Grimalkin, Wizards council, stepsister, fairy queen, Ghoul and Ogre. I'm enjoying the plot, and the description of the real Chicago - this book describes the underground, and talks of the Manhattan Project's met lab. Also the very American-ness; FTD (a floral wire service, and the Electric Company superhero (a children's educational television programme). There is the usual showdown of fighting at the end of the book. ( )

(2002)Book Four of Dresden Files. Just couldn't get thru it; quit with about 80 pages left. I am loosing interest in this series.

This is getting better and better. 5.5/5 stars. ( )

Harry Dresden is up to his neck in foes. This time Dresden's foes are, well, everybody. The vampiric Red Court, who want revenge for the events in Grave Peril; his own White Council of wizards, run by the usual cowardly appeasers and bureaucratic weasels; and last but not least, the Sidhe, the creatures of the fey, whose opposing houses of Summer and Winter keep one another equally balanced so as to avoid too much power in any one set of hands. But the balance has been disrupted. Someone has murdered the Summer Knight, that realm's champion to its queen, Titania. The Winter Queen, Mab, has been blamed, and she makes Harry an offer he pretty much can't refuse: if he helps her to find the Knight's murderer and clear her name, she'll help him. All Harry has to do is help avert an all-out war between Summer and Winter. No problem!

Like usual, spending time with Dresden and his wizard problems turns out to quite fun, and quite enthralling. Butcher - for as much as he known for making escapist noir/urban fantasy - is a craftsmen of character. He's also great at employing action. It's never too gritty and has a lot of humor. It's that careful balance between suspense and wit where both can work that Butcher has a true gift for. Humor in these kinds of fantasy novels can all too easily call attention to itself — The Dresden novels, for the most part, avoid the scourge of postmodernist pretension.

Read for wizards, fey, and Chicago-above-Chicago, hilarious hijinks, and the hardboiled fantasy noir. Stay for the random fight inside a Wal-Mart.

( )

Hello Fellow Readers!

I finally finished the 4th book in the Dresden Files Series (only a million more to go!). While the last book was setting up this huge story-line for Dresden that I am pretty sure is going to span a couple of books, this book was the first in which we actually get to see what this bigger picture is. While you only get a glimpse of what could go down, it's huge. So, Dresden is still Dresden. He's pissing everyone off and of course, getting himself in over his head. At least he still has his magic and perviness. Dresden is still reeling from the consequences of his actions from with the Red Court and now he's forced to take a case for the Winter Queen.

What I really liked about this book is we finally see Dresden accept help. He is starting to realized he cannot protect and leave everyone in the dark. Lots of allies from the past books are brought into the fold and we get to meet a few new ones. The list of side characters are getting a little long for me to remember who is who, but of course I remember the regulars like Murphy and Bob, but we now have the Alphas, the Queens and the wizard council members. That is a lot of side characters to remember.

The story was pretty good, even with the over-sexualization of female characters, and I feel like Butcher finally has an idea of where this series is heading. ( )

(4.5 / 5)

This book had all of the good of the previous ones in the series with almost none of the not-so-good. The stakes are high, Harry seems stronger and less generally unlucky, and the side characters are interesting and different. I like the way Billy and the werewolves sort of act as disciples of Harry’s, but also come in really handy when he needs help. And the humor…it was one of the things that first interested me in this series, and it seemed doubled in this installment. I chuckled quite a few times, and there was one particular moment during the climax that I had to back up and hear again. It’s one moment that I can say for certain would not have been as funny if I’d read it, rather than listening to it. James Marsters is a great narrator, and that moment in particular was brilliant.

There was a lot less sexual content in this book than previous ones, which I appreciated, though it still seems like most of the women characters, large or small, are just there to be leered at in text. If you’re interested in the series, I highly recommend the narration by James Marsters. ( )

Favorite mispronunciations this time around include gibbering, sigils, and impotent. ( )

It was good to return to the world of Harry Dresden after an extended break. In this installment, harry gets stuck sorting out a war between wizards and vampires... which, come to think of it, never really gets sorted, since Harry gets sidelined by being called to sort out a war between Summer Faeries and Winter Faeries. The fantasy elements here are pretty epic, almost too much for my brain, which leans a little more toward the Urban in urban fantasy. But, as every epic fantasy hero—urban or otherwise—should, Harry manages to figure out how to avoid Death by Faerie and come out the other side. He does seem like a hero who barely has his shit together enough to accomplish his goals, but I suppose that’s why he’s an endearing character. I look forward to more adventures with Harry Dresden, Wizard. ( )

440 ( )

I can’t remember the year I first read this, but I know I didn’t like it as much as book 3, which is funny, because I listened to an interview with Butcher last year, and this is the book he sees as pivotal for the quality of his writing. I love this guy—he just comes across as such a good egg in interviews—so it makes me sad that I’m not having as much fun with this series reread as I thought I’d have. It makes me double sad that this might be because I’m not enjoying James Marsters as Dresden. Which is also funny, because on one of the audiobooks I listened to, Jim Butcher came on and said how much he likes Marsters’ narration, so what do I know? Anyway, I don’t think my problem is all Marsters, and speeding up the narration on Audible helped (Dresden sounds so tired and grouchy at normal speed).

The action scenes are great in this series, and I love the humor. The thing that’s bothering me the second time through is all the lady noticing and describing Harry does—I don’t remember being annoyed by this the first time I read these, but for some reason I am now.

Anyway, I think the 3-star rating is still pretty accurate. I remember loving the next one, so I’m not giving up on the series reread yet. ( )

Exciting!

