Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, Book 8) by Jim Butcher Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, Book 8)
Book Review: Enter the sidekick
Summary: 4 Stars
Proven Guilty is book 8 in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, and serves as something of a sequel to the events of Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, Book 4). The book finds everyone's favorite down on his luck wizard Harry Dresden investigating a new source of black magic in Chicago, only to find himself the target of vampires, movie monsters and faerie intrigue.
There's something very familiar and comforting about cracking open a new Dresden book. You know that no matter what surprises Butcher comes up with, you're going to get a fast paced adventure with plenty of witty observations, pop culture references, and way too much attention paid to what everyone is wearing and/or eating. You also know that Harry's going to come out the other side, but not always ahead or in one piece.
Butcher does really well with character development this time around, finally addressing the Harry/Murphy angle, shaking things up with Thomas, making Harry more involved in White Council affairs, and totally redefining Harry's relationship to Michael the knight and his family. These developments all make for interesting reading (more so than the main story, to be honest) and bode well for future volumes in the series.
I also noticed something of a darker tone, particularly in Harry's dialogue. Butcher has apparently given Harry permission to drop the F-bomb, which seems like an odd habit to start 8 books into the series. I have no problem with the term (to paraphrase Tesla in Clive Barker's Everville, sometimes it's the only word that really works), but going from "zero to sixty" so to speak is a bit jarring.
All told, Proven Guilty is just the kind of book I've come to expect from this series. It's a fun roller coaster ride with just enough meaningful character development to keep me engaged and eager to grab the next installment.
Book Review: Great book
Summary: 5 Stars
Loved it, Best in the series so far. Harry finally tries to define his relationship with Murphy with suprising results. And you finally begin to see how the other books are connected. Book Review: formulaic but good
Summary: 5 Stars
This is mainly a review of the series rather than this one book. I've read books 1-8 of this series and really enjoy them but some of them have tended to follow a formula.
Harry Dresden, the clever, sarcastic, powerful wizard comes to the rescue! Over and over again. He can't resist the lure of the damsel in distress or the innocent about to be crushed by some evil monster, demon, vampire, or other assorted nasty. He gets beaten to a pulp usually more than once per story, often coming close to being killed and somehow manages to bounce back, this even before he somehow acquired enhanced healing abilities (book 6 or 7?). These are urban fantasy, super-hero wizard, action packed detective yarns full of the thrill of the chase and the whodunit but a bit heavy on the gore factor at times. I love stories about magic, magicians, wizards, witches, etc. but have a hard time with the excessive number of slavering demons, drooling vampires and their ilk.
Nevertheless, Butcher is a good writer and I will probably continue to read this series because they're quite entertaining.
Book Review: Classic Dresden
Summary: 5 Stars
If you've read any of the other Dresden books from Butcher then you pretty much know what you are in for. Another excellent adventure of the wizard detective. Dresden's character continues to grow in strength and influence and his depth and personality grow along with that evolution. If this is your first Dresden novel then I HIGHLY recommend you go through the whole series. Jim has done an excellent job on this entire series of books.Book Review: Amazing series
Summary: 5 Stars
The Dresden Files are the most action packed books I have ever read. Each of the books gave me at least one good laugh, and not just in my head, but a real out loud laugh. Butcher has an amazing wit and can write battles that will keep you on the edge of your seat. A few steamy sex scenes were very entertaining as well. I cannot imagine any action/adventure/fantasy reader not enjoying this series.