An Honest Review
Aug. 22nd, 2007 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
le_bebna_kamniI hope this will be the first (and only) friends-only post I ever have to do, especially for something that should be as public as a book review. But since I haven't heard back that the author has forgiven me (or at least heard my apology), I don't particularly want a repeat of last time.
[Update: this review has been moved to public, because I think that's where book reviews ought to be. I haven't heard back from the author, so I'm hopeful it's been long enough that he isn't interested in my opinion any longer, which is why I'm choosing to make it public at this time. (12-24-07)]
So without further ado...
Book #25: Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher
Fool Moon is the second installment of the Dresden Files series, and in this story Dresden tackles a case of werewolves committing murders across the city. I was a bit worried that it was going to follow the same path as the werewolf TV episode, but readers can breathe a sigh of relief that the plot is far more complex.
I definitely have to say that I felt ripped off. Not by the story, mind you, but by the publishers. Here I am, reading along happily as could be, and I get to page 101 and a third of the page is gone. The text stops mid-sentence, and the rest of the page is blank. Now, I wouldn't have minded so much if it had been an action sequence that I could have caught up on when the text resumed. No, it just had to be during one of the major information-revealing portions of the book. So I had to go through most of the book watching Dresden fill in the missing puzzle pieces without the benefit of that information. I got it all in the end, of course, but you can understand why I would feel cheated. ;P
I actually stumbled across several reviews of this book online when I was doing research for the first review, and many of them said that this was probably his weakest book. For about the first two-thirds of the book, I was really confused by these reviews, because the first two-thirds is pretty good.
One of the things I liked best about the book is that Dresden seems to be growing as a character, getting more realistic and less wooden. While the initial assessment of Dresden remains mostly the same, I think I'll chalk up his characterization in Storm Front to "first book syndrome". It's kind of like a new television series, which usually has hiccups as actors try to get the feeling of their characters and develop chemistry with the other actors. I look forward to seeing how Dresden improves over successive books.
One plot device that I saw used very frequently in novel was what I like to call the "plot dump". It usually happens when an author needs to get a lot of necessary information to the readers in order to move the plot forward in a short amount of time. Sometimes it works really well, like in the conversation he has with the demon Chauncy. And sometimes it just comes across as cheesy and unrealistic, like when Dresden is talking with his higher self while he's passed out. And the bad guy revealing his whole plan in front of the hero thing was a little old.
The first two-thirds of the book were pretty page-turning, but I had a hard time finishing the last part. A big part of this was due to Dresden himself. Dresden was injured in multiple ways, including a gun shot wound to the shoulder that went a couple days without stitches and a serious foot wound. And every scene he kept getting more injuries. The number of times that he climbed (or fell) over fences, fell from a moving car, got kicked or punched or jostled in his shoulder, beaten with a crowbar, etc. should have opened up his wounds enough times for him to bleed to death -- or die from shock. And he was going on maybe 2 1/2 hours sleep over multiple days. Don't get me wrong -- Dresden was slowed, debilitated magically, and passed out a few times during the novel, but he didn't suffer the effects that most mortals would (he has to have a CON of 20 or something, 2nd edition AD&D rules).
By the end, Dresden had gotten himself into a situation that he himself said multiple times he wouldn't make it through (and I was inclined to agree). Yet multiple times during the book Dresden tried things that even he said "I know this sounds stupid, but..." Now I'm of the general opinion that if you have to say "This sounds stupid, but..." in a fiction novel, it might be a good time to reconsider what you actually want the character to do. I also become skeptical when in spite of supposed stupidity, everything works out well in the end, thank the gods for the felicity of fate. I usually get bored when I see this pulled a few too many times in action movies, and unfortunately I was a little bored by the time the climactic scene rolled around.
While I haven't read his other books, I'm going to have to agree with the critics: probably not his best book. But I have the sneaking suspicion that he's getting better in his writing, so readers enjoying the series shouldn't give up after one shaky ending.
On a final note, I think I'll dub this installment of the Dresden Files the "interesting words novel". Page 78 gave me the word "gobbet", which connotationally speaking can imply chunks of flesh, but was well-used in referring to rust on an unsavory-looking building. The other one (and I kid you not) is "lickspittles", as in "You think the world wouldn't be better off without people like Marcone and his lickspittles?"
