Scan barcode
heikieesmaa's review against another edition
1.0
Too bad that I couldn't enjoy it. Excessively kitsch and predictable.
liltimmy27's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Solid audiobook, but another one falling into the most place of me reading it over a long period of time and it losing its flow. Fantastic narration by James Masters, and a fun series to read!
autogeek's review against another edition
3.0
This suffers a bit from the more-is-better Hollywood syndrome. This is a bit like those movie sequels where the producers/directors give you a whole lot more of what you liked in the first movie while sacrificing everything else.
There is just way too much going on in this book to be able to get your head around. And of course, this comes at the cost of pretty much everything else. Not that you have time to notice any of it (which is why the book gets 4 stars despite it all). Thankfully, Jim Butcher manages to tie everything together by the end so that it all makes sense, but only just. There are a few too many unanswered questions for my liking and some unsatisfactory and convenient coincidences that help the author resolve this monster of a plot.
Despite these though, there is no denying that the story is fascinating, fast paced and very intriguing. So even though there are quite a few disappointments, it isn't long before something else happens in the book which takes your mind off the flaws. So, lots of flaws, but still a fun read overall.
There is just way too much going on in this book to be able to get your head around. And of course, this comes at the cost of pretty much everything else. Not that you have time to notice any of it (which is why the book gets 4 stars despite it all). Thankfully, Jim Butcher manages to tie everything together by the end so that it all makes sense, but only just. There are a few too many unanswered questions for my liking and some unsatisfactory and convenient coincidences that help the author resolve this monster of a plot.
Despite these though, there is no denying that the story is fascinating, fast paced and very intriguing. So even though there are quite a few disappointments, it isn't long before something else happens in the book which takes your mind off the flaws. So, lots of flaws, but still a fun read overall.
lethaldose's review against another edition
2.0
okay, this one was better. Still nothing great, but better. I felt more comfortable with Dresden's world and that was a big help. There were a couple of really great and intense scenes in the book. Still the character of Dresden is slightly annoying and those people that are his friends even more annoying. All in all it was a satisfying trip though, I considered stopping the trip a few times throughout, but I saw it through to the end and I am glad that I did, but I believe I will take a break befor I go on any more trips with Dresden.
meganschmegan's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
dannie86's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
revolution666's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
timinbc's review against another edition
2.0
OK, I read #1 then #3 before this. In my review of #3 I wrote "the book's just repetitions of don't go in there / but I have to / omigosh my power is drained / uh-oh, I'm in trouble / (digs deeper) Aha! I win! And sometimes he wins by remembering one more thing we hadn't known about magic."
I see no reason to change that for book 2. I'll just add that his relationship with Murphy is badly done, and I grew tired of his "I'm so cool in my duster."
Also, if you are old enough to remember MAD Magazine's great artist Don Martin, you may remember his classic long (~30 pages) cartoon "National Gorilla Suit Day." In it, our heroes Fester and Karbunkle meet a series of opponents, the first of whom is in a gorilla suit. All the people they meet after that eventually unzip their costumes to reveal that they are gorillas. Except when a gorilla unzips again to reveal a human. Or two smaller gorillas. In every case the gorilla pounds F & K to a pulp. Well, this book felt like that. If the book had gone on longer I suspect we'd have learned that Murphy and Susan are werewolves, and Bob is a were-skull.
I'm told this series gets better. Maybe it does, but I'll never know. If I want a series of formula books I'll go read Nero Wolfe again - the plots are way better.
I see no reason to change that for book 2. I'll just add that his relationship with Murphy is badly done, and I grew tired of his "I'm so cool in my duster."
Also, if you are old enough to remember MAD Magazine's great artist Don Martin, you may remember his classic long (~30 pages) cartoon "National Gorilla Suit Day." In it, our heroes Fester and Karbunkle meet a series of opponents, the first of whom is in a gorilla suit. All the people they meet after that eventually unzip their costumes to reveal that they are gorillas. Except when a gorilla unzips again to reveal a human. Or two smaller gorillas. In every case the gorilla pounds F & K to a pulp. Well, this book felt like that. If the book had gone on longer I suspect we'd have learned that Murphy and Susan are werewolves, and Bob is a were-skull.
I'm told this series gets better. Maybe it does, but I'll never know. If I want a series of formula books I'll go read Nero Wolfe again - the plots are way better.
rainjrop's review against another edition
3.0
So I liked this book a lot more than the first one. The plot was more interesting, the stakes felt higher, and not only did Dresden get shot, but he was beaten, beaten again, shoved into a trunk, dumped over multiple walls whilst injured, dumped into a pit, beaten, chewed on by a werewolf, and thrown into multiple walls. Yup. I enjoyed that a lot.
I actually really like John Marcone with the worn-money green eyes. Sort of a weird adjective for eyeballs, but I like the vibe of their hate-boners for each other.
Now to the real reason I bothered to write a review.
First, I find it really annoying that six or seven times throughout the novel, Dresden goes, “Oh man, I want to run away and it’d be so much easier, but” *cue dramatic music and mood lighting* “I can’t! I can’t do it! I’m responsible blah blah blah I gotta!” And then he ponies up and does it. Like dude, I get that it’s scary, but jesus fuck. Can we not repeat the same exact crisis of conscience every time things get a little hairy?
Moving on.
