A Book Review: Cold Days by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files #14)

I have had a love and hate relationship with The Dresden Files novels. This urban fantasy series, featuring the spell slinging, ass kicking, wizard PI Harry Dresden, have spanned over the length of 15 books and it is still ongoing. Some Dresden Files novels completely blew my mind with their sheer brilliance, but on the other hand, my thought about some other Dresden Files novels, especially the earlier installments, is a “meh” at the best.

It suffices to say that not all books in this series are the same quality, but I'd say as the series goes on, these books are getting better and better. By the time the series hits its 14^th installment, Cold Days, the story tingles and burns as a finely aged Scotch.

Synopsis:

Harry Dresden, Chicago city's only wizard PI, is a specialist of many otherworldly skills. Harry just added another competency to his list of ever growing supernatural talents – resurrection.

What? Other than shooting columns of fire from his fingertips, Harry has also acquired the power to bring dead people back to life? Well, not quite... You see, one year ago Harry died in an assassination. Just as Harry was resting in peace, and thinking that death was kinda cool, he suddenly woke up in a winter wonderland. Apparently 12 months have gone by since Harry died, and Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, brought Harry back to life and made him an offer he cannot refuse. Basically, Harry has no choice but to take on the mantle of Winter Knight and become a servant to Mab.

Mab wasted no time at cashing in the benefit from her latest weapon. She immediately charged Harry with his first mission. After all, Mab has plotted, long and hard, at snaring Harry into her service and now she is finally ripping the reward from her hard works. What is Harry's first assignment? Would it surprise you if I reveal the mission involves assassinating someone? I guess not, because Harry's new boss is supposedly one of the bad guys. But does this mean Harry has joined the dark side?

Questions, and more questions, let's hope answers will be revealed, as Chicago embraces its cold days.

My thoughts about this book:

Cold Days is an excellent addition to The Dresden Files series. This book did two things to the series that made Harry Dresden's compelling saga even better than before. Firstly, Cold Days wrapped up the “sub-series” that began in Changes in a spectacular fashion. By the time the story reached this book's end, it answered many questions and tied up a handful of sub-plots that began in Changes. Yet, this is not all; this book also revealed a major plot point that basically glued all previous 13 Dresden Files novels into one, cohesive story. Meanwhile, Cold Days also dropped hints at a bigger storm yet to hit Harry's world and it will leave you edging to read the next book. So, if you are a veteran to the wonderful world of Harry Dresden, then Cold Days should be sitting on your list of must read books.

Cold Days also provided a much welcomed change to its settings. Before Cold Days, a handful of installments were overloaded with stories about vampires. It got stale and repetitive. A wind of change is finally uplifting this series as Cold Days is dropping us back in the middle of a century old conflict between the winter and summer faeries. I, for one, really liked the settings in this book, because it shed lights into the hearts of many characters, both old and new, good and evil. I was particularly fond of the parts where the story focused on the uneasy, boss and servant relationship between Harry and Mab.

The Dresden Files is a very successful series. Even if you have only read one book in this series, I'd wager that you would find the characters memorable and likable. Furthermore, set in Chicago, this series comes with a strong neo-noir flavor that many people found highly attractive. This series' true strength, however, lies in Jim Butcher's ability to tell better and better stories as the series goes on. That's right! The later installments in this series are so much better than the earlier ones, especially when it comes to storytelling. Let me give you an example; in the earlier installments, Harry frequently found himself outgunned by monsters who were way stronger than him. How did he get out of these tight spots? He reached into his 'inner strength” and suddenly (and miraculously) found some power that helped him won the fights. When Jim Butcher used this “finding inner strength” plot device in the first 2 books, it was tolerable. However, when Butcher began to duplicate this deus-ex machina plot device, too many times, to get his hero out of tight spots, then it soon became old and cliched. It almost felt like the story was cheating you. In the latter installments in this series, however, Butcher slayed the monstrous head of cliche that was budding in these books, when he began to let Harry's nemesis, those whose powers were way above his league, to beat him bloody and senseless. In latter books, when Harry got himself into tight spots, his get out of jail cards were either his wits, or his friends. This change of storytelling added twists and surprises to the stories, but it also shrouded our heroes in a real sense of danger. 

In Cold Days, Jim Butcher took his storytelling up a notch, because this time, not only does this relentless story move at a lightning fast pace, but the plot itself is utterly unpredictable. Just as when you think Harry has got everything under control, a surprise would suddenly seize the story in the next paragraph, then doing a plot 180. Up to date, I think Cold Days tells the most compelling story in all of Harry's sagas. Reading this book brought me lots of fun, and it entertained me from the moment I cracked open its first page until closing off its last.

Simply put, Cold Days is an excellent addition to The Dresden Files series. This book is smoking good! So good that I would rank it as the second best in the whole series after Dead Beat - Why? Because Polka will never die! (what on earth am I talking about? Read Dead Beat and find out for yourself). Cold Days scores big on characterization and its twisted plot would blow your cranium right off your skull with a gusto of surprises. If you have already ventured into the dark and strange world of Harry Dresden, then keep at it; good stuff, golden stuff, awaits for you. If you have yet to step into the daring, magical life of Chicago's only wizard PI, then do your imagination a favor, trek to a library or a bookstore near you and grab a copy of Storm Front, the book that started the tale of Harry Dresden.