Product Description

The White Council of Wizards has drafted Harry Dresden as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in Chicago. Malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in the Windy City, but it's all in a day's work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5856 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 496 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780451461032
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Harry Dresden, Chicago's only consulting wizard, takes on phobophages, creatures that feed on fear who attack a horror film convention, in the diverting eighth installment of Butcher's increasingly complicated Dresden Files series (Dead Beat, etc.). Harry finds that fighting monsters is only the prelude to maneuvers amid the warring wizards of the White Council and the vampire Red Court. Less and less V.I. Warshawski with witchcraft, Harry aims his deductive powers at political intrigues rather than crime solving. The body count from the magical melees, however, would do any hard-boiled gumshoe proud. Butcher's believable, likable set of characters go for the jocular much more than the jugular. Deeper fears do run through the book, and Harry, taking on an apprentice, has to face up to the consequences of his all-too-human failings. Look for the series to really take off with the debut of a two-hour pilot on the Sci-Fi Channel this summer produced by Nicholas Cage. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
The second Dresden Files hardcover finds Chicago wizard Harry Dresden assigned an unpleasant task by the White Council of Wizards. He has to find out where the Winter Fairy Court stands in the White Council's war against the vampires. To make matters worse, he has gotten a missive from a powerful wizard claiming someone is using black magic in Chicago. It doesn't take long for Harry to pinpoint the source of the problem. Molly, the daughter of a close friend, comes to him for help after her boyfriend is accused of attacking an elderly theater owner at a horror-movie convention. When another attack occurs and Harry sees the dangerous type of magic used, he knows he is dealing with a very serious threat indeed. Butcher is in fine form here, and with the Sci Fi channel in the process of turning the first Dresden Files novel, Storm Front (2000), into a TV movie, expect the series' audience to grow. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
A fast and furious adventure. -- Entertainment Weekly

What would you get if you crossed Spencer with Merlin? Probably you would come up with someone very like Harry Dresden, wizard, tough guy and star of [The Dresden Files]. -- Washington Times

Customer Reviews

Dresden takes off yet again
After the events in Dead Beat, Harry Dresden is now a Warden of the White Council, and one of his first official acts you see him perform is to bear witness to the execution of a young warlock, no more then a child, corrupted by his own power. From that moment on you should be able to chart where the book will take you.

If you know anything about Harry Dresden you will figure out his feelings about what happened to that young man. If the previous novel was a showcase Harry's slow decent to darkness, then this book will show his firm resolve to the do the right thing and accept the consequences for all of his actions.

Like Dead Beat, Butcher takes pains to pick almost forgotten threads from previous novels and weave them into his story with great care, this time it is not quite as obvious.

This time out Harry is warned of dark magic being afoot, and a request for help by the daughter of the last man on earth he wants to be involved with, Michael Carpenter Knight of the Cross. With Harry sharing his brain with one of the Denarii, Lasciel he fears that Michael may take issues with this as well as the recent events and his downward spiral to darkness. Harry reluctantly gets involved, and nothing plays out the way he thinks.

The book is shorter then some of the previous installments, that only means Butcher cut out a lot of loose talk and got right too it, Zelazney style. He manages to flood in detail after detail without drowning you in it. New readers beware, while Butcher attempts to get people caught up by giving brief recaps, they do not do the stories justice.

Butcher also dusted off a couple of unused characters and made them shine like jewels, just as he made Waldo Butters a hero in Dead Beat. He is absent in this book, but you can feel the polka beat whenever you turn the page.

The humor level is high, and while things are grave, it is nowhere near as grave as they are in Dead Beat or Blood Rites. Proven Guilty did not give us that feel of time running out and the world would end soon. It forshadows, very effectively, that things in Harry's world will become very, very big and even more dangerous in the near future. As again the traitor in the White Council seems to strike, the Vampire War takes another turn, the affairs of the Sidhe are revisited with catastrophic consequences for those involved, and Harry's personal life.....well you will have to read the book for more.

Without a doubt this is my favorite novel beside Summer Knight, and it may even surpass it. The story was well told, dialogue was spot on. Murphy seemed a bit too relaxed but after her disappearance in the last book I didn't realize how much I missed her presence. Once again I thank whatever muse made me pick up that loneley looking paperback sitting on a bookshelf six years ago in Waldenbooks. Well done Mr. Butcher.

Fast-paced and utterly enjoyable!
The latest book in the Dresden series is a real treat. Dresden receives a warning that black magic is heading for his hometown, and he heads out to stop it. On his way, though, he gets sidetracked into helping a friend's daughter who has a ton of problems of her own. In typical Dresden fashion, he spreads himself too thin, tries to help too many people, gets beat up almost as much as Bruce Willis in a Die Hard movie -- and he does it all with a grin on his face and a snappy one-liner that usually relates to a horror or SF movie.

The plot's a tad obvious (I called several twists by halfway through the book), and some of the dialog with Murphy is annoyingly awkward, but Harry has the heart and soul of a hero, and he's a fantastic character to join on a good romp through dark magic and the weird Nevernever. Some have compared this series to the Anita Blake series, but Harry is far more likable, heroic, and mythic. He's just a lot more enjoyable to be around than Anita ever has been.

One cool -- and totally unexpected -- surprise.... This book contains one of the best expressions of Christian faith I've read in a fiction novel ever. Don't be fooled and don't let that turn you off if you're not a Christian. This is not a "Christian" novel -- those are notoriously poorly written -- and Dresden, with a fallen angel swimming around in his head, never claims to be a Christian himself. But some of the characters in this book are Christians, and I appreciated seeing them portrayed realistically and with respect to their faith.

If you've never read a Dresden book, you could pick this one up with little problem. The cast of characters may feel a little overwhelming since they've been building from the previous seven books, but they're distinct in their own rights, and Butcher does a good job recapping each when they first show up. Overall, another fantastic entry in a wonderful series of books.

FANTASTICAL......................
What can I say about Harry,plenty. Harry gets caught up with Michael's family again only this time Molly,his young daughter is caught in the Fae clutches. I have to say that I never enjoyed Charity, Michael's wife but after this book I have great respect for Charity, and her strength and love for her family. Molly comes across as a good and sympathetic character in her own right. We also find out about Charity's and Molly's great power and how dangerous they can be. For some reason even Karrin came across well in this book and even Thomas. Loved seeing Mouse take center stage as well. Now I have the grueling task of waiting another whole year for the next great book in this fantastic series. Hurry up Jim, I can't wait for the next book. The only great mystery will be who be the new in Harry's love life. The only unsolved piece of this great puzzle.