White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9) by Jim Butcher Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9)
Book Review: Better than last time
Summary: 4 Stars
The Dresden Files series recovers from recent missteps in the newest installment with an actual plot and solid character development. The last books suffered from too many bloated action set pieces being strung together into a single thick mass, but thankfully this problem does not exist in White Night. Less fighting and more talking leads to a deeper, more interesting, and ultimately more satisfying story. Jim Butcher still retains his unfortunate habit of loading most of the really interesting character twists and growth points into the last few chapters, but this practice is not as pronounced in this installment as it was in his prior books. There are a few cheesy moments, and some of the dialog falls flat, but generally the book is solidly written with interesting- if not particularly challenging- characters.
If you're a fan of the series, pick this one up. If you haven't read the series up to this point, you'll probably be lost, so go back and start at the beginning.
Book Review: The only Wizard in Chicago's yellow pages is back and better than ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just love this series. I devoured the entire book. Harry Dresdin is a real and complete character. He is smart, funny, and completely likeable. In the ninth installment titled, "White Knight," we find Harry investigating the murders of members of the magical community in Chicago, namely female witches or wiccans. During the investigation, he ends up clashing with members of the White Court of Vampires who are involved in a power struggle. As always, Jim Butcher does not disappoint. His imagination seems limitless. This is a fast paced joyride that I did not want to end.
Many recurring characters are back. The line-up includes: Mouse returns as Harry's canine companion (a Temple Dog with mysterious powers). Molly who is Harry's apprentice, is still learning to control her magic and her attitude. Murphy is struggling with being demoted to Sergeant and walking the political tightrope at SI. Elaine is also back and has a new career path. Harry's brother, Thomas, has been avoiding him and has Harry worried about his mysterious behavior. We also see Ramirez, Marcone, and Lara (Thomas' sister and the power behind the throne of the White Court). There are also some surprising characters' from Harry's past that he definitely did not expect to run into. Also back is Lasciel (the fallen angel) who has been trying to seduce Harry into picking up the coin. I don't want to spoil anything, but as the story goes on, you start to wonder to is influencing who.
If you are a fan of The Dresdin Files there is no way you won't be happy with "White Knight." If you are being introduced to the series through the TV series, the please start with book one "Storm Front." There are so many continuous plot lines that it might get confusing.
Have fun reading, I certainly did!
Jennifer
Book Review: Common Sense and Resolve
Summary: 5 Stars
Harry is the White Council's Warden for Chicago. The suicides of women don't sit right with Sgt. Murphy so she brings Harry in on the case. Harry finds that all the victims practice magic and messages have been left on the corpses that only a Wizard could find. All signs point to one killer, Harry's brother Thomas. Harry has to find the Killer, clear or kill his brother and train his apprentice while keeping a fallen angel from stealing his soul. He can't trust the White Council and everyone seems to fear him now.
The Dresden Files is a series that has Harry learning from his past mistakes and preparing to take on challenges without comprimising his conscience. Harry takes impossible missions but makes practicle preperations. Harry fights for what he believes but dosn't believe in fighting fair. This series has well developed characters who relate to each other in a complex and realistic manner within interesting plots. Fans of the early Anita Blake will love this series and White Knight is among the best of the series.
Book Review: 4.5 More fun than usual...
Summary: 4 Stars
I always enjoy reading a Harry Dresden book, but for some reason, White Night seemed just a bit more lively, fine tuned, fun. The addition of Molly as Harry's apprentice gave him a little more depth, Mouse taking a strong role seemed appropriate (I wondered what, exactly, a Foo Dog did, now I know), Murphy seemed less antsy, more focused. A true team of good guys is evolving.
SPOILER (kinda):
Harry still hasn't given anyone the white sword, and it is not mentioned even in passing in this book. I am dying to find out if he eventually gives it to Murphy, his previous vision of her as a warrior of light seems pretty clear to me, either Harry is slow, or I'm fantasizing a completely different scenario. I'm probably all wet, this series takes so many surprise turns I'm in constant awe at Butcher's creativity. I also like the possibility of Molly and Ramirez hooking up as a side plot. Just because Harry's love life sucks, shouldn't mean they all have to suffer (grin).
END SPOILER.
Bottom line, if you're a Dresden fan, this novel will keep you going, happily anticipating the next installment. As always, this chapter is complete enough that you don't grind your teeth with a dangling cliffhanger, just a few unanswered questions. If you are not a Dresden fan, or are only familiar with the television series, I would suggest starting these books at the beginning, this is not a stand-alone novel, you need the background of the other books. The TV show is great, but very separate in characterizations of the main players.
Book Review: 4 1/2 stars just short of truly excellent!
Summary: 4 Stars
I strongly recommend reading this series from the start as Butcher keeps developing his characters and keeps them interesting. At least go back to Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, Book 4) and read from there. I liked the previous book in the series Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, Book 8).
Spoiler warning if you plan to read Proven Guilty don't proceed.
Harry has Molly as his apprentice and she is a real handful as she is very powerful, has authority issues, and wants to help. This leads to some humor when she veils herself (becomes invisible) to follow Harry to a crime scene. There is humor throughout the book which has very well done characters and a very good plot. I was unsure about the flash back to New Mexico but it establishes Harry's anger management problems.
Some inconsistencies between this and the previous book and some internal inconsistencies and errors in fact keep this from being an excellent example of books of its kind. They aren't a big deal but annoying. For instance depleted Uranium (U-238) is not radioactive, but it does retain a small amount of radioactivity. However is is pyrophoric and toxic. In a breeder reactor it becomes plutonium 239 the preferred bomb material. It is used in sailboat keels and airliner flaps because it is several times denser than lead.
Another example is that there is no such thing as a heavy assult rifle today. Most assult rifles are 5.56 (.223 cal) or 7.62x39 Russian. The Gallel is 7.62 NATO. All relatively light calibers. The Barrett is .50 cal which is heavy indeed but its a sniper's rifle.
Overall just short of excellent as an outstanding exemplar of the genre. It has a good convoluted plot with lots of Vampire politics involved. Finally we see some of the folks who have been using the White Council and Harry in particular along with those around him as cats paws.