Helpful Score: 9
Wow!! These Dresden Files books just keep getting better. This one is non-stop action, you barely get a chance to catch your breath. Harry has to deal with the Nightmare, an evil that attacks in your dreams. It seems to be targeting Harry and those who are close to him. The plot is multi-layered and keeps you involved. I loved the character of Michael and his feisty wife Charity. Not sure that I like the direction of Harry and Susan's relationship and all I can say about the ending is YIKES!! Absolutely fantastic book!!!
Helpful Score: 8
While I loved the new characters introduced, this series entry seemed a bit frantic and disjointed as if there was so much going on there wasn't enough time to cover it all in enough detail. Still a really fun read in a really fun series, though. :)
Helpful Score: 3
This is Book 3 of the Dresden Files.
This series just keeps getting better and better. I really enjoyed the addition of a new character, Michael. He is a God-fearing, giant-sword-toting family man. He can also hold his own in a fight.
In this book the plot gets a lot more complicated. There is no shortage of action, political intrigue, mortal and spiritual danger, moral quagmires, kidnapping, and a lot of fighting. In addition to all of that, there is a very nasty ghost on the loose who is terrorizing people in their sleep. And those people happen to be Harry's friends.
Harry continues to develop as a character and continues to get himself stuck in impossibly complicated situations. This is a must-read book in a must-read series and I highly recommend it.
This series just keeps getting better and better. I really enjoyed the addition of a new character, Michael. He is a God-fearing, giant-sword-toting family man. He can also hold his own in a fight.
In this book the plot gets a lot more complicated. There is no shortage of action, political intrigue, mortal and spiritual danger, moral quagmires, kidnapping, and a lot of fighting. In addition to all of that, there is a very nasty ghost on the loose who is terrorizing people in their sleep. And those people happen to be Harry's friends.
Harry continues to develop as a character and continues to get himself stuck in impossibly complicated situations. This is a must-read book in a must-read series and I highly recommend it.
Helpful Score: 3
I actually had a hard time staying with this book in the first 100 pages or so and thought about abandoning the series all together. I am very glad I trudged ahead! The beginning seems to be setting the background, etc... and if you stay with it becomes a very interesting story, indeed. Sign me up for book #4!
Helpful Score: 2
A demon is attacking people in their dreams and Wizard Harry Dresden is out to stop it. This demon seems to be targeting Harry's closest friends, including Lt. Karin Murphy. Now Harry must find out who is responsible for calling up this demon and stop it.
Harry has help from several new characters, including Michael and Thomas. I felt like Michael had a huge backstory that I somehow missed. This story also begins a huge story arc for this series. My rating: 4 Stars.
Harry has help from several new characters, including Michael and Thomas. I felt like Michael had a huge backstory that I somehow missed. This story also begins a huge story arc for this series. My rating: 4 Stars.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is the best of the series! Butcher keeps getting better and better. I really liked the plot of this book and the appearance of Michael and Lea. I won't given any thing away, but suffice to say this is well worth the read.
Helpful Score: 1
Harry has managed to get himself into more hot water with the White Council. "He did the right thing". Good read. I liked it.
Helpful Score: 1
This series just keeps getting better and better. Just when you think you have a handle this world, the author comes up with a new hero or monster or supernatural situation. In this book, wizard Harry Dresden takes on vampires and ghosts, while using a combination of chutzpah and creativity (sort of like a magical MacGyver) to squeeze out from between the rock and the hard place where he always seems to find himself. The consequences of Harry's doing the right thing, sticking to his principles, and aiding damsels in distress are especially wide-ranging and poignant this time out and seem to be setting the stage for a shift in Harry's interactions with others. It is a pleasure to see the author resisting the temptation to fall back on a tried and true formula, as often happens around this point in a series. Each book has pushed Harry toward a bit more growth, and this book contains a fair amount of introspection mixed in with the action. A really good read in a great series.
This was the last book in the Dresden Files omnibus and it left me feeling very enthusiastic about the future of the series for a variety of reasons.
