A Good Read: Jim Butcher's "White Night" - Dresden Files (Wizard of Chicago)

The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by author Jim Butcher. telling the story of Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. (There's also a great limited 12 episode tv series of it) The series is slated to run 23-24 books, and he's up to 17 already.  I have previously read and enjoyed three in the series and most recently read the 9th book: White Night (note better to read them in order!) . Today's blog is my take on the book, and you'll read the book synopsis.

PLOT SUMMARY: A year after the events in Proven Guilty, Dresden is called by Murphy to the scene of an apparent suicide, and senses the victim is a magical practitioner. After investigating another victim, Dresden realizes a serial killer of magical practitioners is loose in Chicago.

MY THOUGHTS- I enjoyed the book and the mysterious killings were a real mystery. Women who were witches in one "order" were being killed and they were set up to appear as suicides. The person or entities behind these were uncovered by Harry and other characters. There were two parts that dragged- which was about 20 pages of a flashback with Harry and another Wizard colleague named Ramirez (I flipped through it), and the battle scene at the end with ghouls, although the story says it lasted one hour, seemd to go on for about 100-120 pages, and it became tedious to read- so, I wound up flipping through the last 20-30 pages of it to get to the end result! The last 2 chapters wrapping it up were great.

CHARACTERS- I really enjoyed this book and the characters.Murphy, the police sargeant calls on Harry to help solve weird murders, and she's a main character. There's also a ghost named Bob who lives in a skull that Harry keeps in his workshop, and Bob helps out. In this book, Harry has taken on a protege named Molly, a 19 year old with magical abilities. She plays a bit part in the story.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Dresden Files have become synonymous with action-packed urban fantasy and nonstop fun. In this complete 17-book collection of the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files series, follow Harry Dresden into the darkest depths of magical Chicago. Included books 1. Storm Front2. Fool Moon3. Grave Peril4. Summer Knight5. Death Masks6. Blood Rites7. Dead Beat8. Proven Guilty9. White Night10. Small Favor11. Turn Coat12. Changes13. Ghost Story14. Cold Days15. Skin Game16 .Peace Talks17. Battle Ground

Great Sci-Fi/paranormal book: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

I (Rob) just finished reading and enjoying another book in the Harry Dresden files series by Jim Butcher. "Summer knight" is the fourth in series. Harry is a wizard that lives in Chicago, and deals with all kinds of supernatural creatures.  In the world of The Dresden Files, magic is real, along with vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, outsiders and other monsters. In this book, the "Summer Knight" of the Summer Faerie kingdom is slain and Harry is tasked with finding out the murder and preventing a major war between the faeries that rule Winter and Summer (yes, there are faerie armies and Queens for those two seasons and they war and win when the seasons shift, then battle again...)
  There are a lot of great supporting characters here, including Harry's friend Billy, who happens to be a werewolf (and

has a bunch of werewolf friends); The book is a page turner. You really get involved in it, and I recommend it. Can't wait to read the next in the series!

ABOUT THE BOOKS:   The books are written as a first person narrative from the perspective of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago.  As of 2014, Butcher has written 15 novels set in the "Dresden Files" universe,

ABOUT THE SERIES: 
Although the supernatural is still widely discredited, it is practiced by some members of society. Additionally, large portions of the globe (such as much of Central and South America) are mentioned as being largely under the control of supernatural factions. The White Council is an organization of human wizards, noted to wield significant economic power in the world, along with their supernatural power. Each species in the series (humans, faeries, vampires, etc.) has its own political and societal rules and organizations. The human wizards depend on the White Council, while faeries may belong to either of two Faerie Courts, or none at all. Vampires may belong to any of three vampire courts.
Harry Dresden works as the world's only "consulting wizard," accepting supernatural cases from both human and non-human clients, as well as the Chicago PD's Special Investigation unit.

Great Sci-Fi Paranormal Mystery: Proven Guilty

  I just finished my second novel in the "Dresden Files" series about a paranormal detective in Chicago, and like the first one, it was great!
   The STORY:   The White Council of Wizards has drafted wizard Harry Dresden as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in Chicago. Malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in the Windy City at a horror convention called "Splattercon!!!" but it's all in a day's work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob. 
  This paranormal detective has to figure out where these blood thirsty entities are killing conference attendees. He also has to figure out how his best friend's daughter fits into the paranormal outbreak... and it leads him into trouble in a Faerie kingdom full of dark entities and evil. This is the 8th book in the series (there are now 15 of them!) and it was such a great read, I finished it in less than 2 weeks. Highly Recommended!