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| 9780451464408
| 0451464400
| 4.48
| 101,833
| Nov 27, 2012
| Nov 27, 2012
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Hells Bells count: 35 Sometimes I wonder how much Jim Butcher had planned in advance. I mean, this is book number fourteen of a series that's been goin Hells Bells count: 35 Sometimes I wonder how much Jim Butcher had planned in advance. I mean, this is book number fourteen of a series that's been going for twelve years. Whether he's got a giant, intricate plot map pinned up along the walls of his writing office or he's making things up as they go along, I'm impressed. As we get further into the exciting life and times of Harry Dresden, one thing that is clear is that the series has always been moving in a very clear direction, and that the things that came before are what inform the things that come later. Jim Butcher is not a wasteful author, and that gives him the ability to do a lot of really impressive things. As we open this story, Harry Dresden is no longer dead. He was, sort of, and had all kinds of grand fun as a ghost, but now he's alive and it's time for him to start paying off the debts that he incurred in the process of dying. The first of these debts is to Mab, the great and terrible queen of the Winter Faerie. Many, many books ago, Mab offered Harry the position of the Winter Knight - a mortal who would be the strong arm of the queen. He would be her sword, to strike where she pointed. Harry refused until he could refuse no longer, taking on that mantle in exchange for the power that would allow him to rid the world of the Red Court of vampires. And as much fun as vampire genocide is, that's not really his job anymore. Now that he's alive again and under no other obligations, Mab has a purpose for him. At its face, it is a terrible purpose, one that makes no sense and yet which Harry is obligated to fulfill. On the other hand, there is Demonreach. Mab's partner in keeping Harry Dresden's body... let's say viable while he was away as a ghost, Demonreach is the spirit of an island in the middle of Lake Michigan. This island isn't on any maps, and it's devilishly hard to find, but it represents a huge well of magical and spiritual power. This island needs Harry Dresden in order to do its duty. Demonreach is not just an obscure Brigadoon that enjoys hiding from the eyes of the unworthy - it is a guardian against powers that would ravage the world. If it is going to maintain its control and keep the peace, it needs Harry Dresden. While all this is going on, we learn of a new force that is at play in the world. This is rather in keeping with the way the Dresden Files books have worked thus far. Every so often, our point of view is changed, and our field of vision is expanded. Way back in Storm Front, Harry Dresden was a small-time wizard investigator, not well-loved in the wizarding community but good at what he did, and that was pretty much all we saw. As the series progressed, we discovered more about the White Council of Wizards, the three Courts of Vampires, about the ever-feuding faerie realms of Winter and Summer. We went on to discover angels and demons and things that walked between them, ghosts and goblins and creatures that were just barely understandable by our mortal minds. Now we take another step back, out beyond the borders of our reality as we know it. Outside our universe, there are... things. And those things want in. Why they want in is not really understood. Maybe this universe is more hospitable, maybe they're just bored. All we know is that to let them in is to let reality as we know it die. That's bad enough, but what is worse is the knowledge that some of them are already here. They've snuck under the walls, so to speak, and are carefully and busily undermining our defenses. In a game that is so intricate and dangerous, these things use great powers as pawns - including Harry Dresden - and look forward to their inevitable victory. As with so many of the other Dresden Files books, this is a solid read, and you'll fly right through it. Despite being vast in scope, encompassing the fate of the world as we know it, the book is still very personal, letting us follow Harry along the strange, winding path he has to walk whether he likes it or not. Harry has always been a dangerous guy to know, but now that he's the Winter Knight, that danger is even greater. There are forces arrayed against him that he wouldn't be able to understand even if he knew what they were, and simply being the Winter Knight is a challenge unto itself. Taking up that position doesn't just come with awesome new powers and a direct line to some of the most powerful creatures in creation – not without a price. There are obligations as well. Rules and requirements. And, of course, dangers. When he's done, he'll have more answers, and he'll have more problems. Whatever comes next, we can be sure it will be even bigger and scarier than what has come before, and it'll be a treat to see how he manages to beat it. ------ "I kept a straight face while my inner Neanderthal spluttered and then went on a mental rampage through a hypothetical produce section, knocking over shelves and spattering fruit everywhere in sheer frustration, screaming, 'JUST TELL ME WHOSE SKULL TO CRACK WITH MY CLUB, DAMMIT!'" - Harry Dresden ...more |
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Dec 2012
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Dec 01, 2012
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| 045146379X
| 9780451463791
| 045146379X
| 4.25
| 100,764
| Jul 26, 2011
| Jul 26, 2011
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Hell's Bells count: 27 In the acknowledgment section of the book, where Butcher very kindly thanks all the people who helped it come **spoiler alert** Hell's Bells count: 27 In the acknowledgment section of the book, where Butcher very kindly thanks all the people who helped it come into existence, he clarifies something very important: the end of the last book, Changes, was not a cliffhanger. Absolutely not, no matter that it really, really looked like one, smelled like one and felt like one. After all, in that last scene, Dresden is on a boat, and then shot through the chest by a sniper of some sort. He drops into the cold waters of the lake and sinks and, as far as we know, dies. In order for it to be a cliffhanger, then, Butcher would have to reveal at the beginning of this book how Dresden got out of such a terrible situation. Maybe he could call on some last reserve of magic or be saved by merpeople or something, but the strictures of the cliffhanger would demand that Dresden, once the next book began, not be dead but saved by some unexpected, yet still believable, means. So, yes, Butcher is right - it's not a cliffhanger. Dresden is, indeed, dead. He did not escape, he was not rescued. He is dead. Now in most series (comic books excluded, of course), the death of the main character would be something of an impediment to continuing the series. But The Dresden Files is not most series, and Harry Dresden is not most main characters. He has done too much and is far too important to be allowed to do a silly little thing like die. Harry Dresden is necessary to a great number of plans and schemes by a great number of people. What's more, his death wasn't exactly fair, insofar as such a thing is possible. And so he is brought back by the Powers That Be in order to balance the scales and set things right, which is ultimately what Harry Dresden has been doing all along. He's to go back to Chicago and find his murderer, lest terrible things happen to those he loves. The catch, of course, is that he has to come back as a ghost. This is a problem for many reasons, not the least of which is that doing a murder investigation is substantially easier when you have, well, substance. It's hard to punch someone in the face when your fists just go right through them. So Dresden first has to figure out how to make himself known to the living world, in addition to coming to grips with his limitations as an untethered spiritual entity. Once he's figured that part out, he has to not only solve his own murder, but keep a body-hopping necromancer from becoming indescribably powerful, save the only man who knows how to deal with being a ghost, try to redeem a bunch of street kids who are under the influence of a minor sorcerer, and figure out what to do with the real mess he made when he died. You see, Harry's death, and the events that led up to it, created a power vacuum - not only in Chicago, but all over the world. With the destruction of the Red Court of vampires, the magical rulers of the world are fighting tooth and nail over land and resources, and what has mostly resulted from that is bloodshed. Forces all over the world are converging on Red Court territory, each one determined to claim what they can. In Chicago, the news of Harry Dresden's death invited all sorts of new power players into the city, who were previously smart enough to stay out. Harry never truly understood the reputation he had until he sees what his friends have to do to match it and keep the city safe. Now that the Great and Powerful Harry Dresden is out of the picture, a newer and more terrible protector has emerged to keep away those who would do the city and its inhabitants harm. The Ragged Lady is all that stands in the way of the Chicago that Harry knew being overrun. Mix in the Faerie, a new group called the Formor, the mob, and a few representatives of the afterlife, and you have a confusing and volatile situation. Which is pretty much where Harry Dresden is most at home. As with the other Dresden Files books, this is a lot of fun to read, mainly because it looks at Harry and his friends from a new point of view – the outside. In the six months that he's been "away," the people he loves have had to go on without him, and even in that short time they have become different. They have had to make choices that they wouldn't have made while he was there, and they certainly don't interact with him the same way they once did. Harry has to re-learn who these people are, with the understanding that his decisions did not change their lives for the better. In addition, we learn more about Harry's past and what made him the way he is, and we finally see him start to think about whether being the person he is is really a good thing all the time. He excels in showy violence, hitting first and asking questions later, without taking a more nuanced view of the situation. Well, now he can't hit, at least not in the ways that he's used to. He has to look at his old ways in a new light and figure out how to get what he wants through other means. Really, if you've read this far in the series, you'll enjoy this one. Butcher continues to do a good job in giving us what we want, while at the same time showing us things that are truly unexpected. There are some wonderful moments in the book, a few exposition-heavy moments while Harry is filled in on the situation, and a good mystery to be solved. Enjoy. -------------------------- Death should be a learning experience, after all, or what's the point? - Leanansidhe, Ghost Story ...more |
Notes are private!
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Aug 04, 2011
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Aug 23, 2011
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Hardcover
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| 1401309275
| 9781401309275
| 1401309275
| 4.12
| 14,329
| 2006
| Jan 27, 2009
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really liked it
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This review is acceptable to the forces of Light. - The Night Watch This review is acceptable to the forces of Darkness. - The Day Watch When I finished This review is acceptable to the forces of Light. - The Night Watch This review is acceptable to the forces of Darkness. - The Day Watch When I finished The Twilight Watch a couple of years ago, I thought that was it. Night, Day, Twilight, done. But when I announced that I would be doing the Night Watch trilogy as my end-of-month podcast, I got several emails from listeners who were quick to correct me. The series is not a trilogy, they said, but rather a tetralogy (okay, no one actually used this term). There is a fourth book out there, and I had no idea it existed! Thanks to modern technology, I was able to get the final (as far as I know) book, The Last Watch on my Kindle and get myself up to speed. Much like the previous volumes, this one is divided into three novellas, which all tie together into a greater plot. In the first, we are once again introduced to Anton Gorodetsky, an agent of the Moscow Night Watch. Due to the event s of the last book, Anton is now a Higher Other, having been elevated by the use of the fuaran a mystical book that can create or raise Others. His abilities are far beyond most, and that makes his responsibilities that much greater. He is assigned by his boss, Gesar, to investigate a mysterious killing in Edinburgh, Scotland. A young man, the son of a Russian magnate, has been murdered, and it looks for all the world like a vampire – a Dark Other – has done the deed. The pact between the Dark and the Light expressly forbids such actions, and the violation of treaty could lead to terrible consequences for all. Problem is, the Day Watch has no idea who or what killed the young man, and they're just as hot to find the killer as Anton is. And of course, the clues don't add up. The method of the murder doesn't fit the M.O. of your standard vampire, and the place where the murder occurred – a horror funhouse in the middle of the city – has its own mysterious properties as well. Anton knows he's on the right track, though, when someone tries to kill him, and he ends up fighting his way through the Twilight to get his answers. What he finds, however, is evidence that the mythical Merlin had left something in Edinburgh for safekeeping. Something truly terrible, no matter whose hands it fell into. In the second story, Anton is sent out to Uzbekistan to find one of the greatest Others who had ever lived, a man by the name of Rustam. Almost a legend among Others, Rustam is probably the only one who can come even close to figuring out what Merlin hid, and why. But he won't be easy to find. Anton not only has to deal with the Watches of Samarkand – which are far less efficient and well-staffed as others in Europe – but there's still someone out to kill him. This time, though, they're using ensorcelled humans to do the job, something that is also expressly forbidden. It soon becomes clear that there is a small conspiracy of very powerful Others – one Dark, one Light, and an Inquisitor, who serves neither – who are trying to recover the artifact that Merlin left behind. Their reasons are unknown, but they're willing to destroy anyone who poses a threat to them. Including, of course, Anton. It is in the third story where the whole plan finally comes together. That three-person conspiracy is determined to get their hands on Merlin's power, to collapse the Twilight and fundamentally change the world. If they have to kidnap Anton and threaten Moscow with a nuclear warhead to do it, then so be it. Their ends are, in their minds, wholly justified. It is up to Anton and his allies to avert this tragedy and see to it that the power they seek is never wielded by anyone ever again. As with the other books, the great supernatural action hides a greater exploration of the fundamental differences between right and wrong, good and evil. As terrible as the Last Watch are, they are doing what they believe to be right, and even Anton can come to understand their motives at one point. But they way they go about it, through dark magic and darker murder, doesn't nearly justify their aim. And so we see that evil done in the pursuit of good merely produces more evil. Depending, of course, on how you define "evil." What's more, there's quite a bit of metafiction in this book. It's clear that Lukyanenko is a fan of fantasy – he references Tolkien and Pratchett, just to name a couple of great authors. But he also knows the tropes of fantasy that have survived for so long, and makes sure his characters know them as well. When words are written on the walls, when people go in search of a great object of power or an unwinnable quest, chances are that one of the characters has read something like it in a fantasy book. At one point, when talking about how there are Others who would like to rule the world, the Inquisitor Edgar notes that it's what people really want. It's why fantasy is so much more popular than science fiction, he claims, because everyone dreams of being the magician or wielding the magic sword. It all makes sense, in a way that science fiction doesn't. Anton, of course, doesn't buy this, noting that most people who live in a Medieval Thaumocracy would be just like the peasants of long ago – poor, dirty, and dead by forty. So even in a world where magic is very real and very important, the characters know the difference between fantasy and reality in a way that we can relate to. I just find that fascinating. It's good fun, and a nice way to close out a very imaginative series. It's exciting and heartbreaking and funny – with a nice hat-tip to the Night Watch movie thrown in near the beginning. What's more, it's a well-built magical system and society that allows for a great variety of stories and characters. Honestly, I would love to see Lukyanenko expand on this universe, or even open it up for others to play in. ------------------------------------------------ "There is very much in the world that is bad. But usually the attempt to defeat evil engenders more evil. I advise you to do good; that is the only way to win the victory!" - Rustam, The Last Watch ------------------------------------------------ ...more |
Notes are private!
