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 war on the White Council. Meanwhile, the faerie courts of Summer and Winter are gearing up for war after the Winter Knight's murder, which has resulted in a power struggle that could potentially affect mortal kind with a new ice age. Harry Dresden, as usual, is unwittingly thrust in the middle of the faerie conflict after Queen Mab acquires his debt from his faerie godmother Leanansidhe, thereby forcing him to become the Winter Emissary and investigate the Summer Knight's murder to clear Mab's name. To that end, he receives an unexpected and shocking surprise in the form of a visit from the Summer Emissary, his lost love Elaine.

Harry wants no more involvement with faerie-kind--he is too busy wallowing in self-pity and seeking a cure for his girlfriend Susan's vampire curse--but the White Council has decided to hold a vote to determine whether he should be stripped of his Wizard status based on actions in Grave Peril, and the tiebreaker refuses to vote unless Harry can secure the Winter Court's support in their battle with the vampires.

The cast of characters is massive and too confusing to keep track of, and most of them are introduced for the first time in this novel. Faerie-kind abound in the form of foes and allies (Ogres, Trolls, Faerie-Wannabes, Seductress Queens, Plant Monsters, Toot-Toot and his pixie friends). Harry's chief source of aid are the Alphas, young-adult werewolves from Fool Moon, and Detective Karrin Murphy, to whom he (finally!) confesses the whole sordid, supernatural history about himself and the NeverNever.

Maybe it's just me, but having read the first four first Harry Dresden books back to back, I am starting to notice irritating idiosyncrasies that interfered with my enjoyment of the novel (the expletive "Hell's bells" is colorful and quirky, but grates on the nerves when used so repetitiously). Harry's penchant for guilt trips and stumbling headlong into danger because of rookie mistakes (gullibility chief among them) grows tiresome after four books in a row. One hopes the character will develop more maturity in future books. Some of Harry's decisions seem downright foolish for an experienced Wizard, but to be fair, Harry does accept help from friends on this case, a marked departure from his typical lone-wolf style of doing things.

Butcher seems to have a pattern of ending chapters on a high tension note, and following new chapters with a sluggish "explanation" of something before connecting previous threads, like TV episodes that recap the first half of the show after commercial breaks. This makes for bloated narrative, and while the story overall is fast-paced and full of action sequences, the prolonged descriptions can sometimes be tedious, especially towards the end of the book. Harry's last-minute magical escapes (often) seem to come out of left-field as he pulls the proverbial rabbit out of his hat, so to speak. Considering his Wizarding credentials, I would have liked to see him in a more commanding role during some of these magical misadventures.

In comparison to previous novels, Summer Knight just did not hold my interest as much. Perhaps reading the books back-to-back contributed to this lackluster appreciation of the story, but I am not giving up on the series. I will definitely be reading Book 5, but may have to take a break from Dresden's world to decompress first.