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3.96 of 5 stars

Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more ac... read full description


reviews

Mar 04, 2011
Kat rated it: 2 of 5 stars
I've been told this series gets good at book three. Someone else said book four. Another, book six.

I promised to read until book seven, and I will. But Harry is seriously, seriously shitting me.

Harry Dresden is a Wizard private eye who works largely with the Chicago police department's Special Investigations officer, Murphy.

He has the most over-developed Hero complex of any protagonist I've ever read, to the point of ridiculous. I'm almost wondering whethe More...
30 comments like (27 people liked it)
Oct 25, 2010
My Thoughts:

Alot of my friends (you know who you are) have been urging me to try this series for months. I read the first book, Storm Front back in August & I wasn't impressed. But I'm glad I decided to stick with it because Fool Moon kicked major ass. Friends, I am eternally grateful for the relentless peer-pressure & threats of bodily harm *cough cough* Catherine *cough cough* if I didn't give this series a go. Muah!

In the previous book, Harry Dresden had to battle a be More...
33 comments like (12 people liked it)
Mar 11, 2011
Penny rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Update 03-11-11(2): So my last update was hastily written, and in anger. Now that I've had time to cool off and think clearly I'm feeling bad. So here's another, less in-your-face way of saying it:

Warning: this review contains cheekiness. Please do not be offended or take this review too seriously as it is meant in jest. If you are a serious Dresden fan this review is probably not for you. So you should just read another review, k. Have a nice day. :)


Update 03-11-1 More...
35 comments like (19 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2011
Galla rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Do you remember that Prohibition episode of The Simpsons, with the awesome quote, "To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems!" Replace "alcohol" with "Harry Dresden" and you have Harry's take on the plot of this book: everything bad that happens is somehow Harry's fault, and in displays of bravado ranging from questionable to suicidal, Harry is also the only one who can fix things. Who knew one wizard's egoism could have such an impressive ra More...
2 comments like (4 people liked it)
Aug 27, 2011
Jason rated it: 4 of 5 stars
4 Stars

Hells Bells, after struggling with getting into this one, I found that I really enjoyed this book. I really do try to stay away from all things werewolves, as a result, I had to force myself to push on and finish this one. I am glad that I did.

This book played out better than the first book in the series. We are treated to even more world building, more backstory, more insight into Harry and his friends, and even a touch more from Bob, his totally cool, wise cracki More...
4 comments like (3 people liked it)
Feb 08, 2012
Lady Jaye rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I'm sad to give this one a measly three stars because I was excited for this book. I was disappointed.

A lot of the plot was advanced by people who should know better being unforgivably obtuse. Take Murphy, for example, with her knee jerk reactions, arresting Harry every chance she got, when a little bit of maturity would have accomplished drastically different results. All she'd needed was a few minutes - no seconds, of clear thinking to allow Harry to talk, and a lot of misconception More...
2 comments like (3 people liked it)
Apr 25, 2009
Brad rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Jim Butcher achieves something that no other authors of urban fantasy have done (at least not the ones I've read); he expresses how wonderful it is to be producing magic in a world like ours.

I don't expect characters to be jazzed about their magic skills in a classic fantasy world, where magic is like bowling and everyone knows about it, most people have dabbled, but only a few can bowl anywhere near a perfect score.

Nor do I expect wizards to remain wide-eyed about their More...
0 comments like (14 people liked it)
Jul 01, 2008
Matt rated it: 3 of 5 stars
'Fool Moon' is the third Harry Dresden book I've read.

I can't really decide if I want to like The Dresden Files more than I do, or if I want to not like them more than I do.

I like them page by page more than I like them book by book. While they make good page turners, there is still something which is on the net very unsatisfying about them.

The more I encounter Harry, the more annoying, whiney, and immature he seems. Despite seeming at times to be directly More...
1 comment like (8 people liked it)
Mar 30, 2009
Amy rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Aug 21, 2011
Andreea rated it: 4 of 5 stars
3.5 stars.

I thought that the second book from the Dresden Files was better from certain perspectives (particularly, certain aspects of the story and the use of magic) and worse from other perspectives (more exactly, the characters).