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not set
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Jun 18, 2011
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Jun 19, 2011
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Paperback
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| 045146365X
| 9780451463654
| 045146365X
| 4.25
| 55,589
| Oct 26, 2010
| Oct 26, 2010
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really liked it
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"Hell's Bells" count: 14 There's a reason that clichés become clichés. That's because, no matter how much we may hate them, they concisely describe som "Hell's Bells" count: 14 There's a reason that clichés become clichés. That's because, no matter how much we may hate them, they concisely describe some feature of human existence that is common to us all. The reason everyone uses them is because they're just so... right, and there's really no need for us to come up with something else. It's like saying, "Yes, I could use a screwdriver to put together my new IKEA desk, but everyone does that. I'm going to invent my own, completely new tool instead." So we use clichés, no matter how much we don't want to, because there's no reason not to. Having said that: Reading this collection of Dresden Files stories is like visiting with an old friend. One of those people you've known for ages, never get to see often enough, and always know you'll spend a good time with. From the moment you start reading, you know where you are, you know who you're dealing with, and you're ready to jump right into the story without a whole lot of character building, exposition, and the nuisance of trying to decide if this is something you'll like to read. If you're picking up Side Jobs, odds are that you already know The Dresden Files, and odds are that you'll really enjoy these stories. Most of them have been published before, in one form or another, but if you don't follow the various anthologies that are put out from time to time, these'll be new to you. They're not especially necessary to understand the overall series plot, but they do help to flesh out some characters and ideas that have already been presented – and hand us a few new ones as well.. The first story, "A Restoration of Faith," is a little rough, as Butcher himself admits. In the introduction to the story, he tells us that it was written when he was still in school, before he had really built up his writing chops and figured out his voice. And it does show, but in a kind of amusing way. As if, to continue on with our cliché of the day, you got to see the high school photos and videos of a friend you've only known in adulthood. It's a little awkward and a bit weird, but you can see the person he would one day become. In the same way, we get a glimpse of the young Harry Dresden, just getting his start as a private investigator. Working with Ragged Angel Investigations to get his license, Harry finds himself in one of his classic intractable positions: find a little girl whose parents don't particularly want her found. To make it more fun, she doesn't really want to be found either. The story looks at what Harry does and why he does it, and how no matter how dark the world gets, he sees himself as a person born to hold a light in the darkness. He saves the girl, of course, with his classic nick-of-time timing, and the story ends with the introduction of Karrin Murphy and a rather punny ending. It's not really the Harry Dresden that we know, but we can see the Harry Dresden that he will become. The other stories are good fun, too. In "It's My Birthday, Too," a story written for an anthology with a birthday theme, Harry sees the worlds of fantasy and reality collide. Violently, as usual. His brother Thomas has a birthday, and Harry has so few opportunities to do "normal" things - like celebrate birthdays - that he's determined to see that his brother gets his present. He tracks Thomas down to a shopping mall which, after hours, plays host to a LARP club. For those of you not in the know, LARP is Live-Action Role-Playing, wherein people like I was a decade ago dress up in costumes and pretend to be vampires and werewolves and wizards and things. When done well, it's good fun, and it's a great way to put on another personality for a few hours. Unfortunately for this group, their session gets interrupted by some real vampires. Drulinda, of the Black Court, is out for some social revenge against her former peers, and she's willing to kill everyone she finds in order to get it. Harry and Thomas work to bring her down, of course, while also bringing the rest of the mall down at the same time. In "Day Off," Harry tries to take a little bit of time for himself. With no cases to work, no calls from the Chicago police, and no official duties with the White Council, he is intent on having just one day to be somewhat normal - sleep late, go out with a girl, that kind of thing. Of course, things don't work out that way, because he's Harry Dresden. Instead, he ends up with a group of wannabe wizards who think they can take him on, a couple of bespelled, amorous werewolves, and an apprentice who is only moments away from blowing herself up. It's good fun, and reminiscent of Dante in Clerks, who laments that he's not even supposed to be there. "The Warrior" is, in many ways, a response to the readers who thought that Michael Carpenter got kind of a raw deal at the end of Small Favor. Michael had been a Knight of the Cross, a literal warrior of God, who had helped Harry fight the forces of evil many, many times. He's very different from Harry in many ways, but their differences work well together. What's more, Michael is a genuinely good man, of the Atticus Finch variety. He is honest, dedicated, and devoted to his friends, his family and his duty. That's why, when he was nearly killed at the end of Small Favor and forced to give up his position as a Knight, a lot of readers were upset. Why? Well, because horrible things aren't supposed to happen to people as good as Michael, and yet they had. What's more, without his strength and his sword, it was hard to see how he could continue the work that he so obviously loved. This story, then, is all about how the battle to make the world a better place isn't always about the big fights and battles against entities of indescribable evil. It's also about small gestures, about stopping to talk to someone when no one else will. It's about a word or a gesture or a joke, and the way that these little things can have huge effects later. Michael may not be swinging a sword around anymore, but we know that he is still part of the fight. Two stories that really stood out were "Backup" and "Aftermath," mainly because they were told from the point of view of someone who wasn't Harry Dresden. In "Backup," we get a story told by his brother, Thomas. A vampire of the White Court, Thomas feeds off emotion, rather than blood. This doesn't make him any less dangerous, of course. More dangerous, actually, in that so many of his potential victims give themselves to him willingly. but Thomas is trying his best to stay on the side of Good. Through his eyes, we not only get to see Harry from a new point of view, but we also get to see a lot more of a world that Harry never gets to see. Because of who he is, Harry will never really get a good look at the inner workings of the White Court and the Oblivion War – a concept that is fascinating and frustrating, because we know that Harry can never get involved in it. By telling a story through Thomas, Butcher expands the universe of The Dresden Files and makes it even more interesting. The other non-Harry story is "Aftermath," which takes place after the most recent novel, Changes. Told from the point of view of Harry's oldest friend, Karrin Murphy, it's a look at what's happened in Chicago in the hours after Harry's disappearance (and presumed death). Without him (and without the now-destroyed Red Court of vampires), there is a huge power vacuum just waiting to be filled. Whether it's the mafia or mermen, the absence of Harry Dresden is an opportunity for many. Murphy gets involved in the hunt for special people, anyone with a trace of magical nature, who are to be used for their power. Without Harry to rely on, she has to use her own knowledge and resources to save her friends. At the same time, she has to face the reality that Harry is gone, maybe dead, and that is more terrifying than all the monsters that might try to take over the city. It's a great collection of tales, one that's quick to get through. If you're just itching for the new book to come out, this should hold you over for a little while. ------------------------------------------------------ Harry Dresden. Saving the world, one act of random destruction at a time." - Jim Butcher, "The Warrior" ------------------------------------------------------ ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jan 05, 2011
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Jan 06, 2011
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Hardcover
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| 045146317X
| 9780451463173
| 045146317X
| 4.50
| 117,742
| Apr 06, 2010
| Apr 06, 2010
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liked it
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"Hell's Bells" count: 20 Well, the title promises changes, and that is certainly what you get in this book. And the first of these comes right on page "Hell's Bells" count: 20 Well, the title promises changes, and that is certainly what you get in this book. And the first of these comes right on page one: Harry Dresden has a daughter. Surprised? Yeah, well so was he. The mother is Harry's old lover, Susan Rodriguez, whom he hasn't seen in many years. The reason for their separation is pretty simple, the kind of story you've heard over and over again - boy and girl meet, avoid their obvious attraction to each other for a while, and finally hook up. Boy tells girl all about the world of supernatural horrors in which he lives, girl finds it more intriguing than horrible, and manages to get herself bitten by vampires. Girl is able to resist turning all the way, but knows that she can't be around boy lest her emotions overwhelm her and she devours him whole. Boy and girl have one last night of fun together, girl vanishes into South America to join an underground cabal of vampire hunters. Boilerplate, really. No sooner does Harry discover that he has a daughter that she finds out she's been kidnapped, taken as a hostage by the Red Court of vampires for some purpose that is no doubt terrible and nefarious. As much as Susan knows it will hurt Harry to find out she'd been hiding their daughter from him, she also knows that he is the only one with the power and the resources available to get her back. After all, Harry is a Wizard, a member of the White Council, if not one of their favorite members. He has contacts within the council that could prove useful, as well as resources that reach from Heaven to Hell. A far cry from the lone wolf that we met way back in Storm Front, Harry now has connections and resources that will allow him to take on some of the most powerful beings in the world as they attempt to use his daughter for their own evil ends. As the title implies, of course, Harry does have to make some very serious choices in this quest; choices about how far he's willing to go in order to save his daughter, to say nothing of whether saving his daughter is even the right choice to make in itself. After all, the Red Court has been at war with the White Council for some time now, and the slightest mistake one way or the other could just make the whole thing worse. The last thing the White Council wants is their least favorite loose cannon (and, not for nothing, the guy who got the whole war started in the first place) complicating matters unnecessarily. The supernatural world is pretty much ready to fly apart as it is, and one mis-step could mean death and destruction on a scale greater than anyone has ever known. In the end, the choices that Harry has to make in this book will haunt him for the rest of his life, if not longer. I would probably not be wrong in saying that this book marks a major turning point for the series. If you've been reading this from the beginning, which you really should have, then this is going to be a rough book. I've made mention before of how Butcher likes to play hardball with his characters sometimes, but this book is so much more than that. This book is an all-out attack on everything that Harry holds dear to him, a scouring of his life that puts him into an entirely new situation. What this is in preparation for is anybody's guess, but I can tell you this much without really spoiling anything - Butcher had better damn well have the next book on a fast track or he'll find me sitting on his front porch with a torch and a pitchfork and a haunted look in my eyes. [1:] Given that, as of this writing, the book has just come out, there's not a lot I can say about it in detail. If you've been following the series, you're going to read it no matter what I have to say, and I don't want to ruin anything for you. All I can really say is that this isn't my favorite of the series, at least not upon first reading. It's a little rushed in parts, and has one too many deus ex machina moments for my liking. The only thing that mitigates that is the knowledge that Butcher wastes nothing in his storytelling, and even the biggest miracles come with a price that will have to be paid. And I expect that the payoff will be something to see. Having said that, though, Changes will probably hold up as one of the most significant of the Dresden Files books once the series is done. In terms of what happens to the characters in this book, it's really like nothing else that's come before it. So brace yourselves, kids. This one's a bumpy ride. As with all the Dresden Files books, though, it's well worth it. [1:] Yes, yes, I know that, to paraphrase John Scalzi, the author is not my bitch. Still and all, waiting for the next book to come out will be like trying not to fart in church - interminable, impossible not to think about, and oh so relieving when the opportunity finally arrives. ...more |
