[Spoilsport Stonny]

Sorry, i am halfway thru Fool Moon right now. Im really enjoying the things like the potions and Dresdens magic but am so-so on the story so far. Dunno...werewolves? But its definitely fun and a good mystery. Looking to get thru this one and have a ball with the next few which i hear tell are quite good.

[Tehol the Only]

That was exactly my reaction to Fool Moon (my least favorite in the bunch).. nice background and all but i really didn't care much about all the wolves. (but i must admit that the various "categories" of WW in the book are quite intriguing).

Don't worry, things will get a LOT more interesting in the next book.

[Silencer]

Yup, Dresdencrack is a nice semi-rapid descent into addiction. The first couple have enough to keep you reading, the third/fourth one hooks you utterly and then you've gone and read them all in what feels like a day and you're suffering withdrawal waiting for the next one.

[Tehol the Only]

Followed up by "Oh my god what the fuck is happening MUST READ MOAR" in every following book.

[Cedz]

I've just recently gotten my girlfriend into reading the Dresdencrack and it's immensely fun hearing her reactions to each book. She is just starting Grave Peril so is at a similar place to Stonny. I always find it interesting hearing similar opinions from new readers on here. The first two books are definitely just fairly standard introductory quality stories and the series really starts getting good at Grave Peril and beyond.

[Dolorous Menhir]

So the subtitle "did not dislike" was enough to bring me to hear to share my disbelief. As praise for an excellent series goes, that is weak, weak, weak. But the reader is only starting out. He'll be an Abyss-level addict in no time.

[Abyss]

Dolorous Menhir, on 16 May 2013 - 05:26 AM, said:

...the reader is only starting out. He'll be an Abyss-level addict in no time.

I can quit whenever i want.

[Spoilsport Stonny]

Sorry for not follwing up sooner, but I finished Fool Moon about two weeks ago and just wanted to process it.

I fucking loved this book.

Now I know most fans think its the low point, and if that truly is the case, then I can't wait to get through the rest of the series.

My opinions, first with the negative.

SPOILERS FOR FOOL MOON BELOW!!!!!

BADS:
- It kind of followed the same formula of something bad happens-->Dresden investigates-->He lies to Murphy-->Bob helps makes potions-->etc. etc.--> He pulls a win out of his ass-->Murphy forgives-->Dresden gets laid. I think its why I was skeptical until the jail scene.
- All the injuries he sustained should have pretty much rendered him in a coma. I realize he took the refresher potion, but it wore off quickly and I found his energy levels near the end, before he donned the belt, to be a little too much.
- Man, those FBI agents were bad shots.
-If a werewolf runs amok in a jail cell in a police station in a major city like Chicago, I would expect the National Guard or at least some kind of organized SWAT team to have been involved in hunting it down. Too many cops were killed for the real authorities to not have been involved.
-The Northwest Passage idea was kind of silly.
- He should have thought of his own inherited silver long before he actually did.

GOODS:
- The action was nonstop. Once he took the discreet potion, it was balls out, fast paced high energy supernatural mayhem. I loved every minute of it. THe werewolf in jail, the bike gang beatdown, the escape from police through the woods, the finale at Marcone's, HE BECAME A FUCKING WEREWOLF!!! Awesome. Just awesome.
- The relationship with Susan, I think, is a great way to explore his soft side. THe idea that she has to separate her work from her pleasure and the short section that dealt with that lends their relationship a real depth and gives him a human quality that I can relate to.
- Murphy is good cop, but a bad friend. I would put this in the bad section, except that it also lends depth to THEIR relationship. Why are they close? Why do they trust each other? What keeps them working together? Looking forward to how this plays out.
- All the threads are tied together, from his apprentice's request at the beginning, her death and how it all fit in together, Marcone's dead employee, the Feds, Bikers, McFinn, Tara, Marcone, the nerdy werewolf kids, it all fit, and fit well.
- They killed Charmichael. I thought he would be a foil for Dresden for a long while. Nope. Not disposable, but used in a way to elicit a reaction from the reader. I didn't flinch at all the other dead cops, but that one...it hit me.
- The twist with Tara being a wolf that becomes human and not the other way around...woah. It worked. And just the way its tossed off there at the end...
- HE BECAME A FUCKING WEREWOLF!!! Awesome. Just awesome. I was waiting for it, but still didn't expect it. The flirtations with the "dark side" seem to hinting at future things too.

Overall, I did not go in with high expectations, and that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. It was fun and it wasn't a waste of time, while still being an easy read. I felt the connection to the characters and rooted for Dresden all the way. A great supernatural hero tale with a good magic system and allusions to something bigger than just "wizard fights werewolf".

That said, I started Grave Peril last night and already it seems to be headed in a different direction. I love the concept of the Knight...looking forward to digging into this one over the weekend.

[Illuyankas]

In my personal opinion both Storm Front and Fool Moon were fun but with some flaws when I first read them, and utterly terrible dreck I can't bring myself to touch again in comparison to the rest of the series when I was coming back to reread everything, so that's something to look forward to.

[Salt-Man Z]

Fool Moon was my fave until Death Masks, so there you go.

[Dolorous Menhir]

Well, if you liked these parts of Fool Moon, you are going to love the rest of the series. LOVE.

