Summer Knight

The Dresden Files, Book 4

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: James Marsters

Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a very powerful wizard and a dedicated private eye. He is also a wise cracking trouble magnet. Fueled by a tempest of guilt, sleep deprivation, malnutrition, bad temper and frankly awful personal grooming. Harry is hurtling toward oblivion. According to Harry that is nobody's business but his own.

The Winter Queen of Faerie manipulates him into accepting a case to solve a murder and stop a war between the courts of Summer and Winter that could have literally earth shattering consequences. His own soul is up for grabs. Dresden must dig deep to discover that at time a willingness to accept a little help from your friends, be they a cub pack of werewolves, old loves in sheep's clothing, or a battalion of pizza loving dewdrop fairies, is a very good thing.

©2002 Jim Butcher (P)2006 Buzzy Multimedia

Harry & James are one.

Anyone who has made it this far LISTENING to the Harry Dresden series has to feel that James Marsters is the perfect Harry and one of the best overall narrators out there.

Jim Dale move over! James Marsters is the new leader in town...(at least Chicago). His tone, pitch, inflections and a host of different character voices make it seem like he is actually telling HIS story.

I have been listening to recorded books for decades & i can tell you a bad narration can ruin the experience; a great narration can make it hard to stop listening.
You probably could not go wrong with Jim Butchers story lines but then i wouldn't be going through them as fast as i am without Marsters.
The story in Summer Knight is extrodinary. Just when you think Butcher can't be more inventive, he comes up with more spells & monsters to make your pulse fly!

A 'Harry' Situation

I'm a fan of urban fantasy and I also love a good a detective story, so people have been telling me to read Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series for years. Since I find myself with very little time for reading at this particular moment in my life, I decided to check out the audio books. I'm glad I did.

James Marsters does a magnificent job giving a voice to Harry. I had read several of the short stories before I began reading the series, so I had an idea of what I thought Harry sounded like --- but now I can't picture Harry sounding any other way. James Marsters skillfully breathes life & emotion into Harry and the gang. I enjoy the various vocal nuances he brings to ALL the characters, and in this book there are MANY.

As for the story, Harry finds himself in some truly hairy situations in this book. (I suppose that is normal, but it seemed like more than usual.) We get a closer look at Wizard Dresden and what makes him tick. I haven't read all the books yet, but I didn't truly become invested until the last book, Grave Peril. I feel as though the series has hit its stride with the 4th installment, Summer Knight, in which we continue to see the measure of the man. I can't wait to listen to the rest of the series --- I can't imagine experiencing the books in any other fashion now.

Narration --- 5/5
Story --- 4/5

Decent

These books are good when nothing else to read. Harry is one of those characters that drives me crazy by either being a real a**hole for no reason but then with bad guys is Dudley Do-right and keeps giving bad guys a chance. The books are getting better but I think this was my last one for a while. Just started the Immortal series by Gene Douchette and it is amazing what a cool character and idea

Pleasant entertainment :)

Not deep at all. Comfort food in so many ways. The hard boiled detective who's a sucker for a damsel in distress. The guy who is ALWAYS taking a beating. An interesting compliment of companions (take Bob the Skull for example). Magnum PI... but with witches and vampires, etc. The story DOES progress book-to-book, but each story is complete in itself. I agree with others, the narrator is PERFECT for the job. LOL.

Love these books!

We have the print versions and took them to jamaica with us, they go very easy with rum. We have bought the audible books available but really want Books 5, 6 & 7! It leaves a big gap in the story line.
James Marsters is a very good narrator, he handles the characters very well. Jim Butcher has done a very good job with The Dresden Books! I am very cheap, so I really have to love a book to buy it in print and Audible!

Dizzy Dresden

Harry is in the middle of it again, this time he has it coming at him from all sides. The White Council is considering turning him over to the Vampire Council for a fire storm massacre, that Harry used, to save he and his cohorts in the last book. Mavv the head Winter Fairy is calling in a favor that Harry owes her, which is complicated, and not at all helping his case with the White Council. Susan, his estranged girlfriend, may become a Vampire at any moment, because of a situation that Harry feels guilty for putting her in. All in all a typical day in Harry's Dresden's wizarding life.

Harry turns to the only ones that will help him and the only ones he can trust, his police officer friend Murphy and a pack of young, but formidable werewolves. My favorite character, Bob, just had a brief cameo, but there is a fun appearance by the crazy fairies who love pizza. The Dresden files are great, paranormal, fun reads that are always amusing adventures. Starting at the beginning of the series is essential in order to understand Harry's complicated, discombobulated life.

Narrator sounds dried-out

I enjoy these books, however the narrator sometimes sounds like he REALLY needs a glass of water. I can hear all of his sticky mouth noises. It's quite distracting. I am glad that the new book will have some new blood!

I know I run the risk of public scourge but

I can't listen to James Marsters make mouth/swallowing noises again. I don't care how much I love him as an actor or how much I might enjoy the book I can't NOT hear the smacking and saliva noises of his mouth. Ok feel free to rip me a new one I'm good with it. Go.