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Apr 17, 2010
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Apr 18, 2010
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Hardcover
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| 0451462564
| 9780451462565
| 0451462564
| 4.44
| 106,859
| Apr 07, 2009
| Apr 07, 2009
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really liked it
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"Hell's Bells" count: 25 One of the problems involved in writing an ongoing series (or so I imagine) is the problem of escalation. The new stories have "Hell's Bells" count: 25 One of the problems involved in writing an ongoing series (or so I imagine) is the problem of escalation. The new stories have to be better than the old ones, or your readers will get bored and wander off to see what else is going on. Even with the hard core fans, the writer has to consistently challenge the character in order to make each story more interesting than the last. So if your hero is fighting some fairly minor-league bad guys in one book, his foes in the next book have to be greater than or equal to the previous ones. Harry Dresden's story started off with a pretty heavy-hitting minor leaguer: a black magician who was using thunderstorms to power magical murders. From there, we saw Harry go up against werewolves, necromancers, the Faerie, and fallen angels. He's come out on top every time, though sometimes just barely, managing to triumph over foes that are very much out of his league. So where to go from here? In order to avoid - or at least slow down - the escalation problem, Butcher appears to be refocusing the series story arc. Whereas before we had individual catastrophes that threatened people, cities, or worlds, we're now looking at something more complex. Something that cannot easily be killed by a silver bullet or a well-placed ray of sunshine, or even a zombie Tyrannosaurus Rex. We're looking at a Conspiracy now, which changes the overall shape of the story dramatically. Of course, this is a Harry Dresden novel, not the mad ravings of some Moon Landing deniers or 9/11 Truthers or those guys who believe that the leaders of the world are actually alien reptiles. As intellectually challenging as a good conspiracy can be, it just wouldn't be right if there wasn't blood and fear and terror - it wouldn't really be a Dresden Files book if the very first page didn't make you say, "Woah!" Which this one does, when Morgan - a Warden of the White Council and the man who probably hates Harry Dresden more than anyone else in the world - shows up on Harry's doorstep, wounded and hounded and asking for sanctuary. From the other Wardens, no less. A murder has been committed, deep in the heart of the White Council's sanctum in Edinborough, Scotland, and one of the most powerful members of the Senior Council is now dead. To all appearances, Morgan was the murderer, and the evidence is damning - bank records, for one, connecting him to the Red Court of the Vampires. What really made him look bad, though, was being found standing over the still-warm body, sword in hand. That'll usually set off the Guilty alarm every time. So, pursued by the entire White Council, Morgan turns to the one man he knows would be willing to help him. The fact that it's the man he's dedicated his life to destroying must have made it that much more of a bitter pill to swallow. All he can do is hope that Harry will be able to protect him not only from the Wardens, but from the bounty hunters and reward-seekers who are looking to profit off his return to the magical authorities - alive or dead, of course. There's a secondary plot as well, and as with Blood Rites, it's one that will no doubt pay off heavily in future books. Part of what has made Harry become more connected to the world over the last eleven books was the discovery that he had a half-brother - Thomas, of the White Court of Vampires. They share a late mother, the ever-enigmatic Margaret LeFay. Having never met his mother, and having lost his father at a young age, Harry has latched onto this one family member he has. Indeed, he and Thomas get closer in every book. They look after each other and keep each other honest, as brothers are supposed to do. Thomas is one of the things that keeps Harry grounded. When Thomas gets caught up in the hunt for Morgan and abducted by a creature of horrifying power - the Naagloshii - as a bargaining chip, Harry stands to lose the only family he has. The terms are simple: give Morgan to the Monster, or see Thomas destroyed. Harry Dresden being who he is, refuses to accept either one of these outcomes, and does his best to keep both men safe. But even this may just be a holding action, a delay against the inevitable, and what ultimately becomes of Thomas will no doubt fuel a great number of storylines to come. Of course, the Conspiracy is at the heart of this, run by a shadowy organization that Harry has dubbed The Black Council. It is they who have been sowing discord over the last few years - giving powerful magical items to mortals, aiding minor-league sorcerers to become heavy-hitting murderers. They have infiltrated the White Council completely, and the extent of their influence is unknown. It's up to Harry and his allies to not only prove Morgan's innocence but to prove the existence of this dark cabal. The principles of escalation are still in play here, but Butcher has chosen to go with an increase in scale, rather than power. Sure, the naagloshii is pretty damn powerful, a creature that Harry would have no chance of defeating on his own, but it is simply a pawn of the Black Council's machinations. From here on out, Harry won't just be fighting monsters - he'll be fighting institutions. He'll be battling secrecy, tradition, prejudice and denial, simple human traits that can be more destructive than any disgusting shape-shifting abomination. I don't think I really have to say, "Read this book" anymore. If you've gotten this far in the series, you're going to read it whether I tell you to or not. If you haven't been convinced to read the series by now, I don't think I am able to convince you. All I can say is that a lot happens in this book, even aside from the action and interesting plot twists. There's a mystery that pays homage to both the American tradition of hard-boiled realism and English intellectual investigation. There's loss, both great and small, and a fundamental re-alignment of an entire magical community. The more I think about it, the denser the book becomes, which is a fantastic thing. If Butcher can keep this up, I'll gladly follow where he leads. ...more |
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really liked it
| I really wanted to finish this before 2008 ended, but travel, a hectic schedule and a new mini-PC conspired against me. Ah well, such is life. This wor I really wanted to finish this before 2008 ended, but travel, a hectic schedule and a new mini-PC conspired against me. Ah well, such is life. This world is one that is riddled with possibilities. Even though Lukyanenko has been pretty single-minded in his themes throughout the trilogy, there's a lot to work with here. We have two distinct groups of Others, the Light and the Dark, with different character classes, powers, abilities, levels and ambitions. If anyone wanted to write fan fiction or even a role-playing game based on the world of the Night Watch series, they would be able to let their imaginations roam free. It's an open-ended universe, rife with possibility. So why isn't it is popular worldwide as, say, Harry Potter? Probably because it's more grown-up than the Potter series, and is therefore less attractive. Don't get me wrong - I liked Harry Potter. But for all its merits, it deals with human-level issues: friendship, family, duty, loyalty. And those are all well and good, and many a great story has been told from those elements. The Night Watch series, on the other hand, deals with harder, less everyday topics, such as the nature of freedom, and the fundamental differences between Good and Evil, if there is any difference at all. The themes in these books are headier, and it's not as easy to look at a Light Other like Anton Gorodetsky and say, "I want to be like him." It's also hard to look at a Dark Other like the vampire Kostya and say, "Oooh, I hate him." This is because these characters are, more or less, human. The problem with humans is that their motives aren't always clear, and Lukyanenko doesn't tell us everything we need to know to judge them properly. With the exception of Anton, who is a first-person narrator, we don't get into their heads, and so can't completely understand why they do what they do. In any case, it's an enjoyable series, and this is - as far as I know - the end of it, even though it doesn't need to be. In this volume we are introduced to some new players, some grand plots and some terrible secrets. There is an Other out there who has knowledge that everyone thought was merely a myth: how to turn an ordinary human into an Other. The ramifications of such power are immense - there are few Others in the world as it is, and they hardly get along. To create new Others at will would mean chaos, death and destruction. All the Others' forces are sent out to find this mysterious person. Trhe Night Watch, the Day Watch and the Inquisition are in search of the impossible. Anton Gorodetsky, of course, is on the front lines of this, searching for leads in a Moscow apartment complex. What he finds there isn't quite the secret he thought it was, but it is something he never expected. In the second story of the volume, he meets an ancient witch, Arina, who may have single-handedly destroyed the Soviet Union's potential for greatness. In his search to defeat her, he learns the true nature of the Others, what gives them their power and how they truly interact with the world around them. And in the third story, the Fuaran has been found - the mythological text with the spell to convert humans to Others - and it will be used in a truly novel manner. But the Other behind the plan that could tip the world into supernatural anarchy is the last person Anton would have ever expected.... As with the other volumes, this one blurs the line between good and evil. It tells us what we already know, but don't really want to admit: that good people can do evil things - start a bloody revolution, for example, or try to brainwash thousands of people - and that evil people can do good - save children from wolves, or avert a chaotic and terrible future. People do things for reasons that are sometimes known only to themselves, not out of a higher allegiance to the abstract concepts of "good" and "evil," but for reasons that are intensely personal. It is something to be remembered. We have a habit of idolizing and demonising people in this world, elevating them to paragons of virtue or sin, and ascribing motives to them that we think they acted by. But that doesn't work. Even to the end, Anton believes he knows why the holder of the Fuaran wants to convert people into Others - to raise an army and control the world - but he's so very, very wrong. The true reason is much more personal and, oddly, much more human than that. That is probably the best lesson to be taken from these books. "Good" and "Evil" are tags that we affix to people because it saves us the effort of thinking about them. Behind every act, however, is a personal reason that defies such simplistic labeling. Every saint, every monster, is only human. Just like us. I don't know if knowing that makes the world better or worse, but it at least makes it a little more familiar. ...more |
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| 2000
| Mar 21, 2007
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liked it
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The previous book left us with an unbalanced Moscow. The forces of Light gained a powerful ally in the form of Svetlana Nazarova, a potential Great So
