Changes (The Dresden Files, Book 12)
As Chicago’s only professional wizard, Harry Dresden has faced demons, vampires, werewolves, dark sorcerers, and hosts of horrors from beyond the mortal realm. But nothing could have prepared him for this…
Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry's Dresden’s lover—until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her caught between humanity and the relentless bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. She disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it. Now, she needs Harry’s help more than ever.
For the vengeful Duchess of the Red Court has discovered a secret Susan has long kept from everyone—including Harry—and she plans to use it. To prevail, Harry may have to unleash the full fury of his untapped power—and he may have no choice but to embrace the darkness within himself.
Because this time, he’s fighting to save his child.
Reviews (206)
It was the best of books, it was the worst of books.
One can, and I assure you everyone is, be addicted to one or many things. If you are one of the unfortunate, and simultaneously blessed beyond reason type of people with whom the addiction is The Dresden Files, my prayers are with you. While reading book 12, Changes, I laughed a hundred times, some just low, quiet chuckles and some raucous sudden outbursts that evoked looks of alarm and/or irritation from those nearby. I also, however, cried twice and F you Butcher, I DO NOT CRY at funerals, at sappy movies and especially not books. At the end of changes, because Butcher has slowly, deviously and demonicly weaved so many of the characters throughout the series into my psyche, I threw my tablet across the room. I was terrified to immediately purchase, download and read in its entirety the next book, bastard. You're a genius, I love your work, I hate you, please stop. P..S. when is the next one due?
Good story, bad cliffhanger
An apt title for this book - a lot of things change and the groundwork is laid for some very intriguing future story lines. Won't spoil anything for those of you who haven't read this yet. It was certainly a fun read, but fell flat for a few reasons: Still not a fan of the profanity Jim Butcher seems to be adding more and more of with every book. It does nothing for the story but irritate me. I'm also starting to notice a pattern with this author starting out subplots and then dropping them whenever it's convenient. This time it's Thomas's entire character. A couple of books ago he supposedly went back to the dark side, embracing his vampire inner self, feeding and killing with abandon. I thought that would be interesting and a nice change up to his character. Now he reappears and all of that is just totally ignored. Harry welcomes him back with open arms and it's right back to the brotherly banter and wisecracks between them. Right. Then there's the horrible cliffhanger ending. This is the longest Dresden book so far and to get to the end and come away with nothing feels like a slap in the face. One of the great things about this series has always been that each novel can be read as a stand alone. Sure it makes more sense if you go through the series but you could still pick up any of them and get a great story with a satisfying conclusion. Not here. Previously I've always moved on and purchased the next book because I wanted to. Now it's because I HAVE to so I can get a conclusion. Not cool
A Painful Read
Overall I have loved this entire series, even when a volume here and there has been “off”. This one however fell off the cliff. It certainly was not up to the author’s usually excellent writing standards, it went completely off the rails with the overall storyline woven through the series, and had a truly dark tone unlike the other volumes. What made matters worse is that the sub-story in this volume seemed to be made up of mismatched plot ideas that had no bearing on one another, but that the author decided to dump into a single episode just to use them up. I usually can’t wait to read the next installment in the series, but now I’m not sure if I’ll finish reading the rest ... so sad.
Oh. My.Gosh
Okay. This one totally broke me up. Sat there near the end and just bawled. I love these characters so much it just tears me up the stuff he puts them through. Harry finds out he and Susan have a daughter who's been kidnapped by one of the Red Court vampires and is slated to be sacrificed to provide the power for a blood curse aimed at Harry and all his relatives. There are so many twists and surprises I had to stop reading and just try to digest what the heck had just happened every so often. The ending is a shocker. Don't know if I'll ever really get over that as it's just so darned unfair.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, Turn and face the strange...
Dresden’s entire life as he knows it - A strange life to say the least -is uprooted with the return of Susan Rodriguez, his old lover who was attacked by the Red Court many books ago. Everything Harry believes in is put to the ultimate test - will he be able to maintain and live up to his own strict moral code? I liked the new developments and the expansion of Dresden’s life. Sometimes there is no way to win, but the book itself is a winner.
Nothing will EVER be the same...
