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kathydavie's review
5.0
Fourteenth in the Dresden Files urban fantasy series based in Chicago and revolving around Maeve's new Winter Knight. If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of The Dresden Files books on my website.
My Take
This was cold to read, and it didn't feel like Butcher's writing. Although, Harry is Mab's Winter Knight, and twelve hours in, he's already feeling the cruelty of the Winter mantle sinking into him, so perhaps the chill to the words is intended.
This one is so sad in so many ways. No one has a chance of winning. Becoming the Winter Knight has more traps than a beaver dam in the Old West as Harry discovers when his personality begins to devolve. Friends react different than he expected, and most of them are angry to some degree. His true friends are still here, but there's a reticence now.
Okay, I did appreciate Bob's story about the truth behind how we celebrate Halloween. Although the list of former Winter Knights...eeek! It is not looking good for Harry's future.
Titania's general outlook makes perfect sense, and I find it hard to condemn her for her particular anger. BUT, she needs to cut Harry more slack. As for Mab, well I never thought of her and reason, logic, and calculation as occupying the same mind.
Phew, events in Cold Days are digging Harry in deeper, making Butcher's Dresden-world even more of a nightmare than ever.
You really can't miss this installmen — it holds a number of critical changes as well as an abject lesson in adhering to Winter law.
The Story
Harry Dresden died in Changes, but he's just too hard to kill as Mab learns as she tries, on a daily basis, to kill him again while he's undergoing physical therapy in the Winter Court.
It's an impossible situation with layers upon layers of plans and traps with betrayals galore and contagion lying in wait.
The Characters
Harry Dresden is a wizard for hire as a private investigator. Well, he was. Now he's the Winter Knight for Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, the Winter Lady. Lloyd Slate was the previous knight whom Harry dispatched. A very bad man. Maggie is Harry's daughter; she's living with Michael Carpenter and family these days as is Mouse, a Tibetan temple supernatural dog.
Major General Toot-toot of the Sir Za Winter Lord Knight's Guard and his troops are driving the hearse that Sith arranges for Harry. Little Folk bribed with pizza. Hey, it'd work for me!
Sarissa is Harry's "nurse" and Maeve's twin. Sith is a malk and the Cat Sith, a very powerful, albeit snarky, one, assigned by Mab to aid Harry. Maeve, a.k.a., Darth Barbie, is Mab's daughter and suddenly friendly with Lily, the Summer Queen (Titania is the Summer Lady of Faerie). Leanansidhe is fey and Harry's godmother. She still has to be paid... She's also been working with Molly. Fix is the Summer Knight. Mother Winter shares a house with Mother Summer, night and day in terms of temperament.
The attendees at Harry's birthday part include Eldest Gruff, a powerful goat; the Erlking, a.k.a., Lord Herne; Kringle; the Redcap, who is one of Maeve's and wears a Cincinnati cap; and, a rawhead and an ogre, allies of the Redcap. Ace is part of their little team. Hook, a.k.a., Lacuna, is one of the tough enemy small fey who attack.
Molly Carpenter, a.k.a., Grasshopper, was Harry's apprentice when he was alive. Now, she has a snazzy new apartment in a very secure building. Thomas is Harry's brother, a vampire of the White Court. Justine is still with him. Karrin Murphy was a cop with the Chicago PD. Waldo Butters is another friend of Harry's, and the keeper of Bob the Skull. Andi, one of the werewolves, appears to be living with Butters. Ebenezar is Harry's grandfather; Maggie LeFey had been Harry's mother. Mike Atagi is the mechanic Mr. Etri, the svartalve who owns Molly's building, uses; he's also Harry's old mechanic.
Lara is Thomas' half-sister, a vampire, and the power behind the throne of the White Court. John Marcone is the crime lord of Chicago who built a castle over Harry's old building. He's "also the first mortal to sign on to the Unseelie Accords...and he's the baron of Chicago". Donar Vadderung is CEO of Monoc Securities. Mac owns McAnally's pub, a neutral territory for the fey.
Demonreach is an unfindable island in Lake Michigan off Chicago's shores. It's where Harry did his initial recovery. Turns out it's a lot more than a simple island no one can see, but its overseer as well, and it confirms Harry is a warden.
