How do I convey how awesome, surreal, and fun this book is in a sentence?

    That's tough.

    I know!

    The book has a wizard riding a animate T-Rex skeleton down through Chicago. To fight evil wizards. On Halloween. And there's a perfectly plausible reason why this is the most sensible course of action for him to take.

    This is why I love this series!

    The premise is Harry Dresden finds himself in the middle of a power-play between three Archwizards who are looking for the most powerful black magic ritual in the world. Which, coincidentally, is in Chicago. Harry has faced many powerful threats before in the past but this is the first time he is just completely outside of his weight class. Like Spiderman fighting the Incredible Hulk, outside of his weight class. Harry gets banged up, thrown around, and barely survives each of his encounters with the wizards he faces.

    This is with help from the Wardens, the wizard secret police who are no slouches themselves. The fact Harry has backup from people who have, traditionally, considered him to be just short of a dark wizard shows just how bad things are for our hero. Harry has friends who can provide him power, enough, to stop the Archwizards but the cost for this would be horrific. Harry could turn to the Queen of the Unseelie Court or a demoness all-too-willing to give him power in hopes of corrupting him. This in addition to the fact his other backup is still suspicious of his motives.

    Man, Harry doesn't have many good friends, does he?

    We get introduced to the fabulous character of Anastasia Luccio, Italian Warden and all-round asskicker plus the menacing but charismatic Cowl. We also get the subplot with "Lash" that proves to be one of my favorites. The character of Butters proves to be my favorite, though, being the Polka-loving medical examiner who becomes this book's unexpected breakout hit. Plenty of characters from previous volumes show up this time around and they're all in-character.

    In conclusion, Dead Beat is a great book with an epic storyline, humor, high stakes, and plot developments. The characterization is strong in this book, the events change the course of Harry's life, and the jokes are funny. The events of this book reverberate through the rest of the books more than any other save Grave Peril and Changes. In short, this is one of the must-buys of the series.

10/10

The Dresden Files: Blood Rites

    Hands down, my favorite of the Dresden Files.

    Period.

    Blood Rites is the book where I realized there was something truly magical about this series. It was weird, funny, serious, moving, and terrifying all at once. Previous books in the series have received a 10 out of 10 from the United Federation of Charles but this is the first book I'd give an 11 out of 10.

    So what makes it so good? It's hard to describe but I'll start with the premise.

    Harry Dresden is hired by the curiously egalitarian and non-sleazy porn producer Arturo Genosa who makes art films (with lots and lots of sex). This is already an inherently funny premise for any longtime fan because Harry has significant hang-ups about sex.

    It seems Arturo's production is under a curse and it's up to Harry to figure out a way to protect the actors and actresses from being killed. What's great is, it starts with Harry on the set of Boogie Nights and then moves to something which has a profound affect on the series as a whole. It seems Arturo's company is, in addition to having a curse laid on it, in deep debt to the vampire White Court. The White Court vampires are the succubi of the series, subsisting on the sexual energy of mortals but hurt by true love.

    In a very clever but kind of surreal idea, the White Court promotes shallowness and artificiality through their massive media empire. Arturo doesn't effect this with his movies but he's a good enough movie producer they want to own him lock, stock, and barrel. Also, a couple of the White Court's Royal Family enjoy working at Arturo's company.

    Seriously.

    Harry is not a subtle wizard so he's completely at odds with the moves-within-moves intrigue of the White Court. Helping him navigate their machinations, which include everything from catspaws to Judas goats to contract law, is Thomas. Harry's ally from Grave Peril, Thomas is the friendliest vampire in the world. He's also the Prince of the White Court. Unfortunately, Thomas is the exiled Prince of the White Court since his father hates him. Harry has to figure out why Thomas has been helping him: is it because of morality, politics, or a deeper connection he can't even begin to guess at?

    This book introduces characters like Lara Raith and expands on others well. We also get a lot of information about Harry's past and relationship to his long-dead (but very powerful) mother. In short, this is just the bee's knees and a book which is the quintessence of the Dresden Files. As Harry will say in a later book, "Yeah, that was that time I helped protect a bunch of porn stars from evil witches and vampires."

    How can you NOT buy the book after that?"

