White Night: The Dresden Files, Book 9

First, an update, since no one who left a review complaining of it has done so: The audio file is intact, not corrupt and contains the full contents of the book. I will assume either there was a download problem, or an issue with the hosted file that has since been corrected.

James Marsters has quickly become my favorite Audible narrator. He nimbly performs a wide cast of characters with many distinct voices, many of which are magical, evil or demons - I wonder how many throat lozenges he goes through a book. This is no dry reading, but a one-man show - mostly spent as Harry Dresden the droll, wise-cracking and sympathetic hero.

The pop culture references sometimes get laid on a little thickly, but they serve to ground Harry in the world as we know it, while he moves equally easily through the fantasy around him.

He is a magical Everyman in a world of intrigue among the heavy hitters of the supernatural world. He is increasingly distrustful of his fellow Wizards, targeted by ticked off vampires, training his new apprentice, worried about his brother the White Court vampire's secretive behavior, while he tries to track down the murderer staging the suicides of local women.

Did I mention the fallen angel in his head trying to corrupt him?

I love these books - There is both lighthearted humor, and darker drama - the characters are never just 'one thing' they all develop into multifaceted personalities and their relationships with Harry keep every book interesting.

With every book Harry seems to pick up a new friend to add to the close knit crew who follow from book to book and add to the depth of the underlying story in the series.

First, let me say that I was turned on to the hard copy books initially and loved the series from the start. Then I started travelling more for work and was nervous about having them in audio format starting with book # 8. No need to worry, it was even better than I could have hoped for. James Marsters does a GREAT job of bringing the story and people to life. His intonations, laughs and accents really help to make this an exciting listen. I have actually found myself driving around the block of my customers locations a few times just to get to the end of a chapter for a stopping point. Just like a book you can't put down. I strongly suggest you start with the books in order, now that they are available, to help understand the story development fully. It is good to watch Harry Dresden grow from the beginning and know where the other players come in at and get the background foundation. I am now up to book # 11 and they just keep getting better. I rate these books as 5 stars due to the story line and the excellent narration. Well done!

I love the Dresden world, I love the Chicago of his dreams and nightmares, the people and creatures who inhabit it, and I love Harry and his flaws and foibles and victories.

Jim Butcher must be one of the most positive writers on the planet. He's forever finding something interesting and worthwhile in underworld lords, demons, succubi, and anyone else who has blown it bigtime. His stories have an undercurrent of redemption and hope and I find myself smiling whenever I think of these novels with their graphic violence, murder, and mayhem as being feel-good!

But the books take moments to ponder philosophical ideas and complicated problems of pain and suffering and true love and beauty and elevate the standard noir material to something deeper and thoughtful. I love that.

I very occasionally get tired of Harry's drollery when it's in an improbably precarious predicament, and I personally get tired of the drawn out battle scenes, in the same way I do when I watch LOTR or any action film. But those are minor quibbles to a series of characters and events I find appealing and compelling.

This book in particular was one of the best of six books I've read so far. And I've read them out of order which while probably not ideal, hasn't diminished my enjoyment of the series and only vary rarely do I find myself confused by plot because Butcher does a good job of keeping readers up to speed on important history and backdrops.

I've never been much interested in Chicago until I picked up this series!

I would recommend White Night as one of the funnest Dresden books so far. I loved all the humor...my favorite lines coming at his entrance to the White Court gathering. When you listen to that part you will totally know what I mean:) As usual Marsters voice makes Harry bigger than life. I have a friend who has just read the books and I turned my audio book on and she agreed that the Harry in her head sounds just like Marsters. These books keep getting better and better. As long as Marsters continues to narrate the books I will definately keep listening to what happens next in Harry's life.

This is another brilliant book by Jim Butcher. A complex story with familiar characters and some new horrific villians. If you are a fan of urban fantasy this series is as good as it gets. Don't miss it. James Marsters does a fabulous job narrating the book. I have signed hardback copies of many of the books in the series but choose to listen to the audio instead because Harry Dresden is not the same without James Marsters.

I was really surprised at how much I liked the Dresden books. They are decently written, but the narration is superb, in my opinion. I was excited when two new books (this and Proven Guilty) came out on Audible. I listened to Proven Guilty in about a week, but when it came to White Night, the file was corrupted in the first 10 minutes. Half of the first chapter was cut out, and then the second chapter has another cut, with some insertion of something further in the book (I assume). This is the second time this has happened to an Audible selection. Considering how much I get from Audible, this is a very good percentage, but still irritating enough to make me comment.

In this book, Harry spends some time with the vampires of the white court which means there is some sex going on. Not that their's anything wrong with that. There is a bit more creeping around and investigating and less magical smack-downs which is a nice change of pace. Harry's sarcastic come backs in the face of an enemy feel a little forced sometimes, since he isn't so snarky the rest of the time. Small complaints about an otherwise outstanding entry in the Dresden files. My only warning is that if a persepctive reader/listener hasn't read other Dresden books, don't start here.

I love the Dresden books & was pleased to find them on audio. I am wondering why they're being released in reverse order though.

Also, you will find two spots at the end of ch 1 and the middle of 2 where the audio skips. It's confusing if you haven't read the books. Here is what's missing

1) Harry finds the Bible verse 'suffer not a witch to live' written in a magical nature, obviously meant for him to find.

2) Molly has hidden herself under a veil and has followed Harry & Murphy to the crime scene. Murphy catches her.

Yes, the story telling is great...James Marster does a great job narrating this tale...and I am sure I would get even more enjoyment listening a 2nd time and catching stuff I missed the first time thru...

The other books in the Dresden Files...it continues Harry Dresden's story with great story telling and character development.

Harry Dresden

If you're Chicago's only Wizard P.I...some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed.

The pacing in these books is very similar, there is a lot of great action with a little bit of character building in each one to keep them growing. I really appreciate that about this series, none of the characters have become stale for me and I am still interested in each character’s life and want to see how they evolve.

The only thing getting on my nerves the number of times the basics are explained and re-explained in the books. I understand that it is important for each book to be accessible to a new reader who has not read the previous books, but does the entire system for how magic works really need to be explained in great detail in every book?