Cold Days, a novel of the Dresden files

I am addicted to Jim Butcher's tales of Harry Dresden, Chicago's wizard PI. With the film noir touches, the old VW bug and a Fu dog of his very own, how could I not love Harry Dresden?

Cold Days is the latest installment in Butcher's series about the politics and antics of the magical realm and how they cross over into ours. The entire quirky cast is back and Harry isn't even dead! I'll hold off on other spoilers and suffice to say I loved it.

Cold Days, a novel of the Dresden files by Jim Butcher

• [moop2000]

  And fortunately, Jim Marsters was able to record the audiobook of Cold Days! :)

  • [Jason Weisberger]

    Wow! I may have to listen to that even tho I’ve read it!

• [Jamie DiBattista]

  The worst part about these books is having to wait until the next installment!

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    Especially since Mr. Butcher has gone from a 12 month cycle to a 15 – 18 month cycle.

    • [Jamie DiBattista]

      Yeah, I’m also bummed about that. 

• [dmatos]

  Did anyone else think this book felt more like fan-fic than his earlier work?  I loved the plot, but I loathed the writing :(

• [Aeiluindae]

  My reading of Cold Days consisted of thinking “that’s awesome”, “oh God, oh God, we’re all going to die”, laughing out loud, and then lamenting Harry’s insanely good/bad luck with women/love. I’m not sure how much higher Jim Butcher can raise the stakes after that. Also, I want Mab to die.

• [grailz]

  There’s only one complaint I have with Cold Days and that’s the fact that I now have to wait until the next book comes out.

• [Dlo Burns]

  Does Harry finally get to wear a hat in this one?

• [BDiamond]

  Finished it last week, thoroughly enjoyed it. More, I say. MOAR!

• [Cori Frazer-Hopkinson]

  I loved Cold Days. Breezed through it, just as I have all of the Dresden books. My problem (a feminist critique) *SPOILER FOLLOWING* 

  is that Harry suggests that the rapey predator that is the Winter Knight resides somewhere in the psyche all people; Winter just brings it out. I think that’s very rape apologist and demeaning, suggesting we’re all predators barely under the control of our higher thinking. Butcher could have handled that better. *END SPOILER*

  • [Jamie DiBattista]

    I don’t remember anybody saying that the predator nature of the Winter Knight residing in all people. Harry states that the predatory urges he was feeling were coming from the Winter Knight Mantle, not from within himself. The more of the Winter power he drew into himself, the stronger the urges. He says that all of the previous Winter Knights (Lloyd Slate specifically) were bad people to begin with, hence their willingness to give in to the predatory nature of Winter. But the point Butcher was making, over and over again, is that the urges didn’t matter. It was the choices one makes with them. I’d have to say that the theme of the book itself was choice. Also, the WInter Knight Mantle’s predatory nature was not exclusive to sex, but to violence of all types

    • [Cori Frazer-Hopkinson]

      My understanding was that Winter INTENSIFIED the urges that already lived in a person, rather than introduced them. I do enjoy the bit about choice, but the idea that the want to make “bad” ones living inside of all people is a little disgusting to me.

      • [Jamie DiBattista]

        I didn’t read it that way at all. Harry never had any of those urges for Molly or for Andi or anybody else in the 13 books before taking the mantle of The Winter Knight.  In fact, he’s been chivalrous to the point that Karrin called him sexist in Book 1.  Molly literally threw herself at him naked and Harry’s response was to pour a pitcher of ice water on her.  Doesn’t sound like a guy whose filled with predatory urges.

        • [Mat R]

          He’s made numerous comments in the past about how “well put together” Molly is and has described Andi in similar fashion. He’s a man that knows what an attractive woman looks like, and the winter in him twists that and tries to control him with it. Think back to the fight between him and the winter lady and how when he calls upon winter she then uses it against him. 

• [gmak]

  Unfortunately, the kindle version costs even more than the hardcover.  What is the publisher thinking?

  • [Culturedropout]

    One has to assume they’re thinking, “Hey – if these schmucks had the bling to buy an e-reader, we should really pork them, because now we have a captive audience.”  (And as a Nook owner, I’m right there with you.  Sadly.) 

  • [Aloisius]

    They think people will pay extra money to get the book instantly without having to wait or leave their house and in many cases, at least with me, they are right.

    • [Jason Weisberger]

      I pre-ordered it. Makes it easier than checking in every few weeks or remembering a date of a book release.

• [Culturedropout]

  P.S. – The Laundry Files.  That is all.

• [Jim Davison]

  The ending seemed very Deus Ex Machina to me. As though none of Harry’s struggles during the book up to that point really mattered: None of it could have happened, and the ending could still have been the same. I will say I enjoyed the ride there, and it sets up some nice stuff for the next book though. 

  • [Mat R]

    I agree 100%. The ride was great, but at the end I kind of felt like I had been on a train going in a circle. The scenery is great, but I ended in a very similar spot. Ok, sure there was some overall plot development and expansion of the ‘story’, but the book was missing something I can’t quite put my finger on. 

    I’m hoping the next book explores the Denarians again, I really like their arc and the past few books have been Fairy centric. 

• [geekd]

  I really wanted to like the Dresden Files.  I read the first few, and they were OK, then I hit one where the plot was that if you die in your dream, you die in real life.  Since I had already seen the Freddy Krueger movies, I had to stop reading.

  Someday I might give them another try (skipping the “die in your dream” one, of course).

  • [Mat R]

    You could pretty easily skip to the fourth or fifth book and proceed forward. The author tends to do a decent job describing the back story as if you haven’t read any of the books in every book. 

• [Romeo Vitelli]

  The series has evolved with time, just like any series.   The fact that Jim Butcher was able to make it up to 14 books without sacrificing quality is a major achievement.   Not many other writers have managed that.

• [acm]

  thanks for blogging this — one tires of checking back with Amazon, and I’d missed this!

• [white eyebrow guy]

  You can tell that Jim Butcher has matured as a author.  With each book he becomes a better story teller, more magical and entertaining.

• [embryoconcepts]

  Jim Butcher has an interview over on Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy that gives an interesting perspective on his work.  From what I recall, he came up with the entire arc of the story before he ever started writing.  From that point he was able to plan out all of the books.  As opposed to Martin, who gets caught up in his own stories and it takes him 3x as long to dig his word-way back out.

  Edited to provide link: http://geeksguideshow.com/2011/09/24/ggg45-jim-butcher/