The previous book left us with an unbalanced Moscow. The forces of Light gained a powerful ally in the form of Svetlana Nazarova, a potential Great Sorceress. Even before she knew she was an Other - one of that mysterious class of beings who can work magic, who can curse, bless and change their shapes - she was able to create a curse that very nearly destroyed Moscow. She, and the city, were saved through the bravery of Anton Gorodetsky and the Night Watch, who guard against the excesses of the forces of Darkness. In the end, the Light prevailed. But this battle between Light and Dark is far from over.... As with The Night Watch, this volume contains three books. In the first, a young witch named Alisa Donnikova has overreached herself. In a fight with the Night Watch, Alisa poured every last drop of her magical energy into supporting her fellow Day Watch members, an act of selflessness that nearly cost her her life. Burned out, she's directed to take a break at a children's summer camp in the Crimea. Posing as a camp counselor, she would be in a prime position to feed off the nightmares of impressionable young girls. A word about Others and their powers. The foundation of an Other's power comes from humans. While any Other has her own reserves to call on, she may... feed on the normal people around her. The Light Others take happiness and joy - literally. Have you ever been feeling really good, and then somehow the feeling just drains away? That's what the Light Others do, and it powers them to no end. Much like a flowering shrub, pruning someone's happiness doesn't make it go away forever, and it may even come back greater, but still - in order to become stronger, the Light Others have to weaken people. Those on the side of the Dark, on the other hand, feed off of fear and anger, but when they do, that fear and anger remain. It's like warming yourself by the fire - as long as you keep feeding it, it'll keep you warm. A Dark Other at the height of his power could probably super-charge himself just by going to a snowed-in airport for a day. Believe me. This stew of rage and frustration is a little too much for Alisa, however - she must subsist on the "thin broth" that is children's nightmares. While she's there, however, her plan hits a snag in the form of a handsome, solid, beautiful man named Igor. Despite herself, she falls in love with him, and she falls hard. The fact that he's a Light Other doesn't come up until it's much too late. The second story brings a mysterious figure to Moscow. Vitaly Rogoza has no memory of who he is or where he came from. All he knows is that he has to go to Moscow, and that he has power - the power of a Dark Other. Despite his personal amnesia, he has no trouble ingratiating himself with the Moscow Day Watch, and soon discovers that his power appears to have no upper limits. Why this should be, no one knows. Is he some Dark magician, beyond classification? Or is he something else entirely - something new and terrible? Whatever he is, what is his goal, and what is his link to the theft of Fafnir's Talon, a Dark artefact of unspeakable power? The third story brings it all together - the sad fate of Alisa Dinnokova, the theft of the Talon, and thhe rise and fall of the Great Sorceress Svetlana Nazarova. What's more, the greater plans of the Light and the Dark are laid bare - and changed forever. As before this book is heavily laden with tthe philosophy of Good versus Evil, Light and Dark. More importantly, it addresses the issues of freedom, a central tenet to the forces of Darkness. How free, they ask, can we really be? The Light wants to make humanity better. They believe that, given the right influences and incentives, humanity can be great. But they need to be guided. Molded. Shaped. Consequently, the Light occasionally embarks on grand, world-changing plans, few of which actually work out the way they intend. The Dark, on the other hand, worships freedom. Every person, they say, should be free to choose his or her own path. If that path means doing good, then so be it. If it means doing evil, well, that's cool too. The point is that every person is capable of deciding how their lives should be led, and no one - human or Other - should be able to take that freedom away from them. It's one of the oldest questions there is - how much freedom do we really deserve? And it's a question that can never be definitively answered. But in these books, it's fun to watch it play out. ...more |
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| Jul 26, 2006
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really liked it
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This review has been approved for distribution as conducive to the cause of the Light. This review has been approved for distribution as conducive to t This review has been approved for distribution as conducive to the cause of the Light. This review has been approved for distribution as conducive to the cause of the Dark. Imagine a world where magic is real. A place where people known as Others are born with powers they don’t understand. Their destinies are unwritten until that fateful day when they first become an Other - when they discover the strange, shadowy and powerful world known as the Twilight - and have to make a choice: will they stand with the Light or with the Dark. Will they dedicate their lives to Good or Evil? It’s not an easy decision to make, by any means. Joining either side has its limitations and its rules, for the battle between Good and Evil isn’t what it used to be. Long ago, it was simple - Good fought Evil, Dark fought Light, and blood was shed on both sides. It was a vicious, unending war that threatened to decimate the world. Finally, the two sides reached an agreement. A Treaty, well deserving of the capital letter. There would be a truce between the two sides, a balance that would be maintained at all costs. Any act of evil would be balanced by an act of goodness, and vice versa. Neither side is to have an advantage. Making sure the peace is kept is the job of the Watches - the Night Watch, staffed by elites of the Light to guard against advances by the Dark, and a Day Watch, staffed by the elites of the Dark to guard against excesses of the Light. We begin our look at the Others of Moscow with a young adept named Anton Sergeeivich Gorodetsky, a wielder of magic and an analyst forced into the more exciting realm of field work. His job is to find out who a pair of vampires are illegally attempting to seduce and stop them. In the process of doing that, and saving the soul of a young Other named Egor, he stumbles upon something that threatens the entire city of Moscow, if not all of Russia. A young woman has a curse upon her head, so horrible and so powerful that the forces of the Light may have no chance to disperse it. If she dies, the city will die with her. If she lives, even worse may befall the world. There are three stories in this book, somewhat independent but entirely connected. The first details the discovery of Egor and the cursed Svetlana. In the second, an Other of the Light, a maverick who doesn’t know about the rest of the Others, or the Treaty between Light and Dark, is murdering Dark adepts. Somewhat alarmingly, Anton is being framed for the murders. In the third book, Moscow is gripped in a heat wave. In the midst of this, the leaders of the Light are attempting to change the world. Whether it ends up being for the better or the worse, no one can know. But Anton is convinced that it must not come to pass.... It’s a gripping fantasy, in a very complex world. It’s compared to Rowling’s work, and justly so (although I don’t think there’s much of a case to be made for an attempt to ride on Rowling’s coattails - Night Watch was originally published in 1998, only a year after the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone). There are substantial differences, of course, making Night Watch a much more adult book than the Potter series. There are very few children, and the few that are there are not in very substantial roles. There’s far more drinking, smoking and sex in this, of course. But the world that Lukyanenko has created is every bit as deep and complex as the one Rowling has made. There are any number of roles that could be played, and an almost infinite number of situations that could be built on the fairly simple rules that are set up by the Light-Dark Treaty. The biggest difference, of course, is in the complexity of the world. Rowling’s world is fairly definitive in its divisions between good and evil - there is good, there is evil, and there is no question of which is which. The evil characters are definitively evil, and the good characters are definitively good, and the reader doesn’t have to worry too much about who’s on which side, Snape notwithstanding. The Others of Moscow, however, are not nearly so clear-cut. Yes, the Light is trying to do the work of the Good, to make the world a better place. But their machinations and their plots don’t always go as planned. See the Russian Revolution and World War II for examples why. They ignore the Law of Unintended Consequences and the horrors it can unleash. By trying to do Good, they unleash great evil upon the world. And how about the Dark? Yes, they’re populated by werewolves, witches and vampires, but they are advocates of utter and total freedom. They do not destroy for the sheer joy of destruction, but because they want to increase the personal freedom of the world. They’re not interested in making humanity “better,” or making a better world. They simply want to live in the world as it is, free from restraints - both internal and external. While it may be pretty clear who is on the Light and Dark side, it’s not entirely clear who is doing Good or Evil at any given time. And, more importantly, it is almost impossible to know who is actually right. It’s a great read - full of anguish and self-doubt and torture, like any good Russian novel should be. Anton knows that the Light doesn’t live up to the standards that it preaches, but he knows that he needs to be on the right side. He picks apart the intricate, decades-long plot of the Night Watch and very nearly figures out how to foil it. But even in revealing the truth, he does not manage to save the world from the doom of the Light. Or does he? We’ll have to read the next book and find out.... ...more |
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| 0061020672
| 3.91
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| Apr 2008
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liked it
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The Discworld, being a flat world that is carried through space on the backs of four elephants, who in turn are standing - rather patiently, I think -
The Discworld, being a flat world that is carried through space on the backs of four elephants, who in turn are standing - rather patiently, I think - on the back of a great turtle, is, understandably, a world awash in magic. There are magical creatures on the Disc - trolls and dwarfs and elves - and people who know how to use the magic that infuses the world. People like wizards. If you want to be a wizard, there are ways to get there. The best thing you can do is to be the eighth son of an eighth son - that type is almost certainly destined for the more arcane arts. Once you've become a wizard, you dedicate yourself to one thing: magic. And late lunches, comfortable robes and your pointy hat, but mainly to magic. Wizards don't marry. Wizards certainly don't have children. Except for one wizard. Ipsalore the Red, the eighth son of an eighth son, broke this law of wizardry. He fell in love, ran away from the University, and had sons of his own. Eight of them. His youngest son, Coin, was the carrier of a great power. He was the eighth son of the eighth son of an eighth son. Wizardry squared. A Sourcerer. Back in the old days, when the magic on the disc was much wilder, there were sourcerers everywhere. They built great castles and fought horrible wars of magic, the effects of which still scar the Disc to this day. Modern wizardry is a pale reflection of those days, and for good reason. If wizards continued to battle as the sourcerers did, the disc would be broken beyond recognition. Every wizard knows this. And yet, when young Coin comes to the Unseen University of Ankh-Morpork, bristling with power and holding a staff possessed by the ghost of his father, the wizards are more interested in the power he can give them than the responsibility they have. A sourcerer has arisen, and a new age of magic has come, with all of the terror that implies. Coin reminds them of what wizards used to be, and the power they used to have. Through him, old men who could barely manage a simple illusion are now able to re-shape the world with their wills. With a sourcerer behind them, there is nothing these wizards cannot accomplish. Only one man can stop them. His name is Rincewind, and he really, really doesn't want to get involved. Rincewind is a wizard (or, if you go by his pointy hat, a "Wizzard"), although he is so deficient in magical talent that it is believed that the average magical ability of the human population will actually goup once he dies. He wants nothing more than to be left alone to live a boring, mundane life. The universe, it seems, has different ideas. Together with Conina - the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian - and Nijel the Destroyer, Rincewind has to figure out how to stop a sourcerer from destroying the world. This book is one of the early volumes of the Discworld series, and so it doesn't quite have the depth that later books do. Oh, there's certainly a message to be found in it - mainly on the subject of identity. Rincewind identifies himself as a wizard, despite having all the magical talent of a lump of silly putty, and cannot conceive of being anything else. The sourcerer Coin, on the other hand, has been told who he is to become, mainly by the spirit of his dead (and rather monomaniacal) father. Conina has the blood of heroes in her veins, but her dream is to wield nothing sharper than a pair of beautician's scissors. And Nijel the Destroyer - who looks almost exactly the way his name sounds - desperately wants to be a barbarian hero, despite being about as muscular as a wet noodle. Despite all of this, however, the characters succeed when they decide for themselves who they want to be. The ones who suffer the most are the other wizards - the ones who allow Coin to tell them who they are. They invest their entire sense of self in the inflated image fed to them by the sourcerer - an image of power and strength - and when it all comes crashing down around them, they are only left with shame and disappointment. In the end, the remain who they always were, and that is the tragedy of their downfall. So if there's a lesson to be had in this book, that's it: know who you are and be it, as hard and as loud as you can. Other than that, it's a rollicking little adventure. Enjoy. --------------------------------------------------- "It's vital to remember who you really are. It's very important. It isn't a good idea to rely on other people or things to do it for you, you see. They always get it wrong." -Rincewind, Sourcery --------------------------------------------------- ...more |
