May 15, 2013
The Button Man and the Murder Tree
An all-new Wild Cards story
May 14, 2013
Shall We Gather
When one world brushes another, asking the right question can be magic…
May 8, 2013
Fire Above, Fire Below
The dragon below our city has died. What is to be done?
May 7, 2013
We Have Always Lived On Mars
They've never seen the sky. Or the sun. Or the stars. Or the moons.
In the first two parts of our recap of Cold Days, the fourteenth book in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, Harry Dresden is in a tight spot. He has twenty-four hours to figure out if he should follow his boss’s orders and must also prevent a huge disaster in the same time frame. And when we left it last time, his friends were in trouble....
In part one of the post covering Cold Days, we saw Harry embark on a new career path. Or two. And make some questionable decisions. In part two of our recap of the fourteenth book in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, we see Harry and his friends grapple with the consequences of these career choices. Spoilers beyond the jump.
This is it, folks. The Dresden Files Reread has reached the current release, Cold Days, the fourteenth book in the series. In my review of the novel I called it one of the best of the series and a worthy addition to the ongoing story. Why? Well, click through and find out. Because of the amount that happens in this novel, the recap will be split into three parts. And contain lots and lots of spoilers.
[There’s an old saying, “Revenge is a dish best served cold”...]
When last we left Harry Dresden, he was learning how to deal with his new status, and fighting against despair at how things have changed, most specifically his apprentice. But he also reminded himself that he’s the one who gets things done in Chicago and so he sets out to do just that.
[What does he do? Why, click through and find out (with lots and lots of spoilers...]
When last we saw Harry Dresden, he was going through a number of, well, Changes. The last one pretty severe. In Ghost Story, the thirteenth book in The Dresden Files, Harry is forced to deal with one of the most severe of those changes, one which essentially makes him start all over again.
[What am I talking about? Click through and find out (with spoilers)...]
The last set of stories detailing Harry Dresden’s Side Jobs sends Harry investigating contaminated beer, love gone wrong, then switches gears to give us a story from the point of view of Karrin Murphy, detailing the “Aftermath” of Changes.
Last Call
This one is from the anthology Strange Brew edited by P. N. Elrod. It takes place between Small Favor and Turn Coat. The story begins with Harry going to MacAnally’s looking for a beer. He smells burning food and so goes in locked and loaded (or rather rodded and staffed). He finds Mac’s customers unconscious, and Mac, barely conscious and beaten. Mac asks Harry to call in Murpy, which Harry does.
[Take a little side trip into Side Jobs...watch for spoilers...]
In our last post about the various Dresden short stories, Harry Dresden found a little girl, saved a wedding, protected a group of LARPers and fought a creature out of legend. In this post we cover a few more of his Side Jobs and a special novelette told from the point of view of Thomas Raith.
Day Off
This story originally appeared in the anthology Blood Lite edited by Kevin J. Anderson, an anthology focusing on comedy. It is set between Small Favor and Turn Coat. It begins with Harry in a roleplaying game session with the Alphas. Harry kills the mood by criticizing the game magic and the group wraps up for the evening.
We’ve covered twelve of the books in The Dresden Files so far (and there are two more novels to go), but first it’s time that we cover the various short stories that Jim Butcher has written in the Dresden Files Universe. The majority of those have been collected in the book Side Jobs.
A Restoration of Faith
This story takes place before the events of Storm Front, while Harry’s working for Ragged Angel Investigations in an effort to get his PI’s license. They’ve been hired to find a missing girl, one Faith Astor, ten years old, and Harry recovers her only to find out that her parents reported her kidnapped. They’re a wealthy family and a kidnapping looks better than the girl running away.
In our last post, we covered the first half of Changes, a game-changer of a novel that threatens to change many of the aspects of Harry Dresden’s life. The last post ended with Harry making a monumental decision. In this one, we’ll see if that decision pays off.
Highlight for spoilers: Harry did it, he finally gave in and accepted Mab’s offer to be the Winter Knight (Major Change #5). He killed Lloyd Slate, he had a union of some kind with Mab. All to save his daughter, Maggie, a hostage of the Red Court of vampires. Maggie is going to be the central piece in a ritual that will wipe out Harry’s bloodline. Highlight for spoilers.
[Ch-ch-changes, Just gonna have to be a different man (and watch out for spoilers...]
The twelfth book in The Dresden Files, Changes, is full of, well, changes. Major, massive, sweeping changes. Butcher makes some bold decisions in this book, leading Harry to a significant decision that will hereafter affect his life. This post will examine what leads Harry to that choice, while the next will cover the remaining part of the book.
