White Night by Jim Butcher Series: The Dresden Files #9
on April 3rd 2007
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 407
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A sensational addition to the Dresden Filesadventures-from a USA Todaybestselling author. Professional wizard Harry Dresden is investigating a series of deaths in Chicago. Someone is killing practitioners of magic, those incapable of becoming full-fledged wizards. Shockingly, all the evidence points to Harry’s half-brother, Thomas, as the murderer. Determined to clear his sibling’s name, Harry uncovers a conspiracy within the White Council of Wizards that threatens not only him, but his nearest and dearest, too...
This will be one of the shortest reviews I’ve written in a very, very long time. I don’t want to give too much away because some might not have even picked up the series yet and I don’t want to come close to spoilers of any kind.
So basically, this was another great installment. There were no earth-shattering revelations in this book, but we’re starting to see snippets of the bigger picture. And it won’t be a pretty one. I think these books will continue to get darker, which is something I’m looking forward to. Butcher has a way to bring in some heavy stuff but still make you laugh without taking away from that darkness he’s building. I love it.
Speaking of, we saw a rather dark side of Harry in this book. Boy was it great! I think what makes Harry a great character is his mixture of who he wants to be, who he is, and who he thinks he needs to be. It gives us a badass with nice vulnerabilities, doubts, and mistakes. This book was no different. He’s making some tough decisions that we might cringe at, but if I were in the same position I’m not sure what else I would do.
I think this book was nicely paced. It felt like there was always something going on, and I never for an instant grew bored. Butcher is developing his characters nicely and making them come alive. Mouse is a great example. He’s evolving with each book, and though we’ve met him a few times, we are always learning something new about him. It keeps things fresh.
So overall, if you’ve followed the series this long, you’ll love this one.
About Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher read his first fantasy novel when he was seven years old–
the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. By the time he turned eight,
he’d added the rest of the Narnia books, the Prydain Chronicles, every
book about Star Wars he could find, a great many Star Trek novels and
the Lord of the Rings to his count.
So he was pretty much doomed from the start.
Love of fantasy, his personal gateway drug, drew him toward a fairly
eclectic spread of interests: horseback riding (including trick riding,
stunt riding, drill riding, and competitive stunt racing), archery,
martial arts, costuming, music and theater. He played a lot of role-
playing games, a lot of fantasy-based tactical computer games, and
eventually got into live-action roleplay where players beat each other
up with boffer weapons.
So, really, he can fly his nerd flag with pretty much anyone, and
frequently does.
He took up writing to be able to produce fantasy novels with swords and
horses in them, and determinedly wrote terrible fantasy books until,
just to prove a point to his writing teacher, he decided to take every
piece of her advice; fill out outlines and worksheets, and design
stories and characters just the way she’d been telling him to do for
about three years. He was certain that once she saw what hideous art it
produced, she would be proven wrong and repent the error of her ways.
The result was the Dresden Files, which sure showed *her*.
She has not yet admitted her mistake and recanted her philosophy on
writing.
Jim has performed in dramas, musicals, and vocal groups in front of
live audiences of thousands and on TV. He has performed exhibition
riding in multiple arenas, and fallen from running horses a truly
ridiculous number of times. He was once cursed by an Amazon witch
doctor in rural Brazil, has apparently begun writing about himself in
the third person, and is hardly ever sick at sea.
He also writes books occasionally.
Jim stands accused of writing the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera.
He’s plead insanity, but the jury is still out on that one. He lives in
Missouri with his wife, romantic suspense and paranormal romance writer
Shannon K. Butcher (who is really pretty and way out of his league),
his son, and a ferocious guard dog.