First of all, as I mentioned in my review of Fool Moon I was concerned whether the vague tendency of the plot to become formulaic was going to resurface in this book. Fortunately I shouldn't have worried: Mr. Butcher took the story in a completely different direction and every twist felt fresh and exciting. There were no two potions, brand new characters and dynamics were introduced, and the essence of the story steered away from basic crime and into more substantial realms of right and wrong. The only thing that stayed was poor Harry getting beaten up brutally and on a regular basis, apparently when you're a wizard for hire that's a common occurrence. Oh and the self-deprecation. Can't do without that.
If you remember from last week's post I was getting excited about the universe Butcher was beginning to flesh out in Fool Moon with multiple breeds of werewolves, if you will. He pursued that direction in this novel in the most encouraging fashion in his treatment of the vampire underworld. The idea of different courts is not particularly new, but I really enjoyed seeing just how different they are in the Dresden Files universe. For one thing it's just fun, secondly it is another indicator of the range the series is acquiring, and that is always a good thing for a series as long as this one.
I mentioned earlier that in this book the story is leaning towards deeper areas of right and wrong, and what I was talking about is Harry dealing with not just a villain who needs to be stopped or corruption, but with things like faith, love, commitment and what is worth fighting a war over. His partner in the fight against evil in this novel is Michael, the uncompromising Knight of the Cross, who repeatedly prompts Harry to think about all those and on occasion serves as a moral compass for the wizard who often has somewhat different priorities. The best part for me was that there was no drawn-out conversations (there simply wasn't time for them), but rather the good old method of raising subjects and teaching by example. Harry's a smart guy, he can figure it out.
Gradually Butcher has been setting the scene for the big mystery of Harry's past and his parents' deaths, as well as the bargains he's struck with his fairy godmother, and in this novel things are starting to build to a point where the fairy godmother wants what she believes is rightfully hers and Harry is beginning to question things he's believed his entire life, so I think that in the next novel or two we'll see more serious developments in these plot lines, and the family mystery is probably going to take more than a few books to uncover. There's nothing quite like a common thread tying the separate cases together to keep a reader coming back! I know I'll be getting the next book in the series in short order.
First of all, as I mentioned in my review of Fool Moon I was concerned whether the vague tendency of the plot to become formulaic was going to resurface in this book. Fortunately I shouldn't have worried: Mr. Butcher took the story in a completely different direction and every twist felt fresh and exciting. There were no two potions, brand new characters and dynamics were introduced, and the essence of the story steered away from basic crime and into more substantial realms of right and wrong. The only thing that stayed was poor Harry getting beaten up brutally and on a regular basis, apparently when you're a wizard for hire that's a common occurrence. Oh and the self-deprecation. Can't do without that.
If you remember from last week's post I was getting excited about the universe Butcher was beginning to flesh out in Fool Moon with multiple breeds of werewolves, if you will. He pursued that direction in this novel in the most encouraging fashion in his treatment of the vampire underworld. The idea of different courts is not particularly new, but I really enjoyed seeing just how different they are in the Dresden Files universe. For one thing it's just fun, secondly it is another indicator of the range the series is acquiring, and that is always a good thing for a series as long as this one.
I mentioned earlier that in this book the story is leaning towards deeper areas of right and wrong, and what I was talking about is Harry dealing with not just a villain who needs to be stopped or corruption, but with things like faith, love, commitment and what is worth fighting a war over. His partner in the fight against evil in this novel is Michael, the uncompromising Knight of the Cross, who repeatedly prompts Harry to think about all those and on occasion serves as a moral compass for the wizard who often has somewhat different priorities. The best part for me was that there was no drawn-out conversations (there simply wasn't time for them), but rather the good old method of raising subjects and teaching by example. Harry's a smart guy, he can figure it out.
Gradually Butcher has been setting the scene for the big mystery of Harry's past and his parents' deaths, as well as the bargains he's struck with his fairy godmother, and in this novel things are starting to build to a point where the fairy godmother wants what she believes is rightfully hers and Harry is beginning to question things he's believed his entire life, so I think that in the next novel or two we'll see more serious developments in these plot lines, and the family mystery is probably going to take more than a few books to uncover. There's nothing quite like a common thread tying the separate cases together to keep a reader coming back! I know I'll be getting the next book in the series in short order.
