Changes

All I can say is wow. This has been the most on the edge of my seat story in this series so far. Huge changes for everyone in this series. And when I say everyone I mean everyone. It's also the most heartbreaking chapter yet. I can't lie, I just finished it and had to wipe tears from my eye's. And it also leaves you on a huge cliffhanger that I never saw coming. This has been another excellent addition to the series.

Jim Butcher went all out in his 12th installment of the Harry Dresden series, CHANGES. No punches are pulled, no holds are barred. CHANGES do indeed abound, starting right off on the very first line of the first page, and continuing on to the very end. CHANGES "goes to 11," for both Harry and for the readers. As this is no longer a spoiler (it has been widely used in publicity for CHANGES), I will say it here: Harry has an 8 year old daughter and the vampires of the Red Court have kidnapped her. We learn this in the first line of the first chapter. And the excitement and tension just keep growing exponentially from there. Harry Dresden kicks major butt and takes no prisoners. Jim Butcher has really thrown the proverbial kitchen sink into CHANGES. Old friends, enemies, and even frenemies make their appearances. We learn a bit more about each one, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Harry must make "a deal with the devil" to improve his chances of getting his daughter back, trying to chose the least evil of his options. He stands to lose everything, and very nearly does. All of the icons that define Harry as Harry are at risk. His friends are at risk. And Harry himself, his ideals and principles, are at risk. Is it even possible for Harry to survive? Can he save his daughter without losing himself? Harry Dresden is one of my favorite characters. I eagerly anticipate his spring visit ever year, as if anticipating the visit of an old friend. And once his new story arrives, I am pretty much good for nothing until I have finished the new book. And CHANGES was no different. I always try to read each new Dresden book slowly, so that I can catch every nuance and draw out my enjoyment. But, as always, I read CHANGES through lickity-split, skipping meals and stay up until the wee hours. Jim Butcher writes with such ease, familiarity, suspense, and intrigue, that I could not put CHANGES down, no matter how hard I tried (okay, I didn't try all THAT hard). CHANGES is clearly a major turning point for Harry, with heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat, pacing-around-the-room-as-you-read, gasping-for-breath chills and thrills. Both Jim Butcher and Harry Dresden keep growing - Jim in his already impressive writing abilities, and Harry as both a human being and as a wizard - which is the main reason, IMHO, that readers keep flocking back. Harry gets dealt blow after blow after mind-numbing blow, and still manages to keep the droll, witty sense of humor that we have all come to love. CHANGES is no exception; there are several laugh-out-loud moments, as well as lots of heart-warming grins. But by the end of CHANGES, Harry may be changed forever... However, we will have to wait until the next book to find out. CHANGES is the first Dresden that is a true cliffhanger - a how-could-you-do-this-to-me, screaming-at-the-book cliffhanger. The last page of the last chapter nearly did me in, and definitely has me already drooling for more. I don't know

I'm going to start this review a little unconventionally but bear with me. I must say I was actually angry when I saw that Jim Butcher was taking time out to write the Codex Alera (Codex Alera, Book 1) series. Not intrigued at the possibility of getting to read a new milieu created by a wonderful author, but genuinely mad that he would divert his amazing creative energies and time away from the Harry Dresden books. I eventually caved in and read that series, and I was impressed by the way Butcher had a very clear idea of the arc of the story right from the start. Amidst the amazing action scenes, political intrigue, and even romance, he never loses sight of the need to drive the story and his characters forward. The same can be emphatically said for Changes. It's remarkable that after all Harry has been through in the series so far, Jim Butcher manages to to reach a new high in terms of the stakes for Harry in this book. What he risks, what drives him to do it, and the jaw-dropping outcome are all "turned up to 11" in this volume. Although much is bleak and tense, Harry's trademark dark humor is never far from the surface. And, as always seems to happen in every volume, he gets the snot kicked out of him in new and creative ways. It just wouldn't be a Dresden Files book if Harry didn't have a metaphorical piano dropped on his head a time or two! Many reviewers have complained about the shocking cliffhanger at the end of this story. I disagree with them. I found it worked wonderfully well simply because it came as such a surprise. We've had 11 volumes in which a chapter of Harry's life draws to a satisfactory conclusion; I respect and admire how Butcher keeps the reader a little off balance this time. Many authors learn to play it safe and simply deliver "more of the same" but Butcher, like Harry, isn't content with the status quo. He has to keep striving for more. I hate spoilers in reviews, so pardon me if this part of the review is frustratingly vague, but I simply have to mention it. By the end of the story we know that Harry's career path is going to change dramatically. I'm anticipating that plot arc much more than the resolution of the cliffhanger. My hat is off to Jim Butcher. Many lesser authors wouldn't dare tamper with a successful formula, but this book leaves me eagerly awaiting the next exciting chapter of the Harry Dresden saga. But no more side projects, Mr. Butcher! I grudgingly forgave you for the Codex Alera but I'm a Dresden Files junkie that needs his next fix. Hurry up, man!

