Fool Moon (Dresden Files Series #2)

Dresden Files books are a hoot.

Second in the series, Fool Moon, gives a fun take on werewolves. Who knew there were so many types?

The Harry Dresden character is witty, sarcatic and oh-so-human. How can you not like a guy who combines the grit of Philp Marlowe with the helpless charm of an Eagle scout? Dresden is bull-headed, reckless yet clever and resourceful. I plan on reading many more of these books. Too bad Sci-Fi channel didn't renew the series.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Excellent urban fantasy

The claw marks, footprint, and carnage look as if a werewolf is on the loose even though most Second City residents scoff at the notion of a shiftchanger. After working with wizard Harry Dresden on a previous case, Special Investigative Officer Karrin Murphy accepts that the supernatural is real. She believes a werewolf committed the killings. She turns to Harry as America¿s only wizard to come out of the closet to help her on the Chicago werewolf killings.

However, Internal Affairs and the local FBI want Murphy and Dresden kept out of the investigation. The honorable Harry would love to walk away and allow the humans to make a mess of things, but in good conscience knows an 'I told you so,¿ means nothing. Harry and Karrin track the werewolf to environmentalist Harley MacFinn, but just because he is one doesn¿t necessarily mean he is the killer. Perhaps his shapechanging girlfriend or a teen group receiving special tutoring on the finer points of lycanthropy 101 is the culprits. As a dark side of a bruised Harry surfaces, he struggles to survive a war not of his making.

Harry Dresden is a unique character in the urban fantasy sub-genre. Harry is a maverick whose mouth seems to get him in as much trouble as his actions. He is a smart know-it-all, but cannot stop himself from saving humanity in spite of mankind¿s ridicule. FOOL MOON is a fast-paced fascinating noir thriller that keeps readers interest so that the new fan will seek out the previous novel, STOP IN FRONT and the old reader will re-peruse their copy.

Harriet Klausner

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

I don't see the appeal

I usually like this type of book where the world is similar to ours, but with a magic element and when I saw all of the rave reviews on this series I decided to try it. Well, the whole book was this guy getting beat up, explained in graphic detail, over and over again until eventually, by a coincidence he has the right piece of equipment to finish the job and outlast everybody who has been beating up on him. I almost quit halfway through, but I stuck it out because I wanted to see how it ended. I'll never read another book in this series again.

3 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Love this series

I held off for a long time, reading these books, because, frankly, fantasy series are usually over the top, impossible to follow with a spreadsheet, and have no bearing on reality.

These books are the diametric opposite. Yes, fantasy, but grounded pretty firmly in actual reality, monsters and magic notwithstanding. The characters are well developed, and the plots are exciting. When the magic stuff comes up, it's not delved into with typical fanboi excessiveness. There's maybe a brief line of explanation into the magical workings, but in laymen's terms that aren't annoying.

Five books in, love every one so far. But make sure you read them in order. The individual stories stand on their own, but there's a LOT of over-arching plotlines that continue, book to book.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Second novel can't live up

I'm sorry to say, after reading the second novel in this series, i was not satisfied. The first novel was just too perfect. After rereading it again, i was more satisfied, but it still did not live up to the caliber of the first novel. Jim Butcher seems to have thrown out the investigative part of Harry and concentrated entirely upon the action, which was too incomplete to fully enjoy. I must admit there are two very satisfying battles, one in a police station and one at the end, and even one including an off-ramp and some exploding tires. , but the novel would have been so much fulfilling if these were three of the only battles. But there are so many conflicts and too-short fights beside that it is exasperating that there is no one Harry can just go talk to to find out what he needs to know. It seems that Harry's fresh investigative half was left behind in this novel. I just wish Jim Butcher would have seen that once in a while, he should have taken a breath and turned down the action. It seems rediculous, but in this instance, it should have been necessary. But all in all, still worth reading. And the next novel more than makes up for this one's shortcomings.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Good Read

The stories get better with each book. This is a good quick read that will leave you wanting more.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Full Moon...or just a trick?

As the second in the series, I was not sure what to expect. I found that there was no disappointment! The story line starts off just where the first left off without making me feel like I needed to reread the entire first book over again to catch up. Love the twists and turns. Going to head over and pick up the next one.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ok I guess...