This book had an ABSURD amount of hype going in, and I'm happy to say that for the most part it lived up to it. It certainly has loads of 'Changes' for Harry and his friends. Nothing in this series will ever be the same after this book, and I think that's a good thing. While I personally was still really enjoying the arc of the series, I can see where some people may have felt after 12 books it was starting to get stale. It's not anymore. The plot is actually incredibly simple- Harry's old flame/now vampire(ish) Susan Rodriguez shows up at his door and tells him that not only do they have a daughter, but she has been stolen by the Red Court to be sacrificed in a ritual that will kill Harry's entire bloodline. Woah. The rest of the book is basically Harry being really angry and trying to recruit anyone and everyone to help him rescue her. The middle of the book did kind of feel like a giant (and somewhat forced) reunion of characters. Some of the cameos worked, some not so much. Harry also makes some decisions that you (and he) knows will come back to bite him, but he has to make because saving his daughter is more important than anything else. It's Harry at his most heroic, and most morally grey. It all leads up to easily the most explosive and epic ending in Dresden history. I was riveted the entire time. And after all of that is through, and you think Butcher will at least give you a satisfying, if bittersweet, ending, he pulls the rug out from under you with the biggest cliffhanger ending yet. Ugh. I'm exhausted from this book. Now where's Book 13?!?!
The fall and Decline of Harry Dresden and other good stuff.
Ok, sadly I had stumbled across several major spoilers, but there were many others in this book. I would have enjoyed either way. Butcher grabbed me by the throat, with the first sentence, and didn’t let go. I finished gasping, even though I knew the ending. We learn that Harry and Suzan have a daughter, who has been kidnapped by the Red Court’s Arianna Ortega, a duchess in the Red Court. All the while, Arianna works to neutralize the White Council. Back at home CPD’s sleaze bag is going after Harry in a big way, and by extension Harry’s pal, Murphy. He’s even called in the FBI to investigate Harry. Plus it seems as if there is an assassin or two after Harry. We see what parts of his humanity Harry is willing to sacrifice to get through this and save his girl. Other good parts of the book include: - Bob’s wise cracks. - The misnamed uber-dog Mouse keeps coming into his own as a protector, mainly of Molly, as well as a fighter. - We learn even more about Harry’s family. If there’s anything else, we’ll have to wait and see. - Butters plays comic relief for a few pages. - Murphy will stand by Harry, no matter the cost. - Thomas, while going fully White Court vampire and work for Lara, is willing to help Harry. Bad things about the book: it’s a cliff hanger. Sorry, that’s all. Everything changes as Harry loses nearly everything.
The Dresden series just keeps getting better and better
Jim butcher has done it again! The Dresden series just keeps getting better and better. Set in a world not much unlike our own where a secret society of mage's keeps the peace Dresden ( A PI) goes around solving crimes/ supernatural occurrences. I just cant quit reading these books! The order of the books and a very brief synopsis of each so if you cant remember which one you last read. As I had to look it up when reading them I thought this might be helpful. Warning this has some spoilers but will try and be bland enough you can just figure out where you have read to. sorry for only limited links amazon only allows 10 Storm Front - First book In which Dresden fights Warlock Victor Sells and saves mob boss Johnny Marcone Fool Moon – Second book in which Dresden fights FBI hexen wolves and Macfinn (werewolf) Grave Peril– Third book in which Dresden unwittingly sets off a war between the Red court and the white council Summer Knight– fourth book in which Dresden as emissary to the white court secures passage for the white council in the lands of winter Death Masks– Fifth book in which Dresden fights a duel in wriggly field(to a draw...) One of my favorite parts of this series is in this book when Ebeneezer lands a satellite on the red court in retaliation for cheating. Blood Rites – Sixth book in which Raith is overthrown by his daughter who uses him as a puppet.
Great book but a bit too tragic for my taste.