The White Council is supposed to be the good wizards. Ramirez is one of the wizards Harry likes and who should be hunting down Molly. Rashid is "a member of the Senior Council of the White Council of the Wizards", and the Gatekeeper of the Outer Gates on the outer boundaries of Winter.
The Paranet is still operating, keeping everyone informed of Fomorian moves. Outsiders are, well, from outside our dimension, using psychic powers to attack.
The Cover
The cover is as chilly as the story with snow swirling around a be-hatted, full-length-coat-wearing wizard/knight cocking a Winchester as he stands in the midst of swirling snow on a spooky city street. It's all blues, greys, and black — it's enough to chill out your heart.
The title is the truth. These are some Cold Days in so many ways for Harry Dresden.
My Take
This was cold to read, and it didn't feel like Butcher's writing. Although, Harry is Mab's Winter Knight, and twelve hours in, he's already feeling the cruelty of the Winter mantle sinking into him, so perhaps the chill to the words is intended.
This one is so sad in so many ways. No one has a chance of winning. Becoming the Winter Knight has more traps than a beaver dam in the Old West as Harry discovers when his personality begins to devolve. Friends react different than he expected, and most of them are angry to some degree. His true friends are still here, but there's a reticence now.
Okay, I did appreciate Bob's story about the truth behind how we celebrate Halloween. Although the list of former Winter Knights...eeek! It is not looking good for Harry's future.
Ooh, I want one of those Raith contingency cards..!In typical Dresden-fashion, there's all the bantering and snark — you'll crack up to Charlie Brown and Lucy, Star Wars, Ming the Merciless, Santa, Norse mythical beings, Girl Scouts, James Bond, a nod to Scotty of Star Trek… Bright bits of laughter in between the seeming hopelessness of it all. It always amazes me how deeply in trouble Harry can sink, and yet, he always manages to come out on top. That Butcher is just twisted!
Titania's general outlook makes perfect sense, and I find it hard to condemn her for her particular anger. BUT, she needs to cut Harry more slack. As for Mab, well I never thought of her and reason, logic, and calculation as occupying the same mind.
Phew, events in Cold Days are digging Harry in deeper, making Butcher's Dresden-world even more of a nightmare than ever.
You really can't miss this installmen — it holds a number of critical changes as well as an abject lesson in adhering to Winter law.
The Story
Harry Dresden died in Changes, but he's just too hard to kill as Mab learns as she tries, on a daily basis, to kill him again while he's undergoing physical therapy in the Winter Court.
It's an impossible situation with layers upon layers of plans and traps with betrayals galore and contagion lying in wait.
The Characters
Harry Dresden is a wizard for hire as a private investigator. Well, he was. Now he's the Winter Knight for Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, the Winter Lady. Lloyd Slate was the previous knight whom Harry dispatched. A very bad man. Maggie is Harry's daughter; she's living with Michael Carpenter and family these days as is Mouse, a Tibetan temple supernatural dog.
Major General Toot-toot of the Sir Za Winter Lord Knight's Guard and his troops are driving the hearse that Sith arranges for Harry. Little Folk bribed with pizza. Hey, it'd work for me!
Sarissa is Harry's "nurse" and Maeve's twin. Sith is a malk and the Cat Sith, a very powerful, albeit snarky, one, assigned by Mab to aid Harry. Maeve, a.k.a., Darth Barbie, is Mab's daughter and suddenly friendly with Lily, the Summer Queen (Titania is the Summer Lady of Faerie). Leanansidhe is fey and Harry's godmother. She still has to be paid... She's also been working with Molly. Fix is the Summer Knight. Mother Winter shares a house with Mother Summer, night and day in terms of temperament.
The attendees at Harry's birthday part include Eldest Gruff, a powerful goat; the Erlking, a.k.a., Lord Herne; Kringle; the Redcap, who is one of Maeve's and wears a Cincinnati cap; and, a rawhead and an ogre, allies of the Redcap. Ace is part of their little team. Hook, a.k.a., Lacuna, is one of the tough enemy small fey who attack.
