Changes

I chose to read a bunch of these one after the other as a part of a digital collection.

I'm not sure that was the best way to do it. It feels like eating a gallon of chocolate pudding in one sitting. I like the pudding, but a snack pack is a better serving size.

This, like all the books in the collection (7-12) had some high and low points. These books remind me of a fantasy adventure television show with each chapter edited to end on a cliffhanger/commercial break.

I don't have strong feelings of love for this series, but I'm not tired of it either. I like Harry, like the humor, like some of the supporting characters. They have enough stakes and tension to keep the pages turning. In this particular book, the scene with the “Eebs” was especially memorable. I also enjoyed the bit with Donar Vadderung and hope he comes back.

True to the title, there are a lot of “changes” in the book as Harry's life as we've come to know it is turned inside out and upside down. That's good as it means the future of the series may be less predictable (I hope).

On the downside, they throw a lot of plot at you, without rhyme or reason, and with twists that are often banal. How many other unknown family members is Harry going to pick up before we're done? If he finds out Karin is his sister, I'm outta here. The action sequences are frequently the most boring chapters of any given book. Ideally, I should be on the edge of my seat for these scenes.

There is far too much similarity between one plot and another from book to book. Every plot is a scheme within a scheme within a scheme, instigated by some supernatural power player. There's always a traitor of some kind or other. The Red Court's internal power struggles in Changes are almost exactly like the White Court's from White Night. It is never as noir as I had thought it would be/hoped for. Most of the characters are quite glamorous in one way or another. City problems are mentioned but most of the cast are too far above/outside of them.

Nearly every woman's hotness is described in detail. Harry's consistent horniness is tiresome. At this point I can just assume it's there, right? I don't need to be reminded.

I guess that brings up another point, because I'm reading them straight through like this, I'm aware of the abundance of exposition, which is skippable the way Butcher writes it. If I'd read them back when they first came out and had to wait for each new book, I'd have a different experience and would maybe appreciate the refresh.

I can never decide if I'm going to go on with the series when I get to the end of a book. Certainly, I won't binge them ever again as this intensifies the things that bug me about the series.

I do not give out many 5-star ratings, but for this book I couldn't do anything else. That is despite the fact that [a:Jim Butcher 10746 Jim Butcher https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg] did something I honestly didn't think he would do to his legions of loyal readers, something that I absolutely detest. Something that I will not tell you about, because I loathe spoilers. If you know anything about me, though, it means a great deal to say that even though I would drop most authors who use that particular technique like not just hot, but rotten hot potatoes, I cannot even consider not getting the next Dresden Files book and devouring it the very first millisecond I am able to do so.My family can attest to the fact that I didn't just laugh out loud while reading Changes. (Anybody who doesn't laugh out loud at least once while reading the Dresden Files should be checked for rigor mortis.) This time I laughed so loud and so long at one point that Sam got up and came into the room where I was to make sure that I was okay and getting enough air. There was absolutely no way for me to explain what was so funny, of course, without spoilers.While there is a great deal of humor, there is also darkness. A lot of darkness. The blurb for the book makes that clear. Susan, the love of Harry's life, kidnapped years ago by a Red Court vampire and half-turned in a plot to get at Dresden, is back with big, bad news: she had a daughter by him, and the child has been kidnapped by someone. As usual, things go downhill from there.Many series start out with a bang, have maybe two or three strong volumes, then devolve into more and more and more contract fulfillment books that I occasionally think might be written by clever shell scripts. The Dresden Files is one of the few, beautiful exceptions, as volume twelve proves. I honestly thought that Butcher was winding things up to move on to other projects, due to some of the events in the book, but I will say that he surprised the bejesus out of me. This is definitely not a series-ending book! I anxiously await number thirteen. I might even do something I've never done before, and pre-order it. Yes, Jim, you've got me hooked, and how.