CSI meets a modern day Harry Potter. I like the concept which is why I decided to read the second book, but this one seemed to focus on pointless details that served ZERO purpose, and tended to lose me at times. It had some issues and questions left unanswered. Overall, it was just an OK book. Didn't hate it, but didn't love it either. I'm sure I'll read the 3rd book at some point, but I'm taking a Harry Dresden break.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

great fantasy storyline

The second in the Dresden Files is just as enjoyable as the first. Action packed, fantasy fun and some touching side stories to build on in future books. I couldn't put it down.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great Fun To Read.

Never read a Jim Butcher Novel till about a month ago and have read three in the past few weeks. Great mix of mystery, fantasy and thriller all wrapped up in a fun to read package. Fool Moon is a fun read and hard to put down once you start. You will find yourself asking what will Harry Dresden do next!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Awesome!!!!

They just get better and better!!

Fool Moon

Jim Butcher is a great author, but I didn't like this one as much as I did the first book. It may be personal preference, I really like it, but I'm not too big on the whole werewolf story line. I understand that in Butcher's genre of writing, they were bound to come up. I am glad that he did werewolves so early, so I can just forget about them and move on to the next book.

I don't have anything against werewolves and I understand that people really like reading about them. It is just that after a while, there isn't much a writer can do to make his/her werewolf story stand out. They are usually going to have the same elements: silver bullets, blood and gore, full moon, etc. The werewolf is so well known in popular culture that if you stray, even a little bit, from the path, your story is going to get shot down (like a certain teenage angst-y vampire book series). I think Butcher did a great job at keeping things on path, but he added his own elements to it that I found surprising. He does a good job of making the reader believe that the monster could actually exist. He has done his homework.

Another thing I didn't like about this book was the random nakedness of one of the characters, I felt that it was unnecessary and only put in for male readers, or lesbian/bisexual readers. Also, one chapter did have a sex scene. I will say that I am okay with reading any kind of sex scene (raunchy or not) and Butcher's was done tastefully. It wasn't borderline porn, but sometimes when I read a book, if the main character and the author are of the same gender, and typically look similar (in my mind), I tend to picture the author going through some of the scenarios in the book. I don't know about you, but I don't think I would like to picture this guy having sex (no offense Jim Butcher).

Other than those elements, I found this book to be rather enjoyable and well written. I will absolutely continue to read his series and I would definitely recommend this book and this series to anyone who is contemplating reading it.

Ready for more.

Loved it. Quick read with lots of action, a little sex, and enough character developement to make you ready for the next adventure.

Could not put down

Great page turner

awesome book hated to finish

Great book, great story

Nice

This book was alot better than the first one love the story line in this one werewolves are so cool. This one keeps you wanting to finish the book.

Awesome

Awesome pageturner that you cant put down

Great read to escape it all.

I have found myself quickly becoming addicted to the Dresden Files. I listen to them in the morning at work, and while I'm at home. It makes a great alternative to music, the story lines are fun, and listening to Harry Dresden trying to get himself out of trouble that occasionally he gets himself into, occasionally finds himself involuntarily in is enjoyable. I also really like James Marsters reading style. It's very calming and enjoyable, like someone simply reading, not necessarily reading to others.

A sophomore slump

Storm Front was a great read, thrilling and hard to put down. Fool Moon, not so much. Beyond the silly title, it just takes way too long to get going. If I had not read Storm Front, it is very doubtful that I would have finished this volume as the first half seemed to be more of the same. The biggest problem is that it reads almost identically to the first volume with the White Council nosy guy being replaced with a FBI busybody. About midway though, plot lines are revealed and it is a brisk read the rest of the way.

You'll howl!

Each story of the Dresden Files follows the life of Harry Dresden, Chicago's very own professional Wizard. In a nutshell, Harry is a warrior-wizard who protects the citizenry of Chicago from vamps, zombies, demons, evil fairies (like his godmother...), trolls, and more, while flying under the radar of the White Council's grey-cloaked hit squad, the Wardens. But this is strictly pro-bono. He scrapes a living by presenting paranormal solutions for private cases of the weird and supernatural. He also serves Chicago PD by offering "consultant work" to Special Investigations (the force's answer to "unsolvable" paranormal crimes, populated by cops who are better at their jobs than their superiors [and, naturally, shunted into a Junk Job...]) while providing us with gut-busting wit. Genre buffs will enjoy salted allusions to Sci Fi culture icons. In Fool Moon, Harry negotiates the various levels of lycanthropy. He also manages to get a girlfriend and estrange his Police ally, run from (and fight) Feds on the take, befriend a local werewolf pack, and grudgingly team up with Chicago's #1 gangster to take out their shared supernatural threats. A genuine must-read for the magic and action oriented reader!