Jim Butcher: Grave Peril

• Mass Market Paperback: 378 pages
• Publisher: Roc (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451458443

Harry Dresden's faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. It comes with the territory when you're the only professional wizard in the Chicago area phone book.
But in all Harry's years of supernatural sleuthing, he's never faced anything like this: The spirit world has gone postal. All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble - and not just of the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone - or something - is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself...

 In the third installment of Butcher's Dresden series, we have rather a lot of "Oh shit" moments. The start was, I think, meant to be a "bang" but it ended up being more of a "pop" unfortunately. I suffered through quite a bit of confusion in the first chapters as we were introduced to characters and circumstances that had developed in the time between the last book and this one. That's normally pretty well done, but in this case, there were just too many new things going on at once, and I was having real trouble trying to figure out if I should know these things and was forgetting, or if they were brand new. I'm going with brand new. For example - a faery godmother? Really? When did that happen? Oh, when he was a baby. Why have we not heard of this before now if she's been hounding him most of his life? (Pun intended - you'll understand later).
 So right off the bat, I was a little flabbergasted at the events. That is not to say, however, that they were not fun and immensely entertaining. The first thing we learn, in the midst of an all-out battle against what I think is one of the creepiest ghosts ever, is that someone has been messing with the ghosts of the Nevernever and all hell is about to break loose because of it - well, all the Nevernever anyway. Of course, we have to deal with that. Also, the vampires are acting up, probably because Dresden previously pissed off their head honcho in town, big time. His godmother is after him as well, making getting anything done in regards to the case extremely difficult. Lastly, there's a Nightmare thing running around that may have something to do with some dark sorcerer/demon summoner that he helped arrest (again in that interval between books - which means the reader has no idea what he's talking about). Oh yes, and there's some clairvoyant girl who somehow ties into one or all of these things. Confused yet? So am I.
 While there's a lot going on, Butcher has miraculously developed a talent for keeping all the plot points firing apace and preventing them from getting too convoluted. Thank God for that. His first book was a little iffy on that score, but he has significantly improved, and as the book moved along and there were more developments helping to tie things together, the confusion was dispersed. It was well written for the most part, although occasionally the inner (and outer) dialogue got a little cheesy. The only other thing that detracted from my enjoyment of this novel was the editor's outrageously poor editing. Please, I don't want to have to fill in the blank and guess at what you're trying to spell while I'm reading for enjoyment. Not Mr. Butcher's fault, but jeez, get some better proofreaders people.
 There wasn't a ton of character development going on as we were pretty centered on Dresden and Michael and their problems. That's okay though, not every book has to be about everybody. Murphy was strangely absent for the majority of the time, and Susan made just enough appearances to be annoying and then awesome and then sad. Annoying because she's a reporter who doesn't seem to comprehend that no, Harry cannot tell you all the things and when he's busy it's probably for a good reason so you should shut up, sit down and wait patiently. Awesome because she's pretty ballsy. And sad because...well, I'll let you get to that.
 Overall: A-
 I enjoyed the book, and I like that Butcher is taking Dresden down a darker and more emotionally fraught path. We're not just doing it for kicks now. And the writing improves with every book, even though this one got off to a rocky start.

Jim Butcher: Fool Moon

• Print Length: 356 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0451458125
• Publisher: Roc (January 1, 2001)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English

Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work - magical or mundane.
But just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise.
A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses - and the first two don't count... 

 This installment of the Dresden Files was infinitely better than the previous/first one. I'm going to attribute the change to a more developed writer and the lack of the necessity to completely create a new world. Now that we've spent some time with Harry Dresden, we can immerse ourselves in the story and focus more on plot and character development.
  In Fool Moon, Harry must deal with a break down in his friendship with Murphy, his police bestie. That, in and of itself, irritated me although I can see why it was a necessary evil. Still, you would think that the brilliant Special Investigations cop who seems to believe in the possibility of another world would be discerning enough to see through coincidences and try to ask questions...but I digress. The plot was much better paced this time around. There multiple story lines, but they weren't so divergent that you felt like you were being jerked out of one story and into another. They came together in a cogent manner and worked well. The ending was action-packed and suitably full of crazy. I liked it a lot. I also felt the reader got to see more into Harry's character - we know him better. And we like him a lot more since we've seen the darkness that lurks inside. And yay for strong wizards - Harry was less bumbling and more badass which pleased me to no end.
  Furthermore, Susan's character saw more, and less obnoxious, air-time. I can see the relationship between her and Harry growing and deepening. No, I have no idea what's going to happen with them, but I think Butcher is setting them up for something grand.
  Overall: A
  The writing was much improved, as was character and plot development. The mystery was suitably mysterious and I didn't see the twist coming. (Well, sort of, but it was more...twisty.) Well done, Mr. Butcher, well done.

Jim Butcher: Furies of Calderon

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Ace (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044101268X

For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bonds with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal. But in the remote Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans' most savage enemy - the Marat horde - returns to the Valley, Tavi's courage and resourcefulness will be a power greater than any fury, one that could turn the tides of war...
   
  Having only read the first of Butcher's Dresden Files Series, I didn't have any expectations for this series. Not good, not bad. I knew it was going to be different, as it was more in the epic genre, and I wasn't sure how he was going to deal with that. As it turns out, he handled it quite well. Some have said that the story took a few chapters to pick up pace, but I would disagree. We're thrown right into the action in the first chapter, and the mystery starts right up from there. Who? And why?
  He doesn't leave us hanging, however. Through many twists and turns and multiple characters' points of view, Jim Butcher weaves a story of betrayal, murder, and strange friendship. The thing that first jumps to my mind about this book is the relationships. My favorites were Bernard and Amara - I hope we get to see more of them in the future. Second was the unexpected Doroga. I really loved Doroga. He was noble and courageous and his offspring, Kitai, is probably going to turn out to be a close friend of main character Tavi. The three of them had some of the best interactions in the book. All of the characters, in fact, had some standout trait about them.
  The plot: was great. It's not Tolkien level quality, nobody's that good, but it was still really well done. He left plenty of mystery for coming books, including, but not limited to: Tavi's heritage, Fade's history, and the future of the kingdom in general. In the first chapter, we learn of a rebel force that is being secretly assisted by Amara's mentor, Fidelias. Ironic, considering his name is a form of fidelity. Tavi is a Fury-less boy who just wants to go to the Academy. And Amara has the weight of the world on her shoulders.
  I really have no complaints about this novel. It was extremely well done and leaves you to anticipate the next. However, I have no idea how long that will be for me. Because the publisher started releasing Jim Butcher's books in their so-called "Premium Tall Editions," and I'm OCD so all the books must be the same size and format, and I have the regular format, I won't be able to read the next book until I find an older printing that is not ridiculously tall for two extra dollars.
  Overall: A+