I am just finishing book 3, and still loving it. There should definitely be a thread about the series if anyone has read them, because I had questions but when I tried to look up the answers I got more information than I needed to know.
I've read all of them. They're not incredible dense and won't be winning any big awards, but they are a lot of fun to read. They stay at a high quality throughout the series, by the way, in case you were worried. I can probably answer any questions you have without giving away the events of future books.
I'll spoiler this bc of a small spoiler at the end of book 2. Spoiler Was Michael introduced in book 3? I wasn't sure if Michael was Morgan for a while, and Butcher was trying to pull a Harriet Winslow switcharoo on us, because I knew Morgan helped Harry out and had a sword. I thought it was a little strange how Michael kind of popped in from out of nowhere at the start of book 3. Or am I wrong? And you're right about not dense, but I'll be damned if they aren't enjoyable and entertaining.
Spoiler Yes, Michael was introduced in book 3. Michael and Morgan are two different people. Morgan is a Warden, which is basically law enforcement for the magical community. Michael is a Knight of the Cross, and he basically works for God. His sword gives him powers handed down by an archangel. A Knight of the Cross is chosen by God to wield his/her sword. Don't worry about a switcharoo. Michael and Harry have been friends for a long time.
Do it. I was moving when I started and since I listen, the first 2 were absolutely perfect in helping me get through it without wanting to
Agree for the first five or so. After that you kinda need the previous ones. They're quick reads tho. I typically finish them in 1-3 days.
Also... It's worth mentioning -- and I never thought I'd say this -- is that I'm glad there's that many books. This series is extremely entertaining. All 15 of these books belong in the "Books impossible to put down" thread.
They are incredibly fun reads, but I do wish he'd change up the format sometimes. I spend the entire book waiting for the inevitable reveal of who is REALLY behind whatever mystery or case Harry is working.
On book 10 now... Love all of them. I get the gripes, but I'm a sucker for this formula apparently. Even though I know what essentially will happen, I am still very much enjoying myself.
I'm through book 6. Really enjoy it. I'm listening to the audiobooks and I think Marsters does a very good job. He was a little rough in the first book but really hit his stride by book 3. Today though some fucknut on Goodreads liked a review that had an unspoilered spoiler at the very top of the review. So i got spoiled and didn't even deserve it (as I would have had I been diving into wikis etc...) What i was spoilered on happens end of book 12/beginning of book 13. I'm assuming most of you who have read that far know what I'm talking about without me even saying Spoiler Harry gets fucking murdered, turns into a ghost and has to find his murderer. Fucking shit spoiler
Surprised there wasn't a thread already made (perhaps I missed it). 191 pages into Storm Front Spoiler The love potion instead of the escape potion bit made me laugh. The book is solid. Good light read. I've heard the first few were the weakens ones and Butcher gets better as he goes.
Thanks. I searched for it but I guess I didn't scroll enough The Blackfish can you delete or merge this one?
I read his new series's first book "The Aeronaut's Windlass" a few months ago. It's pretty good. I'm starting to get kind of frustrated that "Peace Talks" isn't out yet thoughh
Changes/Ghost Story/Cold Days are kind of a mini trilogy and have a MUCH darker tone. Very good though.
i ready maybe the first 4 or 5 of these. Need to get back into them. Agree on the audio books being good. I listen to them on long drives and it's awesome.
A few thoughts on Storm Front Spoiler I don't have much for this book. It was fun. A good, light read. I flew through it, actually. I was pretty surprised how little time it took. Dresden is a fun character. I don't know why--perhaps it was the cover art--but I expected him to be some brooding, self loathing wizard. I was pleasantly surprised. The writing was ok. It was Butchers first novel, so I'm sure he gets better. The plot wasn't game changing and I saw the killer from a mile away, but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the story. I'm interested in the world. I want to know more. And that means that Butcher did a good job. I like the White Council/Morgan interplay. I was hoping Morgan would get embarrassed by the end. Also, I liked the allusions to other fantasy books and series. There's a lot of potential here, and Butcher obviously capitalized on it. Looking forward to where these take me. I will be using them as lighter reads in my Malazan breaks.
Just read Fool Moon. Still fun, still enjoyable. Definitely not a heavy read, which is nice. I'm ready to start getting more detail on the White Council and the Nevernever. Not sure when that will be coming. I have Grave Peril ready to go soon.
You're going to be pleased. Butcher does a really fantastic job at building his world in the series. It also has quite a few great twists you won't see coming.
Yeah, the Council stuff is amazing. Love what he does what with it and really feel like he establishes real reasoning behind each character.
Wrong, the Fae (Sidhe) are amazing in the series going forward. Super powerful and smart. Some of the most formidable opponents / tenuous allies Dresden has.
I think you gave me shit about this on Goodreads, but for whatever reason I just can't get into it. Ghosts, fuck yeah. Werewolves, sure. Evil wizards, sign me up. Fae... zzzzz.
I did. In general I would agree with you but Butcher does a great job with his Fae. Mab is a baaaaaad bitch
Shouldn't be hard once you get into it. In the beginning you meet Mab but she seems pretty human then you're dealing with some low level guys who seem lame, but then stakes go through the roof and the ending is pretty fucking epic.
Just finished Grave Peril. Probably my favorite of the three so far. Mostly because it has the most worldbuilding, introducing a lot of depth into the vampires and the Nevernever, to go with Michael, his Godmother, etc. My only complaint Spoiler Was that one of the main antagonists, the guy who controlled the Nightmare (name is escaping me right now), basically originated in a conflict that occurred outside of the books. So I had no real appreciation for him, who he was, what made him tick, why he was attacking, etc. Luckily there were other antagonists, like Bianca, who were more fleshed out (no pun intended), but I didn't like the way Butcher handled the Nightmare. Thought it could have been stronger.
Common complaint and I agree. Next book is great too. Really introduces the Sidhe (fae) which are great. I think it was Iron Mickey who hasn't been able to get on board with them, but going forward they are a huge part of the books and really great allies/villians
I'm on a break, got through Changes which is arguably the best book in the series that i have read thus far, and then City of Mirrors came out and decided to reread the first two books in The Passage trilogy before i read it. Excited to get back to Dresden though.
i usually have two books going at once. one for work on lawyer stuff and another for pleasure i read at night. right now i'm reading a book on stonewall jackson. maybe when i get done with that i'll get back to dresden
Here to eat my crow The Blackfish Spoiler Next chapter after I stalled out was the Walmart fight with the ghoul. Very entertaining.
I read an interview a long time back about what went down with this, his first novel. He had been writing and submitting things to publishers for awhile and getting rejected. He was about to give up on writing and someone recommended that maybe he should take a creative writing class at the community college which he did. However the things he was writing in class were also getting poorly received. To prove a point that his professor didn't know what good writing was, on one of his assignments he wrote what he thought was the most boring cookie cutter generic thing he could. his professor said it was great and that he should expand on it he could probably get it published. He did and that eventually became the first Dresden book.
Kind of taking a page out if GRRM's writing schedule. He needs to get on it if he is really planning on there being another dozen Dresdin books
There has definitely been a much longer gap until Peace Talks from any other Dresden novel I can remember. With that said, if you like Butcher and his style of writing, I highly recommend his Codex Alera series. It is more straight up fantasy than Dresden, but a highly entertaining and quick read. Also completely finished with a satisfying ending.
ghost story Spoiler what the fuck is this shit. The Blackfish tell me this will be okay, like Summer Knight