I suppose I would have enjoyed this novel if I had read the others in the series-- after all this one is rather late in the series. To be perfectly honest I must admit that I had a terrible time figuring out all the players. There's a Red Court and a White Court (apparently both Vampire Courts) and then there is a White Council- a group of wizards dedicated to forcing the rules of magic to be followed.

Despite those self-imposed stumbling blocks I found Butcher's work interesting. There is a number of fanciful beings and magics that are carefully crafted. And the hero, Dresden, has a great sense of humor and often uses some really fun pop culture references to explain his feelings, his actions, or his attitudes.

However, Butcher's world is a bit too dark for me. In one passage there is the discussion of why wizards do not interfere in mortal\moral politics. For example, the wizards discuss why they did not take down Hitler-- where would their interference with political matters end. If only to stop genocide, would not they have to have intervened in the formation of the United States at some point to stop the genocide of the American Indian. The conversation is both interesting, intriguing, and yet dieheartening. I guess I would want these selp-appointed guardians to serve as superheroes, helping mortal man to mold himself in to a better being.

Further, there is the trauma done to characters in Dresden's universe. Great evil done to beings can bring great evil into their attitudes and conduct-- don't want to offer a spoiler.. but corruption is one of the minor themes of this story.

When the action is over and the smoke from the magical fires dissapates, I didn't feel like any great resolution was going to take place.. There were still baddies out there and they were still corrupting the wizards's council and that seemed unlikely to change.


I'll probably try an earlier book in the series, perhaps # 1, just because I like the wise-cracking wizard. However, at this time, I can't offer much hope for the series being something that will grab me. I do like the True Blood books, though. I feel that the Vamps and Wolves and other creatures are more well-defined.. however , the Fairie creatures in this book were my favorite.