Really enjoyed this boook. Carries on the 'Dresden File' level of intensity.
I love this series! Harry is smart, funny and has crazy friends, oh and gets mixed up in some odd stuff, but odd for a wizard? No! In this book Harry had to fight off the nightmare, find out why ghosts are wrecking havoc in his city, save his girlfriend and stop an evil vampire. What more could you need?
I love the Dresden Files, so my review is biased. I am looking forward to reading the new book, Ghost Story.
A very Anita Blake feel to this book. Poor Harry is beset on all sides with baddies - warlocks, vampires and fae. The action and the threats to Harry and his friend's never stop. Just like Anita, he survives one encounter to tumble directly into another and another. I greatly enjoyed this installment but the typos, missing letters and wrong tenses indicated that no one edited this book before publication. It's very distracting to try to figure out what was supposed to have been printed instead of what was. Luckily I got this from the library or I would have been pissed to toss $7.99 on a book so poorly edited.
Very imaginitive! Too boot - this one starts out with action from the very beginning to almost the very end.
It starts out with Harry and Michael (a new character) racing to Cook County Hospital. No; neither of them are having a baby at the moment! They are attempting to stop a pumped up poltergeist from killing the entire maternity ward. Apparently things like this have been happening a lot lately and they still have no clue why. Well...this fight leads to the Nevernever where we learn the ghosts are actually being tortured to act and we meet Harry's Godmother - to his most unfortunate dismay.
Jim Butcher continues on the literary track by backtracking in the story to the beginning of Harry's day where we meet another intriguing character who gives her name as Lydia. Additionally, the author gives the backdrop on the Blue Beatle again and even mentions the last book with the mayhem with the werewolves.
The Ringmaster in this mess involves Special Investigations...which in turn involves Murphy, but aside from a cameo appearance here and there she isn't in this book. So another star to Jim Butcher for that one since it was beginning to becom a pattern. (First two books: A murder, Harry is called in, he starts invetigating, Murphy decides to arrest him, he doesn't go to jail, gets his ass kicked and then solves everything. The End.)
Back to this particular story though....Someone says it's a nightmare. So, not surprising that Harry has a nightmare that takes a chunk of his stomach and half his power along with it.
Throw in a Vampire Ball, Vampire politics, Harry's bad deicions, Harry's girlfriend and all of Michael's references to G_d since he is "the fist of G_d" and you have yourself a pretty damn imaginitive book.
And no! Not everything is saved by Love at the end. :p
It starts out with Harry and Michael (a new character) racing to Cook County Hospital. No; neither of them are having a baby at the moment! They are attempting to stop a pumped up poltergeist from killing the entire maternity ward. Apparently things like this have been happening a lot lately and they still have no clue why. Well...this fight leads to the Nevernever where we learn the ghosts are actually being tortured to act and we meet Harry's Godmother - to his most unfortunate dismay.
Jim Butcher continues on the literary track by backtracking in the story to the beginning of Harry's day where we meet another intriguing character who gives her name as Lydia. Additionally, the author gives the backdrop on the Blue Beatle again and even mentions the last book with the mayhem with the werewolves.
The Ringmaster in this mess involves Special Investigations...which in turn involves Murphy, but aside from a cameo appearance here and there she isn't in this book. So another star to Jim Butcher for that one since it was beginning to becom a pattern. (First two books: A murder, Harry is called in, he starts invetigating, Murphy decides to arrest him, he doesn't go to jail, gets his ass kicked and then solves everything. The End.)
Back to this particular story though....Someone says it's a nightmare. So, not surprising that Harry has a nightmare that takes a chunk of his stomach and half his power along with it.
Throw in a Vampire Ball, Vampire politics, Harry's bad deicions, Harry's girlfriend and all of Michael's references to G_d since he is "the fist of G_d" and you have yourself a pretty damn imaginitive book.
And no! Not everything is saved by Love at the end. :p
Excellent book. Jim Butcher is a terrific writer
I have to say that this was my favorite Dresden book so far.
There was a lot going on in this story, but it flowed well together and wasn't hard to follow.
