Though the heat, humidity and drought are a constant reminder that Summer still reigns, I have found myself itching for the kind of books that call out to me in the Autumn. When my friend Jeff suggested last weekend that we read the second book in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, I took that as a sign to scratch that itch. I found Full Moon available for electronic download on my local library’s website and uploaded it to my newly won Kindle and gave her a test run. Verdict: I like it!
Still suffering the fallout from the last time detective Karrin Murphy, of the Chicago PD Special Investigations Unit, called him in on a case, Wizard-for-Hire Harry Dresden is scraping by on any odd-job he can find while musing upon his rotten luck. When a series of gruesome killings pushes Murphy to consult with him once more, Dresden discovers that his actions have consequences and in addition to having to deal with all the people who believe him to be a charlatan, he now has to work with a partner who no longer trusts him.
Signs at the murder scene quickly point to the presence of a werewolf and it is Harry’s role to not only prove that this stock horror character is anything but a hackneyed fictional creation, but is instead extremely dangerous in all its many forms. Before the full moon sets Harry Dresden will come face to face with horrors best forgotten and will find himself asking the age old question, “Why me?”.
Urban Fantasy is a genre I have strayed into only occasionally and due to the years market saturation I often find myself admiring the covers while judging the work to be not my cup of tea. Thankfully a group of people got together last year to group read Storm Front, the first book in Jim Butcher’s series. Given that I work in his hometown of Independence, Missouri, it was well past time that I actually gave his work a try. And you know what? It is fun. A lot of fun! And Fool Moon takes everything from the first book and cranks it up a notch, making this a page-turner of a novel.
I left Storm Front with the satisfaction of having met a small cast of characters that I really liked and so going back to visit those characters again was an easy decision. Not more than a few pages into the story I realized that I had missed ol’ Harry and that it was great to tag along with him again. As is probably the formula for these books, Harry is the kind of private eye/wizard that frequently finds himself in situations where he is in way over his head and his solutions to those situations often end up being damaging to himself and potentially damaging to others. Fool Moon builds from the story told in Storm Front but Butcher does a marvelous job of giving the reader the idea of previous events without a)ruining the story if a person wants to go back and read it and b) not rehashing the whole plot for those who already have. I give him HUGE kudos for this. It is one of the measures by which I judge an author–his/her ability to write sequels that function largely as stand-alone novels. Fool Moon does that quite well.
Jim Butcher has created an interesting current world that is easy to step into and yet is fascinating to learn more about, and his novels have just the right level of humor to make Harry a very endearing character while in no way lessening the dramatic tension of events unfolding in the story. There is dramatic tension in spades in Fool Moon. Wow! I tore through this book. At times I don’t think the Kindle could keep up with me as my reading pace sprinted along at breakneck speed. Time and time again I would come to the end of a section of the story, or a chapter, and would absolutely have to know what happened next. It was a story that was hard to put down and tremendously fun to pick up again. The story is dark and violent at times but Butcher does an admirable job of conveying events without resorting to being too descriptive.
With two Dresden Files books under my belt I can attest to the fun of Butcher’s creation. If you want an intense page-turner that feels like the equivalent of watching a character-driven action flick then look no further than the tales of Harry Dresden.
If you’ve read the story and would like to discuss it in more detail, please label your comment with a SPOILER warning. I’d love nothing more than to get into more detail concerning the book but do not want to spoil it for those who haven’t tried Jim Butcher’s work, but hopefully will soon.
Fla is still horribly hot and humid and in the height of “hurricane season” and you are talking “fall” !!! I wish I could have afforded to go to England during the Olympics as I keep seeing them in long sleeves and jackets and they say it was in the 60’s most of the time!!!! But.. fall means RIP soon! oh yeah I am ready for a change in my reading!
I am glad you enjoy the books.. I am not good with too many “formula” books but some are much better than others..
Hooray for the good ones! lol
Hurricane season, yay!!! I’ve been the same way, jealous of the Olympians and the fans because of the weather there. At least as I sit here tonight we are in the midst of a long thunderstorm. We so need the rain. We need days of it. And this is supposed to bring “cooler” temps (80’s for highs), so maybe tomorrow when I go out to run it will be nice and cool.
I think by ‘formula’ I mean books, like mysteries, where you know that they are going to have some similarities book to book, but what you are reading for more is the characters than the actual ‘mystery’. The great thing about this book is that the action is very intense and really grabs hold of you.
I’m enjoying the book quite thoroughly alas I’m only a quarter of the way through so far. I am excited enough though that I went ahead and picked up book three today. 🙂
I’m sure you are shocked, I actually finished a book we were reading together! LOL! I’m glad you suggested it. And look at you, snagging book 3 already. I need to go ahead and download it.
Ooh, I have Storm Front on my shelf to read and really want to read it! I won’t read this until I read that one.
Yes, start with Storm Front, it was fun too. It has some ‘first novel’ issues, but there is so much good there that you’ll want to keep reading the series.
