Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours

The author manages to write an entertaining and original Spider-Man story that is consistent with the comics. His style fits the material very well, and he captures the character of Spider-Man as I remember him. His dialogue is entertaining, the fight scenes are well constructed, and the plot manages to hit a lot of familiar notes without being formulaic. The pace of the story is exactly right as well, with action sequences that display and develop an escalating threat for Spider-Man interspersed with glimpses of the amusingly bumpy personal life of Peter Parker. Overall, a tightly written action adventure story featuring Spider-Man.

I can only imagine how difficult it is for an established writer and world-builder to step into another universe and contribute. But Jim Butcher is clearly a big fan of Spider-Man, and it shows here. This is a Harry Dresden novel, if Harry Dresden had been bitten by a radioactive spider. And had a luckier love life. And been the foster son of Stan Lee. There is a fairly involved plot, in whose multiple threads I never felt entangled, a wise-cracking lead character who is also capable of growing and learning from experience in ways hard to pack into a comic book, and some quite remarkable character development in (not much spoiler here) The Rhino.In spite of a schedule that doesn't allow me much fun reading these days, I buzzed through this in segments in two days, always interested to get back to it, never bored, and never feeling I could predict what would happen next. If Butcher gets tired of world-building and just wants to play, I hope he comes back to Spider-Man, because I had a lot of fun reading this book.

Jim Butcher is an excellent writer who has created a few not-so-ordinary worlds of his own for his characters to frolic in. In one, he has a wizard/detective for hire in Chicago; in another, he created a believable fantasy universe. In both cases, the characters spring to life off the page, wisecracking their way through occasionally implausible adventures with some extra-special abilities. And he makes them seem quite plausible indeed.So I was _really_ curious to see what he'd do with Spider-Man. To my great relief... he did a wonderful job. Spider-Man is a wise-cracking good guy with extra-special abilities too, and Butcher makes him sparkle.Now, I like Spider-Man, but I'm not a card- (or web-)carrying fan. I didn't grow up with a stash of comic books under my bed (little girls didn't *do* that), but I was generally familiar with the story and I liked the movies. I've read a handful of Spider-Man stories since then, primarily by Babylon 5's Straczynski, and I think they're fun mental cotton-candy.The basic story is the stuff of comic books. (Well DUH.) Spider-Man thought he was done with Morlun, a life-sucking entity who feeds on "totemic images," after he wiped the guy out in a previous book. But Morlun has a sister and two brothers, and boy are they _mad_. And also hungry....It's hard to fathom a book about Spider-Man without images, but Butcher pulls it off. He writes very visually, even (or maybe especially) in the fight scenes. But the "words" let the reader learn more about Peter Parker's internal dialog, which both adds to the character and makes you giggle out loud. You realize how much Peter loves his wife; you watch him figure out how to resolve the "B plot" with the high school basketball player; you get to see him question the "humanity" of someone he thought was evil. It's all lightly done, and you can see Butcher's tongue poking out of his cheek at times... but hey, that's what you came for.If you're a Spider-Man fan, you'll like this book. And if you're a Butcher fan, as I am, you'll enjoy watching him romp through someone *else's* universe for a while.

The plot may be a bit thin, but Jim Butcher has a knack for smooth writing, characters with philosophical / psychological introspection, and natural dialogue. Nothing feels forced, wooden, or two-dimensional.To me Jim's a writer I have a hard time putting down. Some moments rock, and some moments are the calm before the storm, but they all are great. Like classic Pink Floyd - it may not be the most engrossing music, were it performed by some other band, but in the hands of Waters and Gilmour and the right producers it all comes out like a masterpiece.I guess what I'm saying is, sometimes it not what you do but how you do it. And IMHO Jim does it right (at least here and in his Dresden work). Chandler and Hammet did it right. IMO James Patterson does it completely wrong (mostly). Style needs to fit the art. Patterson isn't hard-boiled so his attempts fall short and it's noticeable. His style, to me, worked just great for "When the Wind Blows" because it was pretty much a YA book (the original take on his Maximum Ride series). Because his style fit the context of the work, I really enjoyed that one.Jim's style works for Dresden and certainly works for Peter Parker. It's light-hearted and fun and un-forced, but there's a depth to the characters and the interpersonal relationships, which is exactly what makes for a good comic (ala The Ultimates & Garth Ennis's Preacher series). Were Butcher to try and re-write Madam Bovary or Anna Karenina, it would be an abysmal failure. Just like if Pink Floyd tried to play punk rock.This tale is also told in first-person, which I always enjoy. It adds an immediacy to the work, which helps greatly in a tale with something of a thin plot. But thin plots are just fine if the style matches the work. I still enjoy classic Green Day, because the approach meshes with the music. Three-chord rock can still be amazing if done with feeling and heart. The Black Crowes understand this and so does Dresden. Put your heart and soul into the performance (the writing, in this case) and the results will be enjoyable. Forcing a 'voice' doesn't work (e.g. Megan Abbott's early forced attempts at noir).If you like Butcher, try some Duane Swierczynski. I HIGHLY recommend "Secret Dead Men" and "The Wheelman". His voice is similar. Then move on to Elmore Leonard, or for someone contemporary try John Stonehouse. Both have great writing styles that compel me to keep reading till it's finished. Always fun to read, even if the overall story is thin and there's not much character arc. Trust me, you'll never go back to James Patterson after you read Leonard. And as a bonus, most of his work has been made into movies. Most of Swierczynski's stuff has been optioned, but nothing's come of it yet.If you enjoy novels based on comic characters, I really dug "Wayne of Gotham" by Tracy Hickman, "No Man's Land" by Greg Rucka (check out his Atticus Kodiak series), and "Batman Ultimate Evil" by Andrew Vachss (check out his Burke series).

I was expecting a graphic novel. Turns out, it's only a novel - which isn't a problem at all, I am an avid reader. Jim Butcher is one of my favorite authors, and Spider Man has long been my favorite superhero. The combination is amazing.I want to go pester Jim to write more Peter Parker!

If you are fan of spidy and jim butcher, this is a must to !! I wait for long to let this read for an special time, and when I take it, I just read it in two week! Very ver funny to read.En español, es jim butcher al puro estilo, y ademas si eres fan de spiderman ... es algo que no puedes dejar escapar! yo lo reserve para una ocasión especial, y no me defraudo para nada! me lo leí en dos semana! fue muy divertido de leer ademas con continuidad en el universo maverl!!!

If you're a fan of the Dresden Files, you'll already know Jim Butcher likes to pepper his urban fantasy with lots of pop culture references. Here he gets a chance to immerse himself fully in the Marvel genre, and he has a great time with it. Spider-Man is a good fit for him and in Darkest Hours, he's also a grown-up. The Hollywood versions, endlessly remade and rebranded, would have us believe he's an eternal teenager; trapped forever as a relentlessly smart-mouthed kid, but here we get to take a peek at what he might be like as an adult. He still has all his superhero gifts and obligations, but he also has a wife, a day-job and a bunch of mundane, real-world responsibilities as well.Half the enjoyment of this book stems from watching him figuring out how to juggle saving the city with keeping his job, and the rest comes from the classic, villain-of-the-week style plot; full of twists, turns, complications and cool cameos. It reads like JB had a lot of fun writing it, and I definitely had a lot of fun reading it. If you're looking for something weighty and soul-searching, better go elsewhere, but if you're in the market for something light and hugely entertaining, try this. It made me laugh out loud way more than once, and left me smiling.

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