Fool Moon
4 out of 5 Wolfish Stars
“Sometimes, being able to use magic was so cool.”
Wow. Fool Moon may not have as much mystery as Storm Front, but the action is a thousand times better and the pace moves quicker, hooking the audience with each scene. There's not much time to rest during this novel, as it moves from scene to scene, delivering new facts and problems to face during each one. As you might be able to guess from the title, Fool Moon deals with werewolves, but Butcher adds a nice twist to the common werewolf, and he grabs your attention and doesn't let go until the very end of the novel.
“Whatever had killed him, it hadn't been human. His face was gone, simply torn away. Something had ripped his lips off. I could see his bloodstained teeth. His nose had been torn all the way up one side, and part of it dangled toward the floor. His head was misshapen, as though some enormous pressure had been put upon his temples, warping his skull in.”
As I said before, the pace moves much quicker in Fool Moon than it did in Storm Front, and we're given a very interesting take on werewolves. Not only are there werewolves in this novel, but also hexenwolves, lycanthropes and loup-garous. Each different type has its own distinct qualities, and at first it is hard to remember which is which, but as the story goes on it becomes clearer. Now, for the story-line itself: there's been serial killings happening, a group of them a month earlier from when the story starts, and then again during the current timeline. S.I. Lieutenant Karrin Murphy seems to be the only one who realizes these killing are happening around a full moon, and is quick to turn to Harry Dresden for help, especially when she sees a wolf-pawprint at one of the crime scenes. It's up to Harry to determine what's really going on in the supernatural sense, and he is one-hundred percent correct when he says, "It never rains, but pours." It's almost like a snowball effect throughout the whole novel; just when you think it can't get any worse, Butcher proves you wrong. Poor Harry can never catch a break. We're also introduced to some new characters, specifically FBI agents who only seem to get in the way of Harry and Murphy doing their jobs, but are actually very essential to the story of Fool Moon. Butcher adds twists and turns whenever he gets the chance, and he really knows how to write some good action scenes.
"Don't mess with a wizard when he's wizarding!"
Reason for knocking off 1 star:
Butcher likes to remind his readers about how Harry considers himself old-fashioned and chauvinistic, and this really becomes prominent in Fool Moon. I noticed it in Storm Front, but it didn't really bother me too much. However, I could not look past it in this novel. It's one thing to be chauvinistic, but completely different to treat all women like they are damsels in distress. Harry constantly refers to the women in The Dresden Files as vulnerable, even going so far as to relate Murphy to a cheerleader basically each time she's mentioned. Murphy is a kickass female character in this series, handling deadly supernatural creatures better than anyone else, and is very adamant about upholding the law at all costs, even if that means arresting Harry if she has to. And then Harry comes in, talking about her cute little button-nose again, which when mentioned once is fine, but when it's constantly repeated begins to get on my nerves. Also, I understand that Harry feels he needs to protect others and blames himself when things go wrong, but I also reach my limit with this aspect, too. Harry keeps others in the dark, hides information from them, and justifies his actions by telling himself he's protecting them. And then he blames himself when others get hurt, mainly because he didn't share important information. Harry needs to understand that he may be a powerful and knowledgeable wizard, but even he has his limits and cannot protect everyone. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine when main characters constantly blame themselves for things they couldn't have stopped anyway, but I do understand why they feel that way. Being powerful comes with responsibility, and I understand the need to protect everyone and blaming oneself when you couldn't protect someone important to you. I also would have liked more information on Harry's past; we're told a bit, but not much, and I need to know more about what happened with Elaine and Harry's old mentor, Justin, and how Harry has become who he is today. Stop teasing us Butcher! We need to know!
“My magic. That was at the heart of me. It was a manifestation of what I believed, what I lived. It came from my desire to see to it that someone stood between the darkness and the people it would devour.”
Overall:
I really enjoy Fool Moon and think it is a wonderful addition to The Dresden Files. Butcher creates some interesting supernatural creatures, and I really like his take on werewolves. Similar to Storm Front, once the mystery is solved, everything is quickly wrapped up in a couple of pages. However, Butcher adds a new avenue of thought at end -- there have been too many coincidences happening lately of Harry getting put into dangerous situations, which leads to the question: who's trying to kill Harry? I like that this is added on at the end, and I hope that we readers get an answer to this question soon. Fool Moon is a fast-paced, highly entertaining novel, and I can't wait to start book three, titled Grave Peril.
"It isn't enough to stand up and fight darkness. You've got to stand apart from it, too. You've got to be different from it."
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