Changes begins with Susan Rodriguez, Harry’s old flame, calling him to tell him that their daughter has been kidnapped.
The reread for Turn Coat, the eleventh book in The Dresden Files, was too big for just one post. Too packed full of action and twists and turns to be contained by just one summary. Here, however, is the thrilling conclusion to the Turn Coat reread (and this one covers the big finale).
Last week, in part one of the Turn Coat recap, Harry had just discovered that a world of hurt was going to come down on him soon because Madeline Raith had phoned the Wardens of the White Council to tell them that Harry was sheltering the fugitive Donald Morgan. Understandably scared, Harry freaks a little.
[Spoilers beyond this point for all the series up to and including this book...]
What would you do if someone you hated for much of your life was suddenly vulnerable? What would Harry Dresden do? In Turn Coat, my favorite of the Dresden Files novels, Harry must aid one of his oldest enemies while uncovering a traitor within the wizard ranks. Liars and traitors and catspaws, oh my....
Turn Coat starts off running with a knock on Harry’s door. He opens it to find Morgan the Warden, bleeding, on the run from the Wardens. He asks Harry to hide him. Now we all know there’s no love lost between Morgan and Harry, but Harry takes him in. Morgan’s wounds aren’t life-threatening but need treatment. So Harry calls on his favorite medical professional, Waldo Butters.
[This one’s big so is going to be split into two posts. Spoilers beyond...]
The tenth book in the Dresden Files, Small Favor, sees a lot of familiar faces returning in somewhat unpredictable configurations. Harry is attacked by goat-like creatures and also asked for a small favor (appropriate given the title). Of course as is usual in the Dresdenverse, things are rarely exactly what they seem and Harry has to fight harder than he has before, with the lives of several of his friends hanging in the balance.
[Spoilers beyond for all books in the series up to and including this one...]
The ninth novel in The Dresden Files, White Night, sees Harry investigating a series of crimes in the magical community and stumbling onto something that not only implicates him but those closest to him. How will Harry get out of this one?
We begin with Murphy calling Harry to consult on an apparent suicide. From the woman’s apartment, Harry can tell that she’s a practitioner of magic and he trots out his brand new magic kit to find the words “Exodus 22:18” hidden there. “Suffer not a witch to live.”
[Spoilers beyond for all books in the series up to and including this one...]
Proven Guilty, the eighth book in The Dresden Files takes Harry to a horror convention, of all places. If you’ve been reading along, you know that Harry’s world has been heating up, with new enemies and new temptations, and Proven Guilty continues the simmer, even if the main plot is a little on the weak side.
[Spoilers beyond for all books up to and including this one...]
Jim Henson’s work has been an important part of my life, from Sesame Street to the Fraggles and beyond. It’s no surprise, then, that he also created my favorite holiday movie of all time — Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas.
It’s almost Halloween in the Dresden Universe and that means that the barrier between the world of the dead and the world of the living is growing weaker. But surely that isn’t something that can cause a problem, right? Well, Harry gets a special delivery that proves otherwise and sends him down a dark path that won’t be so easy to step off of.
[Spoilers after the jump for all books up to and including this one...]
Blood Rites, the sixth book in The Dresden Files, is an odd one. While the plot, revolving around a problem on the set of a porn film, is not one of Butcher’s best, it drops several bombshells, and perhaps does the most out of all the books so far to change Harry Dresden’s world.
Death Masks, the fifth book in the Dresden Files, opens up a new chapter in Harry’s life while revisiting some old chapters just to dig the knife in. The events of the first four books are starting to come to a boil and on top of this, Harry must investigate the theft of a religious relic while surviving a new group of powerful enemies.
The novel opens with Harry appearing on the Larry Fowler talk show, a thinly veiled Jerry Springer. Harry is once again broke and needs the money from appearing on the show as an expert on the supernatural. Also appearing with him is Mortimer Lindquist, an ectomancer who can speak to the dead, Father Vincent, a Vatican priest, and Professor Paolo Ortega, who also happens to be a Duke of the Red Court of vampires. All of whom have something to say to Harry.
Today is the release day for Cold Days, the fourteenth book in Jim Butcher’s bestselling Dresden Files series! Cold Days picks up right where the previous book, Ghost Story, left off, with Harry trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, and trying to figure out his role in the supernatural world of Chicago. And it’s one of the best books in the series.
[Some cold, wintry spoilers for the novel (and parts of the series) after the jump...]
