The Griffin or the Agate

There are a ton of "private-eye-mixed-with-fantasy" books out there, so much so that some publishers, in their submission guidelines, are asking writers to avoid the genre for a while. Some of the offerings are good - Mike Resnick's Mallory, and Glen Cook's Garrett (despite a recent weak offering) - to name a few. Predictably, others aren't so sterling. Extremely few manage to improve on the original as the series progress - but it's not unheard of.
     Jim Butcher is proving to be one of those exceptions. His first book about the wizard Harry Dresden, Storm Front, was a good bit of writing. However, as Harry's adventures unfold Butcher's writing has gone from servicable to splendid, culminating in his latest offering, Summer Knight. The fourth book is a wild ride much in the style of an Indiana Jones cliffhanger as a harried and exhausted Harry Dresden stumbles from one danger fraught situation to the next. Harry's having a rough couple of weeks. His girlfriend has been infected by vampires and fled from him to try and fight the curse. Said vampires have demanded Dresden answer for crimes against them in their court and are willing to go to war with the Wizard's Council to make that happen. The Council is contemplating doing just that, or stripping the unorthodox spellslinger of his powers. His debt to his fairy godmother is coming due, and when it does she'll come collection. Finally, Harry can't even afford to pay his rent, as things are slow for the only wizard in the Chicago yellow pages. Things couldn't be worse, right?
     Wrong. His godmother traded his debt - to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, and Monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe. She wants to know who killed the Summer Knight, whose death has unbalanced the eternal struggle between the Summer and Winter Courts. With nobody to trust and everything on the line, it's up to Harry to save the day - and his own bacon.
     Butcher is a skilled storyteller, adept at fleshing out his characters. Dresden is a wizard but is also human, complete with a host of flaws. He's a stubborn hothead who makes mistakes - big, costly mistakes. His colorful companions include a pack of young werewolves, a female cop who understands about the magic most wouldn't believe in, and a former lover who may or may not be planning to shove a knife in his back and give it an extra twist. Butcher leads the reader from battle to battle at a breakneck pace, producing one riveting page after another. Damn, it's nice to finally be able to wholeheartedly recommend a book. Seems like forever. In any case, while Summer Knight offers enough exposition to be read as a standalone, you could do worse - much worse - than to start at the beginning of the series and enjoy each book..   §

Purchase this title through:
   Amazon.com