I wish I could say I am horribly backlogged. That would be amazing next to the reality, which is that I just haven’t been doing much of anything. Too busy at work, too busy fighting with my broken comics collection, too busy watching TV. I mean, I’ve done other things in there I’m happy about, but finished books and new movies are not among them.

However, I have been on some road trips lately, and thus finally completed the second Dresden book, Fool Moon. As promised before, my running total indicates that six months have passed since the last book, and therefore, um, six months total.[1] Which is to say, October of year zero. Or at least fall instead of spring? But I think I remember October being right.[2] Also, and apparently I didn’t mention any of this before, but James Marsters (who you may be more familiar with as Spike) does a perfectly serviceable rendition of Harry Dresden’s narration. I mean, better than that, all in all. But occasionally he pronounces familiar words strangely, and on top of that I have an unreasoning love affair with the voice of Paul Blackthorne, despite him only performing 13 TV episodes (that are widely panned) before I had otherwise really ever heard of these books. That will always be the voice I hear in my head while I’m reading.

So yeah, that came out heavier against Spike than I meant it to. He really is good, he’s just not what I want. It’s okay, I’m sure I’ll come around more and more. (Especially since as of the second book he mentions chapter transitions, instead of the nonstop wall of text that the first one was.)

As for the story? I was just slobbering all over it the first time I read it, and this time that was not the case. Partly because it’s no longer a delicious new treat I’ve never had before, partly because I no longer have as big a pile of recently consumed Anita Blake to compare it to, and certainly partly because I’m better at spotting Harry’s character flaws than I was then. He absolutely got people killed under the guise of protecting them, and what’s worse is he hasn’t yet learned that it was his fault[3]. He may have said the words, but you can tell.

Otherwise, the main thing I look forward to in the series is when Murphy starts wanting to beat up Dresden for things he actually did, instead of things she unfairly blames him for doing (or not doing). There’s plenty of that to go around, without the misunderstandings about things he couldn’t possibly have thought to mention at the time.

[1] Later, this running total thing will be more useful.
[2] You know how I said reviewing audiobooks is problematic for me? This is what I mean.
[3] It’s also possible I’m just older and wiser than I was, then? In any case, this doesn’t make me dislike the book, or even Harry. Flawed people are mostly better; that said, it’s been a minute or three since I picked up a new Honor Harrington, hasn’t it?