Before I started Fool Moon, I told myself that I wasn't going to do this. I wasn't going to bust out the page numbers because I wasted all that energy on the last Dresden review. I was so close, so close to the end...but I had to share, not only for myself, but for everyone else too. You know, sometimes I hate having a conscience, and a stupidly thorough sense of honor.
Yeah, that's a quote from page 3. Don't hurt your arm patting yourself on the back too hard there, Dresden.
So, I was nearing the end when my eyeballs stumbled over this absolute gem: "She tensed at first, and then melted against me with a deliciously feminine sort of willingness, a soft abandoning of distance that left her body, in all its dark beauty, pressed against mine" (269).
I'm trying to mentally compose an explanation as to why I loathe this single sentence so much, but I’m struggling. Is it because of the association and equivocation of femininity, women, and giving in or giving up or just GIVING because that's what women do? The male's semi-orgasmic revel in receiving a woman's body, because hey, he's the hero and a dude and that's what he gets? Is it because most of the emotional scenes in this series feel shallow and contrived? Is it because of how the scene builds, with Susan begging him not to go because he'll be killed like some fucking Bond girl, while Dresden moronically and valiantly lopes into the night like a piss-poor, beat to shit John McClane?
And let's add in the fact, why don't we, that's she's described as having "sweetly feminine curves and lines," three paragraphs further down the page, just in case you forgot in the intervening five seconds that this is a WO-MAN. HAS BOOBS. HAS ASS. IS SEXY.
I can’t pinpoint it, but something about the combination of "delicious" with Butcher/Desden's wearying, infuriating use of "feminine" as an adjective for every female character brought me to a full stop. Well, more like me shouting, "Would you just fucking stop!" at the book.
I don't hate Susan. Susan is a fairly decent character. I dislike how Butcher writes about Susan some/most/a decent amount of the time. I also kind of hate how he writes about Murphy. I almost find myself going into the backyard and sacrificing a small, gentle animal that has never done wrong in the hopes that a blood offering to the gods of old will somehow improve the female characters and their treatment in the already written sequels.
But alas. I don’t think a blood sacrifice is going to be enough.
If you’ll excuse me, I need to go wash out my brain with some Bradbury.
See you next book.
I actually really like John Marcone with the worn-money green eyes. Sort of a weird adjective for eyeballs, but I like the vibe of their hate-boners for each other.
Now to the real reason I bothered to write a review.
First, I find it really annoying that six or seven times throughout the novel, Dresden goes, “Oh man, I want to run away and it’d be so much easier, but” *cue dramatic music and mood lighting* “I can’t! I can’t do it! I’m responsible blah blah blah I gotta!” And then he ponies up and does it. Like dude, I get that it’s scary, but jesus fuck. Can we not repeat the same exact crisis of conscience every time things get a little hairy?
Moving on.
Before I started Fool Moon, I told myself that I wasn't going to do this. I wasn't going to bust out the page numbers because I wasted all that energy on the last Dresden review. I was so close, so close to the end...but I had to share, not only for myself, but for everyone else too. You know, sometimes I hate having a conscience, and a stupidly thorough sense of honor.
Yeah, that's a quote from page 3. Don't hurt your arm patting yourself on the back too hard there, Dresden.
So, I was nearing the end when my eyeballs stumbled over this absolute gem: "She tensed at first, and then melted against me with a deliciously feminine sort of willingness, a soft abandoning of distance that left her body, in all its dark beauty, pressed against mine" (269).
I'm trying to mentally compose an explanation as to why I loathe this single sentence so much, but I’m struggling. Is it because of the association and equivocation of femininity, women, and giving in or giving up or just GIVING because that's what women do? The male's semi-orgasmic revel in receiving a woman's body, because hey, he's the hero and a dude and that's what he gets? Is it because most of the emotional scenes in this series feel shallow and contrived? Is it because of how the scene builds, with Susan begging him not to go because he'll be killed like some fucking Bond girl, while Dresden moronically and valiantly lopes into the night like a piss-poor, beat to shit John McClane?
And let's add in the fact, why don't we, that's she's described as having "sweetly feminine curves and lines," three paragraphs further down the page, just in case you forgot in the intervening five seconds that this is a WO-MAN. HAS BOOBS. HAS ASS. IS SEXY.
I can’t pinpoint it, but something about the combination of "delicious" with Butcher/Desden's wearying, infuriating use of "feminine" as an adjective for every female character brought me to a full stop. Well, more like me shouting, "Would you just fucking stop!" at the book.
I don't hate Susan. Susan is a fairly decent character. I dislike how Butcher writes about Susan some/most/a decent amount of the time. I also kind of hate how he writes about Murphy. I almost find myself going into the backyard and sacrificing a small, gentle animal that has never done wrong in the hopes that a blood offering to the gods of old will somehow improve the female characters and their treatment in the already written sequels.
But alas. I don’t think a blood sacrifice is going to be enough.
If you’ll excuse me, I need to go wash out my brain with some Bradbury.
See you next book.
beachybookstack's review against another edition
5.0
This one was much more layered and winding compared to the first. I like the Chicago world and rules of magic so far. The narration is good though a masculine voice covering all characters is sometimes weird (Susan, Murphy). Related, I'd love to see Dresden actually explain things to Susan in the next book so he's not just running from place to place without passing info or causing an easily prevented miscommunication.