IMO, the story is very similar in structure to the one from Storm Front, with the benefit of an undoubted improvement: it is more realistic, if a story like this can ever be called realistic. There are no more dancing brooms and much less insta More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jul 21, 2011
Traci rated it: 4 of 5 stars
The book works because of the character Harry Dresden. For the most part the other characters just fall flat. Another male writer who seems unable to write female characters. Susan is the everygirl girlfriend with little personality and Murphy is the typical tough girl bitch character. But I loved the book for Dresden. As a fan of noir I like the touch of it in these series, and the old time mystery feel. I like the way past cases are mentioned but not described in detail, it gives the world a r More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jan 15, 2012
Archer rated it: 4 of 5 stars
3.5 stars

There are no real big spoilers here but I've hidden the review to cover myself. There are some little ones so consider this your spoiler alert.

<spoiler>OK so I've finished re-reading this... And yeah... IMO it's good but it is definitely not the best that this series has to offer. In fact this is probably the worst book of the lot. It's not so much the story that lets it down, I mean who doesn't dig multiple flavours of werewolves that actually kill people rath More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jul 23, 2010
Kate rated it: 1 of 5 stars
A friend of mine adores this series, and sent my husband and me the entire thing. It showed up at our door in a big amazon box, and well, we got to reading. My husband is two books ahead of me, and promises me that things improve.

I dearly hope he's right.

First off, Butcher tries to pile WAY too much into this book. I hope this isn't a massive surprise, but guess what - this book is about werewolves. Now, you know how authors and movie makers, etc. will tell you " More...
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Sep 05, 2011
You'll find Harry Dresden in the Yellow Pages under Wizard. That's right--he's a wizard for hire. Everybody has bills to pay, right? His bread-and-butter comes from the Special Investigations section of the Chicago PD, led by Lieutenant Murphy. Murphy's none too happy with Dresden at the moment, so funds are running dangerously low. Then a spate of murders crop up and they have to call Dresden in.

Bodies that look like they've been ripped apart by wild animals, paw prints that ar More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Feb 29, 2008
Robert rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Jim Butcher, Fool Moon (Roc, 2001)

The second book in the Harry Dresden series is even more readable than the first, even as it sometimes stretches credulity even farther. (In short: the climax was just painful to read.) Still, when you're in the midst of a dozen or more heavy books, something that can be read over the course of a few hours is sometimes the perfect antidote to all the heaviness, and Jim Butcher's books fill that role on an admirable level.

Harry's work has More...
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Nov 19, 2011
Suz rated it: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 stars. This one was a good bit better than the first. The plot was not so much complex as it was full. Full to bursting. Butcher had to find several ways to do recaps during the course of the story just to enumerate everything that was going on and assist the reading in connecting the dots. It wasn't that it wasn't logical, there was just so many things happening at once.

I found this one a bit easier to remain engaged with than the first. I can see hints of a long arc, but at t More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Oct 22, 2008
JuliAnna rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Full Moon, the second in the Dresden series gets off to a better start than Storm Front, but limps along towards the end. It seems to have taken a few books for Butcher to develop a strong sense of his primary characters and their relationships. His plotting also improves in later novels. Although it is possible, that when I read the later novel, I assumed that gaps or nonsensical behavior were explained by the earlier novels that I hadn't read. My current opinion is that one might gt more pleas More...
1 comment like (4 people liked it)
Aug 13, 2008
Baco rated it: 2 of 5 stars
This wasn't bad, it just... wasn't fun, either. The main reason I liked the first book was the fun! But this one felt like long stretches of Murphy's Law interrupted by last-minute rescues. It's hard to cheer for the heroes when you know that no matter what they're just going to get screwed over by circumstances (and then miraculously rescued by someone else! Yaaaay). I'm going to stick with the books, though, 'cause I've heard they get better. ...And I'm interested in seeing more of Gentleman J More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Mar 24, 2009
Bradley rated it: 4 of 5 stars
An urban fantasy I like. Surprise surprise. The hero is quirky and electronic stuff go fizzit when he is nearby. Very good stuff. =)
5 comments like (2 people liked it)
Mar 25, 2009
Blaire rated it: 2 of 5 stars
I really liked Storm Front, which was the first in this series, and consequently am really disappointed in this, the second. In fact this book makes me wonder about my review of Storm Front. What I liked about Storm Front was its inventiveness, its idea of magic, its chivalrous, dashing protagonist, and its pacing. This book's heart is in the right place, and I still like its "take" on magic, but that's the best I can say. Whoever edited this book didn't do their job. It is incredi More...
0 comments like (4 people liked it)
Mar 04, 2009
Aaron rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I have to say, that is probably my second to least favorite, it's still a really, really good page turner. It's only on the curve that it really suffers. If Storm Front got my attention, this was the one that convinced me Jim Butcher really was on to something.

