Fool Moon

The Dresden Files, Book 2

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: James Marsters

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is Chicago's only openly practicing wizard. He is also dead broke. His vast knowledge and magical skills are unfortunately matched by his talent for making powerful enemies and alienating friends. With little more than his integrity left, he accepts an offer of work from Lt. Karin Murphy of Chicago's Special Investigations Unit. He wants to redeem himself in Murphy's eyes and make enough money to quiet his rumbling stomach.

Soon he finds himself pinned between trigger-happy FBI agents, shape-shifiting motorcycle gang members, a threatened mobster boss, and an heir to an ancient curse along with his primal fiance. Throw in environmental activists and a pair of young werewolves in love and you have something of Fool Moon.

©2002 Jim Butcher (P)2002 Buzzy Multimedia

Werewolves, lycantropes, hexenwolves & loup-garou!

I enjoyed this installment more than book 1; the narration was much improved, it had chapters (I need order in my reads), and the story showcased countless different types of werewolves. The cast of secondary characters were wonderful as was Dresden's POV. The author's dark humour is catchy, and the action sequences were heart-stopping, especially the one in the police station. Whoa Nelly!

Werewolves everywhere

I've finished Jim Butcher's first 2 Dresden Files books--this title being the second--and even though I've moved on and I'm now reading other novels, I find myself thinking of The Dresden Files in the middle of the night or at random times. If I feel like reading, my mind automatically assumes (with pleasure) that I'll be reading about Harry Dresden. That's a very high recommendation for any novel.

Fool Moon continues the story of Harry Dresden (who was first seen in Storm Front). Harry's a practicing wizard living in Chicago. That set up and the resulting complications are what make The Dresden Files fun to read. Harry's an interesting character, with a colorful past involving a mother who was a witch, a father who was a stage magician, and an uncle who taught Harry how to be an evil wizard.

In Fool Moon, people are being murdered during the full moon. No surprise then that werewolves are involved. Harry discovers that there are four distinct types of werewolves, and the background for this mythology was the best part of this novel for me. The other aspects of the magical world created were deeper and more fascinating than the first novel. The least believable part was that Harry ended up encountering all 4 types in only one novel.

I have two major disappointments with these first 2 novels: Harry Dresden and Lt. Murphy have a working relationship; yet neither trusts the other. Lt. Murphy especially distrusts Harry Dresden, and the explanation for that distrust seems extremely weak, at best. The false obstacles she places in Harry's path caused by this distrust hurt my enjoyment of the story. At the same time, Harry Dresden has a self-blame complex. Everything is his fault and his responsibility. I found his constant need to blame himself just plain irritating, especially when there was nothing he could have done differently.

Overall, I highly recommend this novel. The good definitely outweighs the somewhat minor irritations.

Very Good

I got hooked on Dresden in print, and have not been disappointed with the audible recording. I want to listen to the whole seriies.

Fun listen. Narration is amazing.

I love the characters and the story was fun. Best of all was the narration. I will be l looking for more audio books narrated by James Marsters.

Things Get Hairy for Harry

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only Wizard for hire, is back, and this time there are wolves on the prowl.

And like always, Harry finds himself smack in the middle of a huge mess and on the wrong side of everyone, including the Chicago PD, the FBI, gangster Gentleman Johnny Marconi, street thugs with a wolf motif, and a real, and very angry, Werewolf.

And things just keep getting worse for poor Harry.

This is the second book in Butcher’s Dresden Files series and it adds to Dresden’s mystique, reveals some more of his backstory and, at the end, leaves you wondering if something more than meets the eye is going on.

I really love Butcher’s writing. And yet, I still find fault with the audio quality of this book. Marsters is great as Dresden, but I can still hear every breath, tons of mouth noises, and the ruffling of pages as they turn. It was so bad at one point, I wanted to jump into the booth with Marsters and tell him to take the gum out of his mouth while he was speaking.

As I’ve said before, if you can put up with the audio quality, this is a great book. Give it a listen.