Excellent book. Kept me enraptured the whole time I was reading it. Really like Butcher’s take on fairies. On to the next book! ( )

One of the best endings by far! I loved this one, secrets come to light, the world gets expanded, and amazing scenes. 5/5 ( )

There's so many things I love about this book series. And yet I still want to slap the main character, like a lot and frequently. Hear or see or think about him describing women ever again. But I do appreciate that he is an imperfect hero, I just don't have to like it. Lol. There were some great supporting characters in this book, and the mystery was pretty intense. I appreciate that it wasn't cut and dry ( )

Summer Knight is my favorite in the Dresden Files series (so far). I like that we have some character development going on, especially with Murphy. I wish Bob played a bigger role in this one, I do enjoy his humor!

Fingers crossed that Harry doesn't say "Hell's bells!" on every page in the next book! ( )

I enjoyed this one, also. There was obvious "macho" talk in it as before, but it works. On to the next one in the series, now... ( )

I somehow always missed being able to get ahold of this novel of the Dresden Files series. This one explains so much regarding the Winter Queen, the White Council, Toot Toot and friends. Then again it could be that each new story builds so much upon the ones that came before. I hold this series close to my heart as one of my favorites. ( )

This one is my favorite so far. It kept me on the edge of my sit the whole time.
The world building was excellent, and it was interesting to finally meet the white council and the various other characters that hadn't made an appearance so far.

Upon reread, I must say, it holds up so well! It's still an awesome, fun ride and knowing the answer to the mystery doesn't detract from it at all. ( )

I was sort of expecting harry to become a knight, against his will, luckily that did'nt happen... so far. ( )

Hello Fellow Readers!

I finally finished the 4th book in the Dresden Files Series (only a million more to go!). While the last book was setting up this huge story-line for Dresden that I am pretty sure is going to span a couple of books, this book was the first in which we actually get to see what this bigger picture is. While you only get a glimpse of what could go down, it's huge. So, Dresden is still Dresden. He's pissing everyone off and of course, getting himself in over his head. At least he still has his magic and perviness. Dresden is still reeling from the consequences of his actions from with the Red Court and now he's forced to take a case for the Winter Queen.

What I really liked about this book is we finally see Dresden accept help. He is starting to realized he cannot protect and leave everyone in the dark. Lots of allies from the past books are brought into the fold and we get to meet a few new ones. The list of side characters are getting a little long for me to remember who is who, but of course I remember the regulars like Murphy and Bob, but we now have the Alphas, the Queens and the wizard council members. That is a lot of side characters to remember.

The story was pretty good, even with the over-sexualization of female characters, and I feel like Butcher finally has an idea of where this series is heading. ( )

Woah. What a leap in writing. Much improved over the first three book
( )

It's been a while since I'd last read one of the Dresden Files books, and it's good to return to them. So much fun, and James Marsters' reading is awesome. ( )

It's always nice when a series gets better instead of worse, and while I did enjoy the first 3 Dresden Files books, #4 is definitely better. Harry is evolving and Murphy is also going through changes, and it's a treat to watch the characters grow and see how it effects their friendship.We also meet someone from Harry's past, and I think I was as startled as Harry was.

There are some interesting themes in this book - like trust and the difference between honesty and "not lying". We get some more information about some important recurring characters. We also get to see Harry put on his big boy pants and step out of his tendency for self-pity that has bothered some readers in the previous books.
( )

I very much enjoy this series to indulge a bit in darkness. If you've got a wizard saving the entire world from destruction, you know it's going to be a good read! This is probably my most favorite of this series to this point. ( )

Sorcerers, werewolves, vampires... And now the Fae. We already had hints of it from the previous books, particularly in the guise of Lea--Harry's literal Fairy Godmother.

Overall, it's a very cool bit of worldbuilding. The Fae aren't particularly uncommon in Urban Fantasy and I really like the Dresden Files version thereof. They've even gotten to the point where they act as background knowledge when reading other series. If something isn't mentioned, I'll fall back to the Dresden Files as ground truth. It's just that solid.

Another nice bit is to finally see the White Council that we've heard about for several books. They're more or less what I imagined they would be in this world. A whole pile of different people and cultures brought together by a shared magic. And just like any other large group of people, there is politics.

Of course Dresden ends up smack dab between the two.

The plot is neat, with a few twists and a good number of players muddying the waters. It's interesting to see how even beings as elemental and unchanging as Fae can be twisted against themselves.

Cool scenes:

Dresden and Murphy fighting a giant plant monster at a Home Depot equivalent.

Meeting the crazy powerful (crazy and powerful) Fairy Mothers, the eldest of the queens.

That final battle in the sky.

The scope of the world keeps growing, revealing more and more of the things that go bump in the night (and that could tear Dresden limb from limb without breaking a sweat).

Also, Dresden finally told Murphy just about everything. About freaking time. ( )

Harry is riddled with guilt because his girlfriend had her memories of him wiped and was changed into a near-vampire so he is barely functional. Then, the wizard's White Council convenes in Chicago and puts Harry on trial for various infractions, all done in the name of righteousness. With a few key allies, he negotiates a trial -- to open up routes through the Nevernever, requiring the approval of warring Faerie tribes. Winter Queen Mab shows up at Harry's office, having bought his marker from his godmother, demanding his help to solve the case of who killed the Summer Knight, upsetting the delicate balance of between the Fairie tribes. Lots of Machiavellian intrigue in the world of Fairies. Once again, Harry risks life and limb, rallying his friends the werewolves (Billy and the Alphas) and Chicago lieutenant detective Karrin Murphy. A memorable battle scene at the Walmart, with a plant monster, a chainsaw, and confusion mist. Improving, 3.5 stars. ( )