Book lives up to title. Read it expecting that almost anything, no matter how much of a constant it's been over the past eleven books, might be altered, revised, or destroyed. Any given plotline you've been waiting for Butcher to move forward or develop, there's good odds you'll find out more here, and more than one multiple-book plot thread finds its end. Butcher is at the top of his game here, and it may be the best overall book in the series to date; from the very first line -- "I answered the phone, and Susan Rodriguez said, 'They've taken our daughter[,]'" -- the book moves at a page-tearing clip, and I read it pacing back and forth in my living room, so wholly and obviously absorbed that my girlfriend gave me the night off from household chores ("Sorry I haven't done the dishes, dear. I can't. Book." "I know. It's okay.") Butcher's spent the past eleven books developing Harry's character, establishing his hunger for family, his devotion to saving innocents, especially children, and his willingness to burn the world in order to do the right thing, regardless of cost; he's also balanced Harry on the knife's edge of several different horrible temptations, and shown that Harry's passion has the potential to lead him very badly astray. This book drops Harry onto that knife edge and then hits him with a truck, and much of the tension in the book comes from watching Harry discover just how many moral and emotional lines he is, after all, willing to cross, and how many irrevocable steps he's willing to take, in order to save his daughter. It isn't unrelentingly dark; the trademark humor of this series is on display, and fans will find plenty to chuckle over in between the explosions (my favorite, among many, might be Harry's pointed refusal to wear a hat, a subtle comment on the inaccuracy of the series' cover art). Despite that, though, this is definitely the psychologically darkest book in the series so far, and I expect it marks a trend we'll see continue in later books (Butcher plans to write approximately 12 more books in the Dresden series). Like many a season finale, this book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger -- while the plot of this story's resolved, there's a 'Whoa! what just happened?" moment on the last page or so. The good news is that the upcoming Dresden Files short story anthology, _Side Jobs_, due out in October/November of this year, will include a novella (titled "Aftermath") set forty five minutes after the conclusion of this one. So hopefully we won't have to wait a full year for some resolution on that front. I don't recommend starting the series here; start with the first Dresden Files book, _Storm Front_, and work your way forward. If you'd like a preview of this volume, though, the first four chapters are available for free on the author's website.

Just when you thought Harry Dresden had every problem a wizard could have, a new one appears. And his problems pile up like so many skulls in the twelfth book of the Dresden Files series, which is appropriately titled "Changes." Jim Butcher's quirky sense of humor is still in place ("Ick! My lips touched dog lips!"), but this is definitely a darker twist in the series -- and Butcher seems intent on diving down into a place that's far darker, bloodier and scarier than most urban fantasy authors can even dream of. Harry is understandably shocked when his ex-girlfriend Susan tells him that their daughter has been abducted by Duchess Arianna Ortega, a vampire of the Red Court who has a personal grudge against him. After all, he didn't even know he HAD a daughter. To make matters even worse, the supernatural world is on the verge of imploding because of the Red Court's war with the White Council, which means that Harry can't depend on his own kind for any actual help. And what's more, Harry's being bombarded by assassins, giant Mayan demons, and hordes of Red Court vampires out to destroy/vampirize him. He has to gather as many allies as possible before Arianna puts her lethal plan into effect, and he might have to sacrifice his morals to do so. But even then, an all-out assault on the Red Court in their own territory will tax Harry and his little fellowship to the limits -- and will tear away even more of what he loves. "Changes" is a painfully appropriate name for this book. Just about everything you know in the Dresden Files series changes here -- the enemies, the allies, the politics, the devastating losses and even the war against the Red Court. Even the series itself is changing from an urban fantasy series into an EPIC fantasy series -- and it feels like a turning point after which everything (and I do mean everything) will be different. For most of the book, Butcher whips up his usual mixture of action (a giant centipede out of "Inuyasha," a pitched battle in a fae court), convoluted supernatural politics, funny clothing, and pop culture references ("You know, I believe it IS possible to reference something other than "Star Wars," boss." "That is why you fail"). But a bleak, dark undercurrent runs through the entire book, and it gets darker every time another little piece of Harry's life is chipped away. Butcher spends the whole book creating a slow-burning build-up to a really nasty confrontation with the Reds, and it all culminates in a truly explosive climax that's soaked in blood, magic, and the deepest passions of the human heart. Here's the only disappointing aspect of it -- the "to be continued!" cliffhanger. Butcher also brings in countless characters from previous books (Thomas, Sanya, Uriel, Butters, Toot, the ever-elusive Lea, Luccio), and introduces a few new ones (Vadderung, who resembles a certain ancient father-god). But the center of this story is undeniably Harry, who is so determined to save his daughter that he

No spoilers in this review, but Wow! Just wow! On the first page of this book we learn exactly what Harry Dresden's mission and prime focus is going be. Throughout Changes the characters we know and love appear, but the conversations they could/should and probably will have with Harry one day often don't eventuate, because there simply isn't time. Harry has his mission and one sole focus and his friends are either with him or not. There is no time for deep discussions or reflections. The changes, questions and possibilities accumulate in this book, not just for Harry but for all the characters. I can't wait to see which avenues Jim Butcher will explore now that so many more have opened up. But fans may also be surprised at some of the Dresden familiarities that come to an end. The final 20 - 25% of this book especially impressed me. It was building up to a huge climax and it certainly didn't disappoint, but we are provided with many surprise twists rather than just one big fight at the end. There is one particularly enormous WHOA! moment that I guarantee nobody will be expecting. A wonderful book, a crucial pivot point in the Dresdenverse and after I've taken stock and recharged the kindle I'm off to read it again to see what I missed. Is it April 2011 yet?