Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Last time it was werewolves, this time its vampires. Well not just vampires actually, but they are the biggest players. Not the scariest, but mind you. The Nightmare is easily scarier than anything else in the book and ramps up the horror quotient several notches over the previous Harry Dresden outing.

Grave Peril is the third book in the Dresden Chronicles and at this point the series definitely reads like a continuing series of adventures rather than stand alone stories. And thats not a bad thing at all. Harry Dresden’s deepening relationships with the secondary characters, not to mention the assorted mysteries of his past are one of the most fascinating elements of the series.

But I don’t want to give the impression that the main story is boring. Quite the contrary. This time round the mystery is harder to unravel, and the suffering of the characters, while probably greater, is easier to believe.

Michael, the Knight of the Sword, is probably the most likeable christian character that I’ve come across in a long time. Jim Butcher manages to emphasise just how religious Michael is without making him preachy or self-righteous.

Harry Dresden himself remains likeably fallible and also incredibly stubborn. I don’t think that this book would convert someone who hasn’t enjoyed previous books in the series, but I think its fair to say that this is my favorite in the series so far (that I’ve read).

This book still has approximately the same mixture of humor, horror, fantasy and detective elements. But it has the advantage of the fact that Dresden’s world is becoming more fleshed out. The rules of magic gradually become clearer and less time has to be spent covering the basics.

It doesn’t hurt that the vampires in this book are not only somehow more repulsive than the werewolves from the previous book, but also rather smarter and thus scarier.

Buy Grave Peril at Amazon.com