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really liked it
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"Hell's Bells" count: 21 This is the tenth book in the series, and if Butcher's own plan can be trusted, it marks about the halfway point for the serie "Hell's Bells" count: 21 This is the tenth book in the series, and if Butcher's own plan can be trusted, it marks about the halfway point for the series as a whole. Having made it this far with the series is a remarkable achievement, and if he can keep it up all the way to its projected end, I will be a very happy and impressed reader. So, a few words about the book itself, and then some thoughts on the series. Honestly, if you've been following my reviews of this series, you can be pretty sure what I'm going to say about it - I devoured the book and enjoyed every minute of it. In this edition, Our Hero Harry is faced with death and danger on all sides, as usual. The everlasting Queen of the Winter Sidhe, Mab, wants Harry to rescue John Marcone, the boss of the biggest organized crime racket in the city, from the clutches of fallen angels who have immeasurable power and millennia of experience. What they want with Marcone - and other, more innocent and tragic characters - isn't clear, but what can can be sure of is that the full extent of their plans will far exceed simple kidnapping. Meanwhile, he's being attacked by agents of Queen Titania, the queen of the Summer Sidhe, for reasons that are not all that clear to anyone, especially Harry. His attackers are beasts of legend - the Gruffs. You may have heard of them when you were a child - goatlike creatures with a talent for eliminating trolls. They are brothers, and if you manage to defeat one of them, you can be sure that his big brother will be along soon to take care of you. And you most certainly don't want to get on the bad side of the eldest of the Gruffs, let me tell you that. Nice guy, but he's clean your clock no matter who you are. So, things aren't so good for Harry Dresden. But, then, when are they ever? Going up against forces way over his head is pretty much a theme for Harry's life, and while we can be reasonably certain that he will prevail (after all, there are about ten more books to go, and they'd be hard to write without him), we don't know how much damage he will take in the doing so. Although if you guessed "a lot," you'd be pretty well on the mark. That goes for pretty much every book in the series. Harry is an underdog, or at least he starts out as one. By the time you get to this book, he has some measure of authority, responsibility and respect, as well as a serious reputation amongst people in this world and others. So, this makes it rather harder for him to be an underdog. Instead of simple vampires, werewolves and the occasional necromancer, we now have to deal with the Big Guns like Mab, Titania and The Fallen. Which brings me to my first prediction for the rest of the series. Harry Laid Low. At some point, I figure all that he's built up will have to come crashing down. Gross physical harm aside, he's put himself in a much better position than the one he was in way back in Storm Front, and if he continues the way he has, he will cease to be the underdog and become the overdog, if there is such a thing. While it'll be interesting to see how he handles being higher up on the food chain, I don't think it'll sit well with his character. That would be unfortunate, because it's Harry's character that really make this book. I've talked to those who aren't too keen on investing in this series because it's not quite different enough from the other modern, urban fantasy out there. And in a way, they're right. A lone wolf investigator with a mysterious past and unknowable potential who has a talent for making big enemies? That could either be this series or the Nightside books by Simon Green, and I'm sure there's a few more that follow a similar pattern. Butcher isn't breaking open new ground with this series, at least not as far as I can tell. And a main character who is a wizard named Harry with a mysterious destiny and a tragic past? Yeah, like I'm sure you haven't thought of it already. I don't think that's Butcher's fault, though. Harry seems to be the kind of character who shows up in a writer's head long before the book gets published, and Gary Dresden or Fred Dresden doesn't sound as good. Though Christopher Dresden has a nice ring to it, I must say. Why aren't there more fictional heroes named Chris, anyway? Weird. Back on topic - what Butcher has done, and what makes me enjoy this series so much, is take the genre and populate it with really interesting people. One of the things I enjoy so much about Harry is that he seems to be someone I'd like to hang out with - he has a sense of humor that I enjoy, and seeing how many of my friends tend towards wise-assery, I think we'd get along well. Other characters, like Murphy, Michael, Molly (lots of M names), Thomas, Bob, Mouse.... They're complex, they're interesting and occasionally surprising. You really come to care about them, because Harry cares about them and you care about Harry. Which reminds me: Predictions 2 and 3 - The Death of Karrin Murphy and The Corruption of Molly Carpenter. These are two people who are extremely close to Harry, and invoke his much-debated sense of male chauvinism. A few people seem to take issue with Harry's desire to protect women, which appears hopelessly old-fashioned. Maybe it is, but Harry (and by extension Butcher) seems to be okay with that. Murphy is Harry's best friend, the one character who's stood by him since the first book, and has grown to be his closest ally. She has gained his trust and his faith through fire and trial, and in this book is actually able to assert her authority (in a wonderful, wonderful scene) to save Harry's skin. So, she has to die. It's one of those Hero's Journey things - the hero has to lose those things closest to him in order to come out the other side as a True Hero. He needs Murphy, he really does, and he needs to be able to stand without her. If that means that she's taken out, well.... I don't know if or when it'll happen - I'd bet somewhere in the climactic final books. As for Molly, she's an interesting person. A young person who, after a very rocky start to her life as a magic-user, has been given a second chance by Harry. For his part, Harry's job is to make sure she turns out right, to make sure she learns how to use her powers responsibly and wisely, for the betterment of others. As of this book, she's doing very well - her powers are becoming more refined, and she's got a good handle on what it means to be a responsible wizard. But first, she has to see her dark side, look it in the eye, and face it down. So, at some point, Molly is going to slip. Whether through impatience, arrogance or circumstance, she's going to risk both her and Harry's lives by using her powers for Evil. There you go, then. It's a great series, very enjoyable, and I'll be following it to the end. I highly recommend you do the same. ...more |
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not set
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Jun 21, 2008
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Jun 21, 2008
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Hardcover
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| 0451461401
| 9780451461407
| 0451461401
| 4.38
| 121,634
| Apr 03, 2007
| Apr 03, 2007
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really liked it
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"Hell's Bells" count: 12 We're coming up to the theoretical midpoint of the series, since Butcher has suggested that he might take it to twenty books o "Hell's Bells" count: 12 We're coming up to the theoretical midpoint of the series, since Butcher has suggested that he might take it to twenty books or so. Given that number, I'd say it's time to look at the series-level story as well as the particular adventure for this book. It's pretty clear that Butcher has a much larger story arc that he's working on, moving us slowly away from the one-shot mysteries of the early volumes and into a larger world. If we want, we could divide this series into thirds, and right now, I'd say we're well into the second third. I would put the first from Storm Front to Blood Rites, with the scarring of Harry Dresden, the discoveries he makes about his mother, and the damage done to his relationship with his mentor. It's Harry losing his lone wolf status and beginning to become a part of a larger community. He has friends now, something that was missing at the beginning, and people he truly cares about. In other words, he has much more to lose. The second third began with Dead Beat and continues through this book. Harry becomes part of The Establishment, has something living in his head that could probably get him killed, and takes on a young apprentice, giving the former lone wolf a lot more responsibility. His decision now have greater impact on both the mortal world and the world of the magic-users. He's going up against far more powerful foes, and encountering moral dilemmas that prevent him from knowing when he's actually doing the right thing. This book is, in my opinion, a weaker sample than the ones that have come before it. Probably because it's the one with the most convoluted and difficult to explain back-story, one that the reader has to piece together along with Harry and friends. In simple terms: the White Court vampires - who feed on emotional energy rather than blood - are in the middle of a power struggle. Their King, of the Raith family (who feed on lust) is about to be toppled by the Malvora (who feed on fear) and Skavis (who feed on despair). The White Court despises open confrontation, and traditionally do their dirty deeds through proxies and cats-paws. This makes it nigh impossible to see any kind of action by the White Court in a straightforward and clearly understandable manner. It's certainly more interesting than the standard vampire direct approach, but it creates additional challenges for the author and reader. In the middle of this power struggle, someone is killing women of magical talent - not strong enough to be members of the White Council of Wizardry, but women with talent nonetheless. And there's a guy who looks an awful lot like Harry Dresden who's been seen sneaking about with these women. Given the rumors flying about, rumors that Harry has become darker, angrier, and considerably more powerful, well... people think the worst, as people often do. It's once again up to Harry to not only clear his own name, but to also clear his brother, Thomas of the White Court, who's been very obviously keeping secrets. All the while, he has to keep from being seduced by the shadow of a Fallen angel in his head, make sure his young apprentice doesn't stray from the straight and narrow, try to help his first love protect the women she's sworn to help, and generally try not to get killed by any of the horrible things that want to kill him. It's a fun read, as they all are, with some great character moments in it - one of the true strengths of the series. Butcher's characters behave, by and large, like real people, saying things that we could imagine saying to our real-people friends. His writing is, as usual, compelling and engaging (with the exception of some incredibly purple writing over on page 235 - "We're all of us equally naked before the jaws of pain" - that stood out like a drag queen at a bake sale). The books are all very quick reads, but it isn't because they're simple - this book defies simplicity - but because they're interesting to read, with very few wasted words and a good sense of what the reader needs to know. As soon as it got to the White Court civil war, however, Butcher began front-loading a lot of information that probably should have been more liberally sprinkled throughout the previous books. I knew about the Raith family, and their penchant for Lust, and I knew that the White King wasn't exactly the power on the throne. But I wasn't prepared for the Byzantine levels of power-plays that go with White Court politics, and found it kind of rushed. It is possible that I was being a Lazy Reader, and indeed on the second read I found it easier to follow, but still - when you're dealing with villains who disdain clear and obvious action, you need to make sure the readers can keep up with the story. It's a fine line to walk, especially in a first-person narrative - the reader can't know more than the protagonist does, so feeding those hints to the reader is difficult work. Putting another White Court storyline into the series before this one might have helped, but if we look at the series story arc, there may have been no good way to shoehorn that in. There were far more interesting story points in there that I would like to have seen expanded upon: Molly Carpenter's training, the evolution of Lash, the darkening of Harry's reputation within the magical community.... They're all interesting, and no doubt essential to the goings-on of the later books. And I'm pretty sure that what happened to the White Court will also be really, really important as well - I just hope Butcher remembers to make sure we have it all clear in our heads. This is all just nitpicking, as the intrigues of the Vampires aren't my favorite part of the series. I'm sure there are plenty of readers out there who would be perfectly happy if the rest of the series was just Harry the Vampire Slayer, and I can't say I blame them. To each their own, right? Regardless of my preferences, I can say that the world of the Dresden Files is complex and ever-shifting, which is worth making time to read it. ...more |
Notes are private!
