Summer Knight

There are some among Harry Dresden fans that state that the series truly takes off during book three. While I enjoyed Grave Peril, it does not hold a candle to Summer Knight. In fact, I dare say this fourth book in the series is my favorite so far. The tension is much more subtle than in previous books, and Harry has to use finesse and caution to be successful. Considering what he has done so far, all the battles and explosions and exclamations of "Fuego!", it was a nice reprieve and proof that Harry can show restraint when necessary.

Another great change of pace was the focus on the Fae. Yet another book about vampires, rogue wizards, or werewolves would have been a bit too much. There is so much to the Never-Never that it is wonderful show more to see Butcher branch out among different supernatural creatures. The Fae, in Dresden's world, are every bit as ruthless and cunning as one would expect and add an interesting dimension to Harry's fate. Their power is less obvious and therefore more dangerous than anything Dresden has yet faced.

The reader also gets a greater glimpse at the White Council and Harry's peers. There is obviously tension brewing between the Council and Harry. It promises to be a worthwhile storyline, and I cannot wait to see it all unfold. I am glad that Butcher is not rushing it, as I believe it is key to understanding Harry's penchant for raw power and snark versus finesse and political savvy. Not that I mind his tendency to blast his way through a problem, but it does show that Harry has depth, a good thing to have in a main character of a such a long series.

I have to admit that my beloved James Marsters did not quite rock the audio as much as I expected/hoped. He is still the perfect Harry, but I was completely and utterly distracted by his noisy, flapping gums. You could literally hear them as he talked. I wanted to give him a glass of water to try to quiet them down a bit because it was a bit disgusting to hear. I am hoping it was just poor editing and not a burgeoning trend.

In spite of the issues with narration, Summer Knight is the best novel in the series so far. It is a far cry from the battles against werewolves or vampires, and the entire series is better for the change in direction. The reader also gets exposed to more of Harry's mysterious past while the series slowly builds towards the penultimate battle in future novels. If anything, Summer Knight has made me fall in love with the series all over again. show less

Wow, hard to put down. Sooo sorry I stalled in this series on book #2 years ago, because IT GETS BETTER EACH BOOK.

Harry is progressively less dumb. Seriously between rock/hard place, but he manages to use the tools at hand effectively while still remaining inimitably himself, weakness for women, ignorance, and all. HE OWNS UP TO HIS SHIT every time and I gotta respect that even while anticipating badness to come from it, yet also surprising goodness that keeps things interesting. More personal history is revealed here, and great characters. I love that Harry has a growing support system of sincere friends, family, n acquaintances. Oh man, hope we're done with Godmother, though!

All that said, the epic battle scenes add like 0.5 star to show more the rating. show less

The fourth novel featuring Harry Dresden sees him investigating the murder of the knight of the Summer Court of Faerie, at the behest of the Winter Queen. It being Harry, all hell breaks loose with plenty of peril, fighting, and sarcastic humour.

The Dresden novels are solid brain candy. Do they show their age in spots? Yes. Do I forgive them a lot because James Marsters' narration is so good? Yes. Will I read more of them? Also yes.

As always, Harry Dresden is down on his luck. His girlfriend has left town to deal with her newly acquired taste for blood. Harry has spent all of his time trying to find a cure for her, to the extent of being anti social, not taking clients and not being able to pay his rent. The few friends he has left are worried about him. The Red Court is gunning for him for the trouble he caused several months back. The White Council blames Harry for starting a supernatural war and is in a lynching mood. And then it starts to rain frogs. Literally.

"Okay. But if they're real?"

"If they're real, then it means something is out of whack."

"What kind of out of whack?"

"The serious kind. Holes in the fabric of reality."

Summer Knight is the fourth book in show more Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. Harry is back and this time he's taking on the Faerie realm. Harry's faerie Godmother has transferred his debt to the Winter Queen of Faerie. The Summer Knight has been murdered and the Winter Queen wants Harry to clear her of the crime. While it seems a fairly straight forward task, Harry knows that when dealing with Faeries there's always a catch. It doesn't take long for him to become stuck in the political squabble between the Courts.

