Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6) by Jim Butcher
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Book Reviews of Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6)
Book Review: And Harry thought he was alone?
Summary: 5 Stars
Harry's friend, Thomas, a vampire from the White Court, asks Harry for a favor: His friend, Arturo Genosa, an adult film producer, believes than an entropy curse has been laid upon him. The women in his films are meeting untimely and intriguingly spectacular deaths, and Arturo doesn't know why. As Harry investigates, he wonders if the studio Arturo left behind could be behind it all. But as his investigation continues, new information comes to light and it becomes more than that.
Meanwhile, Mavra, a vampire from the Black Court is back - and is after Harry. He hires Kincaid to help him get rid of her and recruits his cop friend, Murphy, and his mentor and teacher, Ebenezar McCoy, knowing that he and Kincaid can't do it alone.
Thomas's family becomes involved in Harry's investigation of the entropy curse, leaving Harry confused and wondering if Thomas set him up. However, a soulgaze with Thomas brings forth something that Harry had never known: Harry's mother had been one of Lord Raith's women - the head of the White Court vampires and Thomas's brother. Thomas is Harry's half-brother.
And just when Harry is left wondering if there are any more surprises... Harry learns that Kincaid isn't exactly human. He also learns that Ebenezar is also known as Blackstaff McCoy - the one who takes care of the `ugly' matters that the White Council won't take care of themselves. Ebenezar has done things he's not proud of, including lying to Harry. It was Thomas's father, Lord Raith, who had found Harry's mother, Margaret LeFay, and killed her shortly after Harry was born. Now, more than ever, Harry is determined to get rid of Lord Raith.
Holy crow, did a lot of things come to light in this book. Harry's friendship with Murphy grows deeper, and Murphy learns she has more courage than she thought she had. He wonders if Mavra is gone for good and how he's going to get the funds to pay Kincaid before Kincaid's `deadline'. Thomas is his brother, who has been banned from the Raith House and is now staying with Harry for the moment. Arturo's entropy curse has been put to rest. He is unsure if he'll ever forgive Ebenezar.
As with all the Dresden novels, the magic and action are pumped up, raising this reader's adrenaline. I love how Harry manages to figure out everything, fitting all the pieces together. The mix of friends and enemies are always at the forefront, and Harry's sarcasm comes out more and more. I love his quirkiness, his relationship with Murphy as well as Bob. The author manages to give the reader explanations to rituals and rules, both Black Court and White Court vampires alike; their differences in powers and formalities. But he doesn't go overboard, avoids creating anything formal as to limiting his story line for future novels. Butcher's blend of paranormal/supernatural, occult beliefs and magic creates a world unlike any other - something distinct that you can't compare to other series' in this genre. Bravo, Mr. Butcher!
You can't get better than Harry Dresden. This series is highly recommended to those who like paranormal and sci-fi novels.
Book Review: The Best So Far
Summary: 5 Stars
Blood Rites is the sixth book in Jim Butcher's ongoing Dresden Files series, a fantasy/paranormal/detective noir series following the adventures of Chicago-based wizard/detective Harry Dresden. In this installment, Harry is hired on to put a stop to a string of curses that have been killing women involved in the filming of a porno flick. Harry also plans to take down a major contingent of Black Court vampires hiding in Chicago. In a lot of ways, Blood Rites is just like any other Dresden Files novel, but there are a few key differences which makes Blood Rites the strongest novel in the series so far.
As I said, Blood Rites is in a lot of ways the typical Dresden Files novel. Harry gets himself in over his head with all sorts of super natural bad guys, and relies on his power, toughness and wit to get him through. And, as usual, it's done very well. The action scenes are particularly well written, the dialogue is snappy and fairly authentic (even if Harry's catch phrase "Hell's Bells" is getting a little obnoxious), the plot flows nicely, there are some interesting twists on common paranormal faire, etc.
But where Blood Rites really excels beyond its predecessor novels is in the personal development of its protagonists and some key side characters. In a lot of ways, Harry himself was pretty stagnant in the first five novels. He did his thing, it was entertaining and impressive, but he didn't change much. He even bounced back from the turmoil involving losing his girlfriend pretty well. But there's some real emotional impact in Blood Rites, and Dresden really develops as a person, if not as a wizard. The personal lives of side characters like Karrin Murphy, Thomas Raith and Ebenezer McCoy are fleshed out as well, making them much more three-dimensional, fully realized characters. Heck, even some of the bad guys, like Lord Raith, had some dimension to them, rather than just being the typical Dresden Files 100% evil bad guy. Given the somewhat repetitious nature of the series, these developments are particularly important and make Blood Rites a much more satisfying novel.
If there's a weakness to Blood Rites, it's that it was still pretty darn predictable (which I've found to be the case with the previous novels as well). One would expect this to be problematic for a detective novel, but it has never really weakened the Dresden Files series. Some novels you read to find out where they're going, others you read to see how they get there. This series is of the latter.
Before Blood Rites, the Dresden Files was just good fun. Quick, entertaining reads that served as good filler while waiting for more serious novels to come out. Blood Rites may well change that, leading the way for developing the series into some serious fantasy literature, while still, of course, maintaining the action-packed, fast paced, good fun. Highly recommended.
Book Review: Family Ties
Summary: 5 Stars
After the epic events of both Summer Knight and Death Masks, Jim Butcher switches to a more personal tale for his 6th Dresden Files book, Blood Rites. There is not the imminent threat of Faeriegeddon or Nicapocalypse, but the danger is still just as real and deadly to Harry as ever before.
