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The Dresden Files #18
Twelve Months
Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has always managed to save the day—but, in this powerful entry in the 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, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity.
Harry lost people he cared about in the battle, and that’s the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild, but it’s a heavy load. He needs time.
Time is one thing Harry doesn’t have, however. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and killing 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 him to rise to the challenge?
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, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity.
Harry lost people he cared about in the battle, and that’s the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild, but it’s a heavy load. He needs time.
Time is one thing Harry doesn’t have, however. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and killing 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 him to rise to the challenge?
15 pages, Audiobook
First published January 20, 2026
3025 people are currently reading
32873 people want to read
About the author
Jim Butcher
200 books51.8k followersJim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in his home town of Independence, Missouri.
Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990′s when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.
All the same, he refuses to change his nickname.
Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990′s when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.
All the same, he refuses to change his nickname.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,219 reviews
March 25, 2026
how can you all be rating a book you haven't read because it has not been published yet? The date of release is still TBA. Rating and Reviews should be turned off right now for this book as it is misleading. I am impatiently awaiting the release and this was a letdown.
January 22, 2026
It's hard to believe it's been nearly 6 years since Battle Ground came out. I absolutely adored the utter chaos that was that book, albeit I H-A-T-E-D a certain thing that happened and how it happened....
Twelve Months has a lot of familiar tropes and story beats that you'll expect from any Dresden novel and yet it's probably the most unique entry to the series since Ghost Story. It's hard to explain without spoilers but this book just had a different tone for most of it and was less copy/paste of the typical structure of a Dresden book.
The action is still incredibly engaging and exciting. Butcher has written so many fantastic characters and I love getting to read about each and every one of them. This book had so much heart in it that I was highlighting various quotes throughout, something that I never do for books. There were several times that I read a passage and thought "Butcher is saying this directly to the reader".
I love the dynamic between Harry and everyone around him. He's taken on a much wiser and methodical approach to overcoming obstacles that are hurled in front of him. He makes tough decisions, albeit occasionally not fully understanding the decisions he's made until it punches him in the face. Lara is great. Mab is great. Dresden is great. I adore him becoming more of a mentor/teacher in this book as well.
This was another great book in a series that let's be honest, continues to be one of my favorites. I don't know where the story will go or how wild and crazy it will become but I'm here for it.
Twelve Months has a lot of familiar tropes and story beats that you'll expect from any Dresden novel and yet it's probably the most unique entry to the series since Ghost Story. It's hard to explain without spoilers but this book just had a different tone for most of it and was less copy/paste of the typical structure of a Dresden book.
The action is still incredibly engaging and exciting. Butcher has written so many fantastic characters and I love getting to read about each and every one of them. This book had so much heart in it that I was highlighting various quotes throughout, something that I never do for books. There were several times that I read a passage and thought "Butcher is saying this directly to the reader".
I love the dynamic between Harry and everyone around him. He's taken on a much wiser and methodical approach to overcoming obstacles that are hurled in front of him. He makes tough decisions, albeit occasionally not fully understanding the decisions he's made until it punches him in the face. Lara is great. Mab is great. Dresden is great. I adore him becoming more of a mentor/teacher in this book as well.
This was another great book in a series that let's be honest, continues to be one of my favorites. I don't know where the story will go or how wild and crazy it will become but I'm here for it.
January 25, 2026
This book is honestly remarkable. I knew by the title that I was going to be reading a much different kind of Dresden book, but was still surprised by it. The book follows Harry dealing with the trauma and aftermath of everything that happened in Battle Ground. (Especially one big event that affected him personally.) Butcher portrayal of Harry's attempts to pick up the pieces of his life in this book was done with a tremendous amount of care and a high degree of nuance, and probably showed more skill by him as an author than anything that preceded it.
There were several highly emotional scenes here that seemed to hit all the right beats in the right away. The book as a whole had less of the exciting action sequences we come to love in the Dresden Files, yet still felt fast-paced and never slow. This book really impressed me, as did Butcher's writing, which I feel was at its best in this volume. Did I just read my Book of the Year in January? Perhaps.
There were several highly emotional scenes here that seemed to hit all the right beats in the right away. The book as a whole had less of the exciting action sequences we come to love in the Dresden Files, yet still felt fast-paced and never slow. This book really impressed me, as did Butcher's writing, which I feel was at its best in this volume. Did I just read my Book of the Year in January? Perhaps.
March 15, 2026
__________________________
O Empty Night!
Evil things in robes of darkness assailed the towers of Chicago. I was there, you know. The deep and malefic gloom of that day still enshrouds me. I was an editor in a publishing company housed in a skyscraper along Upper Wacker and was in my blue glass-walled office when the first bursts of thaumic energy from the Eye of Balor hit the city. Governor Pritzker and the President afterwards claimed that it had been a terrorist attack, probably at the hands of ISIS, but they lied. I was there. I saw the chthonic, Lovecraftian nightmare beasts wading ashore from Lake Michigan and arising from the festering waters of the Chicago River. The world is not what I believed it to be before the first battle of Chicago. The things under the bed I imagined as a child are real, and half of the lofty spires of Chicago have fallen in our own 9/11 Ragnarök.
I fought alongside Harry Dresden, the Knight of the Winter Court. I make no claims of being a hero. We had no choice. None of us did. We were surrounded by ravenous wolves in that blasted, corpse-strewn cityscape and all I could do was throw pebbles at them. But I was there along with Harry, one of the true heroes of the battle.
Empty Night. O Empty Night.
O Empty Night!
Evil things in robes of darkness assailed the towers of Chicago. I was there, you know. The deep and malefic gloom of that day still enshrouds me. I was an editor in a publishing company housed in a skyscraper along Upper Wacker and was in my blue glass-walled office when the first bursts of thaumic energy from the Eye of Balor hit the city. Governor Pritzker and the President afterwards claimed that it had been a terrorist attack, probably at the hands of ISIS, but they lied. I was there. I saw the chthonic, Lovecraftian nightmare beasts wading ashore from Lake Michigan and arising from the festering waters of the Chicago River. The world is not what I believed it to be before the first battle of Chicago. The things under the bed I imagined as a child are real, and half of the lofty spires of Chicago have fallen in our own 9/11 Ragnarök.
I fought alongside Harry Dresden, the Knight of the Winter Court. I make no claims of being a hero. We had no choice. None of us did. We were surrounded by ravenous wolves in that blasted, corpse-strewn cityscape and all I could do was throw pebbles at them. But I was there along with Harry, one of the true heroes of the battle.
I was there when the woman Harry had loved for years died in his arms. Harry saved us that day, but it broke him. Shattered him. Trapped him in a sepulchral pyre of sorrow. Yes, we won the battle, but it is an eternal war, and if we lose Harry, we have lost all.