At this point Butcher has the Harry Dresden formula down. First, establish your super powerful hero as an "ordinary" Joe. Second, beat the crap out of him. Third, keep beating the crap out of him right up to the very last minute. Fourth, end with an "all hell breaks loose" climax where the hero finds the strength he needs to save the world yet again. Poor Harry. He has to be one of the most beat down fantasy heroes I've read about. And still he always always rises to the the occasion with the belief that the world is worth saving even after all the suffering he's gone through. It is both endearing and frustrating. Endearing because who doesn't like a good underdog story and frustrating because Harry is pretty bad ass and should have a better control over his life than he seems to.

One of the things I liked most about this book is Harry finally opens up to Lieutenant Murphy. And it's about time!! He's had three books of holding her at arms length, with Murphy saving his ass and yet completely in the dark about what it is that she has been up against. This is a great stride forward and shows actual trust in their friendship, something Harry has been sorely lacking. Murphy gets one of the best scenes in the book when she takes out an evil animated tree with a chainsaw! It was awesome. Also still present throughout the book is Harry's dry wit. His quips continue to be both eye roll worthy and laugh out loud funny.

On the downside, I think I may have read this book at the wrong time. The political machinations between Faerie Courts reminded me a little too much of the political situation in the real world for me to enjoy those parts as much as I may have at another time. Still, it's a highly readable and mostly fun entry into the Dresden series. It also has one of the best battle cries I've read in a book in a long time:

"I don't believe in faeries!" show less

From the very beginning I loved this book.

Raining frogs, at first I thought it was a saying.... I should have known better in this series. I really enjoy that things from past books aren't just forgotten and filed away. They still happened, and the characters still have to deal with the consequences. It makes reading them in order intensely gratifying.

I very much enjoyed the insight of this installment. I got to see more of Harry's past, the council operations, and other wizards. I enjoyed all the reunions.

The descriptions of the fae characters was amazing, especially the ladies and mothers. I have the description of the winter lady bookmarked. It was so easy to visualize and find yourself completely immersed into the scene.

I /LOVED/ show more that he finally let Murphy in. I can't wait to see how that changes things in upcoming books.

Way to go ending. I was in the last chapter and still hadn't quite figured everything out. But Harry had, and the reveal was awesome.

p.s. the unicorn? ..... I'm going to have nightmares. show less

If blasting rods and staffs are standard wizard fare, what do they use for euphemisms?

Harry Dresden is having a bad day, or is that week, month, and year? His girlfriend has been semi-turned into a vampire, it's raining frogs in the park, a ghoul is trying to assassinate him, the vampire Red Court want to torture him to death, the Wizarding White Council are tempted to let the vampires have Harry, the Winter Court of faeries want him to investigate a murder, he has no money, and his house is a mess. Oh, and a war is about to start if Harry can't find the killer; so there's that as well.

This is my first foray into Jim Butcher's much vaunted Dresden Files series. Summer Knight indicates that there is a lot to like about this Harry's show more world. The story could be described as an urban fantasy thriller: with thriller being a selling point for me. Butcher doesn't shy away from piling on the hardships for Harry to overcome, and keeps the action coming thick and fast. I'm honestly wondering why I took so long to dive into this series that has been repeatedly recommended to me. show less

Jim Butcher begins the latest book in the Dresden series with Harry having been out of sight for months since the end of the previous novel. Life gets steadily worse for Harry as the book continues, eventually finding himself deeper than a city sewer in every kind of supernatural politics you can imagine.

This book takes the fun and interest of the previous book, and continues on the story arcs that were established, as well as creating a stand alone story that doesn't require the other books. Harry, due to lack of sleep and social contact, becomes more of a smart arse in this book, which I enjoy thoroughly. Complexity grew with this book as well, making the culprit more difficult to detect from just a chapter or two. The final twist show more holds unique Dresden-esque shift. I think the how-deep-can-we-pile-Harry plot gets overdone, which makes me believe that the series can only improve from here. show less