11/10

The Dresden Files: Death Masks review

    If Summer Knight was the first "real" book in the series then Death Masks is the book which revealed it wasn't a fluke. Summer Knight told an excellent story about fairies, world-building, character development, and past mistakes. Death Masks, by contrast, is a story which builds on the previous four books to create a story which shows how all of the strangeness so far is interconnected. It's not my favorite of the series but tells a great story while setting up the groundwork for many more adventures to come.

    This book follows up on two plotlines established in Grave Peril: the war between the Red Court vampires and the White Council wizards as well as the holy sword wielded by ally Michael Carpenter. The former was left largely off-camera as there was still the possibility of negotiation or turning over Harry to stop the conflict. It's in full-swing now with the White Council doing the fighting for Harry (which I never quite liked).

    A representative of the Red Court, Duke Ortega, comes to visit Harry and makes him an offer: settle this in a duel, one-on-one, and end this war now. Harry, justifiably feeling guilty for his role in starting the conflict, agrees and begins preparations for a show-down against an opponent he's woefully outmatched by.

    The latter plot element expands on the mythology behind the Knights of the Cross. It turns out three individuals are armed with swords made from the nails in Jesus' cross. Surprisingly, but appropriate given Jesus' views on violence, they aren't really warriors per se but redeemers. It is the job of the Knights to gather up the Denarian Coins (Judas' coins) which cause the holders to be possessed by demons. The Knights of the Cross attempt to save the holders of said coins rather than execute them since each soul lost to the Devil is a tragedy.

    I've mentioned my fondness for Michael Carpenter as one of the rare Christian characters in fiction who is neither a caricature or irreligious to the point he might as well not be one. While Harry remains as agnostic as someone can be in a world where the Archangel Michael hands out magic swords, fact he lampshades is ridiculous, Michael remains a beacon of quiet faith. Michael's compatriots play with this idea as one, Shiro, is an honorable warrior but Christian mostly because he liked Elvis' gospel music. Their companion, Sanya, is a black Russian communist who one-ups Harry by being an atheist.

    The three of them join Harry in opposing Nicodemus, the leader of the Denarians. Nicodemus is as close to an arch-nemesis as Harry possesses, being a character who has opposed him across multiple books with various degrees of success. Nicodemus is a cunning and evil character with his own sense of humor as well as genre savviness. As impressive as Duke Ortega is, he's in the kiddie leagues compared to the human host of a fallen angel. Death Masks also introduces the Archive, a character who doesn't play a big role in the books but is one of my favorites. There's something awesome about a little girl with near-omniscience.

    Death Masks ups the stakes considerably in terms of character danger as deaths are not uncommon in this book. These make the dangers faced by the characters considerably more real and a few of them are unexpected. In short, this book comes with a strong recommendation and it amazes me that it just keeps getting better.

10/10

The Dresden Files: Summer Knight review

    Summer Knight is where I think the Dresden Files really took off, at least for me. It's a story which moves away, slightly, from the private detective genre and more into the realm of "high fantasy in a modern setting." It introduces the character of Queen Mab, one of the series most enduring characters, and raises the stakes to the point Harry's failure will lead to the slow death of the world.

    The premise is Harry has been hired by Queen Mab, ruler of the Winter Fae, to find the murderer of Ronald Reuel  the titular Summer Knight. Harry doesn't want to do this but is forced into the job by the White Council lest they revoke his title of wizard and hand him over to the Red Court vampires who still want his blood. Complicating matters further is the return of Harry's childhood romance, Elaine, who is working for the Summer fae.

    Part of what I like is it's a story built around the Fair Folk. While they're hardly unused in urban fantasy, it's rare they're as well-developed or nuanced. The Unseelie Court are mostly horrible people, inhuman predators without an ounce of humanity, but they aren't precisely evil either. Well, most of them aren't evil. The Summer Court is supposed to be the "good guys" amongst the fae but they have their dark side too. The book has a lot of cleverness about it, too, with Ronald Reul being the middle initials of J.R.R Tolkien.

    Summer Knight makes excellent use of characters and plot developments from previous books to round out the cast. This is the book I started liking Murphy in, for the first time. There's an action scene which takes place involving a Walmart that's a blast. Her character is softened a bit from previous volumes and much more likable. While I was still ill-disposed to her due to the events of Fool Moon, she did a lot to regain my respect.

