Book Review: Fool Moon
Title: Fool Moon
Author: Jim Butcher
Pages: 342 (kindle edition)
Genre: Supernatural slash detective noir
What it says on the back:
Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work-magical or mundane.
But just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise.
A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses-and the first two don't count...
My thoughts:
I like a good pun. No matter how weak and feeble a pun can be at times, I still like them. And perhaps that attitude encapsulates my reaction and opinion to this, the 2nd Dresden book. Some flaws, a little weak in areas, but otherwise - I liked it!
Jim Butcher is wading in cliched waters just by virtue of the two genres he has chosen - supernatural and detective, and the best way to navigate through all those cliched icebergs with the potential to sink your story, is well... the obvious one, your unique take on the story and pace, good characters and plotty twistiness. He certainly tried to do so in Fool Moon and I feel avoided most of the werewolf cliches, and had enough of a unique view for the cynical part of my brain to be entertained and amused.
I feel like I need to address the elephant in the room though, the one with the small wig that is fooling no one. Yes, you, good sir. Bob the Skull tells Dresden about the varieties of werewolves that exist. Poor Dresden in a series of unfortunate crazy random happenstances that turn out to cunning and nefarious plots meets All of the kinds of werewolves (including one he didn't know existed). You, sir elephant, strain my levels in credulity.
I like that were different types of werewolves, dependent on the person and the magic - in fact I rather appreciate that it wasn't just 'one' kind of werewolf that Butcher picked and chose which lore to use. Butcher's shot gun approach at a variety worked for me.
Here, alas, is the but, and it's an elephant sized one. As a reader, embarking on a series of books, I would have preferred to read Fool Moon and learn about werewolf varieties and only in later books meet all the kinds, and afford me the chance to yell, "No no, its a hexenwulfen!" (And alas for my fandome sized brain, I immediately thought about Grimm when reading hexenwulfen)
In other more pleasant news, I mainlined this book. And that's a good thing because it meant that it grabbed me by the nose hairs and demanded my attention. Poor Dresden really got the crap beaten out of him and pushed to the very limits of endurance. And was on the back foot the whole time. And turned into a hexenwulf. All of this I loved. No really, I did. Nothing quite like taking your brand new character and sending him through the wringer to win my undying love. May there be much more hurt in future books *crosses fingers*
As much as it annnoys me, I like that Dresden's relationship with Murphy is not smooth sailing and that whatever romantic undertones there are, he is oblivious too. I like that Marcone remains the face of 'the bad guy' even though he was not 'actually'. And I enjoyed the continued slow reveal about Harry's past, in fact, I look forward to reading the rest of the books just for that - to find out more about Harry Dresden.
All in all, I enjoyed.