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Aug 30, 2008

Paul rated it:

Before I start gnawing on the book, let me first say that I enjoy Butcher's writing overall. He does good character, a romping pace, and makes me care about his protagonists. In fact, Butcher's a good enough writer that he enters the "good enough to realize his mistakes, which makes it so frustrating when he misses them" category. So...yes...he's quite good.

But....

This is definitely the lesser of the 1st four books. I'm muchly bothered by the severe escalation o More...

5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jul 21, 2008

Latharia rated it:

The books in the Dresden Files series just keep getting better. Halfway through the book, new characters were still being introduced, and it felt like the story was just getting more complicated, but Jim Butcher did a fabulous job of weaving it all together towards the end, without it feeling rushed OR contrived! I'm looking forward to digging into book #5 of the series soon!

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 23, 2011

Books-treasureortrash rated it:

Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes

Harry has started a war between the Wizards and the Red Court Vampires, the sky is raining toads, then Harry is attacked and must defend off several combatants. This is just the beginning. Summer Knight takes place nine months after the end of the last book where Susan was infected by the Red Vampire Court. She was bitten so many times that she is close to becoming a vampire herself. She has the thirst for blood but has not yet indulged it. Once she does sh More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 31, 2011

AH rated it:

Poor Harry! When we last left our intrepid wizard in Grave Peril, he was saddened by the departure of someone close to him. Harry is now in despondent mode, barely existing. His apartment is a mess, he hasn’t worked much, and the bills are piling up. To add to his troubles, it’s raining toads. Yes, toads. And someone or a lot of someones – want him dead. Including his own Wizard Council.

I can’t believe how much action is crammed into this book. So many things happen, it’s almost hard More...

15 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jul 08, 2010

Chris rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 29, 2010

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it:

Summer Knight starts with Harry in a very dark place. He is reeling from the fact that his girlfriend has left him, and she's been changed into a near-vampire by the Red Court of Vampires. He feels personally responsible, and is desperate for a way to help her. This despair has affected him to a deep level, and he's barely functioning, living in a pig-sty, and not even taking cases or taking care of himself. It was very hard to see him like that. And things don't get better for Harry. Becau More...

49 comments like (13 people liked it)

Jun 17, 2010

Ben rated it:

Faeries are even better than vampires. Firstly, you can actually make a deal with faeries and compel them to honour the deal. Secondly, that makes them even more deadly, because they're usually clever enough to twist the deal so it ends up harming you anyway. Just as Jim Butcher can't claim credit for vampires, he can't claim credit for faeries, but he sure can claim credit for the characters he creates to personify each species.

I hadn't noticed it before, but the antagonists from More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 26, 2010

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

I loved this book to, but then I loved all the Dresden books. Everyone and everything ends up at stake here and unlike so many books where "the fate of the world hangs in the balance" this one stays an absorbing page turner throughout.

You can't help but feel for Harry, the poor schmuck usually manages to get the proverbial "snot" beat (yes I know it should be "beaten out" but we're going colloquial here) out of him, before the end of the book. Sometimes More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 24, 2007

Kristy rated it:

It seems I just cannot put these books down. For some reason Mr. Butcher really makes a pretty believable character out of a guy that does magic and has a vampire as an estranged girlfriend.

This time we meet with Harry and Maub the Winter Fairy Queen. She has a job for him to do for her, as he has a debt that needs to be repaid. (Think Loan Shark)

This teams him up with his old first love Elaine, who we all thought was dead, including all the magic world. Turns out she More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 25, 2011

Michelle added it

There are some among Harry Dresden fans that state that the series truly takes off during book three. While I enjoyed Grave Peril, it does not hold a candle to Summer Knight. In fact, I dare say this fourth book in the series is my favorite so far. The tension is much more subtle than in previous books, and Harry has to use finesse and caution to be successful. Considering what he has done so far, all the battles and explosions and exclamations of "Fuego!", it was a nice reprieve and p More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2008

Haengbok92 rated it:

This was the best book of the series so far (and if there was a 3.5 star rating, I'd bump it up). The depiction of the various fairy courts and their interaction is really well done, and I like how the problems set up in the first three books are really beginning to clash against each other, putting Harry in the middle of an ever increasing mess. It looks like this is going to continue in the next book.