    I liked the relationship between Harry and Elaine, but it's a little too compatible to be interesting. They're childhood friends, both wizards, and neither side has any real reason not to become involved. In this, I'm grateful to have Jim Butcher substitute the very real trauma which passed between them. Even if Harry and Elaine are able to reconcile over what happened years ago, the feelings they've carried from that event stick with them. I'm not a big fan of the Murphy and Harry alternative, though, and am fond of other romance candidates.

    The supporting cast is great with several characters I wish had shown up more often in the resulting series. Mab is a particularly awesome because Harry is desperate to be the Good GuyTM with a capital G. Mab, however, represent the necessity of the lesser level. She's vicious, cunning, and wicked but a person who has an important part to play in the world. Forcing Harry to work with her is a source of great drama and tension which reoccurs throughout the series.

    Summer Knight is funny, exciting, and filled with excellent world-building. It isn't my favorite of the series but it's a novel I've read on multiple occasions. That's about the highest praise I can give a book. A good book will entertain you for a day. A great one will entertain you for a week.

    This is averaging about four or five days so far.

9.5/10

Buy at Amazon.com

The Dresden Files: Grave Peril review

    Grave Peril is where the Dresden Files started to find their footing.

    This isn't to say the previous volumes were bad but much of the series' trademarks start appearing here. We get the introduction to a number of important characters, the beginning of a major plotline which will occupy the characters for many volumes, and plenty of information on the series' mythology. There are also several shake-ups with the cast.

    The premise of Grave Peril is Harry Dresden and his longtime associate, Michael Carpenter, successfully hunt down a ghost before taking on a job to protect a young seer. The pair receive help from a White Court vampire named Thomas who is unusually friendly. Harry's on-again, off-again girlfriend Susan Rodriguez returns to town, looking for a story. This is before all of the above converge at a party thrown by a group of murderous vampires out to destroy Harry.

    If this sounds like a convoluted plot, it is. This is not a book with a single coherent narrative but multiple ones which all reach a climax simultaneously. This is both a strength and weakness because it's hard to keep track of everything yet always entertaining. Later books would have a stronger central narrative while not sacrificing the mystery inherent to the books' appeal. While everything does tie together, it does so in such a loose manner I doubt Jim Butcher would have done this book the same way if he wrote it today.

    The real appeal is Grave Peril moves Harry Dresden away from the "case of the week" format which, while appealing, was nothing species. After this point, there's a central guiding narrative which, while mysterious, drives the plot forward. The Red Court, previously just a background element of the series, moves to prominence as enemies of the White Council and Harry in particular.

    The new characters introduced in this book are also ones which start fleshing out Harry's world. Michael Carpenter, the Knight of the Cross, is a rare case of a positive Christian warrior in urban fantasy. The majority of individuals with strong religious convictions are depicted as fanatics so it's nice to have one motivated by his faith to do good. The fact Harry remains agnostic or, at least, irreligious means the two of them have some interesting conversations while maintaining a level of respect for one another.

    Thomas the "good" vampire is a character who doesn't get fleshed out much but the very fact he's helping monster hunters makes the world a lot more complex. I also loved the characters of Charity Carpenter, Lea, and Susan Rodriguez in this book. The previous book had a heavy Noir tone which restricted women to questionable gender roles despite the subversiveness of Murphy.

    Introducing a larger and more varied role for women in the books (as well as making the central villain here one) makes this a better book too. Fans of the latter books in the series may note a lot of the series' future plot twists are set up here.

    There's many hilarious moments like Harry Dresden going to a vampire Halloween party as a cheap Dracula knock-off, Lea's attempts to "protect" Harry by turning him into a dog, and poor Harry realizing that it is NOT wise to bait a dragon. The drama is strong, too, with several events happening which change the status quo forever. Bianca and Kravos aren't very well fleshed-out villains but serve their purpose as foes for Harry to defeat.

    In conclusion, Grave Peril is the first really good Dresden Files book. I am tempted to encourage fans to start there if they want to get a sense of what the books are about. This is where the series really began and it only gets better from here.

