Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3)
by Jim Butcher
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Book Reviews of Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3)
Book Review: Resounds with more depth
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading something as thought-provoking as Ian McDonald's The Dervish House, I was aware that I needed to tackle something lighter, something more fast-paced, for my next book. And Jim Butcher's Grave Peril, the third installment in the now insanely popular The Dresden Files sequence, appeared to fit the bill rather perfectly.
Though a bit formulaic and episodic in format, the misadventures of the wizard Harry Dresden have always made for fun-filled reads.
Here's the blurb:
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's 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...
As was the case with its predecessors, Storm Front and Fool Moon, Grave Peril features the first-person narrative of the sympathetic, if frequently inept, sole wizard in Chicago. Although he may not always be the sharpest tool in the shed, I find it hard not like and root for Harry Dresden. Like James Bond, you know he'll pull through in the end. Hence, it's in the execution that you truly get to enjoy Jim Butcher's stories. And the witty tone of the narrative adds an extra layer to the overall reading experience.
The supporting cast is again comprised of Bianca St. Claire, Karrin Murphy, Susan Rodriguez, Bob the Skull, and the cat Mister. But new characters play an important role in this book, chief among them Michael Carpenter, a Knight of the Cross, Leanansidhe, Dresden's faerie Godmother, Thomas Raith, a White Court vampire, as well as Mavra, a Black Court vampire.
The addition of new characters provides yet more hints that this series echoes with more depth than meets the eye. The introduction of new concepts such as the various vampire Courts, the faeries, and the Knights of the Cross is yet more evidence in that regard. Hopefully, there will be more developments regarding these concepts in the next volume. For, as fun and entertaining as these novels are, I'm afraid that they will lose their appeal if they remain too formulaic and episodic in style and scope.
Once again a fast-paced urban fantasy plot, Grave Peril has more surprising twists and turns than the more linear first two volumes. Especially the fate of one of the main protagonists at the end, which sort of shocked me, for I never saw it coming. I'm glad to discover that it won't always be a case of all's well that ends well. . .
If you are looking for quality urban fantasy books featuring a flawed and endearing wizard trying to do the right thing, then I strongly urge you to pick up The Dresden Files books.
Book Review: Good, But the First Two Were Better
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the third book in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.
I really liked the short lived Dresden Files TV series - they should bring it back - and the first two books were very good. This third book was good, but it could have been better.
In this installment, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only resident wizard detective, fights an evil thing called the Nightmare. It takes a while for him to even figure out what the thing is, much less how to get rid of it. In many ways, this was a very clever plot device.
Murphy from the Chicago police plays only a small role in the story as the creature attacks her, and she is put out of commission for most of the story. Harry works mostly with a Knight of some type named Michael instead - as in Knight with a holy sword. Susan, Harry's girl friend has a big part, and there is some tragic consequence there that I think resurfaces in at least one much later book from what I have heard. Other important characters are Lydia - Dresden needs a damsel in distress, and she is ONE of them in this story. There are also the vampire Thomas and his human girlfriend Justine. Bianca the vampire is also heavily involved in the story - and unlike in the TV series, she REALLY hates Harry. Harry's godmother - who is actually a fairy - is also involved; I was confused about a wicked fairy godmother, but that is kind of how she is. Lots of others too play parts like the evil wizard Kravos.
Given all the characters, it is not surprising that the plot is fairly complex; this is just a very brief sketch. Something has stirred up the ghosts in the Never Never and all hell breaks loose. Harry finds out that this thing dubbed the Nightmare is the culprit, but he does not know exactly what this thing is. Keep in mind that the name is very appropriate. He and Michael work together to fight it. Before long, they end up at Bianca's vampire party and things turn really ugly. Eventually, Harry saves the day, but not before Susan gets in big trouble and stays in trouble in part, and he is left to figure out how to get her the rest of the way out as the book ends. Murphy is healed by the end though. The bad guys are vanquished, but it is not exactly a happy ending for Susan - at least for the time being anyway.
