Review: Blood Rites

Last Updated on Friday, 20 April 2012 08:02 Written by Kadomi Thursday, 12 April 2012 10:04

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s been a while since I last read a book of the Dresden Files, but it’s easy to get back into them. From the first page to the finish, you’re head-deep in the action and whacky universe of the urban fantasy world of Harry Dresden. This book has probably the most remarkable start of all of them so far. Imagine our modern day hero, Harry Dresden, wearing his long, black leather duster, cradling a box of puppies to his chest, running away from purple, flying demons that look like monkeys, throwing flaming monkey poo at our hero. Yup, that’s the Dresden files for you.

While each of the Dresden Files is really a self-contained story that does not require prior knowledge of the books, I would say it’s easy to get lost in the myriad of characters introduced in the series. That’s really my favorite part of the books. Not the individual stories but the recurring characters, the continuity and the layers of Harry’s past that get peeled off, one by one. In Blood Rites we learn a good deal more about Harry’s mysterious faerie mother, and about the people Harry cares about the most.

The story itself that finds Harry working as production assistant in a porn production is not that captivating. It’s the details and really the overlying story arc that make the Dresden Files. As always, fast paced action that doesn’t bore, if you are into urban fantasy.



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Review: Wool 5: The Stranded

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 April 2012 09:21 Written by Kadomi Friday, 6 April 2012 03:17

Wool 5: The Stranded by Hugh Howey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Attention, review contains spoilers for the previous 4 novelettes.

Ultimately, 4.5 stars for me.

Wool 5 is considerably longer than the other stories, at about 40% of the whole Omnibus edition. The last part ties it all together and brings it to a satisfying conclusion. It leaves plenty of room for more stories though, and if I understood the author correctly, there will be more stories set in the same world.

Wool 4 had a number of diverse sets of story, and The Stranded brings it back together. We have the uprising that has been pushed back into the down deeps, in the heart of mechanical, where Juliette’s friends fight for their survival. In the mids, we have Lukas, Bernard’s chosen successor, the one who is to uphold the silo Order and Legacy. And then we have Juliette herself, the first person from silo 18 to survive a cleaning who has made her way to another silo and is now trying to get back home.

It’s a bit depressing, it’s got its thrills, and you never know how it might turn out. At the end of it, I was ready to read more, and find out how the folks in silo 17 are doing. Maybe I’ll get my wish. Maybe we’ll find out about silo 1 one of these days. I would like to.

Wool is definitely worth reading, but anyone who’s read my recent reviews knows my opinion already. It’s not a letdown that, say, Mockingjay was, in a way. For its super-cheap Kindle price alone it’s worth checking out. Have I convinced you yet?



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Review: Wool 4: The Unraveling

Last Updated on Sunday, 1 April 2012 12:54 Written by Kadomi Sunday, 1 April 2012 12:53

Wool 4: The Unraveling by Hugh Howey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s getting harder to not spoil the story in my summaries, so please bear with me. Wool 4 does exactly as the subtitle suggests. It shows how the situation in silo 18 is unraveling. An uprising begins, displaying the easy capability of people to manufacture weapons.

With every story, the narrative has gotten more complex. In Wool 1, you had the very tight narrative of Holston. Wool 2 had the mayor and the deputy. Wool 4 handles several distinctly different PoVs and ends each that you’re waiting with held breath for the story to switch back to them.

Wool 1-4 are about 60% of the Omnibus edition, so Wool 5 will be fairly massive, compared to how short the other stories were.

Still definitely recommending it and looking forward to the finale.



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