Paperback: 0451458923, $6.99

The previous book in the series, Grave Peril, was the kind of book a fan reads just to find out what’s happening next with the characters, so it was with some caution that I picked up my copy of Summer Knight. I was, honestly, afraid that the momentum and pure fun Butcher whipped up in the first two Harry Dresden books was destined to only make for a slow, disappointing slide.

And I was very wrong, thankfully.

In Summer Knight Butcher hits that perfect stride between adventure, mystery, a touch of romance and plenty of humor that was off in Grave Peril. It opens with Dresden, nearly mad and driven to his own destruction over the tragedy that befell his girlfriend Susan in the last book, investigating a literal rain of toads at a Chicago park. While there Dresden barely escapes a hit, aided by a werewolf buddy, and returns home to meet a would-be client. Only the client turns out to be none other than the Winter Queen of the Fairies, who has bought his debt to his fairie godmother and in return wants three favors from him.

The first, which he is told he has full permission to decline, is to seek out the true killer of the knight of the Summer court, clearing the Winter Queen’s name. But while still considering whether he’ll take the task or not Dresden meets with the White Council, part of which is trying to blame him for starting the war between wizards and the Red Court of vampires. The Winter Queen, the Council finds, is willing to give the wizards aid in their fight against the vampires, if Dresden completes a task for them. Conveniently enough the White Council, less friendly than Harry would like to admit to, demands that he fulfill the Winter Queen’s task as he never did have a proper quest to become a full wizard in the first place. The quest will kill two birds with one stone, if it doesn’t kill Harry first.

Only the quest isn’t as simple as find the killer, something neither the White Council nor the Winter Queen (or even the Summer Queen) realize is going on, and Harry, the only one who can find the truth, is facing a full on Fairie War as well as a magical imbalance of the seasons that could rip the mortal world apart.

As always Dresden is in over his head, but is stubborn, sarcastic and determined to do what is right by the people around him, the people who depend on him one way or the other.

Summer Knight comes together with smoothness and wholeness that Grave Peril lacked. The stakes are just as high, the losses potentially just as bad, but the parts all fit together in a way that makes this addition to the Dresden Files an incredibly satisfying read.

Art by Ardian Syaf
*This is set before Storm Front, the first book in the series
Hardback: 0345507460, $19.95

“There’s a killer loose in the Lincoln Park Zoo, and I’m going after him. Though if you ask me, it seems a little unprofessional of him to come after me first. I’ve barely had time to stick my nose into anything.”

A trademark blend of magic, noir and sarcasm Welcome to the Jungle is a full color example of why Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden is so popular.

A special consultant to the Chicago police, Harry is called in when a man is found dead at the zoo under mysterious circumstances. The brass wants to blame Moe the gorilla, put him down and be done with it. Special Investigations lead Karrin Murphy knows the evidence isn’t adding up so she leaves the legwork that she can’t explain to her bosses to Harry. After all, the list of things that can choke a man bare handed has to be small, right?

But before Harry can put the monster who did this down, he has to dodge great cats under compulsion spells (to kill him, of course) and supernatural dog assassins, save the girl and save the gorilla.

Spiked with humor, fast paced and fabulously drawn, Welcome to the Jungle is a welcome addition to the Dresden mythos and a must-have for Dresden fans.

The first book in the Dresden Files series (ten books and counting so far) is a refreshing wind for the urban fantasy genre and this reader. One of the cannon examples of urban fantasy, a blending of mystery and paranormal in a modern setting often with a touch of romance, Storm Front is slanted more toward suspense than romance.

Harry isn’t another supernaturally endowed, kick-ass female heroine, taking on the world of evil and the world of men at the same time. Harry is a somewhat-awkward, technologically challenged wizard who only has his training and his will power working for him, and the mysterious “Doom of Damocles” (two strikes, one more and you’re out), a black wizard killing by magic, and a supernatural version of a patrol officer (who thinks he’s the killer) all working against him. As soon as Dresden figures out the black wizard is using spring storms to fuel his magic he also hears that he’s the next target. The next rumble of thunder could be bringing his death.

Storm Front is suspenseful, the use of the storms as both plot point and for tension is excellent. Dresden is a charming hero, who gets by by the skin of his teeth and sheer luck, not by out magicking (or out sexing) the bad guys. The romance angle is lightly handled, the humor organic and the story will keep pages turning. This book is a great start for men or women who want to test out the urban fantasy waters.