White Night

And so we come to the ninth Dresden book. It's a different color than the preceding books, white instead of black, so I was expecting something epic and game-changing to happen. And I suppose it did, with the virtual obliteration of an entire court of vampires (the ones who, in this universe, most resemble succubi and incubi). But the leaders still have power and ultimately, things still feel largely the same.

This is possibly because there is just so much happening at this point. Butcher has left enough dangling plot threads over the past several books that they're starting to blur together. On some level this should happen. Things should start to get cleaned up and long-standing enemies should start to die off. The problem is that I can barely remember who anyone is anymore. There were two villains in this book who had appeared previously that I had to look up on Wikipedia. Then I had to read a plot synopsis of an earlier book to figure out what happened with one of them. I understand that people who read series don't like a lot of repetition and recapping, but I also shouldn't have trouble remembering who the important characters are.

That said, the book was still entertaining. The Dresden books are fast reads that I can enjoy when I don't want to think too hard. There are a bunch of characters that I really like, and I'll stick with the series to see what ultimately happens to them. Dresden's new apprentice, Molly, is quickly becoming a favorite and I really want to see her grow both stronger and wiser in the coming books. There are other characters I really detest, particularly Dresden's friend Ramirez who is even more of a gross chauvinist than Dresden himself. I groaned every time they shared a scene together and was very nearly rooting for Ramirez' death at the end of the book. He managed to survive his gut wound, though, so I'll have to keep putting up with him.