There they stood, ranged along the hill-sides—met
To view the last of me, a living frame
For one more picture! in a sheet of flame
I saw them and I knew them all. And yet
Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set
And blew "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came."
Robert Browning
Empty Night. O Empty Night.
January 25, 2026
Without spoiling the story, at one point it is revealed that Queen Mab has the power to slow time.
That is an interesting coincidence because while reading Twelve Months it felt like Jim Butcher also had the power to slow time.
I can't really put it any other way, TM was an absolute chore to read. The main theme? Harry Dresden is BIG SAD. Harry dealing with grief was of course going to be part of the story in the aftermath of the Battle but most of the book is him wallowing in grief. The level of angst and the writing style is what you would expect from a middle school girl writing Twilight fan fiction. There were ways to integrate Harry's grief balanced with his responsibility to the people of Chicago but instead we get endless self-flagellation.
When he wasn't weeping we were treated to endless paragraphs of internal exposition where I guess Butcher was trying to work out personal issues or something because all they did was slow the already glacial pace of the story. Adding to the already bloated story were some new characters that I absolutely didn't care about.
It is a shame because there were the makings of a good story in TM but it was lost in the ennui made all the worse because Butcher tried to cram a bunch of storylines into a book that didn't have room to deal with any of them properly. I said in my review of Battle Ground...
...and if anything that was even more on display in TM.
Sure, I don't have to read the ongoing Harry Dresden series but I have some investment in what was once a fun storyline that has lost the plot by trying to do too much.
That is an interesting coincidence because while reading Twelve Months it felt like Jim Butcher also had the power to slow time.
I can't really put it any other way, TM was an absolute chore to read. The main theme? Harry Dresden is BIG SAD. Harry dealing with grief was of course going to be part of the story in the aftermath of the Battle but most of the book is him wallowing in grief. The level of angst and the writing style is what you would expect from a middle school girl writing Twilight fan fiction. There were ways to integrate Harry's grief balanced with his responsibility to the people of Chicago but instead we get endless self-flagellation.
When he wasn't weeping we were treated to endless paragraphs of internal exposition where I guess Butcher was trying to work out personal issues or something because all they did was slow the already glacial pace of the story. Adding to the already bloated story were some new characters that I absolutely didn't care about.
It is a shame because there were the makings of a good story in TM but it was lost in the ennui made all the worse because Butcher tried to cram a bunch of storylines into a book that didn't have room to deal with any of them properly. I said in my review of Battle Ground...
Harry Dresden was fun as the struggling PI/wizard. Now as the Winter Knight, that charm is mostly gone.
...and if anything that was even more on display in TM.
Sure, I don't have to read the ongoing Harry Dresden series but I have some investment in what was once a fun storyline that has lost the plot by trying to do too much.
January 20, 2026
Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of Twelve Months by Jim Butcher. Below is my honest review.
MORE DRESDEN! FINALLY!
So it's no secret that this is one of my absolute favorite series ever, and I've been anticipating this book since the end of the last one. In 2020 we got TWO Dresden books, and I was in heaven. Until the thing happened, that is. THE THING. I can't speak it out loud, because it's spoilery and also because I still am in denial, five years later and having read the next book following THE THING where it's solidified over and over that THE THING is real. And I can't. Like seriously, I liked that character so much that I named my dog after them. I was (and still am) devastated.
But this book really felt like a tribute to that character and the impact that they had on Dresden, and that I can appreciate.
I couldn't give this one the fifth star that I usually would because it did feel kind of... filler. It was moving chess pieces to get the world ready for the next BIG STUFF, and didn't have a huge plot other that Harry and Chicago trying to heal from the huge battle of Peace Talks/Battle Ground.
But I still loved it. So much.
Overall, this got a four and a half stars from me. I couldn't bring myself to round it up to 5, and since I had to do full stars, it got rounded down to four. Still part of a masterpiece series.
Highly recommended but please, please don't start with this one if you haven't read the series. Go binge it all. It's worth it.
MORE DRESDEN! FINALLY!
So it's no secret that this is one of my absolute favorite series ever, and I've been anticipating this book since the end of the last one. In 2020 we got TWO Dresden books, and I was in heaven. Until the thing happened, that is. THE THING. I can't speak it out loud, because it's spoilery and also because I still am in denial, five years later and having read the next book following THE THING where it's solidified over and over that THE THING is real. And I can't. Like seriously, I liked that character so much that I named my dog after them. I was (and still am) devastated.
But this book really felt like a tribute to that character and the impact that they had on Dresden, and that I can appreciate.
I couldn't give this one the fifth star that I usually would because it did feel kind of... filler. It was moving chess pieces to get the world ready for the next BIG STUFF, and didn't have a huge plot other that Harry and Chicago trying to heal from the huge battle of Peace Talks/Battle Ground.
But I still loved it. So much.
Overall, this got a four and a half stars from me. I couldn't bring myself to round it up to 5, and since I had to do full stars, it got rounded down to four. Still part of a masterpiece series.
Highly recommended but please, please don't start with this one if you haven't read the series. Go binge it all. It's worth it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2025
HELL, YES!
After the mess that was Battle Ground, I really wanted a win from Butcher and this newest installment in the beloved Dresden Files delivered.
I completely understand and respect Butcher's decision to change up the order of the books now that I've read this one - and it's impossible to expound further without giving away spoilers - but if you're a die-hard fan of the series, then I promise you will too.
Finishing this book fired me UP. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one (a novella in May, I think?) and I might just have to kick off another reread of the series in the meantime....even though I just read them all again last year, lol
After the mess that was Battle Ground, I really wanted a win from Butcher and this newest installment in the beloved Dresden Files delivered.
I completely understand and respect Butcher's decision to change up the order of the books now that I've read this one - and it's impossible to expound further without giving away spoilers - but if you're a die-hard fan of the series, then I promise you will too.
Finishing this book fired me UP. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one (a novella in May, I think?) and I might just have to kick off another reread of the series in the meantime....even though I just read them all again last year, lol
February 25, 2026
Finally!
The wait is over after Battle Ground was published in 2020!
As a huge fan of this series, I was thrilled to get my hands on Twelve Months.
Twelve Months is all about Harry’s year after the battle, a time when he sustained devastating personal losses. At first, Harry has no motivation to do much beyond some exercise. People are still dying or getting into trouble, and little by little, he begins to emerge from his grief. Eventually, he also has to deal with Mab, the Winter Queen of the Fae, who has ordered him—as her Knight of Winter—to marry the White Court vampire Lara Raith.
