I mostly like this series. However, I'm certainly not a die hard "Dresdenite" from the Church of Harry. Dresden is NOT my literary BFF and, truth be told, spends far more time languishing under the heading OAA (Occasionally Annoying Acquaintance). I like the stories (so far), but that enjoyment comes with some mondo qualifications and some serious groans. However, before I rail against the main character's penchant for lame cheesy-flavored popCORNY, I'm going to begin with what I think are the real bright spots of this book, and the series. THE SUPERB:The world-building and various supernatural factions are both TIPPY TOP NOTCH, and I would almost continue to read the series for that alone. Almost. From previous books (though mentioned or appearing in this book) we have: The White Counsel (Wizards), the Red Court, White Court and Jade Court (all vampires), the Realm of Fairy (dealt with extensively in the previous book, Summer Knight) and the Knights of the Cross (maybe my favorite group). In addition, several news groups/factions are introduced in this installment. My favorite of these are the Denarians, who I thought were definitely applause-worthy. Describing them would necessitate spoilers, but their background/origin warrants some kudos to Mr. Butcher. So....kudos. I also crushed on the Archive (a powerful, neutral character) and the Fellowship of St Giles. Despite the plethora of different races, Butcher handles their power and socio-political backgrounds very well, and he provides enough "rules" and "limitations" to keep the whole thing from getting silly. This aspect of the book, and the whole series for that matter, is a no-brainer 5 STAR EFFORT in my opinion. Related to the worldbuilding, but separate enough to warrant special mention is the magic system created for the series. Dresden’s wizard powers are very well handled and never "jump the shark" into the realm of farce where you're left thinking he has a spell for everything. Like the worldbuilding, Harry's spells, wards and magical abilities are pretty well “grounded” and explained, and this gives them enough realism to make their presence a compelling part of the series.Again, for this aspect of the book and the series, I would say 5 STARS ALL THE WAY. THE GOOD:The plot of the book is fast-paced, well written and engaging. The writing is, for the most part, good (with one exception…see below), and the dialogue is decent to good (with one HUGE, GALACTIC-SIZED exception …again see below). However, while the writing is good, it doesn't measure up to the quality of Butcher’s other series, the Codex Alera. I don’t know if this is because he spends more time on the other books, but the prose and dialogue in the Codex Alera just seems to me to be more polished. This may just be a matter of personal taste. THE BAD TO SHITTY TO DOWNRIGHT PAINFUL:Okay...so, here we are...time for the bad stuff. Unfortunately, my biggest gripe with the book, and the series, has to do with good old Harry himself, beginning with the “dialogue” exception I mentioned above. Now, I have no problems with sarcastic and wise-cracking main characters, especially in books that are meant to be "light" reads. Thus, for much of the time, I think Dresden's wise ass not-quite-wise-but-not-dumb-ass remarks are fine and I even sometimes enjoy them....deep breath HOWEVER, when Harry is tied up and facing certain, brutal death/dismemberment, or confronted with a "the world is ending" scenario, then the “I am not really taking this seriously” jibes rocket into dumb-assville, and ruin all sense of dramatic tension. Even in a fairly “light” read, I find this problematic as I think the author wants me to feel the tension and suspense of those moments....I don't. Harry’s reactions really take the air out of what is supposed to be pivotal moments of the narrative. I would LOVE, just once, to see Harry become truly enraged and threaten to shove his staff up some magi-being's poop shoot. But no, my desire for a raging MAD-ON goes unfulfilled leaving my anger sack full and very, very "blue." Guys, we all know how painful that can be. Also loaded with much SUCKNESS is the way Harry is always going on about his being “over protective” of women, or “not always thinking rationally” when it comes to women, or the “sucker for a pretty face” moments. Holy gag-reflex-testers, Batman...enough already. These all to frequent moments make me just want to shake Harry until the douchy falls out of him.It isn't manly, it isn't chivalrous...It's just STUPID!! My final gripe is simply that, as many things as Jim Butcher is good to great at, writing a love scene is NOT ONE OF THEM. The 10 pages or so of this book in which Dresden and Susan are trapped in his place and "getting down to business" was NAUSEATING on a scale I have not experienced since the Kathy Bates nude scene in About Schmidt. Mr. Butcher, for the sake of your fans....no more (that goes for you too, Ms. Bates).Overall, I think the series has some real strengths. It just has “areas” that annoy me enough to really burrow under my skin. I still like it, but it is precarious. 3.0 stars.