Molly Carpenter, a.k.a., Grasshopper, was Harry's apprentice when he was alive. Now, she has a snazzy new apartment in a very secure building. Thomas is Harry's brother, a vampire of the White Court. Justine is still with him. Karrin Murphy was a cop with the Chicago PD. Waldo Butters is another friend of Harry's, and the keeper of Bob the Skull. Andi, one of the werewolves, appears to be living with Butters. Ebenezar is Harry's grandfather; Maggie LeFey had been Harry's mother. Mike Atagi is the mechanic Mr. Etri, the svartalve who owns Molly's building, uses; he's also Harry's old mechanic.
Lara is Thomas' half-sister, a vampire, and the power behind the throne of the White Court. John Marcone is the crime lord of Chicago who built a castle over Harry's old building. He's "also the first mortal to sign on to the Unseelie Accords...and he's the baron of Chicago". Donar Vadderung is CEO of Monoc Securities. Mac owns McAnally's pub, a neutral territory for the fey.
Demonreach is an unfindable island in Lake Michigan off Chicago's shores. It's where Harry did his initial recovery. Turns out it's a lot more than a simple island no one can see, but its overseer as well, and it confirms Harry is a warden.
The White Council is supposed to be the good wizards. Ramirez is one of the wizards Harry likes and who should be hunting down Molly. Rashid is "a member of the Senior Council of the White Council of the Wizards", and the Gatekeeper of the Outer Gates on the outer boundaries of Winter.
The Paranet is still operating, keeping everyone informed of Fomorian moves. Outsiders are, well, from outside our dimension, using psychic powers to attack.
The Cover
The cover is as chilly as the story with snow swirling around a be-hatted, full-length-coat-wearing wizard/knight cocking a Winchester as he stands in the midst of swirling snow on a spooky city street. It's all blues, greys, and black — it's enough to chill out your heart.
The title is the truth. These are some Cold Days in so many ways for Harry Dresden.
yodamom's review
5.0
This was the best book of 2012 for me. It had stiff competition but it won, big ! There was not one page, one paragraph that did not hold me glued with intense trepidation and excitement. The intensity was relieved by bits of humor, that had me giggling off the adrenaline rush at just the perfect moment. The one before I started getting another grey hair. LOL I thank you Mr. Butcher, it was one hell of a ride !
Short take- Harry conquers his inner Darth.
Short take- Harry conquers his inner Darth.
eryal's review
5.0
I'll be honest, did not see a lot of this coming. When I read I don't like to make predictions about what's going to happen, or what I think the author is planning, it tends to ruin the experience for me, but this book....oh my. Even if I wanted to guess I wouldn't have been right, Butcher knocked it out of the park, my only regret is that I finished it so quickly and now will have to wait for the next book to come out before I can crawl inside Harry Dresden's world again.
marieeve1978's review
4.0
Always fun when you can hear "dum dum DUM!" in your head while reading the end of a novel.
bookph1le's review
Nope, couldn't do it. If I had to read about one more stacked, hot woman throwing herself at Harry, I was going to rip all the hair out of my head--and I like my hair a lot more than I liked this book. The Molly factor especially annoys me because it's just plain gross. Seriously, it's gross. My advice is to lay off it, Jim Butcher. In fact, my advice is to stop objectifying the female characters in your books altogether. Just. Please. Stop.
Changes was the last great Dresden novel,and it's sad for me to watch a series I used to love go so sideways. I think it's time for Harry to retire permanently. His ship has sailed, his shark has been jumped, and any other cliche you want to work in here. I should probably make a Star Wars reference, in keeping with the MANY in this book.
You know what? Write a book about Thomas. Thomas is a character who is interesting, has inner turmoil, and has grown over the series. Harry, not so much. I loved him so much in the beginning, but now he just seems stuck in middle school.
Bye, Harry. It's been a good run but this time it's not me, it's you. It's definitely you, my old friend.
Changes was the last great Dresden novel,and it's sad for me to watch a series I used to love go so sideways. I think it's time for Harry to retire permanently. His ship has sailed, his shark has been jumped, and any other cliche you want to work in here. I should probably make a Star Wars reference, in keeping with the MANY in this book.
You know what? Write a book about Thomas. Thomas is a character who is interesting, has inner turmoil, and has grown over the series. Harry, not so much. I loved him so much in the beginning, but now he just seems stuck in middle school.
Bye, Harry. It's been a good run but this time it's not me, it's you. It's definitely you, my old friend.
existential_crisis3's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jaredrlopatin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75