496 pages
English language
Published Feb. 6, 2007 by Roc.
The White Council of Wizards has drafted Harry Dresden as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in Chicago. Malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in the Windy City, but it's all in a day's work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob...
We get to know a lot more about Molly, Charity, and Murphy, who are all strong and bad-ass female characters and are given more space in this book. I thought this one was a little bit more self-contained with less overwhelming magic battles, and more character development, which was good. And Dresden apparently gets an apprentice, cool!
This is one of the better Dresden File stories. It has a bit of everything and some of the best characters. Harry does get off his sulking bum a bit and reunite with some favorites, and it's quite fun. I'm still a little lost on some key points though, but this isn't like Butcher to leave things hanging, so I assume it's for a new book.
The only think I didn't like about it was that most of the book really operated on their own. There were some unfinished business, but if Butcher ended the series then... it wouldn't be too bad. This felt like the first that really sits as a piece in a series and only works as a part of whole. I like the previous style better.
4 to 4.5 stars. Once again, another Dresden file that was highly entertaining. Harry Dresden, now a Warden of the White Council, gets alerted that there might be black magic afoot in Chicago, and gets sucked right into it at a horror movie festival. Evil creatures thrive on the fear at the con, and Harry has to get to the heart of this matter. At the same time he has to help Molly, the estranged daughter of his friend Michael. There are some interesting twists and turns, and it involves some of my favorite elements of the Dresden universe, the warring Sidhe courts of Summer and Winter.
By now the series is definitely not standalone anymore. Anyone who picks this book up without having read previous Dresden Files will not be able to follow the plot and the many many characters well. But for those people who have read since …
4 to 4.5 stars. Once again, another Dresden file that was highly entertaining. Harry Dresden, now a Warden of the White Council, gets alerted that there might be black magic afoot in Chicago, and gets sucked right into it at a horror movie festival. Evil creatures thrive on the fear at the con, and Harry has to get to the heart of this matter. At the same time he has to help Molly, the estranged daughter of his friend Michael. There are some interesting twists and turns, and it involves some of my favorite elements of the Dresden universe, the warring Sidhe courts of Summer and Winter.
By now the series is definitely not standalone anymore. Anyone who picks this book up without having read previous Dresden Files will not be able to follow the plot and the many many characters well. But for those people who have read since Storm Front, you meet just about every familiar person from the books you can imagine and get tantalizing hints that maybe every single previous book and villains are connected by some kind of evil alliance behind everything. Interesting stuff for sure. Looking forward to future installments, to read more about Harry, Molly and co. I am dying to know what Thomas has gotten involved with.