Spoilsport Stonny, on 17 May 2013 - 01:45 PM, said:

GOODS:
- The action was nonstop. Once he took the discreet potion, it was balls out, fast paced high energy supernatural mayhem. I loved every minute of it. THe werewolf in jail, the bike gang beatdown, the escape from police through the woods, the finale at Marcone's, HE BECAME A FUCKING WEREWOLF!!! Awesome. Just awesome.
- The relationship with Susan, I think, is a great way to explore his soft side. THe idea that she has to separate her work from her pleasure and the short section that dealt with that lends their relationship a real depth and gives him a human quality that I can relate to.
- Murphy is good cop, but a bad friend. I would put this in the bad section, except that it also lends depth to THEIR relationship. Why are they close? Why do they trust each other? What keeps them working together? Looking forward to how this plays out.
- All the threads are tied together, from his apprentice's request at the beginning, her death and how it all fit in together, Marcone's dead employee, the Feds, Bikers, McFinn, Tara, Marcone, the nerdy werewolf kids, it all fit, and fit well.
- They killed Charmichael. I thought he would be a foil for Dresden for a long while. Nope. Not disposable, but used in a way to elicit a reaction from the reader. I didn't flinch at all the other dead cops, but that one...it hit me.
- The twist with Tara being a wolf that becomes human and not the other way around...woah. It worked. And just the way its tossed off there at the end...
- HE BECAME A FUCKING WEREWOLF!!! Awesome. Just awesome. I was waiting for it, but still didn't expect it. The flirtations with the "dark side" seem to hinting at future things too.

Overall, I did not go in with high expectations, and that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. It was fun and it wasn't a waste of time, while still being an easy read. I felt the connection to the characters and rooted for Dresden all the way. A great supernatural hero tale with a good magic system and allusions to something bigger than just "wizard fights werewolf".

That said, I started Grave Peril last night and already it seems to be headed in a different direction. I love the concept of the Knight...looking forward to digging into this one over the weekend.

[Cedz]

Oh just you wait Stony, just you wait .

[Spoilsport Stonny]

I am about 100pages into Grave Peril. Its been a relatively busy news month (that's my job) and I got bogged down with some personal stuff. Plus I'm training on mobile app development, and the free time is short. I will pick it up tonight, though, or at least that's the plan.

[Spoilsport Stonny]

No not really that, its cool. I like Michael as a character so far. But my head says don't trust him. He's too pious to just let Harry be Harry. It had a real Ghostbusters feel to it at the beginning, though. Kinda cool. You're making me want to go read it now...

[Tattersail_]

And nothing more. I enjoyed reading this thread and actually liked each comment by Stonny

Anyway, I'm rereading Storm Front. Only a couple of chapters in. I might be said this before and Stonny mentioned it up above.

Spoilers for Storm Front..

Spoiler

Dresden visits Murphy at hotel.
There's a murder by magic.
Woman turns up at Harrys work.
Husband interested in magic gone missing.
Lost his job.
Would do anything to support his family.
Then the scorpion

Yet he does not entertain the idea of the two being connected.

[Abyss]

Tattersail_, on 15 December 2015 - 07:33 PM, said:

And nothing more. I enjoyed reading this thread and actually liked each comment by Stonny

Anyway, I'm rereading Storm Front. Only a couple of chapters in. I might be said this before and Stonny mentioned it up above.

Spoilers for Storm Front..

Spoiler

Dresden visits Murphy at hotel.
There's a murder by magic.
Woman turns up at Harrys work.
Husband interested in magic gone missing.
Lost his job.
Would do anything to support his family.
Then the scorpion

Yet he does not entertain the idea of the two being connected.

I'm blanking - other than the fact of the scorpion attacking at the same time as the investigation, is there anything to connect the two?

Also, don't events move fairly quickly after the scorpion attack, such that in (what would become) typical Dresden fashion, Harry doesn't really have time to just sit around thinking about the case?

[Obdigore]

Abyss, on 15 December 2015 - 09:07 PM, said:

Also, don't events move fairly quickly after the scorpion attack, such that in (what would become) typical Dresden fashion, Harry doesn't really have time to just sit around thinking about the case?

I just did a Dresden re-read, and I'm pretty damn sure he figures it out while on the phone with Murphy, who is at his office, and he starts telling her not to dig around in his desk drawers because of the scorpion.

[Tattersail_]

Obdigore, on 01 January 2016 - 05:28 AM, said:

Abyss, on 15 December 2015 - 09:07 PM, said:

Also, don't events move fairly quickly after the scorpion attack, such that in (what would become) typical Dresden fashion, Harry doesn't really have time to just sit around thinking about the case?

I just did a Dresden re-read, and I'm pretty damn sure he figures it out while on the phone with Murphy, who is at his office, and he starts telling her not to dig around in his desk drawers because of the scorpion.

Yes, I was only a couple of chapters in there. He pretty much works everything out in less than a week which is pretty impressive.

[Abyss]

..and pretty much the pattern for the books. Aside from flashbacks, pretty much each book covers only a couple of days at most a week, with roughly a year between each.

[Aptorian]

It's been sooo long since the last Dresden book. I can barely remember this series any longer. It's about some white haired old lawyer named Kojak who drives around in a talking helicopter called Herbie, trying to solve the case before it selfdestructs or something, right?