SBear

I found the subplots a bit Dickensian and they didn't totally contribute to the story for me. John Glover is a very good actor and he read the story, all right, but if you get James Marsters to record it I will even buy it again. I listen to audiobooks when I'm too tired for anything else, and James Marsters makes Dresden come alive.

It looks as if audiobooks are going to be the entertainment of choice for a while. It's a long tiring drive to the movie theater and then the ticket gives me sticker shock. TV is an uninspired hodgepodge of the parade of police procedurals, mean-spirited elimination contests, gleeful exterminators and fishermen, and, of course, the potty-mouth chef! In short, audiobooks have to be entertainment now, not just, "here, I'll read it to you."

Seanan McGuire has created a unique world of magic and evocative paranormal characters of many different kinds, all plausible within the world and many of them likeable. There's enough vivid description so you can enter this magical world with all its sounds, sights, and especially scents, and absolutely be in it for a time. There's plenty of action that doesn't devolve into a wallow in senseless gore, and there's friendship and love that doesn't descend to levels of smut. I'm really happy with our hero----brave, coffee-loving, resourceful little October.

I am so glad that this series has been offered on Audible. The publisher has offered it in mass market paperback, with the typical font that's hard on your eyes, and MP3 CD, which is a format that many people lack the equipment to play, and lacks any way to mark your place or to fast-forward back to the place where you left off. What were they thinking? This is too good a series and too much fun to restrict it to these two choices, poor ones in my opinion. In Audible we can all get the book in a form compatible with the equipment we have.

If you love Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, you'll feel the same about Seanan McGuire's October Daye series. I'm choosing another in the series right now, and I can't wait for another imaginative and humorous romp!

We see a lot of old characters in new ways, as well as a fierce new little fairy in fishhook armor. Mab's ruthlessness and viciousness takes a vivid turn and yet at the end Harry defies her despite being her vassal. We see Mac in a new light and with new mysteries. Harry must deal with new and disturbing impulses which are probably brought on by the mantle of the Winter Knight. We come to understand the purpose of Demonreach, and we see it both as a place and a character. The Winter Lady shows incredible vulgarity and murderous intent, and as a result Harry winds up with friends in the Winter Court. Harry's mother's silver pentacle is returned to him, and he is gifted with a new leather coat, so we have the feeling we're getting back to the old Harry again. Harry and Karrin Murphy share a tender moment, and at the very end we still have a lot of mysteries but not one of those painful cliffhangers we've seen before in the Dresden Files series.

James Marsters is a great narrator as always, and the book is amazing. What's not to like?

I'm looking for a new series with magic, action, and interesting, evolving characters. I had to stop listening halfway through this one. This was more of a catalogue of evil creatures, horrible deaths, bodily fluids, and chainsaw type mayhem. I much prefer characters, including villains, to have self-awareness, an emotional life, and development! I loved Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, but of course I've yummed all 13 books down, and the next one will be a good old time coming. A Discovery of Witches was a bit heavy on description, but every bit of it moved the plot along and it was a good experience.
I don't think I'll try this author again for a while. This was more like skimming the horror comic books.