''Summer Knight'' is a 2002
''New York Times'' Bestselling contemporary fantasy
Contemporary fantasy, also known as modern fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy, set in the present day or, more accurately, the time period of the maker. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenre, urban fantasy.
Strictly, supernatural fiction ca ...
novel by author
Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author., He has written the contemporary fantasy ''The Dresden Files'', ''Codex Alera'', and ''Cinder Spires'' book series.
Personal life
Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1971. He ...
. It is the fourth novel in ''
The Dresden Files
''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books.
The books are wri ...
'', which follows the character of
Harry Dresden
''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books.
The books are wri ...
, present-day Chicago's only professional
wizard.
Plot summary
Mab, the Winter Queen of the Sidhe, has purchased Dresden's debt from his fairy godmother, Leanansidhe. She tells Dresden he can pay off his debt by doing three favors. The first favor is for him to find the murderer of the Summer Knight Ronald Reuel and recover his stolen mantle. Dresden refuses her request, but is forced by the White Council to accept the role of her Emissary as his Trial, else be stripped of his title of wizard and handed over to the Red Court vampires as a peace offering.
Dresden is visited by Elaine, his former lover, now the Emissary of the Summer Court, indebted to Aurora, the Summer Lady. Dresden goes to Reuel's funeral, looking for a group of teenage half-human/half-Fae changelings who were Reuel's friends, but they flee and attack, believing him to be in service to Winter. An interview with the sadistic Winter Lady, Maeve, convinces him that she did not kill the Summer Knight.
The changelings ask Dresden to find their friend Lily, and he agrees. He discovers a gravely wounded Elaine and takes her to the Summer Lady. Aurora heals Elaine, but is not forthcoming with any details on Reuel's murder or Lily's disappearance. She explains that the death of the Summer Knight and the theft of his mantle of power shifted the power balance in favor of Winter, driving the Summer Court to attack Winter at Midsummer before their power fades.
Dresden summons Leanansidhe, who transports him to an ethereal Chicago-over-Chicago, where a great Stone Table, the sacrificial stone that maintains the balance between the Winter and Summer Sidhe, now rests. The power of blood spilled upon that table will change the balance of power between the Courts. Dresden persuades Elaine to help him reach the Mothers, the elder Queens of Summer and Winter. They goad him into answering his own questions, realizing that Aurora killed the Summer Knight and transferred his mantle to Lily, who she then turned to stone. They give him a Cloth of Unraveling to release Lily.
Aurora ambushes Dresden and takes him prisoner, aided by Elaine and by the Winter Knight, who she has suborned. Aurora intends to ritually sacrifice Lily on the Stone Table, transferring the power of the mantle to the Winter Sidhe and breaking the unending cycle of struggle between the Faerie Courts. Elaine covertly betrays Aurora, leaving Dresden an escape route from Aurora's sorcerous deathtrap. During the battle between the Courts, Dresden confronts Aurora, who dies at the hands of pixies armed by him with cold steel.
Mab offers Dresden the mantle of the Winter Knight, which he declines. Queen Mab grants safe passage to the White Council of the wizards, enabling Dresden to pass his Trial. Lily becomes the new Summer Lady and her changeling friend Fix her new Summer Knight.
Introduced characters
*
Queen Mab
Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', where "she is the fairies' midwife". Later, she appears in other poetry and literature, and in various guises in drama and cinema. In the play, her activity i ...
: the Queen of Air and Darkness; the monarch of the Court of the Winter Sidhe, the Unseelie Faeries.
*
Queen Titania: the monarch of the Court of the Summer Sidhe, the Seelie Faeries.
*
Maeve
Maeve, Maev or Maiv is a female given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish name ''Méabh'', which was spelt in early modern Irish (), or in Middle Irish, and in Old Irish (). It may derive from a word meaning "she who intoxicates", ...
: the Winter Lady of the Sidhe.
*
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
: the Summer Lady of the Sidhe.
* Mothers Summer and Winter: two former queens of the Summer and Winter Sidhe, respectively.
*
Lloyd Slate: the Winter Knight.
*
The Merlin: the head of the White Council and the Senior Council.
*
Ebenezar McCoy: Dresden's mentor and a member of the White Council's Senior Council.
*
Rashid, the Gatekeeper: a member of the White Council's Senior Council and Mab's "old desert fox".
*
Listens-to-Wind: a member of the White Council's Senior Council.
*
Ancient Mai: a member of the White Council's Senior Council.
*
Elaine Mallory: Dresden's childhood girlfriend and the emissary of the Summer Sidhe.
*
Lily
''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...
: a statuesque Changeling, who becomes the new Summer Lady.
*
Fix: a mechanic and a Changeling, who becomes the new Summer Knight.
Reception
Critical reception has been positive. The
SF Site
SF may refer to:
Locations
* San Francisco, California, United States
* Sidi Fredj, Algeria
* South Florida, an urban region in the United States
* Suomi Finland, former vehicular country code for Finland
In arts and entertainment Genre ...
and
Tor.com
''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction.
From 20 ...
both reviewed ''Summer Knight'', with
Victoria Strauss
Victoria Strauss (born 1955 in Exeter, New Hampshire) is the author of nine fantasy novels for adults and young adults, including the ''Stone'' series (''The Arm of the Stone'' and ''The Garden of the Stone'') and the ''Way of Arata'' series ( ...
commenting via the SF Site that it was "another superior entry in this excellent series".
References
External links
* The first three chapters of the book are found on th
author's official website
{{Authority control
2002 American novels
American fantasy novels
The Dresden Files
Low fantasy novels
Urban fantasy novels
Novels by Jim Butcher
Novels about fairies and sprites