The plot being very complicated was kind of a drawback. There was so much action going on that it got almost exhausting at times - too much of a good thing you know. Maybe the author had so many good ideas that he just had to use, and the publisher would not let him have any more pages so he could space things out. Seems there was not much time for Harry to tell the reader things about his life and all that - kind of chat with the reader as he did in the earlier books which I liked.
I have heard that the next books avoid some of the issues in this one, so I will keep reading. In any case, this book did have its good points; it just was not as good as the others I have read in the series. Read it and move to the next.
Book Review: Ghostbusters, The Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
It should come as no surprise to the followers of Harry Dresden, freelance wizard and general dogooder, that Harry starts out the third volume of this series in every bit as much trouble as he ended the last. After all, Harry's natural state is jumping out of frying pans and into fires. Except when he is looking for another frying pan to fall out of. This time the book opens with Harry and a new friend, Michael (a Knight of the Sword and even a bigger dogooder than Harry) racing to stop Agatha the ghost, who has a bit too much affection for infants. Without fail, Harry fumbles the attack and Michael and he must pursue Agatha into the Nevernever. In the process of putting Agatha away Harry has a run in with his dysfunctional fairy godmother and barely manages to escape with all his body parts.Michael and Harry have been chasing down disgruntled ghosts for weeks now, and finally Harry has come to believe that this isn't just a series of coincidences. Instead, someone is deliberately stirring the ectoplasm with evil intentions. But Harry barely has time to discover this when he is visited by two vampires, who go out of their way to irritate him while delivering a formal invitation to the elevation of Bianca St. Claire to the position of Margravine of the Vampire Court. You may remember Bianca from "Fool Moon." She was the vampiress Harry managed to make a deadly enemy of in the first 15 minutes of their meeting. Harry may be slow witted, but even he knows that Bianca's plans include making Dresden au gratin.
So he refuses the invitation, right? Well, not quite. A wild series of ghostly attacks, bespelled friends, and damsels in distress ensue. Harry, a class act as usual, manages to lose Michael's magic sword, fail the damsels, and barely keep his friend's alive. It is only a matter of time before the ever-widening swath of disasters leads Harry straight to Bianca's soiree and Harry-splatting party. And does Harry get splatted? You bet. It is characteristic of this story that the question Harry gets asked most often is "What happened to you?" And these are just the highlights of the quiet part of the novel.
Jim Butcher has once again concocted a unique mix of comedy and horror, In doing so he has created an entirely new genre, which I call 'noir vaudeville.' Bad things keep happening, and the life-span of one of Harry's friends seems to be about a week, but you can't help snickering and moaning. Perhaps because Harry generally deserves everything that happens to him. But you do have to feel sorry for Michael and his wife, Harry's girlfriend Susan, and most of the Chicago police force. And don't forget poor Bob the sex-fiend in a skull, who gets a serious workout this time and no fun. Butcher ends "Grave Peril" on a 'to be continued' note, which means we can look forward to even more misadventures from the career of the most hapless wizard in the Midwest. Let's hope Harry has good medical insurance.
Book Review: Most Entertaining Dresden File to Date
Summary: 5 Stars
Book Three of the Dresden Files begins a year after Fool Moon. Where Book Two was all in shades of wolf, the palette here is considerably more varied. Harry himself is back in full-color, wise-cracking form. The central themes are ghosts and vampires, but Butcher throws in a sprinkling of other paranormal phenomena as well, just to keep everybody on their toes.An unknown agent has been raising ghosts all over Chicago, torturing them into murderous rampages. Tired of vanquishing a different ghost every night, Harry's determined to attack the problem at its source, especially after the same torture spell is used on a living victim.
An unidentified beastie, too powerful to be just another ghost, tries to tear apart a church where Harry stashed a young woman who came to him for protection. The attack fails, the woman disappears into the night, and the beastie is still around.