Blood Rites is all about Family. Harry uncovers a great deal about his family, while adding to it along the way. We are given an in depth look into a slice of life in a family of Incubi/Succubi as we learn more about Thomas and his family. We also meet Murphy's family.
The book is seemingly structured to afford the reader a nice contrast between different families. Not just families of blood, but those formed in the trenches of life and solidified in the face of death. Butcher really details how Family can be found in the "lowest" of places, but even there it is every bit as warm and comforting as it is in the traditional sense.
The basic plot has Harry being tasked by Thomas to protect his actor friends making a porno movie. In return, Thomas finally tells Harry his big secret, why it is he has been helping Harry out over the last couple years.
Also, Mavra, the Black Court Vampire Sorceress, is back in town and gunning for Harry. Yet more fallout from Harry's actions at Bianca's masquerade ball in Grave Peril.
Of course in Harry's world things generally tend to go from bad to worse, so it is as Lord Raith, The White King, and his first in command, daughter Lara (Thomas' family), also show up with hidden agendas.
Kincaid and Ebenezar McCoy make welcome returns (along with stunning revelations about them both), and between the two of them Harry is forced to learn two of the hardest lessons of his life: one physical, one psychological.
While not as epic, or quite as good, as Death Masks, Blood Rites is very satisfying on a more personal level. Reading a 1st person series has its inherent limitations, but it is quite effective at making the reader really feel for Harry. Those limitations also work for the series, as revelations like those we uncover in Blood Rites are satisfying for the reader as much as Harry, because it is information we genuinely did not know. So it is both nice to fill in some gaps, as well as surprising when Butcher drops the big reveal.
I think Blood Rites also has the "sandwich" problem (that the later Proven Guilty also suffers from). That being that while it is very good, it is between two of the best books of the series and two of my personal favorites at that.
But by no means is Blood Rites anything less than spectacular, another just all out action thrill ride through the Dresdenverse, and it even has a dog!
4.5 out of 5 stars
Book Review: Keeping It in the Family
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not sure that it is technically accurate to label this latest stanza in the 'Dresden File' series a pleasant surprise, since all of the books have been enjoyable reading. But author Jim Butcher has managed to take a series that was showing signs of being pleasantly predictable and up the level just a bit. Much of this has been accomplished by developing Harry Dresden into something more than a Chicago wizard with an overly developed sense of responsibility (and possible an overactive thyroid). He has developed more of the sense of self-awareness I would expect from a professional wizard, although I would say that Harry's judgment is still has a bit of adolescent about it.
Another part of this growth stems from the fleshing out of the basic Dresden plot, which is Harry in trouble with the wizard's White Council and hunted by the various vampire courts. That hasn't changed much. This time Harry is trying to put a stop to a new Black Court effort to end his life while keeping a deadly evil eye curse from bankrupting a porno film startup company. The latter effort puts Harry at odds with the head of the Vampire's White Court. We get to experience both the delights of the film stage and the wild action of a raid on a Black Court lair.
Butcher makes this come alive by filling in a lot of the blanks about his vampire's society and politics, while stepping up the heat on Harry's relationship with Lt. Karrin Murphy, the head of Special Investigation. Throw in the development of several other collateral characters and you have an action story with interesting characters. This works well, because Butcher seems to know when to back off from the melodramatic and let people behave like people (or vampires) in a serious conflict..
Of course, the usual spookiness and ritual magic are there as always. Magic works in Butcher's alternate reality, and it sometimes works with a vengeance. The author sometimes takes a moment to explain how such things are supposed to work, but wisely, he avoids creating a formal system that would limit story development. Instead he blends magic, supernatural, and the occult as needed to get the right effect. I'm not a purist, and Butcher manages to avoid glaring self-contradiction. Keep in mind that this genre is beginning to get crowded with Harry Dresden's and Anita Blake's. Butcher's stories maintain a distinct identity and style that is beginning to be imitated, which is the best recommendation of all.
Book Review: Way to go!
Summary: 5 Stars
I think there's no question about it: 'Blood rites' is the best in the series so far. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the whole series and Harry Dresden is quickly becoming one of my favorite male characters. However, this latest book is finally giving some substance to characters who previously were either too good to be true, too bad to actually take seriously, or to sketchy to care. For those who are only now discovering the series: Harry is a wizard who has to make a living in a world that doesn't believe in wizards, and also to discover his past, which is clouded in mystery and violent death. As a private investigator and occasional consultant for a special division of Chicago police, Harry has already had his share of encounters and supernatural adventures in the five previous books. He had to fight a renegade practitioner of the black arts, ghosts, vampires, werewolfs, faeries, fallen angels, not to mention his very own White Council of wizards, for whom his own past (which they seem to know a lot better than Harry) is an almost certain ticket to painful execution.
In this book, Harry has to figure out who is behind an entropy curse hitting actors in a porn movie business, but also to deal with unexpected and not altogether pleasant truths about his past. The action acquires a more interesting, darker side, that promises great character development, not only for Harry, but also for Murphy, who is finally shown to be more than a slightly obsessive fighting babe with no personal life and an inflexible sense of justice. I absolutely loved the plot from the beginning to the end, despite the fact that the author seemed to have forgotten that Harry actually shared a soulgaze with Ebenezar [according to book 4 in the series], which should have prepared Harry for most revelations about his teacher in book 6 - unless I really don't understand how a soulgaze works.
I also hope that Jim won't give in to the temptation of making the series allegedly more 'appealing' by destroying the plot and adding lots of sex, as it unfortunately happened to the Anita Blake series. Although Harry is not getting any and I think the author could take some pity in the future [c'mon Jim, how would you feel if you had to spend a year with only a cat and a skull as company? :)], I really really like Harry just the way he is.