In the fourth novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring everyone’s favorite wizard for hire, Harry Dresden is suckered into the tangled—and dangerous—affairs of Faerie…Ever since his girlfriend left town to deal with her newly acquired taste for blood, Harry Dresden has been down and out in Chicago. He can’t pay his rent. He’s alienating his friends. He can’t even recall the … He can’t even recall the last time he took a shower. The only professional wizard in the phone book has become a desperate man.
And just when it seems things can’t get any worse, in saunters the Winter Queen of Faerie. She has an offer Harry can’t refuse if he wants to free himself of the supernatural hold his faerie godmother has over him—and hopefully end his run of bad luck. All he has to do is find out who murdered the Summer Queen’s right-hand man, the Summer Knight, and clear the Winter Queen’s name.
It seems simple enough, but Harry knows better than to get caught in the middle of faerie politics. Until he finds out that the fate of the entire world rests on his solving this case. No pressure or anything…
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Awesome series
This fourth installment of the Dresden Files series finds our hero essentially strung out and on the verge of a break down after the traumatic ending from book 3 (Grave Peril). Once again Harry Dresden is called upon to solve a murder, but this time his client is none other than the Faerie Winter Queen, who has bought Harry’s debt from his Godmother and now wants his help to find a murderer and recover something that was stolen. That might be easy enough to do, except the vampires of the Red Court are gunning for Harry, and the White Council has basically given him one more chance to prove his worth, or be thrown to the vampires as a peace offering. It’s never easy being Harry Dresden.
As with all of Butcher’s books about the troubled wizard in Chicago, I loved this installment. The gritty, noir world that Butcher creates is always fun to visit, and the characters are top notch. In Summer Knight I really like that Harry finally gets it through his stubborn head that he can’t always do this on his own. Yes, he is chivalrous to a fault, but he’s learning that people (friends – gasp) are willing to help him. And this time he needs all the help he can get.
I also love that we learn a lot more about Harry this time, about his past, and what happened with him after he fought his first master, Justin. The interactions that Harry has with the White Council were quite fun, and it was nice to see the larger wizard-world being shown. I also liked that characters that have appeared in the earlier books were making a return engagement, helping to create a living world.
My one quibble comes at the end of the book when the events have been resolved. Harry was given a task by the White Council, which he completed, but there was no resolution with the Council. You assume that there was a conclusion, and that Harry at least passed the test given him, but I really wanted more interaction – especially between Harry and the Warder, Morgan. I wanted to see that interaction play out, as well as the reaction of the senior council, and that didn’t happen in this book. That was a disappointment for me and why I knock a whole star off my rating.
I “read” the audio version of the book, narrated by James Marsters. Marsters does an excellent job of making Dresden’s world seem real. He is engaging, and his narration really makes Dresden and the other characters come to life.
Despite my quibble, this is a wonderful installment in the Dresden Files series. If you’ve read the previous books you probably know that already. If you’ve never picked up any of these books I highly recommend that you do.
Once again Jim Butcher gives me another great adventure with my favorite wizard. The Dresden series just continues to exceed my expectations at every turn. Having read the book quite a while ago it is something to listen to it and find all the nuances that you may have missed the first time jump out at you. The world continues to evolve and become richer as more about the wizard council and the fairies as well as the vampires is learned.
Harry cannot seem to catch a break. He gets a call from Billy which takes him to a park where frogs seem to be raining down, he is then informed by Billy that he has set up a meeting with a potential client, he is then summoned to a meeting of the White Council, and the Reds are still out for his blood. His year could not possibly get any worse. Or could it?
James Marsters continues to bring life to Harry and his merry band of friends of foes. His narrations is the major reason to listen to these books, besides the fact that the stories are amazing. Continue the story and enjoy!
Dresden File are the Thinking Man’s and Woman’s Urban Fantasy.
I got sucked into the Harry Dresden novels entirely by accident but I loved them. The only Wizard in the Chicago phone directory was irresistible. But I have to say my interest has waned as the series has veered more and more into the fantasy end of the spectrum. It was always there, but it was more under control. Now it’s ALL about fairies and wars in other dimensions, etc., and I’m just not interested in that. I loved Harry’s more witty, earthbound books.
Summer Knight is book 4 in The Dresden Files series. This novel treats us to the major powerhouses in the Dresden world: the Fae, the White Council, and the Vampires. It’s an illuminating installment both for the readers and Harry.
At the start of Summer Knight we are about 9 months from the events that took place in Grave Peril and war has happened between vampires and wizards. Harry starts out in a bad place, but by the end he’s transformed into a person better able to deal with the pitfalls tossed in front of him. He finally realizes some things and turns to friends. He gained insight and growth as a character.
A lot occurs during this novel. Several new characters are introduced over the course of the murder investigation into the Summer Knight. We are treated to Billy and the wolf pack from Fool Moon. They are around and helping Harry out. Harry finally trusts Deactivate Karen Murphy and shares everything with her. I was also thrilled to finally see him open up and share with Murphy. I was thrilled to finally meet and see the elusive White Council that we have heard of. I liked that we got additional information about Harry’s past and his first love, Elaine, who pops back up. And, last the mythology of the Fae is expanded on abundantly.
I found Summer Knight immensely entertaining and enjoyable. I liked the mystery, diging into Harry’s past, and I loved that Harry finally confided in Murphy.
Rated: 4 Stars
Love every one of his books and this was another good one.