With that being said, I find myself losing interest in this series, mainly due More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 07, 2011

Jeff rated it:

I like a good hero who makes jokes while getting punched in the face. The Dresden books are good at this. Some of my favorite comic book heroes are Spider-Man and Deadpool, who both make jokes during fights and I think it tends to lower the tension level, for the character - its how that character deals with the stress of that moment they realize, "Hey, this guy is about to cave my skull in and there's not a lot I can do about it." Harry Dresden is a hero like that. Except sometimes More...

0 comments like

Nov 30, 2011

Bane of Kings rated it:

I’m only at book four in the Dresden Files, and I can tell you that what a tale it’s been so far. We’ve had vampires, werewolves, pixies, faerie godmothers, wizards and more, and it’s hard to believe that out of the thirteen books that are currently available for the public, (with one collection of short stories and one that is yet to be released), that we’ve had all of that happen before book four. We’ve been introduced to some figures like the pixie Toot-Toot, who returns once again in this bo More...

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Aug 10, 2011

Danny rated it:

Characterization: Often when an author puts his character at their lowest, that is when the character really starts to grab hold of the reader. I think in this fourth edition to the Dresden Files, Butcher does just that. You feel sorry for Harry, but in the end admire him for his willingness to die for what is good and right. The other minor characters were quality, but the focus stays mostly on Harry. Elaine was ok. I liked Murphey better in this one, but I still wish Bob would have a mor More...

0 comments like

Jul 29, 2011

Fangs for the Fantasy rated it:

Harry Dresden returns in a much more epic tale of battle and mystery in which the fate of Chicago – in fact the whole world, rests.

Epic. I do like me some epic, I does. And we have meta-plot! In the last book, Harry Dresden started a war to protect the woman he loved and to stand up to the cruelty of the Red Court of vampires. Due to his actions the Red Court declared war on the White Council, the ruling body of wizards, a war that now covers every part of the world and concerns the Wh More...

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May 25, 2011

James rated it:

Once again Butcher produces a great book around Harry that just buzzes with excitement and intrigue. I don't know how he does it, but his books just fly by in a haze of enjoyment; that's now the first four in this series in two days... absolutely great.

I would say that this is on a par with it's predecessor, and despite me rating it so high has a few points that I found wiggly.

1. Once again Murphy was out of the game for quite a bit, although I must admit that for the part s More...

0 comments like

May 13, 2011

Jeff rated it:

Harry Dresden can't get a break.

In this novel his services are sought by Mab, the Winter Queen (who purchased Harry's debt from his Fairy Godmother), to solve a murder, the White Council is about to put him on trial for causing a war between them and the Red Court Vampires, and his girlfriend, Susan, has fled town, trying to fight the curse of vampirism that was put on her in the previous novel.

Plus, there is an impending war between the Faeiries (Winter Court and Summer More...

2 comments like

Mar 09, 2011

Amanda rated it:

The ambitious plot of Summer Knight is largely dependent on actions occurring in previous books and too complex to effectively do justice in one book. Readers diving into Harry's world for the first time may want to start with a different title. Those familiar with the series (like me) may also become confused by the multiple characters in Harry Dresden's faerie-war fantasy epic.

Based on Harry's heroic actions at the end of Grave Peril, the Vampires of the Red Court have declared wa More...

0 comments like

Mar 07, 2011

Drew rated it:

I've read the last three Dresden files books since I wrote a review of Storm Front: Fool Moon, Grave Peril, and Summer Knight. All of them are quite entertaining, and he's not letting the episodic nature of the book's stories restrict character growth, which is nice. Jim Butcher seems to be very skilled at creating characters who are more interesting and less "stock" than a lot of authors. Fool Moon and Grave Peril both followed the basic plot device of "Harry Dresden gets in lot More...

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Jan 26, 2011

Melissa rated it:

Finally! A Dresden File I can actually say I enjoyed. While I still think the TV show Dresden is much cooler than the book Dresden, he actually had a pretty exciting story in this installment. Since the books can almost be read as stand alone I'm not going to bother recapping them.

Harry Dresden is a wizard. Really, he's even got an ad in the yellow pages. However, lately he hasn't been to much of a wizard sleuth. After the disappearance of his girlfriend (which he believes is partially More...

