Blood Rites

Worth the wait!

I was determined to listen to the Dresden series in order, so it was a pleasant surprise when books 6 & 7 became available months earlier than expected! Blood Rites features a fairly new and interesting character, Kincaid the bodyguard of the Archive. I'm looking forward to hearing more of his story in future books. Love the addition of Mouse!

James Marsters sounds more polished and "edited" than in the earlier books, but the books are becoming more complex and polished as well. It's still a fine matching of narrator and author.

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

another terrific installment in the series...

...and another excellent audiobook performance by James Marsters, who really brings the series to life.

When Harry's incubus friend Thomas calls in a favor, Harry finds himself working on the set of a porn movie, trying to figure out who...or what...is trying to close down the production by killing off the film's female stars. Of course, there are many, many complications, high danger, White Court vampire intrigues, and of course, Jim Butcher's trademark witty dialogue.

A thoroughly entertaining audiobook!

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

This installment really brought it!

I've been enjoying this series thus far, but this installment really brought it! The porn star murder mystery had barrel-of-laughs written all over it, doubly so with Harry Dresden on the case. BLOOD RITES put a lot of the characters' roles into perspective; Murphy tries being a vigilante on for size, Ebenezar is not what he seems, and Thomas—I did NOT see that one coming. This book was a turning point for THE DRESDEN FILES, and... PUPPIES!

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

New developments keep this alive and strong

I very much enjoyed the plot twists and character developments in this book. It opens up boundless opportunities for more Dresden Files. This is one though that would be hard to read without preamble.

Marsters is a Master!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

I LOVE this series!

Jim Butcher is a great writer, I've enjoyed all of his books thus far.
And James Marsters who reads the books is equally as fantastic. It took me a while to get used to the sighing and deep breaths, etc, but after I did and realized it is just part of the main character Harry's persona I loved it.
It is hard for me to stick to only buying one book per month and not zooming through the whole series as fast as I can!

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Oh, Harry, how we love thee...

*Book source ~ Purchased at Audible

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only wizard and a private investigator, agrees to take a job recommended to him by White Court vampire Thomas Wraith. Arturo Genosa, film producer, appears to be targeted by an entropy curse and Thomas would like for Harry to protect Arturo & the people on the set and find out who is behind the curse. Since Thomas had helped Harry rescue a litter of Tibetian Temple puppies from a pretty dicey situation, Harry agrees to look into it. Little did he know he would end up with a puppy, working on the set of a porn film and getting in the middle of White Court vampire politics. Some days he really shouldn’t leave his apartment.

Guest reviewers:
A ~ my 16-yr-old daughter
T ~ my 14-yr-old son
K ~ my 13-yr-old son

I think, by far, the most favorite addition to the growing cast in the Dresden Universe is Mouse the puppy. Everyone loves him. There’s news about Thomas that was a surprise, but everyone cautiously likes, Ebenezer and Kincaid are back and still favorites though Kincaid is a mystery that needs solving and Anna particularly liked meeting Murphy’s family though no one liked her sister. They thought it was interesting to see Thomas’s Hunger and the whole bit in the picture gallery was a big surprise.

The fight with the Black Court vampires was a hit and we thought the part where Murphy had to take her pants off was funny. It really is. You’ll see. A & T did not like what happened to Harry during the fight (his injury), but K did. When asked why his reply was: “It looks cool and I know what happens in future books.” Well, ok then. :D

Favorite moments:
A ~ meeting Mouse or any part with Kincaid in it. (Hmmm…)
T ~ the conclusions to any and all fights
K ~ when Trixie died because she was really annoying

Favorite quotes has a tie:
“Everyone stopped to blink at that for a second. I mean, come on. Impaled by a guided frozen turkey missile. Even by the standards of the quasi-immortal creatures of the night, that ain’t something you see twice. “For my next trick," I panted into the startled silence, ‘anvils.”

“An errand is getting a tank of gas or picking up a carton of milk or something. It is not getting chased by flying purple pyromaniac gorillas hurling incendiary poo!” ~ Thomas

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Boring

The dialogue in these books has gotten progressively more cheesy while the storytelling has gotten more boring. I can't bring myself to read anymore in the Dresden series. It's a shame too because the concept was interesting.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another great installment

There are so many praiseworthy elements to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. Time to note a couple of them that I haven't mentioned before:
1) JB knows how to steal from the best. I think all writers steal - all artists, for that matter - and the best do so in such a way that the audience doesn't mind a bit. J.K. Rowling is an excellent example of this. She stole all sorts of plot elements from things she'd read along the way (sorry Ursula K. Le Guin). Here, Butcher steals from her. Isn't the world full of lovely karma?
2) James Marsters. Marsters is so good, such a wonder with intonation, accents - he does things with lines that are utterly unique, things that I'm certain the author never anticipated. This duo of author and narrator are perfect for one another, and it's impossible for us, at this point, to accept anyone else as Harry's "voice."

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Rooting for the bad guys

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Harry is a wizard whose powers seem to be limited at most times. His favorite spell is "fuego" which seems to be one of the few spells he can do. If someone holds a gun on him, he's trapped and at a lost for how to get out of the situation. Other reviewers said the series gets better and book 5 was fairly interesting, however, Book 6 was a huge disappointment.

I wouldn't call Harry a Wizard -- amateur magician is a better description.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Not another Dresden Files book! I've read through Book 6 hoping the series would improve. Time to move on to another author!

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Still Going Strong

To be honest, Blood Rites is not my favorite of the Dresden Files, but, given that, it's still very good and still worthy of 5 stars. I guess I just enjoy this series that much.

Considering the awesomeness of books 3-5, it was going to take a hell of a lot for Butcher to top himself again. Truthfully, Butcher gave it a good shot. As usual, there's a twisty plot, well-written action scenes, and black humor. On top of that Blood Rites was chocked full of solid character development, and not just for Harry; there are a lot of really powerful scenes involving Thomas.

I really like that Butcher's characters are not flawless and they are forced to live with the consequences of their decisions. They are also not invincible (although some are pretty close). Okay, Butcher isn't going to kill off his protagonist, but Harry never gets through a novel unscathed.

My only real complaint about Blood Rites is that part of the central plot surrounds an adult film. It did lead to some humorous moments on occasion, but it just didn't work that well for me. The characters were kind of dull and it just didn't compare to some of the other parts of the plot.

Blood Rites is the second book in the series to be produced by Penguin Audio, which means that the narration and production quality are outstanding. James Marsters makes an excellent Harry Dresden and he has done a superb job since Penguin took over.

Without question, if you enjoyed the first five books, you'll love Blood Rites as well.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful