Thursday, December 5, 2013

Book 64: Summer Knight

The fourth Dresden book is probably my least favorite so far.  The urban fantasy formula, which seems to have been invented Jim Butcher through his Dresden books, is basically just a mystery/noir dressed in wizardy clothing.  The first three were pretty much mind candy.  Nothing great, but some interesting characters and good pacing.  This one gets off the rails a bit for me.  I'm one of those who like the magic worlds to be mysterious and opened slowly.  I don't like elaborate magic systems and alternate realities need a lot of oomph to get it right (think CS Lewis or the wonderul Lev Grossman books).  Butcher's attempts to create the Fairie kingdoms (or whatever they were called) fell really flat for me.  The characters were almost entirely interchangeable and it felt rushed more than well paced.  Still, I'm a fan, so I liked it, but just thought it strayed too far from what I enjoyed in the first three.

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