0 comments like

Jul 14, 2010

Amanda rated it:

Ever since his girlfriend left town to deal with her newly acquired taste for blood, Harry Dresden has been down and out in Chicago. He can't pay his rent. He's alienating his friends. He can't even recall the last time he took a shower. The only professional wizard in the phone book has become a desperate man. And just when it seems things can't get any worse, in saunters the Winter Queen of Faerie. She has an offer Harry can't refuse if he wants to free himself of the supernatural hold his fae More...

0 comments like

Apr 11, 2010

Karl rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Mar 24, 2010

Ken rated it:

OK, look: I started reading this series because I was on a vampire jag, reading one bloodsucker-related novel after another. The Dresden Files series, about a gum-shoe detective slash wizard in contemporary Chicago, is really just plain fun. The writing is full of genuinely hilarious ribbing (attacking vampires with holy-water balloons, for example) so that it doesn't get too intense with things constantly blowing up. ("Fuego!" Lots of things blow up.)

I will say the plots More...

1 comment like

Dec 21, 2009

Nikki rated it:

I probably liked Summer Knight best of the Dresden Files books so far, largely for the character development that happens and the sense of a wider plot -- of it being more than just a local problem. I can see what other reviews I've read mean by finding this book weaker because of the latter. Harry spends so much time whimpering about how outclassed he is that it goes from a case of the underdog narrowly winning to holy-crap-it's-impossible-that-he-actually-did-that. And Harry spends so much tim More...

6 comments like

Aug 23, 2009

Nathan rated it:

The best of the first four Dresden books, I think, by a good ways. Still the same flaws, but less evident, Mr. Butcher seems to be settling into his craft here. If I could, I'd give it 4.5 stars.

I'll start with my generic Dresden book review beginning:

Overall, these are very enjoyable books, with a good mix of adventure, humor, action, mystical details, human emotion, and basic philosophy. I like Harry Dresden, and his setting, his friends, his world. I like how these More...

0 comments like

Jun 16, 2009

Noria rated it:

So far, every novel introduced the reader to another aspect of the Dresden Files univers. This time the emphasis lies on the two Courts of the Fairies, the Winter Court and the Summer Court. The Summer Knight was murdered, the Winter Queen Mab is the prime suspect and hires Harry to investigate the murder, clear her name and prevent a war between the Fairy Courts. Speaking of war: the Red Court of the Vampires and the White Council of the Wizards are at war, due to Harry's actions in Grave Peril More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 07, 2009

Vergast rated it:

This was the last dresden book i read because someone bought the 5th one from my local shop before i could and so i havent read any past this one.
People would tell me that i should just order it online but last time i ordered books online i was out €120 and i needed that money.
But im just making excuses at this point.
This book sees the return of Billy the werewolf to help Harry put his life back together after the events of the last book. Where the awesome Micheal from the las More...

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Oct 12, 2011

Tim rated it:

These books have steadily declined. They are all starting to feel a bit over-dramatic and same-y. The hero is always in way over his head with no possible chance of escape... yeah right, he seems to escape these situations multiple times per day and it just nullifies any intended sense of danger.

I think I'm going to take a break from The Dresden Files after this book. Maybe some day when I'm bored and want some brainless entertainment for a long drive I'll pick it up again.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 17, 2009

Rae rated it:

I may be biased but this has to be my favorite Dresden book so far. I loved the faerie court battle, Queen Maeb coming to Harry to clear her name of murder, the goblins & orgres, centaurs, Harry and Elaine's past and all the side fae and werewolf characters that appeared here. I especially loved Billy and the Alphas (hey, it does sound like a rock band) right from the beginning when it was literally raining frogs.

I notice each book is episodic, slowly unraveling the large universe t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 02, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

I enjoyed this latest installment of Harry Dresden, wizard and private eye, getting into big trouble and barely squeaking out of it. This time, the story revolves around faeries and someone's attempt to screw up the balance of power between the Summer Queen and the Winter Queen. Harry gets dragged into this mess because of a deal he made with his godmother, a faerie (yes, a fairy godmother!) for one year of protection. Now she has sold it (like a mortgage) to the Winter Queen, Queen Mab, who w More...

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