Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2)
by Jim Butcher
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.52 You Save: $4.47 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.38 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2)
Book Review: Wild about Harry
Summary: 4 Stars
First I have to say that I'm delighted to find a character I can believe in - these days it seems like some characters are so angst-ridden I'd like to offer them prozac, or invincible. Harry I could sit down with and have a cup of coffee. I love the fact that he misjudges and make mistakes, like the rest of us. Having read most of the series, the only thing I'd wish he'd do is get a decent, complicate, mistake ridden and not so tragic love life. (I'm a chick, sue me) His wry tone takes away some of the doom and gloom which are necessary for dramatic tension. As much as I love some of the later books, I do have to admit sometimes that I wish something good would happen for Harry.
Second, all above being said, I love the character (that's why I'd like him to find a little, just a little, to be happy about). I love Bob, the skull. Karin is great, I love the fact that she's not a tall amazon, but a short, feisty, competent and sexy woman without being a bitch. (although she can be bitchy...which is normal).
One thing I can guarantee about any Butcher work - and check out his fantasy series, too - is that it's always going to be a great read. His knowledge (or research) on werewolves helps inform this novel, without getting in the way of a good story.
One pet peeve - I do wish some of the reviewers didn't feel the need to give a book synopsis, giving away details, instead of a review.
Book Review: Good Story With A Nice Twist Of The Werewolf Legend Stories
Summary: 5 Stars
I felt this was a very interesting and entertaining story for the second dresden files saga. I've read a few werewolf horror stories and they all become pretty bland since they follow the one simple storyline on how one becomes a werewolf and how you're supposed to kill the werewolf. This book had a nice twist an that you have three ways to become a werewolf and different ways to dispatch them. I also like how he puts the character of Harry in the story as you see while he is a hero he also has the same doubts ,faults,feelings,and problems that you or I might have in the same situation he faces. Thats the one thing I like about the character you have so many supposed written hero's in books that seem so beyond what you think a normal person would do that you really can't get the feel or any emotional connection to those hero's and so as you read their books you already know that the hero is going to come out on top pretty much unharmed. Unlike poor Harry he always seems to end up getting hurt or injured and when you think he's about to throw in the towel he does come out the winner of course with the help of his friends
and sometimes enemies. So All I say is if you're looking for a different
angle of the werewolf stories or a great present day/Magic world story this book would be it
Book Review: This Moon Never Rises For Me
Summary: 2 Stars
Let me first say that I absolutely loved the first book in this series. I was eager and hopeful that the second book would be equally as good. In my opinion it fell flat on several fronts.
First of all, I have nothing against werewolves but I found the topic rather dull and I thought the whole idea of putting on a belt to become a werewolf completely ludicrous.
Second, let me be perfectly frank here. I find the Murphy character more and more non-believable. Regardless of whether she "trusts" Harry or not, she'd have to be a complete idiot to not realize that he's saved her life several times. This tension was more believable and understandable in "Storm Front" but I just don't see any justification for Murphy's attitude and distrust toward Harry in this novel.
The next thing that has been bothering me (and this was in "Storm Front" as well) is the fact that Harry has these amazing wizard skills be can't even get out of a simple pair of handcuffs. Huh? Makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Despite all of these concerns, I still enjoyed the sarcastic humor of Harry and I did laugh occasionally. Is it enough to make me read the next book in the series? Probably. It better be better than this book though or I'm done with this series.
Book Review: so well constructed, so fun to read, a real nail biter
Summary: 5 Stars
I liked Storm Front well enough that it didn't take a lot of convincing to get Fool Moon, too - I do remember, however, that somebody told me that the series gets better with each new installment and so I opened up #2 in the Dresden Files ready to do a comparative analysis.
And it really is better. The voice is stronger, the difficulties more insurmountable, every last character is human, the setting of Chicago and the description of the magic are equally palpable.
Butcher maintains a pitch of tension throughout the novel which is positively excruciating. You know how in most books the tension builds and builds and then things come to a head, there's a climax, then a nice neat denoument? Fool Moon hits the crisis point at about page 10 and stays that way until the bitter end. It's incredible.
Plus, Butcher hasn't at all lost his sense of the absurd. Dresden's outfits are even more ridiculous than in Storm Front (which sounds impossible enough already) and the book is peppered with witty banter throughout.
Lastly, and maybe this is just me, but there's something kind of touching about a male author who writes these books in the first person about a tough old dude who has feelings and notices a girl's haircut. It's sweet.
Book Review: Packed with action and suspense.
Summary: 4 Stars
I am really enjoying this series, and this was another good installment. The positives are again the great insights of the central character, the interactions with "Bob", the good pacing, and the humor.
This one in particular was a book that really had some suspense. I know the series went on, so I knew that Harry had to live, but there were times I had no idea how he would make it to the end of the book.
There was a major negative in this one for me and that is this - Murphy is supposedly such a wonderful super-cop was just an utter idiot for a good part of the book. Without giving too much in the way of spoilers, she acted completely out of character, and very stupidly for someone of her supposed investigative abilities. Then at the very end she suddenly magically goes the other way and puts it all together and returns her trust to Harry in no time.
There were other ways to have brought about those same events in the plot without turning a brilliant detective into an utter fool for a time, and that really bothered me for awhile during the middle of the book.
That aside, the book was still outstanding, and the climax and really the entire last third of the book were utterly gripping. A great read overall.