Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, Book 8) by Jim Butcher
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.99 You Save: $5.00 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.90 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, Book 8)
Book Review: And I love horror movies because?
Summary: 5 Stars
Rougly a year after his escapes in Dead Beat, Harry Dresden is back. We open in the middle of a warehouse, Harry and several other Wardens tight in a circle, all staring down at a young man, a wizard who used his magic for darker purposes. Found guilty, he is beheaded, as is the direction of the White Council. If a wizard is proven guilty of breaking one of the seven laws of the White Council, if sentenced to death, it is carried out immediately. And this seriously disturbs Harry. To Harry, the young man was no more than a child in wizard age, and was never taught right from wrong. But a soulgaze on the young man proved there was no helping him and it had to be done. Still, it doesn't sit well with Harry.
As he is leaving, he is handed a note from the Gatekeeper. Black magic is afoot in Chicago, and as the regional Warden, it is his duty to find out the who, why and stop them. And just when Harry is about to start his investigation with a new and powerful `toy', Molly, the daughter of Michael, an longtime friend of Harry's, calls, begging for help. And true to Harry's form, he can't pass up a `damsel in distress' and, against his own judgement, runs to her aid. However, she isn't the one in trouble. Her boyfriend, Nelson, is. Seems he was arrested for beating up an older gentlemen, simply because he was the only one in the room. No blood on his clothes, no break in the skin of his knuckles... Something is very strange, and Harry's determined to find out what's going on.
The first of many areas, Harry glimpses around the bathroom of a conference centre in a hotel, using his Sight. What's disturbing is the residual reflection he sees - and doesn't like it one bit. The hotel is very busy, what with the SPLATTERCON!!! horror convention going on, and while talking with Rawlins outside the bathroom, something else goes down, and Harry runs to find out what.
With more questions and answers, the attacks are made by phonophages, made to look like the `bad guys' fron the horror movies. Phonophages are sprirtual entities that feed on fear and are being either pulled or pushed from the Nevernever. The higher the fear, the more powerful they become. Harry needs to do two things. Stop the phonophages from attacking and find out who's sending them.
The deeper we get into the story, the more complicated it gets. Just when Harry thinks he's got it beat, a twist slaps him back - Molly has been kidnapped by more phonophages and is now being held in Winter's Queen Mab's `headquarters', Arctis Tor, and with the help of Molly's mother Charity, Murphy and Thomas, Summer Lady Lily and Summer Knight Fix, they go in and get Molly back. Once they've retreated and hare back with Father Forthill, Molly is given a choice, one that she has to make up herself. Can Harry handle what the Council might do to her?
Oh, how I love this series! Nothing is ever as it seems, and Harry is constantly battling others as well as himself. He relies heavily on his instincts and does the best he can with what he's got. Considerate as he is, he'll do whatever is necessary and deal with the consequences later.
Non-stop action, the plot not only keeps Harry on his toes, but the reader as well. No one can predict how the story is going to turn. Add in horror movie characters, add in magic and control of that magic and it makes for one heck of a story. What I truly like is how his personal life is entertwined with all that action, between Harry and Murphy, Harry and Molly and her family, Harry and Thomas, and Harry and his feelings of the Wardens and the White Council, Harry and Ebenezer, you not only get a real sense of what Harry's dealing with, but you truly understand what it is about him; why he is the way he is, why he thinks the way he thinks. As a bookaholic who loves many different genres, Harry is one of the top characters where a reader truly gets the `inside look' at the main character.
I can't ask for better. I can only ask that Mr. Butcher keeps Harry coming. Serve me up more, please!
Book Review: Fast-paced and utterly enjoyable!
Summary: 5 Stars
The latest book in the Dresden series is a real treat. Dresden receives a warning that black magic is heading for his hometown, and he heads out to stop it. On his way, though, he gets sidetracked into helping a friend's daughter who has a ton of problems of her own. In typical Dresden fashion, he spreads himself too thin, tries to help too many people, gets beat up almost as much as Bruce Willis in a Die Hard movie -- and he does it all with a grin on his face and a snappy one-liner that usually relates to a horror or SF movie.
The plot's a tad obvious (I called several twists by halfway through the book), and some of the dialog with Murphy is annoyingly awkward, but Harry has the heart and soul of a hero, and he's a fantastic character to join on a good romp through dark magic and the weird Nevernever. Some have compared this series to the Anita Blake series, but Harry is far more likable, heroic, and mythic. He's just a lot more enjoyable to be around than Anita ever has been.