9/10

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The Dresden Files: Fool Moon review

    I didn't like this book.

    Well, no, that's unfair. I like this is the least of the Dresden Files novels but there's nothing that offended me. There's even some good bits, more so than plenty of other urban fantasy novels I've read. If one were to read Fool Moon, however, one might walk away with an impression the series is much less than it is. As a result, if one were to skip any book in the series, I'd argue this is the one to do so.

    The premise of Fool Moon is Harry Dresden is investigating a series of werewolf attacks which are occurring around Chicago. Harry learns there are multiple different kinds of lycanthropes in the course of his investigations and not all of them may be evil. Even the good ones, however, are dangerous.

    Harry must make several moral decisions throughout the course of the book and determine whether his allegiance to the White Council's Laws of Secrecy trumps his friendship with Lieutenant Murphy of the Chicago PD. If he continues to lie to her about the supernatural he runs the risk of alienating her forever but if he tells her the truth, he will be responsible for any deaths which result.

    The relationship between Harry and Murphy in Fool Moon is the most troubling element of the story as the latter's behavior comes off as deranged. She insists on complete truth from Harry despite the fact she considers him an expert in the supernatural. I.e. Someone she should trust when he says that it's better for her to be kept out of the loop.

    I understand breaking off their relationship if she doesn't want to be lied to. However, Murphy goes the extra mile in this novel and arrests Harry in order to extort him into telling her the truth.

    People die as a result.

    A lot of people.

    Worse, the book treats Harry Dresden as the one in the wrong. Repeatedly, Harry makes prudent and wise decisions before the book punishes him for it. He always ends up being the one to apologize too and it becomes eye-rollingly bad. I desperately wanted to see Murphy apologize for her actions but she remains unrepentant. I've never really forgiven her for this. Even many books later, I don't like her character nearly as much as the author wants me to.

    All because of this book.

    Perhaps the part I liked most about this book is Jim Butcher going out of his way to establish there's multiple kinds of werewolves. We get each of them described as well as a basic taxonomy of what their role is in the supernatural world. Some of them are quite powerful, others relatively weak, and others still psychotic.

    If more authors took the time to do this kind of world-building, the genre would be far better respected. Fool Moon may not be my favorite book in the series but it creates a very interesting set of werewolves which I'd wished we'd see more of in the series.

    There's quite a lot of good in this book, despite my complaints. I enjoyed the nightmarish attack on the police station, Harry speaking with himself, the Alphas, and Bob's exposition. These good moments don't outweigh the bad. They just sort of even out, making a book which is neither bad nor good.

    Just there.

5/10

Buy At Amazon.com

The Dresden Files: Storm Front review

    I love this series.

    I love this series so much, I'm going to go re-read each both and review them on my blog. That's how much I love the Dresden Files. What are the Dresden Files? The Dresden Files are the adventures of Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, the only wizard in the Yellow Pages. He doesn't do parties, fortune-tellings, or tricks. So, what does he do?

    Kill monsters.

    Also, find lost objects. Don't forget that. That's like 90% of his business.

    The Dresden Files are Jim Butcher's attempt to do a genre mash-up of Noir Private Eye fiction and Urban Fantasy. For the most part, it works splendidly, though there's a few hiccups at the start of the series. The Noir influence is a bit thick at the start of the series and its clear that Jim does much-much better comedy and straight-up good versus evil.

    The premise of Storm Front, the first novel in the series, is Harry is called to investigate a particularly spooky murder by the Chicago PD. The police don't trust or really believe in Harry at this point but they know he's real enough to get some results. Harry soon finds him embroiled in a conflict involving a supernatural drug dealer, the kingpin of Chicago's underworld, a toad-demon, his reporter girlfriend,  and a family out for revenge.

    So how is Storm Front?

    Ehhh, not really that good.

    But only by comparison.

    Way back when, I was interested in finding books similar to Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series (back when it was an Action-Urban Fantasy-Horror series versus porn). So, I was utterly enthralled by the book when it came out. However, in retrospect, it's not nearly as good as I remembered.

    Much of the series trademark humor is absent, the villains are far less colorful, and there's some uncomfortable moments like when Harry's girlfriend drinks a love-potion which works like a roofie. The latter is played for laughs with Harry trying to fight off the drugged out of her mind woman during a toad-demon attack.

