Book Review: Summer Knight, by Jim Butcher

Summer Knight, a skillfully plotted tale of magic and political intrigue, is by far the best book of the Dresden Files series. While the first two books were inconsistent and the third had a plot that only made sense if all the characters were complete idiots, in this, the fourth book of the series, many different elements set up by previous events all come together. The workings of the White Council. The war between the wizards and the Red Court of vampires. The young gang of werewolves. The dewdrop fairy that Harry bribes for information. Harry's fairy godmother - and, most surprisingly of all, Harry's first love.

Here on the page these seem like too many disparate elements to weave together into a coherent plot, but with three novels already under his belt, Jim Butcher has finally gotten a solid grasp on his narrative and plotting abilities. The writing flows smoothly, Harry's voice is wry and occasionally flippant without sounding forced, and the clues are revealed slowly, leaving Harry to uncover the murderer of the Summer Knight as the reader does instead of ignoring the obvious as it stares him in the face.

Here, we are plunged further into the magical world of the Dresden Files, first with a meeting of the White Council (which had previously been often mentioned but never shown) and second when Harry is hired by Mab, Queen of the Winter Court of the Faerie, to find out who killed the Summer Knight. Harry soon discovers that the stakes are higher than he thought: he must prevent a full-scale war in Faerie, one would destroy the mortal world as we know it.

The supporting characters, as well as the world, are given an opportunity to develop. Detective Karrin Murphy gets a chance to shine, rising from "spunky but always slightly misguided" to a heroine in her own right, one who can battle evil alongside Harry and kill supernatural creatures with a chainsaw. Toot-toot, a dewdrop fairy with a taste for pizza, is no longer a two-bit comic character, but plays an essential role in preventing the Faerie War.

Despite drawing all these threads together, Butler leaves plenty of things hanging for future sequels. The White Council still doesn't trust Harry, the war with the Red Court wages on, and Harry's romantic relationship is still in a sort of limbo.

Summer Knight is not, like many novels of the genre and even the previous books in the series, merely entertaining and ultimately forgettable. Rather, it is a skillfully wrought novel that should establish the Dresden Files series as worthy of attention not just from fantasy fans, but from any discerning reader.