Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

Ever since his girlfriend left town to deal with her newly acquired taste for blood, Harry Dresden has been down and out in Chicago. He can't pay his rent. He's alienating his friends. He can't even recall the last time he took a shower.

The only professional wizard in the phone book has become a desperate man. And just when it seems things can't get any worse, in saunters the Winter Queen of Faerie. She has an offer Harry can't refuse if he wants to free himself of the supernatural hold his faerie godmother has over him — and hopefully end his run of bad luck. All he has to do is find out who murdered the Summer Queen's right-hand man, the Summer Knight, and clear the Winter Queen's name. It seems simple enough, but Harry knows better than to get caught in the middle of faerie politics. Until he finds out that the fate of the entire world rests on his solving this case. No pressure or anything...

Hallo? Wat? Een boek met zowaar een plot dat niet zomaar een opeenvolging van korte toneeltjes is? Een niet dramatisch slecht geschreven boek? Met slechts 17 keer “Hell's Bells” erin?

Ik had al bij de eerste zin het gevoel dat het iets anders was van kwaliteit:

It rained toads the day the White Council came to town.

Het begon ook met zeer veel vaart, en het bleef maar voortdenderen. In boek drie is er een conflict tussen rode vampieren (don't ask, er zijn er ook witte en zwarte) en tovenaars, en ze proberen het allemaal op Harry Dresden te steken. Cue een proces waar hij zichzelf moet verdedigen: ik vond dat niet eens verkeerd gedaan.

En OK, er blijven dingen die dom zijn. Iemand wordt vermoord, en zijn naam is Ronald Reuel. Ah ha ha,

...dubbel irritant als hij een poging tot referentie doet.Ronalds appartement omschrijft Butcher alsdus:

What I could see of the apartment could have been imported from 429-B Baker Street. Dark woods, fancy scrollwork, and patterns of cloth busier than the makeup girl at a Kiss concert filled every available inch of space with Victorian splendor.

The third was the brawny, homely young woman with the muddy green hair and heavy brow. She had on a pair of jeans tight enough to show the muscles in her thighs and a khaki blouse.

Elaine may have been slender, but she had too much muscle to be light. She'd always had the build of a long-distance runner, long and lean and strong.

The perfection of her form was complemented by features of feminine loveliness

Bloody loved it. All hail Jim!!!!

Wow what a thrill ride! Butcher just keeps cranking out the hits for Harry Dresden. Check out my more detailed review here https://youtu.be/iTH2SWxh9xg

I don't know if it's just me, but I think the stories in this series are starting to follow a kind of rote fill-in-the-blank kind of structure.

We begin: Dresden, [explain how he's a wizard/detective/wizardetective] whose life is a mess [insert comments about coke cans and stale pizza and Mister], is presented with a crappy case [insert blase description of supernatural thing here]. Dresden is not prepared for this [insert how he's sick, tired, meh], and now he's screwed unless he [insert supernatural deadly stakes here].

[insert Mandatory Murphy Time]

[insert deadly person with great boobs, described at length]

[insert some kind of sidekick to be a foil for Dresden]

[insert an existential crisis for Dresden putting people in danger. He does it anyway]

[insert Dresden reaching his limits and finding inner reserves over and over again]

[insert it's all cool back at home scene at the end. Cue Mister.]