Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3) by Jim Butcher
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.36 You Save: $4.63 (46%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.00 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3)
Book Review: The Dresden series is addictive!
Summary: 5 Stars
Of the 4 Dresden books currently available (with another due out in September), this one is my favorite. The combination of very intricate plot, the main character's snarky wit and hapless, can't-catch-a-break, down and out attitude, plus the introduction of some very compelling new characters (Thomas the Friendly Vampire, Father Forthill, to name just two), make for a fascinating read. I was up past 2AM finishing this, on a worknight, because I just couldn't put it down.If I have one complaint, it is the character of Michael, Good Knight, Fist of God, Family Man, Ever-FAithful, All-Around Good Guy, yadda yadda yadda. He's Harry's friend in this, but he's just kind of there, with no background explaining his connection to the main character (who up to this point, has pretty much worked alone). He makes an interesting, if almost too-perfect, counterpoint to Dresden, though--whereas Harry's strength comes from within himself and his own magic, Michael is traditionally Catholic and is fond of such phrases as "The Lord doesn't give anyone more than they can bear." He doesn't even want to be present when Harry's doing a summoning spell because Harry's not doing it in God's name. (And even Harry expresses some exasperation when their friend Father Forthill tries to convert him every time he sees him.) I like the adultness of the entire series, but this book seems even more so than others. Harry finds himself in deep at a vampire ball, and no one emerges unscathed. In the tradition of the first two books, Harry once again winds up unexpectedly naked in this; he's also injured very badly, more than once. Jim Butcher truly understands the value of a big finish; the last 20 pages of Grave Peril are real page-turners. My heart was pounding! There's also a real tragedy that made me tear up (and that doesn't happen to me very often, believe me.) Truly a gripping, heart-wrenching read.Run, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore and pick up the entire series of The Dresden Files!Book Review: Butcher kicks the series into high-gear...
Summary: 5 Stars
Harry Dresden is the only wizard-for-hire in the city. His front door is littered with magic-how-to pamphlets, and most of the time, he barely ekes out a living helping people find lost things and working with the police when things get a little bit rough, supernaturally speaking.Things are about to get a little bit rough. Spirits are going ballistic. Ghosts are showing up all over the place, wrapped in spiritual barbed wire, and understandably cranky about the situation. With a holy sidekick crusdaes-style knight in construction books and a weapon blessed by God on one side, and an eagre yellow-paper tabloid writer on the other, Harry has more than enough to juggle, let alone with spooks trying to nab him.
Which is when, of course, he's invited to a costume ball thrown by a vampire he truly offended in the first book, "Storm Front."
The 'Dresden Files' series grows up in this book. Though still light-hearted and a blast to read, with sarcasm and wit to satisfy even the most jaded of cynical readers, the story takes a turn for the darker, and though the novel is complete in and of itself, there is a definite sense that many of the plot-lines begun in this book will be carrying over into September's "Summer Knight." I for one, can't wait.
The characters are all very much alive in this book (even the dead ones), and Butcher has done a magnificent job of characterization. The mystery itself has just the right number of twists, and hey, if that isn't enough, there's Bob. You remember Bob, right? The oversexed air-spirit trapped in the form of a skull?
Seriously, snap up the whole series, starting with "Storm Front." The 'Dresden Files' are yours to be opened, and I promise you'll be re-reading them in anticipation of September's new release. Fans of Hamilton's Anita Blake, or Huff's Claire Hansen are doubly invited to meet Mr. Dresden. You'll be glad you did.
'Nathan
Book Review: Great supernatural who-done-it
Summary: 5 Stars
It has been a tough two weeks on Harry Dresden, Chicago's only known wizard (check the phone book if you are a nonbeliever). It seems he and his good soul partner Michael Carpenter, a knight with a holy blade, have spent the previous fourteen evenings fighting terrifying ghosts that crossed the barrier between here and Nevernever land. When Harry finds the same barbed wire on a human being's soul that he found inside a ghost, he knows he is fighting a dangerous enemy who breaks all the known rules of supernatural physics. This foe can enter homes without permission, wreck havoc on holy land, and tie mortal and spirit together with otherworldly barbed wire. While Harry gets ready for battle with this unknown superior creature, he also struggles to uncover who is destroying the barrier between earth and Nevernever and must deal with the Vampire Court whose leader has summoned him.
Book three of the Dresden Files, GRAVE PERIL, is a great supernatural who-done-it. The key to this tale and its predecessors (see STORM FRONT and FOOL MOON) is that every character and situation feels genuine. For instance, readers will feel what technology-machinery impaired Harry feels when he removes the barbed wire from the soul of a friend. Anyone who enjoys an offbeat but cleverly written urban fantasy will want to visit the Windy City's only advertising wizard because few horror, fantasy, or mystery tales get any better than this wonderful plot that smoothly combines all three genres into one novel.
Harriet Klausner
Book Review: It just keeps getting better
Summary: 5 Stars
If you want to know how I feel about this series as a whole, check out my other reviews. This installment, however, Butcher seems to have hit his stride.New characters are introduced with a sense of backstory that actually made me wonder if I'd missed some books somewhere. Not that more story was needed to explain anything, I just wanted to know more about the history between these people. I was amazed at how real these people felt (especially the Knight of the Sword, Michael, who could arguably carry a series of his own). Even the main thrust of the plot seems to be intertwined with a previous case of Dresden's which we only see in flashback. This should be disconcerting, and I did occasionally find myself wishing I'd read that book as well. However, the story flows so well that you almost find yourself thinking that you did read that book.
More importantly, the third book in this series starts to delve into the emotional life of Harry Dresden in a way we'd only glimpsed before. Personally, I'm a sap, so I'm all for dealing with emotional issues. Also, it really helps you to know a character and their motivations better if you have more insight into their source.
Also, the further bits of background (more about the vampire Courts, the White Council, etc) really enhance the tapestry that is The Dresden Files. If this series does not become a cult hit, and soon, I'll be very surprised.
Book Review: ah, I love smartass unrecognized heroes!
Summary: 5 Stars
Amazon first insisted that I'd like the Harry Dresden books because I bought a Laurel Hamilton book. I really didn't like Hamilton's novel (sorry, fans, it just didn't grab me), and perhaps that's why I find Hamilton and Butcher's series less similar than others do. Instead, I think of the Dresden Files as closer to Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series. (And, obviously, if you like Butcher's series, I think you'll also like Brust's.)
This is the best book in the Dresden Files, so far. I liked #1 and #2, obviously, enough to buy the third one in the series, but I thought the first two were "merely" good. Maybe it was just that I was in the right mood, but in this book the author really brought Harry's character to the forefront; he is dealing with himself as someone who feels compelled to do the right thing no matter what it costs him -- which is usually "everything" -- but is cynical enough to be a smartass about it.
As you've probably already figured out, the basic premise here is that someone is stirring up the ghosts all over Chicago, and Harry (and his friends) have to figure out why before all hell breaks loose (rather literally, come to think of it). There are several rather effective twists and turns in the plot, and one reason I particularly liked this book is that nearly every one of them surprised me.