Yeah. "Lickspittles". I wonder when I can find an excuse to use that new gem in my vocabulary? ;)
[Update: this review has been moved to public, because I think that's where book reviews ought to be. I haven't heard back from the author, so I'm hopeful it's been long enough that he isn't interested in my opinion any longer, which is why I'm choosing to make it public at this time. (12-24-07)]
So without further ado...
Book #25: Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher
Fool Moon is the second installment of the Dresden Files series, and in this story Dresden tackles a case of werewolves committing murders across the city. I was a bit worried that it was going to follow the same path as the werewolf TV episode, but readers can breathe a sigh of relief that the plot is far more complex.
I definitely have to say that I felt ripped off. Not by the story, mind you, but by the publishers. Here I am, reading along happily as could be, and I get to page 101 and a third of the page is gone. The text stops mid-sentence, and the rest of the page is blank. Now, I wouldn't have minded so much if it had been an action sequence that I could have caught up on when the text resumed. No, it just had to be during one of the major information-revealing portions of the book. So I had to go through most of the book watching Dresden fill in the missing puzzle pieces without the benefit of that information. I got it all in the end, of course, but you can understand why I would feel cheated. ;P
I actually stumbled across several reviews of this book online when I was doing research for the first review, and many of them said that this was probably his weakest book. For about the first two-thirds of the book, I was really confused by these reviews, because the first two-thirds is pretty good.
One of the things I liked best about the book is that Dresden seems to be growing as a character, getting more realistic and less wooden. While the initial assessment of Dresden remains mostly the same, I think I'll chalk up his characterization in Storm Front to "first book syndrome". It's kind of like a new television series, which usually has hiccups as actors try to get the feeling of their characters and develop chemistry with the other actors. I look forward to seeing how Dresden improves over successive books.
One plot device that I saw used very frequently in novel was what I like to call the "plot dump". It usually happens when an author needs to get a lot of necessary information to the readers in order to move the plot forward in a short amount of time. Sometimes it works really well, like in the conversation he has with the demon Chauncy. And sometimes it just comes across as cheesy and unrealistic, like when Dresden is talking with his higher self while he's passed out. And the bad guy revealing his whole plan in front of the hero thing was a little old.
The first two-thirds of the book were pretty page-turning, but I had a hard time finishing the last part. A big part of this was due to Dresden himself. Dresden was injured in multiple ways, including a gun shot wound to the shoulder that went a couple days without stitches and a serious foot wound. And every scene he kept getting more injuries. The number of times that he climbed (or fell) over fences, fell from a moving car, got kicked or punched or jostled in his shoulder, beaten with a crowbar, etc. should have opened up his wounds enough times for him to bleed to death -- or die from shock. And he was going on maybe 2 1/2 hours sleep over multiple days. Don't get me wrong -- Dresden was slowed, debilitated magically, and passed out a few times during the novel, but he didn't suffer the effects that most mortals would (he has to have a CON of 20 or something, 2nd edition AD&D rules).
By the end, Dresden had gotten himself into a situation that he himself said multiple times he wouldn't make it through (and I was inclined to agree). Yet multiple times during the book Dresden tried things that even he said "I know this sounds stupid, but..." Now I'm of the general opinion that if you have to say "This sounds stupid, but..." in a fiction novel, it might be a good time to reconsider what you actually want the character to do. I also become skeptical when in spite of supposed stupidity, everything works out well in the end, thank the gods for the felicity of fate. I usually get bored when I see this pulled a few too many times in action movies, and unfortunately I was a little bored by the time the climactic scene rolled around.
While I haven't read his other books, I'm going to have to agree with the critics: probably not his best book. But I have the sneaking suspicion that he's getting better in his writing, so readers enjoying the series shouldn't give up after one shaky ending.
On a final note, I think I'll dub this installment of the Dresden Files the "interesting words novel". Page 78 gave me the word "gobbet", which connotationally speaking can imply chunks of flesh, but was well-used in referring to rust on an unsavory-looking building. The other one (and I kid you not) is "lickspittles", as in "You think the world wouldn't be better off without people like Marcone and his lickspittles?"
Yeah. "Lickspittles". I wonder when I can find an excuse to use that new gem in my vocabulary? ;)