     The book isn't very long and the plot isn't all that complex. The vast mythology and world-building the Dresden Files would become known-for isn't yet established. We have the White Council and other elements being established but the character of Morgan, who plays a big role in later books, is here little more than a cartoonish sword-wielding version of Inspector Javert.

    The character of Murphy, who becomes one of the most central characters to the Dresden Mythos, is unlikable and suspicious. Susan Rodriguez and Marcone are much more one-dimensional in this volume than they will be in later volumes.

    Still, there's a lot of potential here and that potential grows. The very act of putting a wizard in the phone book and having him investigate supernatural crimes feels good. There's also hints of Jim Butcher's trademark wit that will evolve in one of the most persistantly funny series I've read. There's much to love like the character of Bob the Skull and the encounter with Bianca the vampire. Sadly, there's a lot of room for improvement and some people recommend you skip these books.

    I don't but I'm a completitionist.

7.5/10

 Buy at Amazon.com

The Dresden Files: Skin Game review

    I've been a big fan of the Dresden Files since the original novel, Storm Front, came out way back in 2000. Which means, roughly, I've been a fan of the series for fourteen years. Jim Butcher's style has influenced both my writing as well as aspirations for being an author. Yet, I've never gotten around to writing a review of his books. I can't tell you why this is the case but it's true. I suspect it's because the series was so important to me, ironically, I didn't think I could review it objectively. Well, I've developed a mixture of feelings to the series as its progressed so I'm going to review them all.

    Eventually.

    Skin Game is the first I'm going to review as it's the most recent volume in the series. It's also the fifteenth novel in the series. If I manage to somehow get my Red Room series anywhere near that number, I'll be the luckiest man in publishing. Anyway, the premise of Skin Game is that Harry Dresden (Private Eye Wizard) is recruited by Mab, the Queen of the Fae, to help old enemy Nicodemus (Demon ne'er do well) to steal the Holy Grail from the Greek God Hades. Harry would rather not do this but extenuating circumstances mean he has to cooperate up until the point they acquire the Grail. Then it's open season on whoever has the prize.

    After an increasing movement away from its Noir roots with the books since Changes, we return to something at least in the same ballpark with a heist story. Nicodemus has assembled ten or twelve (perhaps ELEVEN if you count creatively) criminals for his mad scheme. I appreciate the creativity Jim Butcher has in trying to figure out where to hide the Holy Grail. Hades is depicted differently here than in most media, giving him a much more nuanced personality. I liked that since I feel you should only alter myths if you have a reason for it.

    The actual heist plays out more or less as you'd expect, though Jim Butcher is smart enough to throw a bunch of twists in toward the end. It's a game of cat and mouse between Nicodemus and Harry, only the mouse is the one from Tom and Jerry. The new characters introduced during the heist are interesting to and we also get some insight into old favorites who choose to show up.

    The biggest surprise of them all, however, is the developments between Harry and Murphy. Without spoiling, we finally get a resolution on their long running "will they or won't they" dance which has been running since Storm Front. We also get an explanation for why Murphy has held off so long in becoming a Knight of the Cross. Sadly, the resolution to that plot line was profoundly unsatisfying to me and my least favorite part of the book.

    Skin Game is a very fun novel and one I heartily enjoyed reading. Sadly, it's not a book without flaws. As a big fan of Karrin Murphy and Molly Carpenter, I was disappointed to see both women sidelined in favor of male characters Butters and a surprise return to action. Given both characters are male, I wanted to see the women of the Dresden Files kick ass and instead got a bit of a bro-fest. Given we were left with a cliffhanger regarding Molly, her small role in the book was doubly-disappointing. Worse, Karrin Murphy gets put through the proverbial ringer in this book and we don't get to see her rise from it the way we do in other books. There's a moment with the Sword of the Cross which really irritated me.

    Very disappointing.

    Despite this, I would recommend picking up Skin Game.  It's a nice antidote to the high stakes drama of previous books and takes things back to a street-level (only BIGGER) level I enjoyed. If Jim Butcher can throw these sorts of books in-between the ones with global world-changing events, I'll be most pleased.

7/10