I feel bad for Harry. He's such, in my opinion a likable guy with the worst luck. I love him as a character, he's becoming my favorite.
There was a lot going on in this story, but it flowed well together and wasn't hard to follow.
I feel bad for Harry. He's such, in my opinion a likable guy with the worst luck. I love him as a character, he's becoming my favorite.
Im either getting used to his writing for sake of the story and characters, or the writing is better.
Fantastic book. I like the inclusion of the new character, Michael. He really rounds out the Dresden Files cast. The plot is suspenseful and is more about my favorite elements: magic and vampires, and less about Dresden and Murphy's "do you trust me?" relationship. I cannot wait to read book #4!
Harry faces off something new in this book that he's never seen. Something in the Nevernever is getting stirred up, and ghosts are feeling the effects. Whatever this thing is, it's also getting to Harry and his friends. Harry is going to have to figure out not only what this thing is, but how to stop it before it kills someone that he loves and cares about.
There's some really awesome things that happen in this book that I didn't see in the previous two, and that's more world building. We get to see more of Harry, and more of the people that he works with, and around. We meet someone in this book that I don't think we've met before, and his name is Michael. Michael works for god, and is kind of a Knight Templar. We see a lot of him in this book, as he and Harry work closely together on this case.
Karrin Murphy, aka Murph, is kind of left out of this book, but that's not really a bad thing. Since she was put in the background, we get to see some more of the other characters that we've never really met before.
Harry really has to make some tough choices in this book, and it's great to see more of who he is as a character, and what really makes him up. The tragedy he faces at the end was almost unbearable, and I'm hoping it all turns out for the best.
This really is a great book, and so far a great series. I can't wait to move forward with it!
There's some really awesome things that happen in this book that I didn't see in the previous two, and that's more world building. We get to see more of Harry, and more of the people that he works with, and around. We meet someone in this book that I don't think we've met before, and his name is Michael. Michael works for god, and is kind of a Knight Templar. We see a lot of him in this book, as he and Harry work closely together on this case.
Karrin Murphy, aka Murph, is kind of left out of this book, but that's not really a bad thing. Since she was put in the background, we get to see some more of the other characters that we've never really met before.
Harry really has to make some tough choices in this book, and it's great to see more of who he is as a character, and what really makes him up. The tragedy he faces at the end was almost unbearable, and I'm hoping it all turns out for the best.
This really is a great book, and so far a great series. I can't wait to move forward with it!
Harry Dresden continues to get into trouble, and this time it's ghosts that are creating havoc in the city. Something seems to be stirring them up and attacking Harry and his friends in their dreams, wreaking havoc on their spirits. If the vampires aren't responsible, they at least are involved, and Harry's faery godmother is out to stake her claim on his soul too. This third installment of the series is full of nonstop action, twists and turns.
Harry gets better with each outing. Ghosts are everywhere disturbing the fabric of both worlds. How could you not love that Harry has the help of Michael AKA the Fist of God on his side? Excellent read!
Light reading in a dark series. The Dresden Files are formulaic, but fun anyway. This third book in the series illustrates the adept way Jim Butcher weaves together the various well-researched myths of a particular category of the supernatural: in this case, ghosts and vampires. He tends to deal with the huge variety of mythology for any given monster by having types within the category. Then he weaves all of the types into the mystery as clues and red herrings. Harry's story also unfolds, adding another dimension to the suspense and puzzlement. Things don't always work out well for our anti-hero in black.
Ghoulishly delightful!
Ghoulishly delightful!
Another excellent installment in the Harry Dresden series.
Excellent book. This book will keep you guessing to the very last page.
Very exciting,keeps you reading. I love the Harry Dresden books
Another wonderful installment in the Dresden Files series. They just keep getting better and better!
I love this series!! This was a little darker than the first two but I really liked it.
Loved it!
It is amazing the way that Butcher is able to interweave the books together. With various aspects or happenings of the previous books cropping up in little statements and enormous surprises. The convoluted motives and manipulations was magnificently done.
another amazing book!
Awesome!
Great series! I have a duplicate or this one would never be available!
one of my favorite authors. book has some slight red kool aid stining on a corners of the last few pages. thank my daughter for that one. Very readable.