Story: 3.5/5 I had thought I was coming to an end of my Dresden run with the last book Summer Knight. I was disappointed with a story that ambled along with confusing stories and characters that just did nothing for me. So believing that Jim Butcher had nothing new for me I approached Death Masks with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised. The story has a interesting plot. Of course our intrepid hero gets himself in a whole lot of trouble, with the usual mix of characters; Red court vampires, demons, the church, the knights of the church, the knights of the churches wife, sexy Susan with the seducing saliva and the Turin shroud. We see a whole new level of bad guys in this, even referencing back to Judas' coin and noose. A couple of Knights join the affray, Mr Miyagi and Dolph Lundgren team up to give some great new characters. On top of this we meet the Archive for the first time and her bodyguard Kinciad, who sounds way to cool and I am hoping we see more of these two in future books. On top of a dual to death at Wrigley Stadium (or was at the white sox ground?), fighting the demons and trying to find the shroud, we finally have Sexy Susan Rodriguez back (who i am visualising as Penelope Cruz). Our favorite half turned vamp is back as sultty as ever with saliva that will have you a drooling mess in the corner. Butcher takes us on a bit of a wild sex romp with Sexy Susan and it has all the makings of an Anita Blake story, vampires, black leather and bondage. Add that a visualisation of Penelope Cruz and it makes for some very flushed reading on a rush hour train journey.Needless to say, I really enjoyed this story. You have to accept the Mickey Spillane style of cheating death ten times a book, because thats the style, forget the improbabilities Dresdens ability to survive all this shit and you'll enjoy this for what it is. Just plain fun.Characters: 4/5 Dresden's character is pretty much maxed out on points. He isn't going to get any wiser, build empathy, become evil, he is good old Dresden and I like that. Bringing Sexy Susan back built the character development level of the story because she has changed. A lot. It was told well, bits and pieces became apparent and I really like the Susan angle and hope to see more of her. Ahem, maybe without the black leather and bondage. The other new characters Miyagi and Lundgren were really well written and it was easy to like both characters. The only character development i didn't like was Murphy. Our tough no nonsense cop became a wimp in this, her voice all went soft, she lost her hard edge, was compliant and really had a horrible part in this story. Seriously hoping she gets her mojo back for the next book. Read weight: Light I am listening to these stories on audio as they are a easy listen, especially when driving as the stories are generally very light and quick. Engagement: 5/5 For the first time in a Dresden book I couldn't turn it off. I wanted more, then more. Completely engaged in this story.
Do You like book Death Masks (2003)?
4.5 Stars*Breaks into song* "I'm just wild about Harry! And Harrys' just wild about me!!" Sorry, but this series is getting better and better. More bad guys, more Michael (swoons), Marcone being evil & suave at the same time, Harry rescuing everyone and being rescued. A. Lot. All of this craziness over a piece of cloth.The Shroud. Turins Shroud.If that is not something to get killed over, then I don't know what is. Great story-line and non-stop action. For those who hate religion, this story-line does not get preachy, even with the Shroud in it.
—Alondra
Fantastic!I have heard regularly that Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series only really kicks off from the 3rd, 4th or 5th book, depending on the opinion giver, but damn! Book 5 really reached a whole new level of awesomeness when compared to its predecessors.This book was action packed, funny, well written and kept me guessing as to how it all would end. What more could a reader ask for? Suffice it to say that I'm diving straight into the next one. In fact, I already paged to the first chapter before even starting this review.
—Eon (Windrunner)
*Audiobook edition*Poor Harry Dresden.You sweet, oddly sexy, powerful wizard. You just CAN'T catch a break! I adore this series and I adore listening to it on audio. I think James Marsters just keeps getting better and better. I can hear a wider range of voices in this one than in the previous books, and he is so SO DAMN PERFECT as Harry Dresden. I could listen to these books all day, every day. Interestingly, a lot is left hanging at the end of this book. I can't wait to see where the next few books take me!
—Heather K (dentist in my spare time)
