Just finished reading...

...SKIN GAME, the most recent novel in the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.

In a past review of another Dresden book, I was going to write that the Dresden Files books are a guilty pleasure of mine, but when I stop to think about that turn of phrase, I simply don't feel guilty. I like them--even though I am not a "fan-boy," a role-playing gamer, or a Comic-Con attendee. Jim Butcher has created a total world with a stunning variety of creatures, animals, people, places, and history that are all based on or around ideas of "magic." For those unfamiliar, Harry Dresden is a Private Investigator and modern day wizard in Chicago, and across fourteen--now fifteen--books, we have discovered wizards, monsters, vampires, fairies, ghosts, goblins, ghouls, angels, shape shifters, and other supernatural beings, in a sort of hybrid of Sam Spade and "The X-Files." Lest this sound a tad too Dungeons and Dragons/ role play for some, Butcher has a wonderful way of presenting these stories rooted in reality. He makes everything seem so utterly possible and believable... and I will tell you again that I am not a D&D fan. What I particularly like about the Dresden series is that everything is true: Butcher puts in everyone's gods and monsters, from across all time and all cultures. Greek gods are real, Norse gods are real, Native American beliefs are real, there is a heaven and a hell, but then the rest of the world as well as the supernatural world operates as if there is no heaven or hell. It's all true and it all exists side by side. I wouldn't be surprised if, in some future book, we meet Krishna, Shiva, or Ganesh!

This newest installation in the series, SKIN GAME, is just as fast (it moves at break-neck speed), fun, entertaining, suspenseful, funny, and wildly imaginative as the fourteen that came before it. Jim Butcher is one of those writers who knows exactly how to end a chapter so that you can't wait to start the next one... which leads to many late nights ("Oh, I'll just read one more chapter, then go to bed..." and this is of course followed by, "Well, just this one more, this will be the last one..."). He has a talent for ending chapters in mid-action, mid-plot, mid-secret-being-revealed, so one MUST start the next chapter. As you can imagine, this makes it hard to actually turn the light out and go to sleep when reading at night.

If you haven't followed any of the Dresden books, I certainly recommend them and it is not too late to get caught up. Butcher plans twenty-ish books in the Dresden Files series which will be finalized with a trilogy he has already titled (and presumably outlined!). In this installation, Harry, in his role as Winter Knight to Mab the Queen of Air and Dark, is loaned out to a rival to pay off a debt. But the rival turns out to be a demon Harry has fought in the past. And this demon's plan is to break into a vault and steal one of the most precious and powerful objects in all space and time. Regular readers have the pleasure of catching up with old characters, some of whom come to occupy a very central place in the supernatural world once again. I won't say any more for fear of spoiling the twisty plot and surprises. Even at four hundred and some pages, it was a fast read, for precisely the reasons I mentioned above.

Recommend? Yes! But just like anything in a series, you must read the others first. None of the Dresden Files books are stand-alone affairs. The series is a continuing unfolding of events and you need to be up to speed. It makes no sense to come in without any prior knowledge: you need to grasp the importance and history of certain places, people, and things. Go to Butcher's site and see the list of HARRY DRESDEN books in order, starting with STORM FRONT:
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/

Just finished reading...

...COLD DAYS, the fourteenth book in the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.

I devoured half this book on the plane to France and finished it off the first week I was there. I was going to write that the Dresden Files books are a guilty pleasure of mine, but when I stop to think about that turn of phrase, I simply don't feel guilty. I like them. Jim Butcher has created a total world with a stunning variety of creatures, animals, people, places, and history that are all based on or around ideas of "magic." For those unfamiliar, Harry Dresden is a Private Investigator and modern day wizard in Chicago, and across fourteen books, we have discovered monsters, vampires, fairies, ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and other supernatural beings, in a sort of hybrid of Sam Spade and "The X-Files." Lest this sound a tad too Dungeons and Dragons/ role play for some, Butcher has a wonderful way of presenting these stories rooted in reality. He makes everything seem so utterly possible and believable... and I will tell you that I am not a D&D fan.