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not set
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Jun 19, 2008
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Jun 19, 2008
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Hardcover
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| 0451461037
| 9780451461032
| 0451461037
| 4.39
| 123,338
| Feb 01, 2006
| Feb 06, 2007
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it was amazing
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"Hell's Bells" count - 14 It's one year later.... Many things have changed for Harry Dresden, some of it good and much of it not so much. He has family "Hell's Bells" count - 14 It's one year later.... Many things have changed for Harry Dresden, some of it good and much of it not so much. He has family now, in the form of his half-brother Thomas (who happens to be a vampire of the White Court) and a giant dog named Mouse. His relationship with Karrin Murphy of the Chicago Police Department is as solid as it's ever been, and making very tentative exploratory steps into becoming a different type of relationship altogether. He has a job - a real one, as a Warden - and all the responsibility that goes with it. The job of Wardens is to be the police and foot soldiers of the White Council of Wizards. When a Wizard breaks one of the seven Laws of Magic, the Wardens can act as investigators, judges and, all too often, executioners. The irony, of course, is that the same Wardens used to watch Harry like a hawk, as he had been accused of using magic to kill, thus breaking the first law. He got off light, under a "One strike and you're out" form of probation with the melodramatic name of The Doom of Damocles. The Council needs Wardens, though, and Harry got tapped. Like it or not, he's part of the Establishment now. As if all that weren't enough, he also has the shadow of a fallen angel in his head and an ongoing war with the vampiric Red Court to contend with. And in the midst of all this, he's given two small, seemingly unconnected jobs to do: find who's been dabbling in black magic in Chicago and find out why the Red Court vampires have been allowed to use the lands of the Faerie to attack the White Council of Wizardry. They should be simple, or reasonably so. But they're not. They never are. Someone is using black magic to create fear. That fear is allowing terrible, terrible Things into the world, creatures that feed on fear and take the forms of some of the most terrible movie monsters we know (all of whom are, of course, based upon real characters, with only the names changed to protect Butcher from Lawyers). These creatures have already killed, attacking at a crowded horror movie convention, and Harry is determined to see that the person who called them forth pays for doing so. With blood and pain, if possible. The discovery of the Black Magician, however, puts Harry in an impossible situation where he has to test his loyalties to both his friends and the Council. Fortunately, Harry being Harry, he puts his friends first and is determined to do the right thing, whatever it takes. Oddly enough, "whatever it takes" happens to involve storming Arctis Tor, the stronghold of the Winter Faerie Queen, to chase down the creatures that stole off Molly Carpenter - the daughter of Michael, the Knight of the Cross. With his friends by his side, Harry goes off into what is almost certainly Certain Death, knowing that even if he saves Molly, she may ultimately be doomed. When all is said and done, we get another glimmer of insight into how Dresden's world works. It's not a very nice place, and although the history of Wizarding is something that Butcher has avoided thus far, we get the impression that it was, until recently, a tumultuous profession. Easy to understand, really - you get someone with Phenomenal Cosmic Power, and odds are that he's going to abuse it. Perhaps bend someone to his will, or try to turn some hapless victim into a frog. Even such things as time travel and contacting the Things that live beyond the Outer Gates would be possible, were it not for the swift and draconian execution of the Laws of Magic. Harry represents an institutional change here - he's someone who's suffered under the Laws, who has seen how the merciless application of a rigid law can do more harm than good. Now, as a Warden, an authority figure, he has a chance to change all that. But it won't be easy for him - wizards are a conservative bunch, by and large, and many of the more powerful ones are not well inclined to the idea of changing with the times. But they will have to change - their numbers are depleted, the war is going badly, and it seems that there is a Black Council out there, well-equipped to fight and destroy their White counterpart. And of course there's his relationship to the world beyond the Council. As was noted in the last book, Harry has changed. He's become famous, not so much for saving the day and foiling the plots of evil masterminds, but for bringing death and destruction wherever he goes. As much fun as that sounds, it seems that watching people flinch when you raise your voice is not something that stays fun for very long. And still in his mind is the shadow of Lasciel, a Fallen Angel, the merest fraction of whose consciousness is enough to tempt Harry into greater and greater levels of power - for a price. It is, as with the rest of the books, a very good read. The tone has changed somewhat - it's more tired, more cynical than the early books, which reflects the internal struggles that Harry is going through. But it's fast-paced and exciting, with more than a few very interesting surprises along the way. Also, because of the movie convention setting, there are plenty of good movie references peppered throughout the book. It makes me feel closer to Harry, since quoting movies was a major form of communication with my friends and me back in college. People here in Japan just don't do it, and I feel the loss. ...more |
Notes are private!
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not set
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May 04, 2008
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May 04, 2008
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Paperback
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| 045146091X
| 9780451460912
| 045146091X
| 4.41
| 128,363
| May 03, 2005
| May 02, 2006
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really liked it
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Book Twenty-five [image] Dead Beat by Jim Butcher "Hell's Bells" count - 13 While I was on my long commute to work (not so bad, as it affords me more read Book Twenty-five [image] Dead Beat by Jim Butcher "Hell's Bells" count - 13 While I was on my long commute to work (not so bad, as it affords me more reading time), I wondered what the Harry Dresden from Storm Front would have made of the Harry Dresden from this book. I imagine he probably would have been scared. And to be honest, I don't think I would be able to blame him. There's necromancy afoot in Chicago, and as much as he doesn't want to be, Harry is in the middle of all of it. He's been charged by one of the most dangerous vampires in the world, Mavra of the Black Court, to find the missing volume of a series written by one of the most notorious necromancers in human history. When the necromancer Kemmler was alive, it took nearly the entire fighting force of the White Council of Wizards to stop him. Now his disciples are all hunting for the book, trying to be the first one to kill everyone in Chicago and become a god. It's a mission he can't refuse. If he should do so, Mavra has evidence in her possession that would destroy the career of one of the people closest to Harry - Lt. Karrin Murphy of the Chicago Police Department. In the previous book, Murphy helped Harry take out a nest of Black Court vampires, killing several humans who had been enthralled to the vamps. These Renfields were human only by technicality, but a photograph of Murphy blowing one's head off would still be damning evidence. Should Harry not do what Mavra wants, the pictures would be released, and the one things that Murphy truly loves would be gone. The point of this book, broadly, is Harry discovering that past actions still have present consequences, and that the choices he has to make are not always good ones. While Harry does save the day, he does so at a cost. Harry has become legitimately scary by this book. His friends and his allies aren't sure about him anymore, either his motives or his sanity. The people who have stood steadfastly by him now find themselves afraid of him, and what he might do. And for good reason, really. Harry's been through a lot in the last few books. He's lost the woman he loves to the Red Court vampires, he very nearly lost his hand fighting Mavra and he's now absolutely terrified of using fire magic as a result. On top of all that, he's discovered that being someone's brother doesn't automatically mean you get to understand them. Or like them. Or be able to live with them. So yeah, Harry's had it rough. With most humans, it's hard to see change from the inside, and I'm sure Harry doesn't think he's changed all that much. He knows he's gotten a little angrier, maybe a little more solitary, but from his point of view it's a logical progression. For people who aren't with him all the time - Billy the Werewolf, Mac the World's Best Tavern Owner, for example, the changes are drastic. And truly frightening. Harry's still a good guy, don't worry about that. He's just not a nice guy. This book is awash in general awesomeness, and introduces a lot of good new characters, both on the good and bad sides. My favorite is Waldo Butters, the Medical Examiner for the Chicago PD. He goes from being a slightly quirky ME who kind of believes in the weird and unusual (he spent 90 days under psychiatric evaluation when he refused to classify vampire remains as human). By the end of the book, he becomes positively heroic, and is a very good avatar for The Reader. We all like to believe that we would take the world of the supernatural, if it existed, in stride, but we probably would have reacted just like Butters did when he first saw things he was not prepared for - denial, disbelief and then abject terror. He comes around, though, as I'm sure all of us would. We also get to meet a few of the remaining Wardens of the White Council. The war has gone very hard on their numbers, and there are very, very few available to fight a group of mad necromancers in Chicago. The Red Court has dealt them such heavy blows that it's not unreasonable to think that there's a mole in the White Council somewhere. Who it is, though, will have to wait for another book. Their numbers have been slashed, and they need every able-bodied magic user they can get. The deal they offer Harry for their assistance is a surprising one, but makes perfect sense. And it will play heavily into the books that follow. There's also one genuine "Holy Shit" moment in this book. I won't tell you what it is, because that would just spoil the whole thing. All I can say is that it's at the end of chapter 38. You can't miss it. From here on out, this is going to be a very different series. Bigger, darker, as if that were possible, building on the foundation of the previous books to make something far more elaborate and interesting. I can't wait to see what it ends up being. ---------------------------------------- "Polka will never die!" - Waldo Butters, Dead Beat ---------------------------------------- ...more |
Notes are private!
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not set
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May 02, 2008
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May 04, 2008
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Mass Market Paperback
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| 0451459873
| 9780451459879
| 0451459873
| 4.30
| 132,650
| Aug 01, 2004
| Aug 03, 2004
|
really liked it
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Book Twenty-four [image] Blood Rites by Jim Butcher "Hell's Bells" count: 19 [1:] As far as I know, The Dresden Files is an open-ended series that Butcher Book Twenty-four [image] Blood Rites by Jim Butcher "Hell's Bells" count: 19 [1:] As far as I know, The Dresden Files is an open-ended series that Butcher will continue to write until he decides to end it, which is fine with me. He's set up a universe that has endless possibilities to it, from simple mysteries to humorous romps to soul-searing betrayal and heartache. Can't go wrong with all that, and if Butcher wants to just keep putting out Dresden books every eighteen months or so, I'll happily keep buying them. One of the dangers of such a plan, however, is stagnation - you end up rehashing similar plot points, perhaps throwing in a few twists and turns, but never really advancing the plot because, well, you don't know where the plot is going. I can imagine Butcher would get to a point where he thinks, "Ummm... Okay, Harry Dresden fights vampire werewolves.... from the future!" At which point, the shark has been well and truly jumped. As I've said before, I would much rather see a series end well than see it go on beyond its useful life and leave me with sad, sad memories. I'm looking at you, X-Files. While I don't know if Butcher knows exactly where the series will finally end (though he probably does), he does manage to avoid stagnation very nicely, mainly by putting Harry in mortal danger. Okay, that's nothing new, but this time it's Mortal Danger with bonus Crippling Injury! And a side order of Serious Disillusion to boot. This book really stirs things up for the world of Harry Dresden and lets the readers know that there is far, far more in store for us than we knew. So bravo to you, Jim. In this volume, Dresden is asked by his kind-of-sort-of friend Thomas to do a favor for him. Despite being a vampire of the White Court and a soul-sucking incubus, Thomas is an okay kind of guy and has helped Harry out of a few tight spots in their time. He can't say he trusts Thomas, but he likes him. And therefore we like him as well. The job sounds simple: a movie producer has been having weird accidents happen to people linked with his movie, and two women have already died mysterious deaths. Harry's job would be to figure out who's putting the bad mojo on the movie studio and stop it. The fact that it's an adult movie studio is not brought up until later. In the process of trying to help out with an astoundingly powerful (and regular) Evil Eye curse, Harry runs afoul of the Black Court vampires in a side plot that really has nothing to do with the main one. This seems unusual, since