Harry is forced to take Lara on a monthly public date, with plenty of Winter Court fae and White Court vampires present to witness it. Over time, I think Lara starts to see who Harry really is, and he begins to look beyond her facade. One of their shared goals is to bring Thomas back without him dying. Spells and deals are made to plan for it. It’s not easy, but Harry will never give up.
As always, listening to James Marsters narrate the audiobook is the best! He does so many voices, and every single one sounds perfect. No one else could do this job.
I’m already excited for Mirror, Mirror, which is coming out in 2027… hoping it’s true.
Cliffhanger: No
4.5/5 Fangs
A complimentary copy was provided by Ace via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
August 5, 2025
My (nonspoiler) Twelve Months review.
(If you don’t want to read it, look away)
xxx
xxx
xxx
Cumulative storytelling.
Fantasy readers especially have come to expect that the stories in series within the genre build upon one another. JKR shows this in seeding clues in early books that do not bloom until later books. Names are dropped with a casualty that masks their later importance. Robin Hobb, too, is a classic master of this art and skill. This type of dynamic world-building and plot accumulation is not a skill everyone has; we’ve all read books that can be read as standalones even in a series that spans tens of novels. This isn’t terrible writing, just different.
However, every once in a while, we get a series like Harry Potter, October Daye, and the Dresden Files. The cumulative storytelling anchors us into the world; the changes the characters go through from book to book give them a sort of Velveteen Rabbit-esque reality. Their pain and joy, trials and triumphs, their dynamic internal narration turn them into friends.
And in Twelve Months, our friend Harry is experiencing his lowest year. I had complete faith in Butcher’s ability to change the formula from “worst weekend of Harry’s year” to an entire year of riding along in Harry’s head. I was curious how this would be managed — would it be split into essentially twelve novellettes for each month? Would it be split into four novellas for each season? In reality, I was surprised (though I shouldn’t have been).
Having the novel take place over the course of the year gave Butcher the opportunity to flex his dynamic world-building muscles in several different ways: we get callbacks from earlier books, we see slow, realistic change, we get carefully laid foundations of new alliances. The sheer expanse of time available allows for 1) callbacks to several past cases, 2) refamiliarization with characters long off-page, and 3) for Harry to take a deep breath and divine. He needed more time.
As much as I am dying to read Mirror, Mirror, Twelve Months is so very necessary to both the series and us, the reader. After the events of Peace Ground and Battle Talks, we needed something just a little quieter. It’s possible that Butcher pulled everything in Twelve Months out of the Sea of Stories, but I don’t think he did. At least, not all of it. I think we would have gotten a lot of off-screen information told to us in the beginning chapters of Mirror Mirror to tell us How We Got Here, but by allowing himself to write this unplanned book, the series is so much richer than two gym socks full of diamonds.
My only questions are: Will book 20 still be a Denarian book? Did Butcher nix some future books we don’t know about in favor of limiting the series to 25 books? Will we get that professional wrestling book, the dragon book, another Halloween book?
I guess we’ll know in a few years. 🙂
We just need more time.
Harry’s non-existent hat off to Mr Butcher, who has created something wonderful… again.
(If you don’t want to read it, look away)
xxx
xxx
xxx
Cumulative storytelling.
Fantasy readers especially have come to expect that the stories in series within the genre build upon one another. JKR shows this in seeding clues in early books that do not bloom until later books. Names are dropped with a casualty that masks their later importance. Robin Hobb, too, is a classic master of this art and skill. This type of dynamic world-building and plot accumulation is not a skill everyone has; we’ve all read books that can be read as standalones even in a series that spans tens of novels. This isn’t terrible writing, just different.
However, every once in a while, we get a series like Harry Potter, October Daye, and the Dresden Files. The cumulative storytelling anchors us into the world; the changes the characters go through from book to book give them a sort of Velveteen Rabbit-esque reality. Their pain and joy, trials and triumphs, their dynamic internal narration turn them into friends.
And in Twelve Months, our friend Harry is experiencing his lowest year. I had complete faith in Butcher’s ability to change the formula from “worst weekend of Harry’s year” to an entire year of riding along in Harry’s head. I was curious how this would be managed — would it be split into essentially twelve novellettes for each month? Would it be split into four novellas for each season? In reality, I was surprised (though I shouldn’t have been).
Having the novel take place over the course of the year gave Butcher the opportunity to flex his dynamic world-building muscles in several different ways: we get callbacks from earlier books, we see slow, realistic change, we get carefully laid foundations of new alliances. The sheer expanse of time available allows for 1) callbacks to several past cases, 2) refamiliarization with characters long off-page, and 3) for Harry to take a deep breath and divine. He needed more time.
As much as I am dying to read Mirror, Mirror, Twelve Months is so very necessary to both the series and us, the reader. After the events of Peace Ground and Battle Talks, we needed something just a little quieter. It’s possible that Butcher pulled everything in Twelve Months out of the Sea of Stories, but I don’t think he did. At least, not all of it. I think we would have gotten a lot of off-screen information told to us in the beginning chapters of Mirror Mirror to tell us How We Got Here, but by allowing himself to write this unplanned book, the series is so much richer than two gym socks full of diamonds.
My only questions are: Will book 20 still be a Denarian book? Did Butcher nix some future books we don’t know about in favor of limiting the series to 25 books? Will we get that professional wrestling book, the dragon book, another Halloween book?
I guess we’ll know in a few years. 🙂
We just need more time.
Harry’s non-existent hat off to Mr Butcher, who has created something wonderful… again.
July 29, 2025
It must have been at least 15 years ago that I started reading The Dresden Files books, so it was a big treat to get to read this book before publication-- a big thank you to Ace Books and Penguin Random House for sending me the ARC of 'Twelve Months"!
This book is about hurt, healing, heart, and happiness. And it was just what I wanted and Harry needed (and I perhaps needed as well).
Starting off immediately where book 17 left off, Chicago is left in ruins. As is Harry's life. He and his are being tested from all sides, all the while dealing with the rebuilding of the city.
All in all, I had a great time hanging out with Harry, Mouse, Mab, and many more that I do not want to name because of spoilers (some of my favs were introduced in this book!), as well as their friends, loved ones, and of course enemies.
The jokes and one-liners were A+ as well (spice, *that* mountain, hell, stuttering, the Irish, pearls, cars, French, hot chocolate), and I must find a way to export my highlights because the writing was just fabulous.
Also, I want to be at that one party with the oldies for sure, sounds so fun! Only if, of course, the hosts can promise I am safe the whole time
At times I did feel the story was a bit slow, but the final 10% of this book had all the action I could have wished for. Still, I would have preferred a better balance. As well as all the answers to all the questions I am now left with!!!! What do you mean citadel, what do you mean dreaming?!
A solid 4 stars.
