Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Book 44: Proven Guilty

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

I have a bad habit that when I discover a new series or a new author I tend to then read a lot of that person's work in a short period of time. Sometimes this means that the plots and themes start becoming obviously repetitive; other times, it means that after a short period of time, I am once again left clueless as to what to read next. Last year during the Cannonball Read, I had a few times when I couldn't think of anything I was in the mood to read, and would have loved to just read something quick and mindless but I'd already read the Sookie Stackhouse novels in the first few months of it. The Dresden Files seem to be those books for me this time around, but Butcher has written the superior series (I admit, I kind of feel like I'm cheating by having 8 of my 44 books so far be a fantasy/murder-mystery series since they are rather quick reads but the further I get into the series, the more I want to see what's coming next).

The eighth novel in the series begins with the execution of a young sorcerer that used black magic, and this sets the theme for the rest of the novel. Harry's still adjusting to his new role as a Warden for the White Council, especially since he thinks they are often too quick to punish new magicians with death for breaking the Laws, especially when they had no knowledge of the Laws.

One of the senior council members tells Harry to start watching for signs of black magic in Chicago, while another old friend, Ebenezar, asks Harry to look into the politics of the faerie courts, specifically why the faeries have not acted against the vampires for using their territory during the ongoing war. Harry still has not forgiven Ebenezar for an earlier incident but agrees since this is work-related.

Harry's search for black magic ends up involving an almost grown-up Molly Carpenter, daughter of Michael, one of the three Knights of the Cross. She believes something is after her boyfriend, and a local horror film convention both attended is starting to receive visits from real life embodiments from some of the screened films' villains.

As usual, I have no complaints about the novel, and it also nicely progresses and builds on the overall series which of course means there are quite a few things that would be spoilers if I discussed them. There isn't one book in the series I like best really, but the series still seems to keep getting better.

1 comment:

denesteak said...

When things are in a series, I usually feel compelled to finish them (kinda like with tv shows. if i watch a single episode, and i like it, i then want to watch the first season, 2nd season, etc.). On the other hand, if I like a certain author's book, that does not necessarily mean that I would read all his other books.

btw, you should go for a hundred. I mean, you're already a winner! in terms of stamina for reading and writing reviews (writing reviews are hard for me.)