This book was another full set of stars book up until the end. I really do not like tragic endings and since I am not really a professional reviewer I am afraid that these things influences my ratings. Unfortunately the ending of this book is quite tragic as far as I am concerned. I have to admit that I have cheated and already read the book blurb of the next book in the series. Had I not, well then I would probably have been even more distressed by the (cliff-hanger) ending of this book. Now all of this is of course very much a personal preference so I feel the need to, again, point out that this is a very good urban fantasy book and if you do not have the same aversion against tragic stories as this simpleton has, and likes urban fantasy, then you are probably going to enjoy this book a lot. It is quite a bit of a roller coaster ride. It starts of in a similar fashion as the old book by kick starting the plot big time in the first few pages. From there on the pace is kept fairly frantic. Not insanely stupidly frantic though. There is enough of a coherent story, slow (or rather not so fast) moments and investigative work to keep the story balanced and entertaining. There are a lot of interesting moments. Personally I like Harry’s encounter (no it is not another clobber time encounter) with “Vadderung” who is probably one of the most well made modern depiction of an old mythical character (no I am not going to write who it really is) that I have read in a long time. The book also manages a good mix of seriousness and less serious parts. Taken alone the pizza eating “little people” in the book would be outrageously ludicrous but the way they are woven into the story makes them an entertaining addition and not a burden. There is a lot of action as well of course. Some of it having a bearing on the story, or rather quest, itself and some if, for instance the encounter with a certain Erlking, being more of a coincidence and diversion. Then we come to the ending. There are some action in there of course. Then some more action. Then Mr. Butcher adds yet some more action. And so on. I would say that the ending is pretty epic. Everyone plays are role. I quite liked Murphy’s role. Again, it is not just mindless action. The events and the revelations really make for a good story and consequently for a really good read. Needless to say there are some sacrifices (literally) and this is where I became somewhat unhappy. As I said before, that is just me and my personal preferences of course. The title of the book, Changes, is quite suitable. There are plenty of changes. Especially in the last third of the book. I am indeed quite looking forward to see where the story arc goes with some of them. Some of them are, unfortunately, rather irrevocable and I am less pleased with those but I guess that I repeating myself here. Then, so is the author. I have to say that a few of the explanations of various things were repeated a bit too obviously. Nevertheless this is indeed a good book and there is no doubt that I am going to eagerly read the next one in the series.
A Fantastic Installment of the Series!
Wow! What a great installment of the series! Jim Butcher really ups the ante with this book. Instead of letting the series stagnate at any particular status quo, Butcher drives up the stakes to an all-time high for Harry and introduces major shifts in the story that will have ripples on every single sequel to come. This book isn’t called “Changes” for nothing — it’s a MAJOR turning point in the series that reshuffles nearly every aspect of Harry’s life in order to prepare for the descent into the much darker and far-reaching plot points that follow in subsequent books. This book is really what the series so far has been leading up to in its entirety. The Red Court issues from Grave Peril finally come full circle. Mab’s continual involvement in Harry’s life finally reaches a point of no return. Harry’s familial backstory is finally explored to a much higher degree than it has been in books past, giving the reader a better understanding of the family-related issues and events that led to Harry’s life becoming what it has been so far. This installment takes characters from every single other book and brings them together to form a complex plot, where Harry’s previous escapades determine who he can turn when for help, who gives it, who doesn’t, and who ultimately impacts the book’s finale. Butcher doesn’t leave anyone (or anything) out, tying together Harry’s various relationships to create the most precarious situation the wizard has ever encountered. And one that will have permanent effects on his life for the rest of the series. Some people have criticized Butcher for turning away from the idea of “wizard PI” as the series has progressed, especially with this book, which diverges so far from that original premise that the series can never return there. But, personally, I wouldn’t fault Butcher that — because, from the very beginning of Storm Front, Butcher has been slowly but surely building an overarching plot that has always been greater than simply “wizard PI.” And I’ve been invested in that promise of something greater for the entire series; for me, Changes is where that promise finally begins to develop. From this point on, the Dresden Files is a whole different monster. And I look forward to getting to know that monster in the subsequent books. So, in my opinion, Changes is awesome. An excellent installment of the series that keeps things fresh and new while bringing together ideas from Butcher’s complex, multi-book world-building in a way that creates a story environment similar to but different enough from any we’ve seen so far that the book is propelled to a whole other level while still retaining the core aspects that make it a novel of the Dresden Files. Great book, all around!
Comments
Post a Comment