Blood Rites

Allez ju, weer maar eens een 3/5 sterren-boek. 't Is niet alleen met mythologie en world building dat Butcher elke boek dingen toevoegt, maar ook in het opbouwen van zijn personages.

We komen in dit boek zowaar meer te weten over Dresden's familie, te beginnen met zijn moeder, die bij zijn geboorte schielijk was komen te gaan.
Verder in dit boek: shenanigans bij de Witte Vampiers (dat is de emotionele soort — ze drinken geen bloed maar gevoelens). Een pornoregisseur met drie ex-vrouwen die bedreigd wordt. Een nest Zwarte Vampiers (van alle soorten in de Dresdenboeken de soort die het meest op die van Bram Stoker lijken) dat uitbreekt in de stad. En een ingehuurde kracht die blijkt eeuwen en eeuwen oud te zijn en bijzonder gevaarlijk.

Ja, 't was niet verkeerd. Het was eens te meer zeer snel uit.

Maar ik heb het heel voorlopig even gehad met Dresden. Tijd voor wat afwisseling.

Executive Summary: Mr. Butcher ramps things up with this story, and continues to break away from the formulaic style of the previous novels.Audio book: Nothing really of note for this book, although James Marsters does get to try his hand at a Greek accent, which to me sounded pretty good. At this point in the series, I can't imagine anyone else reading it.Full ReviewSo for me, the turning point for the series starts with the last book [b:Death Masks 91479 Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5) Jim Butcher http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345557713s/91479.jpg 2183], but if that one didn't impress you, this one should. Otherwise, why exactly are you still reading the series?Gone are the mysterious and attractive females that bring Harry's sense of chivalry to override his better judgement. That doesn't mean he's still not taking cases, or working as a Wizard for hire, but he's tackling bigger problems, with larger implications than he once was.Thomas has come to Harry to call in a favor for helping him in the past and help a friend of his who appears to be under attack from dark magic.The underlying plot of the last few books takes a bit of a break with novel with the return of other baddies, along with introducing some excellent new ones.We see the return of what are becoming the main stay supporting characters of Thomas and of course Murphy, as well as Ebeneezer.This book has several very large revelations that have a major impact on the course of the story in futures novels.The humor gets better with each book, although Harry's smart mouth in the face of mortal danger can get a bit tiring at times.Also, Mouse! (Any of you who have read past this book, should understand that, any of you haven't will just have to scratch your heads).It's getting harder to write these reviews in my normal spoiler-free fashion, or at least without discussing spoilers from previous books. This may be the last book that I can manage that.This is another fast and fun read, and I can't wait to jump into [b:Dead Beat 17683 Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7) Jim Butcher http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345667776s/17683.jpg 6614452], which probably sealed this as one of my favorite series.

Harry's troubles with the various courts of Vampires continue, with him battling against Black, Red, and White courts at various points throughout this fun read.

The key to this novel is you learn more about his family and mentor in ways that I expect will have long-running impact in upcoming novels.