This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I had a great time with my re-read of this book! I originally read this series years ago and enjoyed it so much that I decided to pick up the audiobooks to experience it all over again. I have been slowing working my way through the series for a second time often working a book into my reading schedule when I need a bit of a lift. This seemed like the perfect time for a little Harry Dresden and it proved to be a wonderful escape.

Although this was a re-read, there were a lot of things about this book that I didn't remember anymore. There were a few stand out sections of the book that I was able to recall and enjoyed being able to revisit them. This is the seventh book in The Dresden Files series which is a series that really should be read in order since the character relationships grow and change over the course of the series.

This was a pretty exciting installment in the series. Harry is put in charge of watering Karin's plants while she is on vacation and ends up working to save her reputation for a ruthless vampire. There are some powerful forces searching for a very powerful item that has the potential to do a lot of damage. Harry has to battle several necromancers and their zombies with only the help of his brother and a polka playing mortician. There were some pretty big scenes in this book and I really appreciated Harry's interactions with Sue.

James Marsters brings so much to this story. His narration is really top-notch and I found this book to be a joy to listen to. He does a fantastic job with a wide range of character voices in the series and I love how consistent he has been throughout the series. He is able to add a lot of emotion and excitement to the story through his reading. I believe that I enjoyed this book a bit more during my re-read than I did the first time largely due to his narration.

I would recommend this book to others. This is a smartly written story that is filled with wonderful characters, intense action, a bit of humor, and an interesting plot. I cannot wait to continue with my re-read of this exciting series!

Initial Thoughts
This was a re-read for me. It has been quite a few years since I first read this book and while I remember some key scenes, my memory is poor enough that it was almost like reading it for the first time. Marsters does a fantastic job with the narration and the story was really exciting. I am looking forward to tackling the next book in the series very soon.

Book source: purchased

Storm Front

by Jim Butcher
audio book narrated by James Marsters
Book 1 of The Dresden Files

So well, apparently I'm one of few who wasn't immediately enamored of this book/series.  And strangely, I'm not sure if it was the book itself or my own personal habit of not getting along with urban fantasies.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book enough--it was easy to listen to on audio, and there were some parts that were interesting to an extent.  And it's not like I purposefully go into any book, ever, planning not to like it.  In fact, I was excited about listening to this book because I'd seen so many great reviews about the series.

Unfortunately, history has shown that I somehow just don't really get into urban fantasy very well.  I try, because I've always been interested in urban fantasy, and all of the series sound like something that I would love to follow... but so far, there's only really been one or two series I've found that I like.

Ultimately, there was more about this book that didn't really hook me in the way I'd been expecting to be hooked, based on all the squee and high star ratings I'd been seeing all over the place.  Of course, I know better by now that I don't always have to like what everyone else does, so no big deal.  It's entirely possible I'd over-hyped myself.  And maybe things get better as the series progresses.

As far as the story goes, the mystery itself was intriguing, and the entire concept of a wizard private investigator had loads of potential.  Harry Dresden had his appeal, but I think that he maybe sometimes went a bit overboard with the snark... and that maybe he's a bit of a doormat compared to pretty much EVERYONE in this whole book.

I had a hard time seeing the close friendship between Harry and his Chicago P.D. connection, Karrin Murphy.  In fact, the two of them seemed like master and slave, going by the way they interacted with one another.  I understand that Harry wanted to remain on good terms with Murphy so he could continue to consult with the police through her, but there comes a time in life when one can only let another harass, insult, and bully him so much before maybe drawing a line somewhere. 

As friends, Murphy seems to readily beat and threaten Harry without a care for him when he tells her that he can't help her with the murder investigation they way she wants him to help.  I mean, would it kill her to just listen to Harry's reasons as to why he probably shouldn't go and research how to use magic to explode someone's heart?

As business associates, Murphy seems to have little respect for the help that she requests from Harry.  He'd give her a bit of information, and all she tells him is, "That's not good enough, Harry."  And when he requests some information that could potentially help him figure out what he's dealing with, she refuses to tell him anything.  Ya'know, cause that's reasonable somehow.

Of course, it probably also doesn't help that Harry keeps his secrets as well.  As much as I'd like to argue that Harry needs to be allowed to explain to Karrin why he can't do certain things... well, he doesn't exactly try very hard.  It's kind of martyr-ish, in a way.  And the annoying kind at that.

I keep listening to him get abused and insulted and bowled over by everyone in the book.  I keep seeing him get angry, outraged, even... and then he just moves on without setting people right about mistaken ideas or whatnot.  He mopes about how alone he feels and how no one understands the difficulties of his position... but doesn't bother telling anyone why.  And even dismisses all of their behaviors as just not really knowing or understanding.  Kind of a, "It's not their fault they didn't know this about me..." type of ordeal.

Well, Harry... TALK TO THEM!

The rest of the book was kind of a play on cliches, as Harry's life (and this book) is surrounded by sexy women who are attracted to him despite his social awkwardness, and self-proclaimed "terrible luck with women".  There is not ONE character in this whole book, except maybe Bob the magic skull, whom I actually really liked--everyone is either rude or just plain mean.  Even the EMTs who make a brief appearance are assholes.  Seems like Harry, flaws and all, is the only person in this book who acts rational... until he doesn't.