It might take a few years, but looking forward to the next one.
And do not forget: do not show weakness to the Winter Fae. They get ideas.
I received an ARC of this book (thanks!) and these are my own opinions.
This book is about hurt, healing, heart, and happiness. And it was just what I wanted and Harry needed (and I perhaps needed as well).
Starting off immediately where book 17 left off, Chicago is left in ruins. As is Harry's life. He and his are being tested from all sides, all the while dealing with the rebuilding of the city.
All in all, I had a great time hanging out with Harry, Mouse, Mab, and many more that I do not want to name because of spoilers (some of my favs were introduced in this book!), as well as their friends, loved ones, and of course enemies.
The jokes and one-liners were A+ as well (spice, *that* mountain, hell, stuttering, the Irish, pearls, cars, French, hot chocolate), and I must find a way to export my highlights because the writing was just fabulous.
Also, I want to be at that one party with the oldies for sure, sounds so fun! Only if, of course, the hosts can promise I am safe the whole time
At times I did feel the story was a bit slow, but the final 10% of this book had all the action I could have wished for. Still, I would have preferred a better balance. As well as all the answers to all the questions I am now left with!!!! What do you mean citadel, what do you mean dreaming?!
A solid 4 stars.
It might take a few years, but looking forward to the next one.
And do not forget: do not show weakness to the Winter Fae. They get ideas.
I received an ARC of this book (thanks!) and these are my own opinions.
February 2, 2026
after the release of the previous Dresden novel "Battleground" it was quiet on the next installment "Twelve months" which finally arrived this year. Another one is planned in May which based upon the strength of this book I already pre-ordered.
After the Battle for Chicago Harry Copperfield Dresden needs time to heal physically and mentally. His loss was major both in love and family.
Harry finds himself drawing closer to Maggie his daughter, has been told to get married to Lara Raith of the white vampire clan. Which is the last thing he expected but Mab's word is very demanding. Harry has his brother who is mortally wounded in a safe place but hé owns a debt of honor.
These 12 months Harry recovers and becomes a different wizard even if hé remains as annoying as ever for the world around him, also very humble as well as a person.
Before the book is over you will encounter very emotional scènes, magical scènes and a brilliant confrontation in which we recognize that Harry Dresden wizard for hire, has become Harry Dresden defender of people, father, teacher and to be married.
An excellent novel that can be enjoyed best if you start reading book 1 and not book 18. And just for the record I am envious on anybody starting that journey right now.
After the Battle for Chicago Harry Copperfield Dresden needs time to heal physically and mentally. His loss was major both in love and family.
Harry finds himself drawing closer to Maggie his daughter, has been told to get married to Lara Raith of the white vampire clan. Which is the last thing he expected but Mab's word is very demanding. Harry has his brother who is mortally wounded in a safe place but hé owns a debt of honor.
These 12 months Harry recovers and becomes a different wizard even if hé remains as annoying as ever for the world around him, also very humble as well as a person.
Before the book is over you will encounter very emotional scènes, magical scènes and a brilliant confrontation in which we recognize that Harry Dresden wizard for hire, has become Harry Dresden defender of people, father, teacher and to be married.
An excellent novel that can be enjoyed best if you start reading book 1 and not book 18. And just for the record I am envious on anybody starting that journey right now.
March 13, 2026
This series just keeps going so well! There's few series that keep having interesting developments this far in, but Dresden Files consistently hits it out of the park.
What I loved: the dates! The rebuilding of both the city, and the healing of Dresden. The fun character exchanges. I loved that this one was slower paced (particularly after Battle Ground). The characters had the room they needed to breathe and live and grow.
What I hated:
This series has a problem of sexualizing women and children. When it's a magical powerful vampire woman, I can move past it. When it's a little girl, I cannot. This books says, "She was at that age where I’d been starting to outline awkward but necessary talks with her about biology and such."
1) Why must we frame the existence of this girl through the lens of her upcoming sexual awakening? Gross. It's as if her whole existence is leading to the moment, because that's how we get reintroduced to her in this book.
2) It doesn't even really tell me how old she is. It's both gross, and ineffective exposition.
What I loved: the dates! The rebuilding of both the city, and the healing of Dresden. The fun character exchanges. I loved that this one was slower paced (particularly after Battle Ground). The characters had the room they needed to breathe and live and grow.
What I hated:
This series has a problem of sexualizing women and children. When it's a magical powerful vampire woman, I can move past it. When it's a little girl, I cannot. This books says, "She was at that age where I’d been starting to outline awkward but necessary talks with her about biology and such."
1) Why must we frame the existence of this girl through the lens of her upcoming sexual awakening? Gross. It's as if her whole existence is leading to the moment, because that's how we get reintroduced to her in this book.
2) It doesn't even really tell me how old she is. It's both gross, and ineffective exposition.
maybe
March 5, 2022I'm going to be waiting for reviews on this one before I waste any more time on this series. Whenever it eventually gets published.
May 6, 2026
Actual rating is 4.5 stars.
This is one more entry in the long running series and is definitely not an entry point for new readers. This takes place after the battle in the last book. Chicago is a mess and so is our main character. This book is about grieving and recuperating.
After the intense action battle of the previous book I was glad to get back into a book that is more grounded. Don't get me wrong. This book has fights with supernatural creatures that readers have come to expect from this series. At the end this offering is a character book that we see Harry recover from a loss of life that is close to his heart. This happens because of family, friends, and work. Stylistically this is different from any other book in the series. As the title says this takes place over a year as we see the progression of Harry and how he handles grief. This might be the book where I connected with the main character the most. So why not a full five stars? I did not think the ending nailed it completely. It was set up for what is coming up for the series. I get that long running series do this. I think this book didn't need it as I would have been fine just dealing with Harry and his grief.
The one thing about this series that I respect is the author will mix it up and try different things. This is one of those times. The time length of the events are different. The author has in the past written a novel that does a introspective look at the main character. This was a deep dive into that aspect that I loved and connected. While not my favorite from this series it is definitely up there.
This is one more entry in the long running series and is definitely not an entry point for new readers. This takes place after the battle in the last book. Chicago is a mess and so is our main character. This book is about grieving and recuperating.
After the intense action battle of the previous book I was glad to get back into a book that is more grounded. Don't get me wrong. This book has fights with supernatural creatures that readers have come to expect from this series. At the end this offering is a character book that we see Harry recover from a loss of life that is close to his heart. This happens because of family, friends, and work. Stylistically this is different from any other book in the series. As the title says this takes place over a year as we see the progression of Harry and how he handles grief. This might be the book where I connected with the main character the most. So why not a full five stars? I did not think the ending nailed it completely. It was set up for what is coming up for the series. I get that long running series do this. I think this book didn't need it as I would have been fine just dealing with Harry and his grief.