Brilliant series but where is the next book ?!

Why, Audible, WHY CAN I NOT HAVE MORE DRESDEN BOOKS ON AUDIO? Please tell me there are more coming! I find it difficult to get time to read physical books but I can get through a lot of audio books while I'm working and I would love to listen to the entire series if it was available.

This is a fantastic series, and each book so far has been better than the last. I love all the detail about the Faerie courts and it's interesting to see a bit more of the White Council in this book.

love/hate

I really, really liked the first three books a lot more than the story in this one. I don't expect every book in the series to be perfect, but I am just giving an honest opinion. I still loved this book and enjoyed it, and do not regret reading it at all, but it just wasn't the same to me, as far as plot and closing chapters, as the first three.

He has such a way with words that I can visually put myself in every single situation the characters go through, and I am absolutely in love with the series. I love the character development with different groups of people in this book too, it seemed like he got involved with many more characters and that was really a plus. I enjoyed his difference in actions between all of them.

Cannot wait for the next book!!

An excellent audiobook

This is the fourth book in the \"Dresden Files\" series and it is right up to the high standard of the first three. New characters are introduced, existing characters developed in an interesting way and the fantasy background is widened very imaginatively. And the story simply hurtles along with unstoppable momentum, building to a terrific climax. All narrated superbly by James Marsters. Brilliant stuff and strongly recommended. Let's hope that Audible UK acquires the other books in the series, which are available to US readers on theAudible.com site.

Best of writing with best narration = awesome!

Combine Jim Butcher's great writing with James Marsters' unmatched narration and you end up with a great book in a fantastic series - if you like books set in what is close to our world, but with the fantasy elements of magic, fairies, vampires & other monsters, then this is the series for you!

Jim Butcher's is brilliant at writing characters, setting the scenes and action, giving a fabulous book series, his descriptions come to life on the page, but the way that they're read in these books is just amazing

I can't imagine a better narrator than James Marsters, the variety of characterisations he brings to the characters, plus the pacing of the way he reads the variety from romantic scenes to action, he is truly the best narrator that I've ever heard in the decades that I've listened to audio books!

If only all books on here were written as well, and read as well, then we would be spoiled, but alas, most are nowhere near this good - I'm surprised that authors aren't clamoring to get James to read their books - after his work on Buffy & Angel brought him to the public's knowledge, plus his other work on stage & screen, he is a chameleon, and it comes through in his readings - you have to listen to his audio renditions to understand how amazing he is, and how bad a lot of the others are!

thundering good story

This is part of a really addictive series of tales about Harry Dresden, the lone Chicago wizard.I check periodically for more additions to the series, but they seem a long time coming. James Marsters is a terrific narrator and keeps a lively pace. I think these are great and wish there were more.

Jim Butcher and James Marsters Are Amazing

I already loved Jim Butcher's works, I've read everything he's written. But his stories come even more alive with the brilliant readings down by James Martsters. Marsters does a wonderful job of giving each character their own, unique voice, as well as making Harry sound like the genre-savvy, wise-cracking wizard he is. This isn't the first Dresden Files audiobook I've listened to, and it certainly won't be the last.

Harry Dresden is at it again!

I am a big fan of the Dresden Files and have read them all over the years. A few years ago I bought Storm Front in audio format and I was not disappointed, James Marsters is a great narrator. As soon as I got my Audible membership I bought Fool Moon and Grave Peril soon after. It's been a few years and I intermittently check if the rest of the series has become available on audio. Lo and Behold! A few weeks ago I found that they were now all available! I used up the credits I'd stashed for a rainy day and got Summer Knight and Death Masks for listening.



Private detective/wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden is suckered into tangling in the affairs of Faerie, where the fate of the entire world-and his soul-are at stake, again.



The greatest thing about audio books is being able to multi task... playing with toddler, washing up, housework [Yuk] and knitting are all things I can do while listening to these great books.

Hope the saga picks up pace again in the next one.

I found the storyline in this installment quite slow and uninteresting. It's worth reading for the beloved characters, the new additions and James Marsters' brilliant portrayal of Dresden.

Easy to listen to, easy to enjoy!

Any additional comments?

I love everything about this series of books. I love the characters and how they are developing, just enough to keep you interested, but not quite enough, so you want to read the next book.

James Marsters is genius in reading them. Most unusual. It takes a little while to get used to it, but not long. It makes you feel really involved in the story. I have just listened to three Dresden stories in a row and am steeling myself to download the next one as I feel I should take a break and give other authors a chance!

I highly recommend this series.

Awesome

Really good story and plot with great twists made me buy the next book as soon as I finished this book

This Series Keeps Evolving

I enjoyed this book, this series has been building this world steadily and I'm all for it. James Marsters continues to do a good job with the narration

The story is interesting and has some wonderful character development. More than anything, I really love Toot-Toot

Really good

Great book and the whole Magic in Chicago with Dresden and this unfolding story is really pulling me in now. I find myself really growing attached to the characters now. Hope it continues the way it’s going.