This newest installation in the series, COLD DAYS, is just as fast, fun, entertaining, suspenseful, funny, and wildly imaginative as the thirteen that came before it. Jim Butcher is one of those writers who knows exactly how to end a chapter so that you can't wait to start the next one... which leads to many late nights ("Oh, I'll just read one more chapter, then go to bed..." and this is of course followed by, "Well, just this one more, this will be the last one..."). It is pointless for me to try to provide even a summary of the plot so I will simply say two things.
1) To those who are fans of the Dresden Files, dive right in, you'll love it.
2) To those who have not read the Dresden Files, gather together the first ten or so books... they make excellent summer reading. Ready, set, go!

Recommend? You betcha.

http://www.jim-butcher.com/

Just finished reading...

...GHOST STORY by Jim Butcher.


This is the thirteenth installment in Jim Butcher’s “Harry Dresden” series and surprisingly, the characters seem as fresh and interesting as the early books. This is thanks to Butcher’s willingness to make huge, sweeping changes to the narrative of the series—anything can and will happen, and no character is above being killed off, including our narrator and hero, Harry Dresden himself!

At the end of—and I mean the very last page of—the last Dresden novel, CHANGES, Harry was shot in the back by an unknown—to him as well as us—assailant. Butcher insisted that the book was not a cliffhanger. Harry got shot and died. Well, here we are picking up with Harry in the “hereafter”—which actually looks a lot like his home town of Chicago. Harry is a ghost, or in the parlance of the supernatural world in which Dresden lives, a “shade.” His spirit is sent back to the real Chicago to find out who killed him, and to right that imbalance. Easier said than done when he can’t touch or influence anything and no one can see or hear him. His first visit is to Morty, a medium Harry knew when he was alive. He always assumed that Morty was a borderline fake, but lo and behold, Morty can see and hear Harry just fine!

Harry eventually finds his other group of friends (comprised of loyal and returning characters including Karrin, and his apprentice Molly) and discovers that instead of being gone for an hour or so, he has been “dead” for six months. And he sees firsthand the emotional, psychic, and physical toll his death has had on his friends.

Of course Harry is a detective, and no detective story can ever be straight-forward, especially when the supernatural is concerned. Perhaps there is more to this “right-an-imbalance” than meets the eye. Perhaps Harry can only see the tip of an iceberg. Perhaps Harry must find out the truth about his death, his fate, and the lives of his friends.

I won’t give you any spoilers, so you can have the pleasure of discovering the story for yourself, but I will say however, that the book has a satisfying ending, and yes, there will be plenty of “Dresden File” books in the future… featuring Harry himself.

Recommend? Yup. But just like anything in a series, you must read the others first. None of the “Dresden Files” books are stand-alone affairs. The series is a continuing unfolding of events and you need to be up to speed. It makes no sense to come in without any prior knowledge.

http://www.jim-butcher.com/
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden

Just finished reading...

...CHANGES, the twelfth novel in the Harry Dresden series by author Jim Butcher.


Once upon a time, there was a television show called THE DRESDEN FILES about a Chicago private detective, Harry Dresden, who is also a wizard. It was a fun, supernatural cross between HARRY POTTER, MACGYVER and Sam Spade.
It unfortunately only lasted for a season, but a few years later, I learned that it was based on a series of books by fantasy author Jim Butcher.

I have since read all twelve in the series (Butcher has plans to continue the series into the low twenties) and they are a lot of fun as well as being real page-turners. He has a talent for ending chapters in mid-action, mid-plot, mid-secret-being-revealed, so one MUST start the next chapter. As you can imagine, this makes it hard to actually turn the light out and go to sleep when reading at night.

CHANGES is a great addition to the series. Many familiar characters from books past make cameo appearances here, but the main point of this one is, as the title suggests, changes. Harry finds out some information that will change his life forever as well as making some decisions about his allegiances that will change who he is and how he behaves. The book after this should be quite interesting.

For quick and fun summer reading, I absolutely recommend this book...but you must start from the beginning of the series. Otherwise, none of it will make any sense. Or rather, it might make some sense, but you won't grasp the importance of certain places, people or things. Go to Butcher's site and see the list of HARRY DRESDEN books in order, starting with STORM FRONT:
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/