The one thing about this series that I respect is the author will mix it up and try different things. This is one of those times. The time length of the events are different. The author has in the past written a novel that does a introspective look at the main character. This was a deep dive into that aspect that I loved and connected. While not my favorite from this series it is definitely up there.
March 28, 2026
It’s always hard to read the next book after a beloved character dies.
In Twelve Months, Harry spends the entire book dealing with his grief, which at times is hard to read, but it’s real and very well written. The book is special in the way friends, family, and sometimes strangers, can be—should be—key ingredients in the healing process.
All the other Wizardry stuff is its usual awesome, and if you're here after reading the previous seventeen books, there’s not much to add.
The end of the book has a great resolution to the main theme of Harry’s grief, but not in any way a conclusion to the series. I can’t wait for the next book.
In Twelve Months, Harry spends the entire book dealing with his grief, which at times is hard to read, but it’s real and very well written. The book is special in the way friends, family, and sometimes strangers, can be—should be—key ingredients in the healing process.
All the other Wizardry stuff is its usual awesome, and if you're here after reading the previous seventeen books, there’s not much to add.
The end of the book has a great resolution to the main theme of Harry’s grief, but not in any way a conclusion to the series. I can’t wait for the next book.
January 23, 2026
Wow as a mega fan of the series this book was a real treat -- a deep breath and exhalation after the craziness of Battle Ground. Some of my favorite parts of all the books are the quiet moments when things slow down for a bit amidst the insane tension of high-stakes events. And this time we almost have a whole book of just those kinds of moments, and Butcher delivered quite the emotional experience with it.
Harry and Jim have been getting older alongside each other, and it feels like Butcher imbued this one with a lot of hard-earned wisdom, grief, and healing of his own. There was a lot of internal processing of emotions going on but it was done in an elegant way that felt organic and not repetitive, and with the quick passing of time we also got to experience all sorts of new changes and characters emerging around Harry to keep things fresh and vibrant and prevent this from ever feeling too grim in tone.
There's always been a strong backbone of hope, love, and heroism running through the series and through the core of our dear Harry, and this book just has all of those things coalescing ever stronger, producing scenes of extreme depth and power throughout. And it's not all of the quiet variety, I mean we are in a Dresden novel, and the climactic scenes ratcheted up the tension to a level we're all used to with a typically gripping Butcher-lanche.
It's starting to genuinely feel like the series is racing toward the home stretch, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Harry and Jim have been getting older alongside each other, and it feels like Butcher imbued this one with a lot of hard-earned wisdom, grief, and healing of his own. There was a lot of internal processing of emotions going on but it was done in an elegant way that felt organic and not repetitive, and with the quick passing of time we also got to experience all sorts of new changes and characters emerging around Harry to keep things fresh and vibrant and prevent this from ever feeling too grim in tone.
There's always been a strong backbone of hope, love, and heroism running through the series and through the core of our dear Harry, and this book just has all of those things coalescing ever stronger, producing scenes of extreme depth and power throughout. And it's not all of the quiet variety, I mean we are in a Dresden novel, and the climactic scenes ratcheted up the tension to a level we're all used to with a typically gripping Butcher-lanche.
It's starting to genuinely feel like the series is racing toward the home stretch, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
January 26, 2026
A great Dresden book. Definitely kind of a bridge book after Battle Ground, but it works so well. The best character relationships and writing when it comes to emotional scenes and dialogue. A wonderful exploration of healing from trauma. Not the most action packed Dresden book, but it is the one with most heart and it's exactly what was needed. Can't see this not being in my 2026 Top 10.
February 23, 2026
”You walk in a world of shadows, Harry, but you’ve always carried your own light.”
The Battle of Chicago nearly destroyed the city, and the devastating loss that Harry suffered in that epic fight left him effectively broken. He barely sleeps. His magic is failing him. He’s in mourning and blaming himself. Yet in the aftermath Harry can’t simply go to ground to heal. So many people need help. His brother Thomas remains in hiding in an induced magical coma. Many of his neighbors were left homeless and traumatized. And as much of a mess as Harry is, he can’t not help.
And what would a Dresden novel be without ridiculous complications. The Winter Queen has demanded that Harry marry Lara Raith, head of the White Court vampires. Ghouls are attacking the city. A humorless White Council warden is itching to bust him for black magic. And, oh yeah, a mysterious person or persons has been making deadly black magic attacks. Harry has to sort it all out while he can barely function with his grief.
This novel of the devastating aftermath of the epic battle hits a little differently. Amid all the obligations and difficult tasks, Harry has to learn to forgive himself, to deal with his grief and rage, and to heal while never getting a break from the necessity of helping others. There are surprises, and goofy humor, and satisfying fights, but this one is all about Harry healing while he learns to accept that he is a good man.
The Battle of Chicago nearly destroyed the city, and the devastating loss that Harry suffered in that epic fight left him effectively broken. He barely sleeps. His magic is failing him. He’s in mourning and blaming himself. Yet in the aftermath Harry can’t simply go to ground to heal. So many people need help. His brother Thomas remains in hiding in an induced magical coma. Many of his neighbors were left homeless and traumatized. And as much of a mess as Harry is, he can’t not help.
And what would a Dresden novel be without ridiculous complications. The Winter Queen has demanded that Harry marry Lara Raith, head of the White Court vampires. Ghouls are attacking the city. A humorless White Council warden is itching to bust him for black magic. And, oh yeah, a mysterious person or persons has been making deadly black magic attacks. Harry has to sort it all out while he can barely function with his grief.
This novel of the devastating aftermath of the epic battle hits a little differently. Amid all the obligations and difficult tasks, Harry has to learn to forgive himself, to deal with his grief and rage, and to heal while never getting a break from the necessity of helping others. There are surprises, and goofy humor, and satisfying fights, but this one is all about Harry healing while he learns to accept that he is a good man.
February 14, 2026
4.5/5
I’ve been reading The Dresden Files for a long time now. It’s one of the very few long-running series I’ve stuck with. It’s had highs and lows, but Twelve Months shows Jim Butcher in excellent form again.
After the relentless escalation of Peace Talks and Battle Ground, this book slows down. It basically follows a year of Harry’s grief, fallout, and rebuilding.
Harry is hollowed out. Chicago is barely functioning after the Titan’s assault. Food is scarce. Infrastructure is wrecked. The supernatural world has been exposed, and fear is spreading. On top of that, Harry is juggling Thomas’s looming death sentence, training a new apprentice, navigating White Council politics (again), and preparing for an arranged marriage to Lara Raith under Mab’s orders.