One cool -- and totally unexpected -- surprise.... This book contains one of the best expressions of Christian faith I've read in a fiction novel ever. Don't be fooled and don't let that turn you off if you're not a Christian. This is not a "Christian" novel -- those are notoriously poorly written -- and Dresden, with a fallen angel swimming around in his head, never claims to be a Christian himself. But some of the characters in this book are Christians, and I appreciated seeing them portrayed realistically and with respect to their faith.
If you've never read a Dresden book, you could pick this one up with little problem. The cast of characters may feel a little overwhelming since they've been building from the previous seven books, but they're distinct in their own rights, and Butcher does a good job recapping each when they first show up. Overall, another fantastic entry in a wonderful series of books.
Book Review: Terrific series all the way
Summary: 5 Stars
_Proven Guilty_ itself isn't, in my opinion, a 5-star book. I save a 5-star rating for the best of the best. In the case of this review, I've given the series itself a 5-star rating for what the Navy used to call Sustained Superior Performance. All eight Dresden Files books have been solid 4-star books -- 4 stars being the best I usually give.
For a series to earn 5 stars from me is pretty unprecedented. The characters in a series are prone to fall one of two ways, in my experience. Either they solidify into dullness; or they morph into caricature. The authors of series books are at high risk for boredom. After a while, many of them stop caring about the stories, and just start slapping them together willy-nilly. Or, in an attempt to keep things fresh, they change the characters too much, too quickly, and in ways we readers find unbelievable.
Jim Butcher has avoided these traps with the Dresden Files. In book #8, the writing is as good as it ever was -- oh, I grant you, they aren't high literature -- but they are excellent stories, told very well. And Butcher is still clearly *writing* these stories, not just phoning them in. The characters have remained fresh and interesting. They change -- but always in ways that seem believable and are supported within the text. Each book has left me eager to read the next one. Not just out of nostalgia for beloved characters, as is the case with so many other series I've read -- but, actively *eager* to see what will happen next.
Terrific books -- just terrific. I can't recommend them highly enough.
Book Review: The Plot Thickens
Summary: 5 Stars
Harry Dresden - now a Warden of the White Council, in charge of the Chicago-Land area - is troubled. He doesn't like the callous way that young wizards who unknowingly break the Council's law are dispatched without giving them a chance to change their ways. But it seems there is nothing he can do about it. He receives a message from the mysterious Gatekeeper, warning him there is Black magic afoot and to be on the lookout for it. As he prepares to find where the Black magic may be, his phone rings - it is Molly, the daughter of his friend Michael, Knight of the Cross. She says she is in jail and needs him to bail her out. Which isn't quite true - it turns out it is her boyfriend Nelson who is in jail; there was an incident at Splattercon!!! (a horror convention) in which an old man was beaten up in a bathroom - Nelson was the only other person in the room. Although he says he did not do the deed, there was no one else there, so the police ran him in. Harry agrees to investigate. Things turn ugly fast when horror movie monsters begin to show up at the convention and maim and kill people. To make matters worse, Harry notices severe psychic trauma on many of the victims.
A solid entry in the Harry Dresden series with an unexpected twist, this story keep me reading well past the time I should have turned off the lights. These stories just keep getting better (although Harry might not agree!) and I am enjoying the series immensely. I hope it continues for a good long while! A strong recommend for anyone who enjoys a good paranormal mystery.
Book Review: In The Magic World Of Humans Misusing Magic Is A Life Ending Choice
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't want to give away to much about this book but it has Harry on different sides with the White Council(Group of Powerful Magicians who control how humans do magic in the world.) The basic is that in this book because of the war between the white council and the vampire's red council Harry is made a Warden(Basically a Sheriff of the magic world.) and has to uphold the laws of the council including punishing humans who use magic for malicious intent or dark personal gain. After Harry sees the council kill a young man for misusing his magic Harry considers his position as warden and his views on the white council. Later it gets even more hard on Harry as one of his friends daughter who can use magic breaks the rule about using dark magic and is sentenced to death. Now Harry has to try and save his friends daughter from the sentence and still continue his duties as a warden for the council. Like the rest of
this series I thought this book was incredible and the storyline and how Harry always finds some way either through deception,trickery,magic,or just his stubborn morale code to win the day.
If you are interested in this series you don't really have start from the first book you can just start reading this one but of course starting from the first book will give you more information and details on the characters and whats going on with the series itself. So I say to people if you liked the Harry Potter books but want something a little more darker and serious this series is for you...