A friend gave me these books a while ago and I finally got around to reading them. I'd read one or two a long time ago, but it was long enough to have forgotten the gist of the story. All I remembered was a scene or two here and there.
It was really nice to read the series from start to finish. I love the character arc, and that he did get stronger and more entwined with those around him. Of course, there's more than one way to end a series, but killing the main character will most assuredly do it up tight. When I read that, I kept hoping for some kind of miracle, or at least to know who had pulled the trigger, but no. That was the end. Jim Butcher did write a selection of short stories that went along with this series. They each took place between this book and that, each one introduced with a paragraph or two saying where it belonged and why it was written. The last one followed Harry Dresden death, written from his closest friend's POV. It at least let me know that he was truly gone, though with no body, it's hard to believe. Sigh. Some part of me is still wishing for a miracle. I mean, his story is so unfinished, though maybe it is, the human part of it anyway.
Since I skim through the intros and such, I saw references to another series that looked interesting, and I was pleased to discover that it had been included with the rest of them. The series is called Codex Alera, and it is only 6 books. I haven't finished it yet, so I can't comment on the ending of this one, but I do wish the editor/publisher (a big name) would have spent more time taking care of the formatting. The paragraphs are indented, but sometimes every line has the same indent so it's hard to tell when one paragraph ends and the next one begins. This doesn't happen all the time; usually around dialog, but it's annoying as H E double-hockey sticks. The book I'm on now has space between the paragraphs so that helps, but the original issue was never fixed. It really injures the author, because a reader will blame him for these kinds of issues.
One thing I can blame on the writer is his use of names. He has way too many very similar names, and they're not reserved for mother/daughter or father/son issues. Those I can understand. No, the similarity is across anything named from people to the name of the country to the name of their magic elements. You really have to pay attention to keep them straight.
Aside from these issues, I highly recommend this series - both of them. The story, the characters, the world is fascinating. As with all things, there is give and take. They are very well-balanced books. If you like magic, dig in and enjoy. I sure did and am.
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