The real conflict here is internal. For once, the greatest enemy in the book is grief. Harry struggles to eat. To sleep. To focus. His magic wavers because his control wavers. This is a far more introspective Dresden novel than we’re used to, and it works.
That doesn’t mean it’s dull. There are fights. There are ghouls prowling Chicago. There are political landmines, tense confrontations, and a climax that absolutely delivers. But the action feels more personal this time.
The biggest surprise for me was how well Butcher handled the relationships. Harry and Lara could easily have fallen into forced tension or cheap drama. Instead, their dynamic is layered and unexpectedly thoughtful. There’s distrust, yes, but also honesty and even vulnerability. It feels like growth.
Old allies step up too. Molly. Michael. Maggie. Even Mab, in her own severe way. The book reminds you how deep this cast is after eighteen installments.
Some readers will call this a transitional novel, and they’re not wrong. It’s a recalibration. A pause before the Outsider endgame looms closer. But it doesn’t feel like filler. After years of escalating power and misery, Butcher pulls the story back to its roots: Harry Dresden the man, not just the wizard.
For me, it might be some of the best writing in the series. More mature and more controlled. Less snark-for-snark’s-sake. The humor is still there, but it shares space with reflection and wisdom.
If the series needed a reset, this was the right way to do it.
I’ve been reading The Dresden Files for a long time now. It’s one of the very few long-running series I’ve stuck with. It’s had highs and lows, but Twelve Months shows Jim Butcher in excellent form again.
After the relentless escalation of Peace Talks and Battle Ground, this book slows down. It basically follows a year of Harry’s grief, fallout, and rebuilding.
Harry is hollowed out. Chicago is barely functioning after the Titan’s assault. Food is scarce. Infrastructure is wrecked. The supernatural world has been exposed, and fear is spreading. On top of that, Harry is juggling Thomas’s looming death sentence, training a new apprentice, navigating White Council politics (again), and preparing for an arranged marriage to Lara Raith under Mab’s orders.
The real conflict here is internal. For once, the greatest enemy in the book is grief. Harry struggles to eat. To sleep. To focus. His magic wavers because his control wavers. This is a far more introspective Dresden novel than we’re used to, and it works.
That doesn’t mean it’s dull. There are fights. There are ghouls prowling Chicago. There are political landmines, tense confrontations, and a climax that absolutely delivers. But the action feels more personal this time.
The biggest surprise for me was how well Butcher handled the relationships. Harry and Lara could easily have fallen into forced tension or cheap drama. Instead, their dynamic is layered and unexpectedly thoughtful. There’s distrust, yes, but also honesty and even vulnerability. It feels like growth.
Old allies step up too. Molly. Michael. Maggie. Even Mab, in her own severe way. The book reminds you how deep this cast is after eighteen installments.
Some readers will call this a transitional novel, and they’re not wrong. It’s a recalibration. A pause before the Outsider endgame looms closer. But it doesn’t feel like filler. After years of escalating power and misery, Butcher pulls the story back to its roots: Harry Dresden the man, not just the wizard.
For me, it might be some of the best writing in the series. More mature and more controlled. Less snark-for-snark’s-sake. The humor is still there, but it shares space with reflection and wisdom.
If the series needed a reset, this was the right way to do it.
May 12, 2026
“Pain is a fire. That’s true for all of the people, some of the time. If you’ve never had to stand in that fire, be patient: Your turn is coming. Whether the pain is physical or purely mental doesn’t really matter—it turns out that your brain reacts to it the same way, lighting up many of the same centers of perception. Some brainy types in lab coats proved that one fairly recently. The suffering from a broken heart is similar to that from a gunshot wound, in terms of how our minds react over the long term. It all hurts. When you have to live with that hurt, with that pain, when there’s no way to turn it off or get away from it, you start to make adjustments. Your choices in how you deal with your pain determine the course of your recovery. That’s why people who go through a difficult ordeal sometimes come out stronger, and sometimes they come out broken—but they always come out… Changed. Pain is a fire.”
It has been months now since I’ve read this novel. I’ve contemplated writing it but never found the muse till recently. So, just before even reading this novel and hearing my friends glowing praise for it, I knew Twelve Months would be special. Changes fundamentally shook the status quo; it's a book with actions that brought a lot of ramifications and loss. The following novel, Ghost Story, is all about exploring that loss and witnessing ramifications, exploring a sensitive subject with such nuance that it surprised me with how emotionally poignant it was. It fully cemented Molly being my favourite character in the series (and one of my favourites of all time) – the climax, the graveyard and so much more. It's the masterpiece of the series in my eyes. You can read my review for it, and I stand by my assessment. I'm mainly saying this because Peace Talks-Battle Ground is what Changes did for the series. It was a converging point of so many plot lines Butcher had been slowly building up, and it was fantastic. It fundamentally shook the status quo once again and brought great loss.
In a roundabout manner I had the inclination this would be Ghost Story 2.0, it's very introspective and different from the general Dresden structure, and I was not disappointed. This novel, simply put, is a masterpiece. It has been 4 years since I last read a Dresden novel, and immediately, the first page just grabs you. Butcher’s writing craft has only become more precise and refined as the series goes on, and this easily represents his best writing. Even folk who don’t love Ghost Story will click with this one. Not only is the fallout of Battle Ground brilliantly explored with the twelve-month structure, but dealing with heavy grief, he still has to be a father and has to take care of his folks, his family, and the duties of the Winter Mantle. So much he has to do while being in a state of grief. It feels overwhelming. Having almost daily nightmares, dealing with our own guilt (justified or not), etc. Going slightly off-topic, but there are some massive events akin to Cold Days. Of course, it concerns Mab and is just one of those top 10 moments. I don’t think this even needs to be stated; Mab once again steals every scene she is featured in. You love to hate her at times, but in most cases, she is just right. Her dynamic with Dresden is incredible, there’s that smidge of love but mostly fear and respect.
One character Butcher did a great job with in Peace Talks was Lara, once again in the spotlight. I loved the exploration of her character, and at times I do think Harry is a tad too harsh on her, but it’s understandable considering her position as the leader of the White Court. How the relationship shifts in these 12 months, I tip my hat to Butcher. Through Lara we get introduced to one of the coolest new side characters in the series. I said in many of my reviews how Butcher mixes mythology into his urban fantasy setting is genius.
The book took a long time to be written (longer than most people expected) and was going through some heavy stuff, similar to Peace Talks. His own experience with hardship, I would imagine, would very much translate here. In cases, how could it not? If you had written 18 novels in the course of 2 decades, even unintentionally, it would influence them. It's those experiences that give further gravitas to Harry’s struggles. The character relationships, like Ghost Story, take centre stage, even characters like wolves. There were some characters who were college students in Fool Moon; now, after years, they are full-grown adults with responsibilities of their own, seeing how Harry influenced the people in his life in his selfless endeavours. As the series doesn’t have a laundry list of characters, it’s often very fun seeing characters appear randomly, like the world is moving outside of Harry, making it feel more real.