I was wondering if you would continue the series. I would like to as well. Good to know that the second one in the series does not disappoint. I like Harry and the situations he finds himself in. And a werewolf–well that’s just cool.
It was a step up, and Jeff mentioned reading that the storied really improve over the next few novels. I think you would like this. My first thought about the werewolf angle was to be worried, but it turned out to be fascinating and terrifying.
I absolutely love the Dresden Files series, it is one of my top five. Jim Butcher gets better and better as a writer as the series progresses and he has one of the best world continuity’s that I have read. I’m glad you enjoyed the second book, I recommend reading the entire series!
Thanks, Jami. I am so glad to hear that. I plan to continue on. In fact I checked out Grave Peril from the library onto the Kindle and started it last night!
So glad you liked reading on your new Kindle. It is surprising how fast and easy it is to get used to. Fall will arrive soon and if you can’t wait, perhaps a road trip north might be in order 😉
It was very pleasant, and so great to get that ‘instant gratification’ of being able to download it from the library right when the mood struck to read it. I’d happily come north anytime!!!
I was one of the few viewers of the cable TV version of THE DRESDEN FILES. And, I was sad when the series was canceled. It really didn’t capture the texture of the books, but it was entertaining. I’m finding some of the later books in this series lack the power of the early books. Too much writing too fast?
I want to check it out sometime, after I’ve got a few Dresden novels under my belt and have developed my own ideas of what the series looks and feels like.
There is always that risk against something being fresh when you write many novels about it and I imagine series like this are especially hard to do that with.
I read the first book a while ago, and it was interesting, but not enough for me to go out and pick up the second book right away. I might eventually pick this one up, but I think the next Jim Butcher book that I’m going to read is the first Codex Alera book wince I’ve had that on my shelf for a while. Unfortunately I don’t want to start any long series until after I’ve finished my Wheel of Time re-read starting in a couple of months, so it’ll be a while before I pick up another book by Butcher.
I understand that, Wheel of Time re-read is going to take a LONG time! 🙂
I can’t believe I have read book 1 twice and still have not read on in the series… Must do that!
Now that is really hard to believe, Kailana! LOL!
I thoroughly enjoyed this second installment in the Dresden Files series even more so than the first book. This time around Butcher has ratched up the tension, the relationships and the humor twice as much over Storm Front which for me made for an even more enjoyable read and I already had really enjoyed the first book a lot.
After loving reading Storm Front last year you may wonder why it took me so long to read book two. Well it was due to the fact that the main storyline in book two was a werewolf story. I’m not really a fan of werewolf stories as my experiences with them have usually been bad. Most of the movies I have seem them in have been either been really bad or they were treated in a campey way. Movies like Blood and Chocolate and Brotherhood of the Wolf being the exceptions for me with the Underworld being a guilty pleasure movie having nothing to do with the werewolf aspect of them the film. 🙂
Things I really enjoyed with this novel was Butcher’s use of humor and his take on magic. He also plays Harry Dresden so down to earth and careing that you just can’t help but root for him. Another thing that impressed me is how Butcher writes strong female characters that hold there own with Dresden.
I enjoyed this book so much that even before I finished this book I went out and picked up book three and upon finsihing book two I immediately cracked into Grave Peril. For now I just don’t want stop hanging out in Harry’s world. The cool weather we had yesterday made me want to stay in Dreden’s RIP world.
I’m with you, I think this one took off from Storm Front and eclipsed it tremendously. This one is action-packed and you reach a certain point in the story where it is breathtakingly fast and you feel like you just can’t stop reading.
And of course we both texted about the fact that we felt the same way in regards to feeling an avoidance toward a story about werewolves. I love the mythology but rarely find a story in movie or book form that plays well off of it. I’m not certain Fool Moon does either but what it does do is avoid a lot of the cheesy cliche. These creatures are terrifying.
The sense of humor is there and is so much fun. I like that the novels aren’t campy but they are still funny. Dresden has the kind of wit that I really enjoy.
And you are right, there are some great female characters here. Even Susan who is more of a “girly” character than Karrin is strong and independent while also being feminine. It is nice to see that mix in a character. So glad you suggested this when you did, it really hit the spot and started the ball rolling for RIP preparation.
After reading Storm Front last September I went on mini Jim Butcher kick and read the next three books. Sadly, though, I remember very few details from the books! I do remember them being as entertaining as the first. They’re the perfect fall read, so I may go back to the series once the weather cools down.
I can understand why, Emily. They are very fast-paced and I can see how they could become addictive reading experiences.
I just finished rereading this book and fell in love all over again. I’ve only made it past the 3rd book in the series but I’m so glad that I’ve gone back and reread before continuing on. I had quite a few times where I just couldn’t put this book down. It is much darker than Storm Front was and I loved how the author tied the two books together in the end. It leaves questions open that I’m assuming he will address in future books. I’m a huge fan of this series now and can’t wait to read the next book!
It is much darker, you are right about that, and that darker mood just ratchets the tension up ten fold. Wow! I was the same way with this one, especially once I hit the mid point. I just HAD to see how Harry would handle everything and what would happen next.