As for the characters, this is one where you first get the sense that this is really an on going series, despite books being written as self contained. There's clearly some carry over in the way character act and think f More...
Jan 18, 2009
Kristen rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Holy Moses! How has this Harry Dresden guy managed to *live* long enough to be in a second book? I think he missed maybe two opportunities to make the wrong impulsive decision in this novel. Seriously. I'm flabbergasted. There's seven novels in this series now - I sure hope the guy has learned *something* from his multiple screw-ups so far. (Otherwise, I'll have to believe that the audience for these books is utterly lacking in critical facilities.)

I am perhaps being a bit unfair to More...
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Feb 09, 2012
Tex rated it: 3 of 5 stars
As other folks have said, this one is definitely patterned after the plot of the first one. Butcher has cleaned up and polished several parts along the way, but I am less patient with what still isn't fixed from the first go-round.


--As with the first book, I spent the first fifty pages waiting impatiently to get interested. After that, I was gobbling up pages like nobody's business. That is a heck of a trick! My only issue with the beginning is that it felt like the author was More...
Dec 19, 2011
Richard rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Rating: 3* of five

Someone help me here. These are compulsively readable books, and I grant Butcher full props for the ability to pace a story and parse a sentence with equal facility (not all that faint of a praise, believe you me), but these books have some je ne sais quoi that makes them into bestsellers.

WHAT IS IT?!?

I was interested enough in the story to read it in one long sitting, but upon sober reflection, I cannot begin to tell you why. It's not that good of More...
3 comments like (4 people liked it)
Nov 23, 2011
Jeff rated it: 5 of 5 stars
The follow up sequel to the first Dresden book does not disappoint. Very good read, especially if you don't mind a little fantasy mixed in with your detective novels. I really recommend this series (so far anyway), especially if you're one of those people who likes to leave behind reality for a few moments escape into fantasy land.

Harry Dresden comes back from his last encounter ready to face off against every type of werewolf you could (or rather, the author) could imagine. The suppo More...
Aug 01, 2011
Mlle. rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I liked Storm Front well enough that it didn't take a lot of convincing to get Fool Moon, too - I do remember, however, that somebody told me that the series gets better with each new installment and so I opened up #2 in the Dresden Files ready to do a comparative analysis.

And it really is better. The voice is stronger, the difficulties more insurmountable, every last character is human, the setting of Chicago and the description of the magic are equally palpable.

Butcher ma More...
Jul 29, 2011

Harry Dresden is back investigating a series of brutal and vicious murders, people torn apart by what looks like wild animals – wolves in fact. There being a somewhat lack of wolves in Chicago, this points us in one direction. Actually it points us in several directions as it turns out there are several variations on the theme of werewolf – and several denizens of the city who may count.

Harry has to sort through the threads, work with the local police hindered by their distrust an More...
Jul 25, 2011
Jennifer rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Apparently this was exactly the sort of brain candy I was in the mood for since I read this in less than a day. I enjoyed this second Harry Dresden outing more than the first though some of cliche-y bits could grow wearing in time and I'd still like more of a Chicago feel than simply noting that a rich character lives in the Gold Coast, etc. That said, Butcher's alt universe Chicago has a lot of promise and this is a typical supernatural noir, which means Harry narrates with a dry wit (though More...
Jul 15, 2011
Andrea rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I really thought that I would love this book series. I thought it would be right up my alley. I thought that I would want to read book, after book, after book (and thankfully I have them all just waiting for me to read). However, after reading books #1 and #2, my feelings are just so-so. I'm going to be the first to admit this - I read a lot of "trash (aka historical romance novels) - so I'm perfectly content with fluff. And these books to me are dark fluff. Dark fluff with a characte More...
1 comment like (1 person liked it)
May 31, 2011
Sarah rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I wish Harry Dresden were real. He is a seriously cool character. He never gives up, even when he’s staring a werewolf right in the jaws. And he puts people he cares about (and sometimes doesn’t care about) before himself. Butcher has created a character that I seriously are about – and although this is partly from watching the television show – the books have only served to strengthen my appreciation for Harry.

The second installment in this series isn’t as strong as the first. Maybe i More...