I was advised to skip the first two Dresden books - too misogynistic and edgy, they said - and thought that I had until I noticed the series numbering when I came to write this review. So it is with pleasant surprise that I can report Fool Moon is neither as misogynistic nor as edgy as I feared. Literally every named woman on page does either want Dresden carnally, or disrobe at some point (sometimes both) and he does wear a trench coat and have a tragic past, but there are also many spirited (beautiful) women in the story in positions of various authority and Dresden is often explicitly scared, crying, and trying to make the world a better place. He's not actually a faithful instance of the hard-boiled noir detective in that respect. I was looking for novel-John Constantine but I found a decent guy instead. (Constantine continues to be more compelling but it'll be a fairer comparison when I've read a few more of Dresden.)

But enough about character; the world is the most interesting part of this novel. Its magic level hovers slightly higher than the secret-monstrous-underbelly of your typical urban fantasy while still staying well below your Brights and Shadowruns, which allows for factions from the police to the mob to have knowledge of and opinions on magic. These are used to good effect to complicate Dresden's life. The magic is soft in its entirety but the parts of it that were key to the plot were given harder rules so we could understand and anticipate when they were explored and exploited. There were also some thrilling hints at supernatural scheming that runs deeper than Dresden knows - especially Dresden's negotiations with a devil. Spices the mystery of the week vibe up with a hint of real dread.

The plot jumps along at a good clip too. Butler has great timing in dishing out his cool ideas and magic tricks to keep us entertained between scenes of spectacle. And to top it all off, Fool Moon was short! If the misogyny and edginess only lessen from here on out, I see no reason not to pick up the next Dresden installment this Halloween. (Though not enough to try the first either.)