Changes

Dear Jim Butcher: we apologize for doubting you. Seriously.

You all may remember last year when we reviewed TURN COAT. In short, we were pissed. It just wasn't that good. In fact it was one of the books we hated most last year. We had decided to swear off reading Butcher forever. Steve even sold his Dresden Files collection. It was a sad day. Luckily that anger faded, and we decided that we should read Butcher's latest Dresden Files novel, CHANGES.

When we found out the title of this book, Nick said to Steve, "Changes? There damn well better be." Really, the title was the epitome of what we wanted in the series. Progression from characters and story. To be honest, we were preparing to hate this newest novel. How could Butcher possible fix all the problems he had in TURN COAT. Could he reset the effects of the reset caused by the magic reset button from book eleven? Before you think about that too hard, we'll just tell you simply:

CHANGES was awesome.

The plot revolves around Harry discovering (on line one of page one--how's that for immediate conflict?) that he has a daughter, and that she has been abducted by the Red Court Vampires (while it creates cool conflict right off the bat, we couldn't help but feel this 11th hour revelation was pretty hokey). They plan to sacrifice her. In a nutshell, this is Jim Butcher writing MAN ON FIRE. It is dark. It is violent. It is fantastic.

Now, when we say we wanted Butcher to change everything, we didn't really mean everything. Butcher is one of the best at writing humor. His dialogue is known for being snappy, witty, and natural. His action is always described well. These things haven't changed, and in some respects have improved. There is a moment in the middle of the book when Sanya, (a Knight of the Cross for those of you who didn't remember) asks Harry if he "hit that," and if it was "phat." This was when Steve realized Butcher and Harry Dresden were back.

As far as plot progression and pacing, we don't think it could have been done much better. From the first line, to the INSANE ending and last line on the last page, this book threatened to break pacing records. It just didn't let up. Ever. There was two books work of awesomeness in this one 440 page novel.

Now, not everything was perfect. Thomas' progression still bothers us. It still feels like he has regressed as a character, while at the same time making us feel at times that the events from TURN COAT didn't matter so much. Murphy is also still in a state of stagnation--especially because we get a very real glimpse of her potential, which she summarily dismisses to return to the status quo. But everything else?

Geez.

We are exposed to Harry Dresden doing things that we thought (and even he thought) he would never do. CHANGES deals very heavily with the theme, "What is going too far, when is it worth it/called for, and what are the consequences of it?" So far the morality tones in the Dresden Files have been fairly simply, relegated to the Council rules, Harry's use of Soulfire or Hellfire, and other similar ideas, that just weren't that deep. CHANGES...well...changes that.

CHANGES is one of the best Dresden Files novels. It is right up there with books 7-9. If you had been putting off reading the series, you really should start now. If you were waiting for confirmation that Butcher was back in form, after reading our review of his last book, now you have it.

We do, however, still have a gripe that he wants to write 11 or 12 more books in the series. At one a year...the end is a long time coming. The Dresden Files are Butcher's bread and butter and we worry that he is using the series as a cash cow to fill his retirement fund. We could just be cynical though, and after reading CHANGES, we are OK with helping Butcher fill that bank account.

Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: It's on par with the rest of the series.
Violence: A little more this time. We used a MAN ON FIRE reference for a reason.
Sex: On par with the rest of the series.


Jim Butcher's website:

http://www.jim-butcher.com/

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Posted in Books We Like , Jim Butcher , Urban Fantasy

Turn Coat

It is with irony that we, the superheroes of book reviews, feel betrayed by Jim Butcher's latest Dresden Files novel TURN COAT. We debated long over what we should say in regards to this novel, and more importantly, this series. How about a history lesson? No?

Too bad.

Back when Steve "used to be important" (sorry, inside joke) at the bookstore, one of his regular customers said he wouldn't read another recommendation until Steve read the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. There were only seven books out in the series at the time. Steve read them, and thought they were great fun. He, in turn, forced his superior attitudes on Nick and Rob. They concurred as to the overall awesomeness of Harry Dresden, the Wizard P.I. in Chicago (it just sounds awesome huh?). Books 8 and 9 were released, and we figured we had found the golden series. Book 10 came out, and though it felt like nothing but pure setup for the rest of the series, we forgave Butcher. After all, Butcher wouldn't betray us right? He wouldn't turn on us would he?

Then TURN COAT came out (See what we did there? Clever huh?)

So that you can understand our displeasure at the end of the novel, let us pose a question. Have you ever watched a TV show (*cough*smallville*cough*) or read a comic where after all hell breaks loose, and all the important people die (or everything seems to get better, even), the show/book hits the Magic Reset Button? Suddenly everything is back how it was at the beginning? All the character growth is negated?

Welcome to TURN COAT.

That isn't to say the book doesn't have redeeming qualities. We get to see some of the characters that we don't see much of, like Listens-To-The-Wind, for example who is a complete BAMF (We feel slimy referencing Dane Cook, but really there is no other way to describe this guy) in this book. Harry's werewolf buddies have some real development, as well as a slew of other characters that have long since needed some attention.

There are moral questions raised by multiple characters that would have been interesting had they been compounded with actual character development (See above for the magic reset button). Harry is shown to be a good guy, despite all of his darkness, by his actions in this book, but that is contradicted by Michael's plot-line in this, and the last, book.

The writing, as usual, is top notch. The plot is centered around the search to uncover a traitor among the Wizards Council (Well duh right? Could it be anything else with a name like TURN COAT?). The mystery style of the book is well done, as we have come to expect from Butcher, though we nailed who the traitor was from his/her first appearance.

The bottom line? We think that Butcher realized he was only 11 books into a 22 book serious and ran out of ideas for conflict so instead of writing it in, he is just going to rehash what has been done in the series already. There is an awful lot of setup for the obviously massive conflict coming, and for that we thank Butcher. We just wish he could have done that without deciding to ignore the development of the previous 10 books.

Here is what we recommend: books 1-9 are great, read them and enjoy them for the popcorn-novels they are. As for books 10 and 11, if you feel like reading novels that make you pissed off, borrow them from a friend or library. Otherwise, leave them be until we read the 12th book next year and tell you if we have forgiven Butcher.

Recommended Age: 15 and up
Language: Yep, there was some. Nick, in fact, swore a lot when he finished the novel.
Violence: Sure, we got violent when we threw the novel at the wall across the room.
Sex: We weren't in the mood after finishing. Our significant others were even more displeased at the effects of Butcher's novel than we were. Sad huh?


Look, Butcher is a good guy, and he has a great "How I got published" story. Hopefully TURN COAT was an aberration rather than the future of the series. Go visit his website and support him--he does deserve it for what he has done up until now--and will hopefully deserve it after Book 12 is released.

www.jim-butcher.com

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Posted in Books that are Mediocre , Jim Butcher , Urban Fantasy