SYNOPSIS
Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has always managed to save the day—but, in this powerful entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files, can he save himself?
One year. 365 days. Twelve months.
Harry Dresden has been through a lot, and so has his city. After Harry and his allies narrowly managed to save Chicago from being razed to the ground, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity.
In the battle, Harry lost people he cared about. And that’s the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his level best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild. But it’s a heavy load, and he needs time.
But time is one thing Harry doesn’t have. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and taking out innocent civilians. Harry’s brother is dying, and Harry doesn’t know how to help him. And last but certainly not least, the Winter Queen of the Fae has allied with the White Court of vampires—and Harry’s been betrothed to the seductive, deadly vampire Lara Raith to seal the deal.
It’s been a tough year. More than ever, the city needs Harry Dresden the wizard—but after loss and grief, is there enough left of Harry Dresden the man to rise to the challenge?
REVIEW
As emotional as Battle Ground was action packed, Twelve Months is more than an epilogue, or bridge story. A lesser author could’ve used a book like this as filler but Jim Butcher uses it as an opportunity to bring in past threads and advance the story in incredible ways.
Every other Dresden Files novel has taken place over what Butcher calls the worst weekend of the year for Harry Dresden. Twelve Months, instead, takes place over, you guessed it, twelve months. After the events of Battle Ground, Harry is, understandably, not himself. Having saved Chicago from its biggest threat yet, the city and Harry are reeling from personal loss, while some of the cities scarier denizens are taking advantage of the chaos to wreak havoc.
I just need time is the chorus of this novel. All Harry wants to do is fix himself, but the world just won’t let him settle down. Politics, monsters, and scared citizens pull at him at every turn. But maybe helping others is exactly what Harry needs.
Twelve Months is probably the biggest swing Butcher has taken since Ghost Story. A slow down after a huge climax that is needed and earned. This is a novel about grief and moving on. It feels like Butcher’s most personal novel to date. The emotions are palpable and while the stakes seem smaller compared to the previous entry, they’ve never been higher. This may not be my favorite Dresden Files novel, I think it might be Butcher’s best.
It’s really tricky reviewing the eighteenth novel in a series, I’m realizing. If you’re here, chances are you’re caught up. But maybe someone wants to see if the series is still good this far along before beginning. So I’ll leave you with this.
The Dresden Files is my favorite book series. It has a little bit of everything, comedy, horror, romance, and lots of magic. But what it has most of all is a lot of heart. Twelve Months is all those things, but with it’s heart is fully on its sleeve. If anything about this series appeals to you, I encourage you to check it out. Every book is better than the last and although the length of the series may seem intimidating, it flies by all too fast, and you’ll be left wishing, with these books, you just had more time.
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