I don’t feel I need to mention it, but yes, the world keeps on becoming more interesting, the new mysteries are pretty fun. How it resolves certain plot threads is a mix of cheeky, clever or tragic (but fitting) and many lore drops. Overall, a new status quo, and it really makes me curious about the future. I guess this is one of the benefits of reading it as it's coming out. While waiting isn’t always fun, coming back after a few years feels odd. I don’t know how to describe it. It allows the work to linger longer in my brain, and if it's quality, it’s all for the better. While Twelve Months tackles heavy subjects, it is also one that lifts you up. Your demons, trauma (or whatever the equivalent is for you) won’t be resolved in days, months or 12 months, but steps can be taken.
In conclusion, Twelve Months is a masterpiece and really everything you would want from this series. I still give the nudge to Ghost Story even if this has fewer “flaws” than that book. It cemented Molly as my favourite character in the series and contains a moment I consider the series' best.
9.5/10
January 27, 2026
prob my least favorite in the series. I was distracted by how many times things were repeated and people said things quietly. and I am a huge Dresden fan so this was kind of a disappointment.
February 12, 2026
Twelve Months by Jim Butcher
This book is quite the break in the series.
After the previous book, which for me was very heavy on constant fighting and escalation, this feels like the complete opposite. The last two books felt like one giant battle split into two parts. This one is about the aftermath, and the cost of surviving something like that.
Harry, and really all of Chicago, is dealing with the fallout of a horrendous battle that left many people dead and the city barely functioning. Food is scarce. Dead cars block streets. Mortals have seen the magical world, and unrest between normal people and the supernatural feels like a very natural consequence.
The biggest change here is Harry himself. He goes from his usual reckless confidence and refusal to back down from anything to someone who is emotionally hollowed out and broken. He struggles to eat. He struggles to sleep. The world feels muted and distant, like he is moving through it instead of truly living in it. He is at a point where the future feels blank and unreachable, where he keeps going more out of obligation than hope. He keeps moving forward mostly for his daughter. He hides away, trains until he pushes himself into numbness, and focuses on simply getting through one moment, then the next, because looking any further ahead feels impossible.
The grief in this book is slow, and that feels very intentional. You do not get past something this horrible and just go back to normal. It takes time. The book allows that time. It is uncomfortable at times, but in a very real and grounded way. I honestly did not expect that level of rawness here, but it worked extremely well.
After finishing the book, I looked up the author and learned that he has spoken about going through severe depression and even a suicide attempt. Knowing that afterwards made a lot of that emotional authenticity make sense, because the portrayal of grief and emotional collapse felt painfully real on the page.
It felt less like watching wounds close and more like watching raw, angry wounds slowly form scabs that might eventually become scars. Some are still red and painful. Some are starting to fade by the end. There is progress, but it is slow and messy and very human.
There are still battles, including one that feels very much like Harry fighting himself before he can really fight anything else again. Compared to the previous book, the action felt much more meaningful to me again. Less endless escalation, more personal stakes. The previous massive city-level destruction was so huge it almost became abstract. Here, things feel closer, more personal, more grounded. The difference between hearing about dozens dying somewhere, and feeling the loss of someone specific and real.
There is hope, though. Friends are there for him. People still need help. And the book slowly moves Harry from the absolute pit of despair toward something fragile but real. Not healed. Not fixed. But moving forward, step by step.
This feels less like a return to old Dresden and more like a recalibration. Harry is not the unstoppable force here. He is someone who has been broken and is slowly rebuilding, and by the end you start to see small glimpses of that old survival instinct and stubborn will again.
For me, this feels like the series finding its emotional footing again. After going bigger and bigger, this book pulls things back, resets the emotional core, and reminds you why you cared in the first place.
This is not a victory lap. It is survival. Slow, painful, stubborn survival. And sometimes that is the bravest kind there is.
This book is quite the break in the series.
After the previous book, which for me was very heavy on constant fighting and escalation, this feels like the complete opposite. The last two books felt like one giant battle split into two parts. This one is about the aftermath, and the cost of surviving something like that.
Harry, and really all of Chicago, is dealing with the fallout of a horrendous battle that left many people dead and the city barely functioning. Food is scarce. Dead cars block streets. Mortals have seen the magical world, and unrest between normal people and the supernatural feels like a very natural consequence.
The biggest change here is Harry himself. He goes from his usual reckless confidence and refusal to back down from anything to someone who is emotionally hollowed out and broken. He struggles to eat. He struggles to sleep. The world feels muted and distant, like he is moving through it instead of truly living in it. He is at a point where the future feels blank and unreachable, where he keeps going more out of obligation than hope. He keeps moving forward mostly for his daughter. He hides away, trains until he pushes himself into numbness, and focuses on simply getting through one moment, then the next, because looking any further ahead feels impossible.
“There was this empty pit inside me where all my recent pain and loss lived, and I felt an urge to hurl myself into it, but I held off. That was the point of all the meditation I’d been doing—to give me some measure of ability to keep functioning even when my body and my heart wanted me to collapse screaming. Sometimes that happened to me at night, late. I’d just start screaming. I’d scream and I wouldn’t be able to stop until I’d screamed myself out. Until I was breathing too hard to keep doing it, until my throat hurt, until my jaws ached from forcing my mouth open too wide."
The grief in this book is slow, and that feels very intentional. You do not get past something this horrible and just go back to normal. It takes time. The book allows that time. It is uncomfortable at times, but in a very real and grounded way. I honestly did not expect that level of rawness here, but it worked extremely well.
After finishing the book, I looked up the author and learned that he has spoken about going through severe depression and even a suicide attempt. Knowing that afterwards made a lot of that emotional authenticity make sense, because the portrayal of grief and emotional collapse felt painfully real on the page.
It felt less like watching wounds close and more like watching raw, angry wounds slowly form scabs that might eventually become scars. Some are still red and painful. Some are starting to fade by the end. There is progress, but it is slow and messy and very human.
There are still battles, including one that feels very much like Harry fighting himself before he can really fight anything else again. Compared to the previous book, the action felt much more meaningful to me again. Less endless escalation, more personal stakes. The previous massive city-level destruction was so huge it almost became abstract. Here, things feel closer, more personal, more grounded. The difference between hearing about dozens dying somewhere, and feeling the loss of someone specific and real.
There is hope, though. Friends are there for him. People still need help. And the book slowly moves Harry from the absolute pit of despair toward something fragile but real. Not healed. Not fixed. But moving forward, step by step.