most of the Dresden books that have featured multiple cases do so in the spirit of Raymond Chandler, where we find out that they were all part of the same case after all. The B plot in this book is an attempt to put down Mavra, a truly terrifying member of the Black Court of vampires. The Black Court is the type of vampire we all think of when the word comes up - the Nosferatu, the Dracula, all black and dry and horrible. They're also the toughest, most resilient and most vicious of the vampire clans. What's more, Mavra is an accomplished sorceress, whose power makes even Harry Dresden think twice about crossing her. Which is why he has a Plan this time. And we all know about Harry and his Plans.... All of this, though is incidental to the things he learns in this book, both about himself and the people he trusts. Those are the things that truly shake up his world and which will shape the books that are to follow. This book is a turning point for Dresden, and not a good one. While the Black Court plot, for example, didn't have much to do with the main plot, it sets up very important elements and concepts that are deftly exploited in later books. And Harry's always-fragile relationship with the White Council endures what could be a crippling blow. All this is setting up the next few books and laying the groundwork for the rest of the series. One of the things I've come to admire about Butcher's writing is that nothing is wasted. I once heard that the process of writing a story is like packing for someone else's hiking trip - you only want to put into the bag what you think that person will absolutely need. After all, if they get to the end of their hiking trip and they haven't used that ten-pound bag of rice you thought might come in handy, they're going to be very pissed off at you. Butcher doesn't do that. You can be sure that the elements he lays out in his stories will be used, sooner or later., and you'll never be left wondering, "But what was that scene with the baseball player and the chicken farm about?" If Butcher puts a baseball player and a chicken farm into his book, there's a very good reason for it, and you'll find out eventually. As with the other books in The Dresden Files series, this is great fun to read. Which makes it no surprise that the series had some measure of success outside its original format - a TV series and a comic, at last count. I look forward to following it as it goes on. [1:] One of these was the maxi-expletive "Hell's holy stars and freaking stones shit bells," which I must commit to memory ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Apr 30, 2008
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May 04, 2008
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0451459407
| 9780451459404
| 0451459407
| 4.29
| 140,785
| Aug 01, 2003
| Aug 05, 2003
|
really liked it
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"Hell's Bells" count: 16 (plus two editing errors - "break" for "brake" on page 24 and "shield" spelled "shielf" on page 319) It's the "Hell's bells" t "Hell's Bells" count: 16 (plus two editing errors - "break" for "brake" on page 24 and "shield" spelled "shielf" on page 319) It's the "Hell's bells" that started it. I don't usually make notes on spelling errors in books. I do notice them, of course - they practically jump out at me and dance around - but these are the only ones where I make a note of the page. Anyway, on to the book. If you've been following the series this far, you know that Harry Dresden, Wizard for Hire, has really gotten himself into deep doo-doo. Aside from his usual problem of taking on cases in each book that end in his getting the everlovin' beat out of him, there's a larger story arc to take in - in this case, the war between the Vampires of the Red Court and the White Council of Wizards. Which, as much as he tried not to, Harry incited and, by all the ancient laws of not killing one's host at a party, he is definitely guilty of. To be fair, the host that he killed, Bianca, was trying to get him to do break the Rules of Hospitality so that she could kill him because he made her so angry way back in Storm Front that she drained one of her favorite servants dry. It's a complicated world they live in. So far the book-level arcs and the series-level arc have been pretty distinct, though I suspect that they will become more and more intertwined as the series goes on. Sooner or later they'll merge, and all hell will break loose. Literally, I have no doubt. In this book, Harry has two major problems to deal with. The first is a duel - the Red Court really wants him dead, and they've sent one of their oldest and most powerful representatives - Don Paolo Ortega - to challenge him to a duel. To, of course, the death. Harry certainly doesn't want to die, but the consequences of not dying might be even worse. Should Harry try to duck out of the duel, hired mercenaries are spread throughout Chicago, ready to take out everyone who means anything to Harry. If Harry should win, of course, the city will be declared Neutral Ground, and the Vampire-Wizard war will have to rage on elsewhere. Overseeing all this is The Archive, a seven year-old girl who has the entire history of humanity - every word written, every word spoken - in her head. She is a being of enormous power, and can be reduced to giggles by a cute kitty cat. She and her bodyguard/driver Jared Kincaid are there to see that the duel goes according to the rules, and are ready to exact very harsh and fatal punishment to he who violates them. Again, the White Council, who by all rights should be standing by one of their own, is secretly hoping that Ortega will take Dresden down. The Wizards are losing the war to the vampires, and any excuse they can find to call a stop to the death and destruction is a welcome one. The trouble is, the Vampires may not want to stop.... In the other corner, Dresden has a paying job, one that is uniquely suited to him - find a certain relic for the Vatican. It's priceless, of course. A length of linen cloth with a variety of stains and discolorations that may or may not have the imprint of the resurrected Jesus Christ burned into it. Yes, it's the Shroud of Turin, or as Harry would call it, "The freaking Shroud of Turin." It is, of course, an immensely powerful artifact, regardless of whether or not it really is the burial shroud of Christ. Magic, as Harry tells us, is greatly about emotion and belief. If you want to do a spell, you have to really believe in that spell. You have to know down to your bones that it's going to work, or it won't work at all. It takes great hatred to make a voodoo doll work, for example, above and beyond the usual magical accoutrements that one needs. Millions of people believe in the divine nature of the Shroud. That gives it power, which can be used for benevolent or, as is the case in this book, malevolent ends. This is where we meet some of the more dangerous foes in Dresden's universe: the Denarians. The Denarians (more formally The Order of the Blackened Denarius) are a group of fallen angels who are far, far nastier than the usual breed. There are thirty of them, each bound to a coin, an ancient Roman denarius, which may or may not have been the silver coins paid to Judas for a kiss. When a human touches the coin, the fallen angel is able to make contact and enlist that human as a mortal carrier. Some of the Denarians seduce their hosts, where others just use brute force to subjugate them. Either way, the Denarians are millennia old, nigh immortal, and evil down to their cores. The leader of these creatures calls himself Nicodemus, and he wants the Shroud so that he can do terrible, terrible things to the world. Not end it, necessarily, but bring about the kind of chaos, panic and disorder that he and his kind thrive on. Fortunately, Harry has the Knights of the Cross on his side - Michael (whom we have already met), Sanya and Shiro. The three of them are willing to fight the Denarians, but want Harry out of it. Why? Our old friend the half-understood, vaguely worded prophecy. Which, like so many other prophecies throughout history, should be regarded as highly suspect. There are a lot of layers to this story. We get a fun new group of baddies to deal with, a better understanding of the war between the Vampires and the Wizards, and even another, more human look at John Marcone, the undisputed head of the Chicago underworld, who is also looking for the Shroud. For slightly less nefarious purposes, however. Each book builds on the ones that came before it, yet each book lives on its own, which was a very good decision on Butcher's part. While you will certainly want to jump straight into the next book upon finishing this one, you don't actually need to. There's a certain amount of closure, with just enough loose ends to fuel your speculation for the next book. I shouldn't have to say this by now, but - go get 'em. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Dec 11, 2007
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Jan 31, 2008
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Mass Market Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0451458923
| 9780451458926
| B007CIHDNK
| 4.26
| 153,675
| Sep 03, 2002
| May 31, 2003
|
liked it
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"Hell's bells" count: 14 In the last book, Harry Dresden saved the day. He fought some of the strongest the Red Court of the Vampires had to offer and "Hell's bells" count: 14 In the last book, Harry Dresden saved the day. He fought some of the strongest the Red Court of the Vampires had to offer and came out, well, more or less intact. To do so, he also managed to make himself the target of nearly everything in the Nevernever (the mystical other-world from which all the nasties ans scaries ultimately come), lose his girlfriend to a bunch of bloodsucking fiends, and instigate an all-out, world-wide war between the White Council of the Wizards and the Red Court. So yeah. Mixed blessings and all. Now he's practically working himself to death to avoid actually being killed. After all, saving the day is nice, but it doesn't usually come with a check at the end of it, and there are bills to be paid. When we see Harry again, some months after the disastrous events at Bianca's nasty little costume party, he's working himself to the bone. He's become a recluse, hiding from as many people as he can. He does this for two reasons. First, he's spending a lot of time looking for an antidote to Susan's vampirism - or semi vampirism, anyway. She hasn't drunk from a person yet, you see, and until she does that she's not really a vampire. It's a hard job, though, which is why she not only turned down Harry's proposal of marriage but also left the country with instructions that he not try to follow her. So the love of his life is incommunicado, and Harry doesn't know if she's alive or dead - or worse. What's more, he believes that it is her fault that she got this way, even if it really isn't. One of the criticisms that can be laid at the feet of Harry Dresden is his deep-seated male chauvinism. He doesn't believe that women are inferior or anything quite so barbaric as that. He believes that they're special, that they should be treated with an extra measure of care and respect. He hates the thought of harming a woman, and will go out of his way to see to it that the women he cares about are kept safe from anything that might hurt them. Unfortunately for him, Harry tends to hang around with women who don't want to be taken care of, namely Susan Rodriguez and Karrin Murphy. Both of them are strong-willed women who want to be part of Harry's life, and neither one of them particularly appreciates being told to sit on the sidelines because they're girls. In fact, this attempt by Harry to protect them, more often than not, brings them more trouble than if he had trusted them to begin with. I say this because it was good to see him make a little progress in this book. Following the events of Grave Peril, in which she was psychically tortured - though perhaps "raped" would be the better word - by the spells of a dead sorcerer, Murphy found herself broken. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't concentrate. She was afraid of everything, a shell of who she had been. So, in order to bring her back at least part of the way, Harry tells her everything - his dark past, the White Council, all the things he's not supposed to share. While it was by no means a magic recovery potion, it went a long way towards establishing their equality and fellow hunters of evil. And all this really has little to do with the plot itself, which is a pretty straightforward murder mystery/supernatural power play. Queen Mab of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, needs Harry to find out who killed a servant of the Summer Court, the Summer Knight. Queen Titania of Summer thinks, and not without reason, that it was Mab who had the knight killed. Harry has to get to the truth, and he has to do it before Midsummer's Eve, lest the two courts go to war and take our world with them. For the White Court, this is an excellent opportunity. If Dresden succeeds in helping Mab, she will give the Wizards safe passage through the Nevernever, which will in turn allow the Wizards to better prosecute their war against the vampires. If Dresden fails, the vampires will (in theory) be happy, and the war will end on its own. Either way, there's a very good chance that the White Council will finally rid itself of Harry Dresden, something they've been trying to do for quite some time. So for a simple murder mystery, it's really not very simple at all. We get a good look at the expanded universe of Harry Dresden, and it's a scary place to be. This time he's going up against some truly heavy hitters, with some very serious stakes, not the least of which is his own life and his own free will. For the first time, we are privy to the workings of the White Council, how they work and how they don't work, and it's very easy to understand why they and Harry don't get along so well. As with the other books, this gets my full recommendation. It's fast-paced and interesting, and there's some damn fine character work. A bit of very good banter between Murphy and Harry caught my eye that makes both of them much more interesting and believable (not that they weren't before). It's moments like that throughout the series that show Butcher's care for the characters and his desire that we see them as real as he does. Also, a very nice Indiana Jones reference, only involving unicorns. So - and you're going to get tired of hearing me say this - go get this book. Go get all the Dresden books, and settle in for some good reading. ...more |
Notes are private!
