Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6) by Jim Butcher Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.99 You Save: $4.00 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.99 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6)
Book Review: Best yet!
Summary: 5 Stars
Really enjoyed this fast-paced book! The storyline is getting interesting...I'll admit the thing with Thomas kind of threw me for a loop, the whole "Okay, is he really just trying to keep the storyline going?" but by the end it made perfect sense.
I'm also wondering when the hell the tension between Harry and Murphy is gonna break...and where Susan will fit into that....
Keep up the good work! I'm find ing out exactly why so many of my friends love these books!
Book Review: A favorite of the Dresden Files
Summary: 4 Stars
Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard for hire, burdened as always with enormous doses of chivalry and corny humor, finds himself taking a particularly embarrassing (even for him) case for his vampire maybe-friend Thomas: warding off a powerful entropy curse from the production set of an adult movie, as the women associated with its producer are targeted one by one. On top of that, Harry has to deal with a series of disturbing revelations about his family, and the further assassination attempts of the numerous Black Court vampires with violent grudges against him.
As always, Butcher assures that the novel will provide a fairly easy entry for readers who may not have read the preceding books, but Blood Rites is a reward for longtime readers of the Dresden Files in more than one sense. Beyond the scattered, sly reminders of past misadventures, it continues to flesh out Harry's dark past (including long-awaited details regarding his mother) as well as illuminate several side characters. Particularly satisfying to me were the revelations about the enigmatic White Court vampire Thomas, who, despite all appearances, is not just an ambulatory and unnecessarily handsome dimwit (to adapt his own words). Butcher again delves into the background and society of the book's chief villains, vampires in this case, building upon traditional myths while adding refreshing spins of his own.
The Dresden Files are one of my biggest guilty pleasures, but despite their often-formulaic plots and profusions of cornball humor and stereotypes, I think that their basic emotional power is still undeniable. The particular emotional intensity of Blood Rites was perhaps what made it one of my favorites of the series. Harry is such a likable, charismatic, and sincere protagonist that it's hard not to become involved in his emotional roller-coasters, and he constantly faces real, if somewhat cliched, questions of guilt, fear, and love. Beyond this, every installment of the Dresden Files is an automatic adrenaline high, with climaxes that are guaranteed to be more than spectacular. So whether one prefers drama or action or both, I highly recommend the Dresden Files for anyone with a tolerance for corny jokes and a bit of gore. However, uninitiated readers do run the risk of spoilers the later on they start the series, so it might be safer to start with one of the earlier installments.
Book Review: Still new!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was so happy when I finished Blood Rites, because even six novels into the series, Jim Butcher managed to put something new and unexpected into it. Instead of just making bigger, badder bad guys, Butcher takes a side step and comes up with something unique, and a little bit titillating. Harry Dresdon is called to work on the set of a porn film.... Not only that, but called into it by his "friend" Thomas, the vampire. We get to see a glimpse into the inner workings of the White Vampire Court (sex vampires!) as well as exploring Dresdon's own links to the magical world and his mysterious past. Oh, and there's also that whole thing about the Black Vampire Court trying to kill him...Book Review: Crappy
Summary: 2 Stars
I couldn't get through my first Dresden novel. I made it about 120 pages and realized it wasn't worth continuing. How anyone can enjoy reading about this buffoon is beyond me. The humor is on the level of the Police Academy movies (and not the first one, the only good one) and the plot unfolds at a snail's pace. Butcher should be forced to read Raymond Carver so he can learn how a detective novel should be written. I gave the novel an extra star because the idea of porno vampires is titillating. Too bad Butcher couldn't match the quality of his prose with originality of the premise. Book Review: Harry's gotten much better...
Summary: 5 Stars
I must admit that the first three Dresden books were merely average. What kept me was Butcher's inventive approach to how the magic works and the lovable-ness of Harry himself. But the plots seemed a bit formulaic and having Harry constantly on the edge of death in perilous situations with powers tremendously greater than his own in addition to the fact that he was perpetually terribly weakened... well, that got old quick.
However, starting with Book 4, things changed dramatically and the books became SO much more interesting. Butcher has added in more mythology and magic and Harry's personal life is taking center stage, the storytelling is just so much more compelling.
And Blood Rites in particular has some shocking personal revelations for Harry. I read that bit on the back of the book and thought, "oh yeah, it'll be nothing..." But it was shocking, so much so that I gasped out loud. But the events in the book just bring the reader closer to Harry and bring depth and emotion to the whole story.
I've loved the last three Dresden novels, this one most especially. I'm looking forward to the next one!