Book Review: Blood Rites by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files #6)

I like detective fictions, and I also like horror fictions. This is why, Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files novels are supposed to be my cup of tea, right?

The answer is, while I do like The Dresden Files, but I won't call myself a fan of this series. However, I think The Dresden Files is likable enough that I have made a commitment to read every book in this series. After I read Death Masks, which was my personal favorite in the series so far, I eagerly cracked open Blood Rites, which is the 6^th book in the series.

At 385 pages, Blood Rites is not a long book, and I read it in 3 sittings. What is my opinion about this book? I think while Blood Rites is not the worst book in this series, but it is certainly not the best either. And today, I would like to share my thoughts on this book.

Synopsis:

Harry is a powerful wizard!

No no, not that Harry. This Harry isn't a 17 years old boy who goes to Hogwarts. We are talking about Harry Dresden here. This Harry lives in Chicago, he is badass, and he is the world's first and the only professional wizard for hire. Harry doesn't make love potions, but he does provide a variety of services, mostly dealing with paranormal investigations.

Professional wizardry is a demanding job. In the past, Harry undertook many difficult assignments. In comparison to his previous assignments, Harry's latest assignment appears to be a walk in the park. What's the assignment? This time, Harry is contracted to go undercover in the adult film industry. Harry is hired by a producer who believes someone has placed a magical curse on him. To fulfill the contract, Harry needs to protect the producer from the curse, and catch the person who made the curse.

Harry wasn't entirely happy about this new assignment. But hey, Harry has seen worse. So Harry began to investigate the case under the cover as an assistant producer on the set. Little did Harry know, he is about to encounter a surprise that will change his life forever..

My thoughts on this book:

To begin with, I like Blood Rites. This is a fun, and exciting story wrapped in a 385 page, paperback novel. If you have read the previous 5 novels in this series, then you have to read Blood Rites. Why? I don't want to spoil the story, so let me just say Blood Rites made a huge revelation about Harry's past and origin. I think the events in Blood Rites will play a crucial role, shaping the story in the books to come.

In Blood Rites, the story moves at a very fast, and smooth pace. The writings capture the visual sceneries with mesmerizing descriptions, and the characters are portrayed vividly. The story comes to life as the black ink filled the white pages. Even if you don't like The Dresden Files, it is hard to deny Jim Butcher does write very well. This man knows how to spin a ripping yarn and put it into words.

Having said this, I don't think Blood Rites is the best book in this series (so far). I mean, Blood Rites is still better than the first 4 novels in the series. Technically, there is nothing wrong with Blood Rites (speaking of which, starting from Death Masks, I am forever grateful for the removal of the “finding inner power” trope that frequented the earlier installments in the series).

The thing is, when compared to Death Masks, Blood Rites lacks the suspense found in the previous installment. It was a great story with a good twist, but readers don't feel the sense of danger for the characters. Furthermore, in this book, the characters' actions and errors seem inconsequential to the story. Instead, Blood Rites feels like another The Dresden Files novel, with Harry Dresden investigating some case, encounter some super-duper bad guys, fight and then win the day. When I was reading this book, I felt like I was reading a fun book but I already knew what was going to happen. The story was predicable. Perhaps this is because Jim Butcher wrote these books as stand alone, self contained novels so he couldn't do a cliff hanger at the end like most fantasy novels tend to do.

Should you read Blood Rites? Well if you've come this far to book 6, then you have to read Blood Rites. Because in this book, you will encounter a turning point in the story that you will not want to miss, especially if you have already read the first 5 books. But if you are a new comer to The Dresden Files, and still unsure if you are going to make a commitment to read this series, then I would recommend you read Storm Front to get a taste for this series. Then decide for yourself if you like The Dresden Files enough to read all 15 books. For me, I like The Dresden Files. Despite its flaws, I want to read the entire series. However, for the time being, I am going to take a break from this series to read something else. Until the next time, happy reading!