Changes by Jim Butcher Series: The Dresden Files #12
on April 6th 2010
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 560
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Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden’s lover-until she was attacked and left struggling with the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Now, she needs Harry’s help. Harry’s enemies have found the secret she has hidden for so long, and he will have to unleash the full fury of his untapped power. Because this time, he’s fighting to save his child.
One day I hope God will forgive me for giving birth to the idea that came next.
Because I never will.
Wow. So this book just yanked my emotions all over the place.
The title is fitting. Crap goes down, Harry’s world is turned upside down, and we get a good view of Harry’s less happy side. I can’t say much without giving away the fun, but this is a book that ups the stakes for Harry to an unimaginable level.
First off, it’s fast. It starts out with a bang and doesn’t let up. Deals are made and lives changed. This is the first book that ended with a cliffhanger, so be prepared. I couldn’t wait my usual month to pick up the next one. I caved after just a few days.
Second off, be prepared to sit down with this for a day if you’re a diehard Dresden fan. I doubt much else will get done until you’ve finished it.
Third, this sure did have some great writing. There’s snippets all over the book, a few choice words, that just delivered an incredible impact. Butcher is one talented man.
So overall, if you’re a Dresden fan, be prepared for a change. If you’re still contemplating picking up this series, I can confirm that the books have only gotten better. Though most can stand alone, the character develop and overall plot arc won’t make much sense unless you start from the beginning.
About Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher read his first fantasy novel when he was seven years old–
the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. By the time he turned eight,
he’d added the rest of the Narnia books, the Prydain Chronicles, every
book about Star Wars he could find, a great many Star Trek novels and
the Lord of the Rings to his count.
So he was pretty much doomed from the start.
Love of fantasy, his personal gateway drug, drew him toward a fairly
eclectic spread of interests: horseback riding (including trick riding,
stunt riding, drill riding, and competitive stunt racing), archery,
martial arts, costuming, music and theater. He played a lot of role-
playing games, a lot of fantasy-based tactical computer games, and
eventually got into live-action roleplay where players beat each other
up with boffer weapons.
So, really, he can fly his nerd flag with pretty much anyone, and
frequently does.
He took up writing to be able to produce fantasy novels with swords and
horses in them, and determinedly wrote terrible fantasy books until,
just to prove a point to his writing teacher, he decided to take every
piece of her advice; fill out outlines and worksheets, and design
stories and characters just the way she’d been telling him to do for
about three years. He was certain that once she saw what hideous art it
produced, she would be proven wrong and repent the error of her ways.
The result was the Dresden Files, which sure showed *her*.
She has not yet admitted her mistake and recanted her philosophy on
writing.
Jim has performed in dramas, musicals, and vocal groups in front of
live audiences of thousands and on TV. He has performed exhibition
riding in multiple arenas, and fallen from running horses a truly
ridiculous number of times. He was once cursed by an Amazon witch
doctor in rural Brazil, has apparently begun writing about himself in
the third person, and is hardly ever sick at sea.
He also writes books occasionally.
Jim stands accused of writing the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera.
He’s plead insanity, but the jury is still out on that one. He lives in
Missouri with his wife, romantic suspense and paranormal romance writer
Shannon K. Butcher (who is really pretty and way out of his league),
his son, and a ferocious guard dog.
