Cold Days

I appreciate the way all the plots tied together as the story wrapped up but it was a let down after the previous book. I thought we were headed for a more thoughtful Dresden after the beautifully constructed and by comparison more thoughtfulGhost Story.

Butcher went back to throwing Dresden into one action scene after another and completely failing to enthrall me. If something is constant, you start to tune it out.

I suppose if only every other book in this series is good, that's still notable given how long it has continued.

Harry Dresden was dead but brought back to life by Mab the Winter Queen. He has to fight back the nature of being the Winter Knight and its base instincts. He finds he has to save his magical island and all of Chicago. He reconnects with his old allies and enemies in the process. I still love this series 14 books in and it still interests me. Poor Harry is always getting beat up and beat down. Of course I will only listen to it on audio book as I love it being read by James Marsters. He just seems to do the character justice.

Executive Summary: If you read The Dresden Files and haven't read/started this book, why not? If you're on earlier book..hurry up!If you don't read the Dresden Files? Why are you reading this? Go get [b:Storm Front 47212 Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1) Jim Butcher http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1345556917s/47212.jpg 1137060] right now, so you can start catching up!Seriously, I'm just amazed at the way Mr. Butcher has evolved this series over the years, still going incredibly strong with the 14th book in the series. This has easily been my favorite series since I discovered it a few years ago.Audio Book: I'm so glad to have James Marsters back for this book. He puts so much emotion into his reading. When Harry casts a fire spell Mr. Marsters snarls Fuego rather than just reading it. I also really enjoyed his voices for the new characters as well.Full ReviewI've eagerly been awaiting this book since finishing [b:Ghost Story 8058301 Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13) Jim Butcher http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1329104700s/8058301.jpg 12731936] last summer. I found that book to be a little bit of a fall of from [b:Changes 6585201 Changes (The Dresden Files, #12) Jim Butcher http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1304027244s/6585201.jpg 6778696], but I just credited that to just how great [b:Changes 6585201 Changes (The Dresden Files, #12) Jim Butcher http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1304027244s/6585201.jpg 6778696]. I really thought it was going to be hard for Mr. Butcher to top it, but somehow he did.I found myself deep into the book wondering how Harry/Mr. Butcher was going to work things out. Of the course of the 14 books thing have evolved in a way I never expected.This books answers many questions I had, including things I had hoped would have been in [b:Ghost Story 8058301 Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13) Jim Butcher http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1329104700s/8058301.jpg 12731936] but weren't.I don't like to include spoilers in my reviews but there are a few minor things I'll hit on (while leaving all the really HUGE developments unsaid).I really loved some of the new characters introduced in this novel in particular Kringle and Lacuna. I hope to see them return in the next novel. And without giving any details, it was awesome to learn more about Demonreach.I'm torn on the idea of Mr. Butcher taking time away from Harry to write a new Steampunk series. On the one hand I'm not really excited by the idea of steampunk as others seem to be. On the other hand, I've been hoping for another series ever since he put out [b:First Lord's Fury 6316821 First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera, #6) Jim Butcher http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327903582s/6316821.jpg 6502096] finishing up Codex Alera. Not to mention as I joked with my friends, I'd read Twilight Fan Fiction if [a:Jim Butcher 10746 Jim Butcher http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1205261964p2/10746.jpg] was writing it.Either way I hope Mr. Butcher doesn't make us wait too long for book 15, as each of the last few books has taken longer than the year between the year or less timeframe he spoiled us all with for awhile.

Yee-ha! Hopefully I can come up with a better, more thoughtful and cogent review when I re-read this next year. But for now? This was great. This was a blast. I laughed, I got misty, I pumped my fist in the air. Great action, great character development (even if I hate what happened to at least one character). Good backstory/hints of backstory on a couple of characters we know so little about. And as far as setting up the next few books? Gonna be a heckuva (bumpy) ride!!

Cannot measure my anticipation for Dresden #15.

Like some comic book series we know, a character is bumped off and the authors find an interesting [or well known] way to bring them back, to continue on. Glad to see it.

I'll rant again about how there needs to be a 'previously on The Dresden Files' section. This is too far in for me to read all the prior books to stay up on the references held in a book. BUT I'm not going to let this stop me from reading on.

This storyline is better than some of the other books in the series, not sure if it's me or the author that had a slump at some point that showed thru.

Its amazing that Butcher can continue to provide the kind of ride that works as well as it did in the first book. I am almost convinced to start all the way from the beginning to ensure I connect the dots.

Harry is as good as ever and maybe even a bit better as the Winter Knight. While some parts of the story seem to be repetitive themes of the previous book the plot is a great continuation. Suddenly MAB is seen in a whole new light and though you felt it coming, it still takes you by surprise.

The Outsiders have the flavor of the Croach from his other best seller series and I guess there is no loss in using your own great ideas. With this I think we can finally see where the series is headed and some part of me wishes is will not end.