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not set
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Oct 27, 2007
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Jan 31, 2008
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Mass Market Paperback
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| 0451458443
| 9780451458445
| 0451458443
| 4.14
| 169,157
| Sep 01, 2001
| Sep 01, 2001
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liked it
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"Hell's Bells" count: 26 If you're reading this series in sequence (which you absolutely should be, or things will stop making sense very quickly), you "Hell's Bells" count: 26 If you're reading this series in sequence (which you absolutely should be, or things will stop making sense very quickly), you've got a good handle on how the world of Harry Dresden operates. He's a lone wolf, so to speak, standing up to the Occult Forces of Chicago with only the support of his contact in the Chicago PD, Lt. Karrin Murphy. There's also intrepid investigative reporter Susan Rodriguez, for whom Harry's feelings are slightly more than professional. There's also the mysterious White Council of Wizards. While you may think that belonging to a worldwide magical fraternity might be a good thing, Harry Dresden would most certainly disagree. To be fair, he has a history - he did kill his mentor using black magic, which is something so bad that it's number one on their list of Things a Wizard Must Not Do, which comes with one free beheading. His associates in the White Council barely tolerate him, and make it very clear that he's worth more to them dead than alive. But more about this in other books.... The point is that Harry so far has been a fairly small-time operator. Yes, he takes down evil sorcerers and vicious werewolves, but mostly on his own. In this book, the camera pulls back a little and we learn more about his world and his connections, and a broader story starts to emerge. The most interesting of these additions is Michael Carpenter, an associate of Harry's whose view of the world comes from a very different place. Michael is a religious man, a committed Christian who sees Harry's use of magic as impure and sullied, but associates with him anyway because they have a shared goal: the elimination of evil. Michael Carpenter is the Fist of God, one of the three Knights of the Cross. As such, he wields a faith powerful enough that even Harry can feel it. Oh, and he also wields a giant sword. With one of the nails from the True Cross worked into it. Amoracchius is a powerful weapon against evil, and a prize that anyone would be glad to have. In this book (as in all his books), Harry is given more trouble than he can handle. It begins with ghosts, as so many things do. The ghosts of Chicago are being stirred up by something - they're acting out in ways they would never act, causing an above-average amount of chaos and disorder in the city. And when there's ghosts around, tearing up the pediatrics ward of your local hospital, who is it you're going to contact telephonically? That's right - Harry Dresden. The ghosts are the least of his worries, however. The force behind them, the malicious entity that is driving the ghosts mad, is of far more concern to him. There's something out there, a Nightmare, that is out for blood. It's attacking Harry and his friends, and doing it through their dreams. Not just Harry's friends who are in good with the supernatural, but some of his Muggle buddies as well. This thing is angry, evil, and can tear a person's soul apart, leaving an empty husk that does nothing but try to scream. As if that weren't enough, the Red Court of Vampires is having a party, and they want Harry to come. Sounds lovely, right? A costume party with the vampires, a promise of protection to all invited guests - how can you have a better night? Myself, I'd start by not hanging around a house full of vampires and their allies. Especially when the hostess, a high-ranking member of the Court, has a serious personal grudge against me. The vampire Bianca wants Harry deader than dead, and she manages to set of a complex series of events to make sure it happens. This book, as I said, expands the Dresden universe a bit. It assumes that the readers are fairly comfortable with what we know, and gives us a lot more to think about. The world-wide spread of vampires, the hide-bound White Council, and the ramifications of having a Faerie Godmother. In the previous books, we saw Harry come out on top against small-scale foes - now the camera pulls back to show us how he goes up against larger institutions. In this book, Dresden is almost always out of his league - although I can't imagine who would be in their league while facing a hoarde of really pissed off vampires while being on the brink of death already. Buffy, probably. Or River Tam. Anyone written by Joss Whedon, I guess. But Dresden makes it through. Not in the "Finding reserves of strength you never knew were there" style found in the Whedon Supergirls, but more in the "This just might be crazy enough to work, unless I kill myself doing it in which case it might not go so well after all" style. Plus, it has my favorite trope of modern fantasy fiction - even if the hero wins, he doesn't actually save the day. In fact, things get a whole lot worse. Which is all gravy for Jim Butcher, because it means he has all the more material to work with for the rest of the series. ...more |
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Oct 22, 2007
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Jan 31, 2008
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Paperback
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| 0451458125
| 9780451458124
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| 3.98
| 199,629
| Jan 01, 2001
| Jan 09, 2001
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really liked it
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Hell's Bells count: 9 When a book about werewolves has a joke taken directly from Young Frankenstein (“Werewolf? There! There wolf! There castle!”), yo Hell's Bells count: 9 When a book about werewolves has a joke taken directly from Young Frankenstein (“Werewolf? There! There wolf! There castle!”), you know you're in very good hands. That's the kind of joke that a very small percentage of readers is going to get, but it's guaranteed that those readers who do get it will be very appreciative. Once again, consulting magician Harry Dresden has gotten himself into trouble. A few months ago, he nearly got himself killed taking down a drug-pushing warlock who wielded disturbingly strong levels of dark magic. Now, he has a different... hairier problem to deal with. People are being ripped apart in Chicago. Not normal gangland killings, or even comfortable, familiar drug shootings, no. People are being literally torn apart, limb from limb, guts for garters, that sort of thing. The killings are violent and frightening, and both the Chicago police and the FBI would really like to know who's behind them all. Unfortunately for Harry Dresden, all avenues point towards the supernatural. If that weren't bad enough, his talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time has made Harry an object of suspicion almost any time something weird goes down. He's used to that, though. What with just being relieved of the Doom of Damocles (a rather pretentious-sounding magical probation), and still being in the bad books of the White Council of Wizards, to say nothing of the powerful mobsters, Harry has more enemies than he can really keep up with. He doesn't need any more, and he most certainly doesn't need enemies that are red in tooth and claw. For that matter, ti would probably be simpler if it were just one werewolf. But it isn't. Of even if it were just one kind of werewolf. Which it isn't. Or even if all the werewolves in question were relentless, evil killing machines. Which, of course, they aren't. Not all of them. So now Harry has to throw himself into the fray again – to the wolves, as it were – and risk life and limb for people who don't quite appreciate all the hard work he does. At least, not until a ravaging loup-garou nearly kills them all. But that would help anyone through a crisis of faith, I think. As with the first volume in this series, I really enjoyed this book. Jim Butcher has an excellent sense of humor, and it really shines through in Harry's narration. Dresden often breaks the fourth wall in his narrative, acknowledging to both himself and the reader that he's about to do something that most people would consider to be insane. One of the things I really enjoy about reading these books is the multi-sensory experience of reading them. Butcher knows that we have many senses, and also knows that a great number of writers only engage a couple of them. So he throws as much sensory information as he can at us, engaging our senses of touch and taste and smell to make the scene that much more convincing. What's more, he has a gift for an economy of description – what's the most important sensory input for each scene? He knows it, and focuses our attention on that. Plus, he''s put together a very well-ordered magical universe. The rules are clear and binding, letting us know exactly what harry can and cannot do in order to get out of his troubles. The work that Butcher has done in preparing the world of Harry Dresden shows up very clearly. Of course, werewolves are fun monsters to play with, mainly because of their symbolic significance. Man and beast in one body, a loss of control and a joy in doing so – the werewolf is the beast we all fear to become. And this is important to Harry as well – as he tells us in this book and most of the others, he has a dark side to him. He knows what it's like to reach into the bleak recesses of his soul and to use magic towards evil ends. He's done it before, and the understanding that he could do it again is a shadow that constantly follows him. When he sees the various werewolves that are terrorizing the city, he sees himself in them. He sees the monster he could become, and he rejects it. Or at least holds it at bay for as long as he can. It's great to watch Harry, because he's such an underdog. He gets beaten up, outsmarted, outclassed again and again, but he keeps coming back. He keeps finding that one little way through his problems that allows him to come through victorious. As far as he's able to, anyway. And in the end, isn't that true for all of us? ...more |
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Jan 10, 2007
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Jan 31, 2008
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Mass Market Paperback
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| 9780451457813
| 0451457811
| 3.97
| 359,295
| Apr 01, 2000
| Apr 01, 2000
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really liked it
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"Hell's Bells" count: 3 Back in 2006, I made a trip to the States for a wedding. It was good fun, and I figured that while I was there, I'd go and see "Hell's Bells" count: 3 Back in 2006, I made a trip to the States for a wedding. It was good fun, and I figured that while I was there, I'd go and see some other friends and family up and down the East Coast. While in the Albany Area of New York, I was taken to a fantasy/science fiction bookstore so that I could fill up on books - a precious commodity, given their expense and rarity here. What I found when I walked in was shocking - I had no idea what to buy. I was so far out of the loop of SF/F news that I didn't know who was good, who was terrible, which mammoth mega-series were worth investing in and which were better off avoided. So I did the perfectly rational thing - I asked my friend for advice. With very little delay, he picked this book out for me and said, "You need to read this. But," he warned, "you'll want to read them all." I hemmed and hawed a bit, did some mental calculations of suitcase volume and density, and purchased the first three books of the Dresden Files series. My friend was right. I plowed through those books like nobody's business and then fumed that I couldn't go right into the next one. Any series that makes you practically itch for the next book has definitely got something going for it, and it all starts right here. Harry Dresden is a wizard for hire in Chicago. He is, as far as he knows, the only wizard for hire, and this is both good and bad. Good in that he gets all the weird cases that only a wizard can really handle, plus the bonus of being a standing consultant for the Chicago police department. Bad in that he's pretty much on his own, wizard-wise, in a city that is just aching to go supernaturally crazy. As this book opens, Dresden is trying to scrape enough together for the rent, and he's hit with two cases at once - a woman looking for her missing husband and the police looking to find out who made two people's hearts burst from their chests. Chasing either lead means danger, but he can't afford not to take either one. He needs the money, and he needs to keep a good relationship with the police.... Someone, somewhere is breaking the most sacred laws of magic. Binding, killing, coercion and destruction, all uses of magic that are utterly forbidden by the White Council, the mysterious council who oversees the world's wizarding community. In the best traditions of gritty detective fiction, the two seemingly unrelated cases eventually merge into one very dangerous investigation, one which challenges Harry and his allies to do more than they'd ever done before. Butcher has done some fantastic work here for a debut novel, and set the stage for a long and fruitful series. He sets up his world in an efficient fashion, giving us everything we need to know in order to get the story he's about to tell, and dropping little hints of what's to come. I really have no complaints. Well, maybe one. But it's small, all things considered. As Dresden tells us in his narration, the world he lives in is one that has seen magic pushed back for the better part of a century in favor of Science. "The largest religion of the twentieth century," he calls it, and that kind of set off a little red flag in my head. I've heard the old "Science is just another religion" canard before, and I know that it's nonsense - science doesn't require faith, it doesn't require any kind of leaps or hope or suspension of disbelief. Religion certainly does - no one prays with absolute certainty that their prayer will be answered - there's always a chance (and often a good one) that nothing will come of it. But hold a stone a few feet off the ground and drop it, and that stone will damn well fall to the ground. Moreover, it'll fall at the same speed when dropped from the same height, no matter who drops it. Every time. No praying, no intercession. Just science. What makes Dresden's comment even more interesting is how scientific he is in his working of magic. He has a work space in his basement that he refers to as a lab, and explains to the reader the way that magic works. The principles of Circles, and the necessary elements that constitute a potion. When Harry talks about the power of True Names, he tells us about a known effect of using someone's name for spellcraft, one that will work for any wizard, so long as he knows how to say the person's name the right way. As an interesting aside to that, Harry gives us his full name - Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden - right at the beginning of the book, on page two. This would imply an interesting level of trust between the narrator and the reader, as the character knows full well the dangers of letting one's full name get out of your hands. He talks about rules and laws, cause and effect, as things that he's studied and remembered because they work. If magic were truly non-scientific, there would be no way for Harry (or any other practitioner) to predict what would happen when a spell was cast. But when he draws a circle and gives it a bit of a charge, Harry knows exactly what will happen. This alternate world may have sources of energy that ours doesn't, and certain physical laws that vary from ours, but science is no less present in Harry's magic than anywhere else. So, that one little nitpick aside, I found this to be a very enjoyable book. What's more, it was an excellent introduction into what has turned out to be a fantastic series. I can't wait to see how it all turns out in the end.... ...more |
Notes are private!
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not set
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Nov 21, 2006
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Jan 31, 2008
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Mass Market Paperback
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