Vampire madam Bianca, celebrating a promotion within the vampires' Red Court, invites Harry to the bash. Diplomatic protocols between Court and White Council virtually require attendance, and girlfriend Susan is eagerly contemplating interview prospects, but Harry's sure that Bianca is looking to settle an old score with him.
Speaking of which, Harry's real-life faerie godmother is determined to collect on a deal he made with her as a teenager. Problem is, it's Harry she expects to collect.
These plot lines are all set up in the first hundred pages of Grave Peril. It takes the other three-quarters of the book for Harry to work out who's really doing what, and why. Along the way, he and several of his nearest and dearest fall prey to various bad guys; nobody gets away without some physical and psychological scarring.
Butcher writes like a master gamesman here. Things start happening with no apparent purpose or connection, and only gradually does an overall game plan begin to emerge. This being his third book, readers by now can guess that everything is going to come together eventually-short term events before the book's end and long term plots in future books-but that takes nothing away from the enjoyment of seeing how Butcher actually manages to make the pieces fit.
There are more minor plotting issues in Grave Peril than in the first two books, and it seems like a bit of a cheat to have two personal, apparently long-standing relationships suddenly pop up with no previous mention. Technical writing errors, fairly unobtrusive before, are more overt here as well (note: never flaunt tony words like "dais"-especially not 21 times-without confirming their proper spelling). Picky, picky; this is the most entertaining of the Dresden Files to date. All of the "things are not what they seem" plot twists once again call to mind Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos, as does the personal and political mess Harry creates over Susan; a habit of pensive lip-chewing would not seem at all out of place for Harry.
Book Review: This Book Is Merely OK
Summary: 3 Stars
Caution, may contain spoilers:
To make something clear: I believe Jim Butcher is a good writer, not a great one. He writes to entertain. In other words: he writes the literary equivalent of pop music.
That's not to say he's bad. His first two books were fairly good. Interesting. Engaging. They definitely make the time go by.
But now things get a bit tricky.
Apparently Mr. Butcher decided that Dresden needed a sidekick. Because all of his previous friends were simple mortals, he decided to introduce a character, complete with a working backstory, that had never been mentioned in any of the previous books. The stoic Michael, Fist of God, is probably supposed to be a solid counterpoint to Dresden's wisecracks and lack of faith. In reality, he's hideously one-dimensional. Sure, the same could be said of every character in the books (Murphy will always be a raving bitch with a heart of gold. Bob will always be a genius sex addict. Etc.), but at least you've had a few books to get used to them. This time, it felt like Dresden was walking around carrying a cardboard cut-out for company.
Next, the plot: It is simply ridiculous. Bianca partners with a powerful vampire from another sect so that she can learn magic, so that she can teach a sorcerer that Harry defeated (off-camera) to make himself into a ghost so that he can terrorize Harry into coming to Bianca's place for a party where she can trick him into letting her have her vampires kill him.
Now, I understand Dresden is a big bad wizard. Still, wouldn't a sniper rifle would kill Harry (caught unprepared) just as dead as anyone else? Hell, they have depleted uranium rounds that can punch through a tank; I'm pretty sure one could manage getting past his shield bracelet.
While I understand that the above sniper rifle scenario would not be as entertaining, there is simply no explanation for such a convoluted plot to try to take Harry out. Supposedly Bianca cannot strike Harry directly, for fear of the White Council. Still, it would seem like there would be a million things that she could do to take Harry out, easier than this. It's like something made up by a bad super villain in a second rate comic.
Finally, a random gripe: In Storm Front, Harry gets pretty banged up. Then in Fool Moon, Harry loses his magic. So, how can Jim keep things exciting? Why, by having Harry banged up AND without his magic! Obvious recipe for success! I think Jim Butcher should watch less of the movie Die Hard. I keep expecting Dresden to yell, "Yippie Ki Yay."
All things considered, I will probably continue reading the series. I just feel that this book was a step down from the previous two.