Are there no good, nice people in the "Harry Dresden" world?  Is it a given that all people in urban fantasies have to act like jackasses?  Because I seem to keep coming across this kind of thing.

Maybe I just don't read the right urban fantasies--though, as I'd stated earlier, there IS one particular series I'm hooked to.  But others seem to only appeal to me long enough to read just the first book.  This is probably my own problem.

Anyway...  I'm considering hopping into the next book anyway, just to see if the rest of the series will hook me enough to keep me going.  I'm not out to flambe a series I don't like.  I'm genuinely hoping I'll get hooked.  So... we'll see, I guess.

On a side note, the audio narrated by James Masters was quite good.  He's not the best narrator in the world--there was a LOT of huge breaths being taken and a LOT of sighing going on that kind got a bit irritating after awhile.  But Marsters seems to give Harry that snarky, dry sarcasm that's scattered all over the book.  He doesn't exactly manage the rest of the characters all that well, but the audio book made it easy to follow the story.

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I think that I might have enjoyed this book even more than I did the first time I read it. It has been several years since I worked my way through the Harry Dresden series the first time and I have been slowing re-reading the series on audio. I am somewhat surprised that I remembered as much of this story as I did but I think that this is really a pivotal book in the series and it stood out in memory for that reason. I really had a blast with the story and am glad that I made the decision to pick it up when I did.

Once again, Harry has his hands full. The book starts out with Harry delivering some temple dogs to a monk which sounds like it should be a lot easier than it actually is. One of the dogs stows away in Harry's car and I really enjoyed having the pup along for much of the story. Harry is a good guy and always seems to do what is right even when it costs him. This book takes Harry on quite the ride and spends some time on the set of an adult film where things don't really go as planned.

This felt like a pivotal book in the series because there are some pretty big revelations that are made. You get some insight into several characters which will have an impact for the rest of the series. I also liked the fact that we see others make some sacrifices for Harry. Harry always seems to give but it is nice to see that he does have some true friends that are there for him and can be trusted.

James Marsters does a phenomenal job with this series. I am really quite in awe of his ability to bring Harry and the story to life. If I were to read one of these books, the voice that I would hear in my head for Harry would be James's voice. He is able to add excitement to the story when needed and seems to have perfectly captured Harry's sense of humor. He handles all of the voices very well and is easy to listen to for hours at a time. 

I would highly recommend this series to others. It is a series that needs to be read in order since each book builds on the previous installments. I had a great time with this wonderful story and can't wait to continue my re-read of the series.

Initial Thoughts
I actually remember a whole lot of this book from the first time I read it which is kind of amazing since my memory sucks these days. This book does not suck though. It was great. There are a lot of important things revealed in this book which is probably one reason it stayed in my mind. Plus there is a puppy in this book...how can you do anything but love a puppy?! Lot of excitement and fantastic narration. 

Book source: Audible purchase

James Marsters penned this, but it doesn't really make sense to me to have this set in season seven, although maybe I'm misremembering the series.   I didn't like season seven much so I haven't seen it in a while. 

Anyway, I was disappointed in how short this was, in the lack of character development and the storyline.   The art was fun, and Spike was pretty Spike, so it's not like I hated this.  I'd just hoped for more, especially because I was so pleased with Marsters' writing in the Spike and Dry one-shots.

Spoilers to follow. This isn't one of my typical posts, so my typical rules don't apply.

After starting a few months back, I've pretty much stopped posting about listening to the <b>Dresden Files</b> audiobooks -- there are only so many ways to say, "I'd forgotten how much I like this story" and "Wow! James Marsters did a fantastic job!" Not only does it get dull to read, it gets pretty dull to write. (okay, there is a challenge on finding a new way to say it, but . . . I'm too lazy to find that enticing).

But I listened to <b>Changes</b> this week and how can I not talk about that?This is one of my favorite novels ever -- Top 10, Deserted Island Must-Have kind of thing -- highs, lows (and things lower than lows), laughs, tears, anger, shock, joy. <b>Changes</b> has it all (at least for those who've been with Harry for a few books -- preferably 11).

Listening to the book was a great way for me to experience it again -- if for no other reason, I couldn't race through it and accidentally skim over things in my haste to get to X or Y plot point.

It's silly as I've read everything that comes after this a couple of times, but seeing all the compromises and deals Harry made as his life is dismantled piece by piece really hit me hard. Yet, Harry makes his choices freely and for the best reason imaginable. All for Maggie. The ramifications of his choices and agreements are wide, huge and so-far we don't know all of them -- and Harry'd do it all again, and there's not a fan in the world that would blame him.

And Marsters? He gets better and better with every book -- and this was fantastic. I loved where Mouse got to "talk" -- it was the next best thing to reading it for the first time. And, when he got to those lines? You know the ones I'm talking about:

And I . . .

 

I used the knife.

 

I saved a child.

 

I won a war.

 

God forgive me.

I had to hit pause for a couple of minutes before I could keep going.

Sometimes as a book blogger, you get wrapped up in numbers, ratings, book tours, promotion, and all the other stuff -- but every now and then it's great to remember what it is about fiction that gets you into it in the first place. This treat by Butcher and Marsters did just that for me -- I was entertained, I was moved, I was a little inspired.