“Peace and happiness aren't the same thing. Not at all.
Happiness is peace in action.
And peace is happiness at rest.
And neither one has to be perfect to be real.”
This feels less like a return to old Dresden and more like a recalibration. Harry is not the unstoppable force here. He is someone who has been broken and is slowly rebuilding, and by the end you start to see small glimpses of that old survival instinct and stubborn will again.
For me, this feels like the series finding its emotional footing again. After going bigger and bigger, this book pulls things back, resets the emotional core, and reminds you why you cared in the first place.
This is not a victory lap. It is survival. Slow, painful, stubborn survival. And sometimes that is the bravest kind there is.
March 7, 2026
3.5⭐️ Rounded up simply because I love the series. I recommend to everyone simply because it’s one of my all time favorites. If you’re worried about reading so many books, start with book 3 or 4, that’s when things start to get good!
Spoiler warning for events from earlier books, not book 18.
18 books ago, we started out with a fairly formulaic genre PI urban fantasy series. What made it stand out were a few fantastic characters. It’s was cliche enough to be painful at times. This book is so far away from that first one, it’s impressive how much better the writing is & how Harry has changed.
I love that Jim isn’t afraid to completely rethink how the series works. I think this book is the 2nd or 3rd complete overhaul/reset. It’s messier than the transition he created in Changes/Ghost Story. Structurally I agree we needed a book like this to help Harry/us adjust to books without our MFC moving forward. By the end Harry’s learning to move forward but I’m not sure helped me…
I wasn’t a massive fan of MFC but I thought she balanced Harry’s well meaning chauvinism & gave the more dimension to the world. Although I LOVE Lara Raith she’s not a foil to complicate the world, she fits pretty perfectly as a character who props up Harry’s perspective.
I understood that Jim was showing us grieving & growing Dresden but it felt like he lost the characters voice in the process. At times there was so much generic cliched grieving that I thought almost any character could be that person. It didn’t feel specific to Harry himself. Frankly it read like the author went through some shit and was excising his journey over Harry’s.
TLDR I have mixed feelings. We needed a reset, I see what the authors shooting for & it makes sense. I don’t love how this was done. I deeply respect that the Author is trying new things though. I’m expecting the next book will be a lot better now that all of this is out of the way.
Spoiler warning for events from earlier books, not book 18.
18 books ago, we started out with a fairly formulaic genre PI urban fantasy series. What made it stand out were a few fantastic characters. It’s was cliche enough to be painful at times. This book is so far away from that first one, it’s impressive how much better the writing is & how Harry has changed.
I love that Jim isn’t afraid to completely rethink how the series works. I think this book is the 2nd or 3rd complete overhaul/reset. It’s messier than the transition he created in Changes/Ghost Story. Structurally I agree we needed a book like this to help Harry/us adjust to books without our MFC moving forward. By the end Harry’s learning to move forward but I’m not sure helped me…
I wasn’t a massive fan of MFC but I thought she balanced Harry’s well meaning chauvinism & gave the more dimension to the world. Although I LOVE Lara Raith she’s not a foil to complicate the world, she fits pretty perfectly as a character who props up Harry’s perspective.
I understood that Jim was showing us grieving & growing Dresden but it felt like he lost the characters voice in the process. At times there was so much generic cliched grieving that I thought almost any character could be that person. It didn’t feel specific to Harry himself. Frankly it read like the author went through some shit and was excising his journey over Harry’s.
TLDR I have mixed feelings. We needed a reset, I see what the authors shooting for & it makes sense. I don’t love how this was done. I deeply respect that the Author is trying new things though. I’m expecting the next book will be a lot better now that all of this is out of the way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2026
It's been a year, more or less, since the big battle in Chicago and a year is nothing when you're grieving. Harry Dresden knows all about it, as he stews in his sorrow and guilt over the death of Murphy. He's driving himself pretty hard and trying to take care of those people he feels responsible for. But life doesn't quit happening just because he doesn't want to deal with it.
Winter Queen Mab has betrothed him to Lara Raith of the White Court vampires. His brother Thomas is in stasis on Daemonreach Island. A pregnant Justine, Thomas' partner, is missing. Separately, they could maybe be dealt with, but combined? It's going to be one helluva task. Will the pressure make or break Wizard Dresden?
Butcher is allowing Harry to grow as a person. He gets acknowledged for his kindness frequently in this volume. He navigates his relationships with Mab and Lara with more grace than before. He and Lara seem to have forged a partnership that bodes well for their marriage. Harry is spending more time with his daughter and it is doing them both good. Many of Harry's old friends are present and being supportive. He is learning to accept help.
There are plenty of problems to be solved and Harry uses his brain as much as his powers. His adulting is getting much better. Nevertheless, there are still narrative strands left to dangle at the book's conclusion. The next book is supposed to be published next year, a pleasant prospect as we've waited six years for this one.
Winter Queen Mab has betrothed him to Lara Raith of the White Court vampires. His brother Thomas is in stasis on Daemonreach Island. A pregnant Justine, Thomas' partner, is missing. Separately, they could maybe be dealt with, but combined? It's going to be one helluva task. Will the pressure make or break Wizard Dresden?
Butcher is allowing Harry to grow as a person. He gets acknowledged for his kindness frequently in this volume. He navigates his relationships with Mab and Lara with more grace than before. He and Lara seem to have forged a partnership that bodes well for their marriage. Harry is spending more time with his daughter and it is doing them both good. Many of Harry's old friends are present and being supportive. He is learning to accept help.
There are plenty of problems to be solved and Harry uses his brain as much as his powers. His adulting is getting much better. Nevertheless, there are still narrative strands left to dangle at the book's conclusion. The next book is supposed to be published next year, a pleasant prospect as we've waited six years for this one.
January 23, 2026
I get that Dresden is grieving over the death of Murphy and processing everything that went on in the last book but this book was insanely boring. it was very repetitive. This could have easily been a short story, instead we got a 480 page therapy session. The only good thing that came out of this book is I probably won't waste my time reading another Jim Butcher book in the future.
March 15, 2026
── 4.0✦
Harry Dresden throughout this book:
After the disaster that was Battle Ground, I really loved this. Also I can’t believe Butcher had me shipping this unlikely couple.
Harry Dresden throughout this book:
After the disaster that was Battle Ground, I really loved this. Also I can’t believe Butcher had me shipping this unlikely couple.
January 23, 2026
Peak Dresden
January 23, 2026
This book feels like the culmination of everything that the Dresden Files can be. Stakes may be lower, but they feel more intimate. Harry is truly one of my favorite fantasy protagonists of all time. Jim, please keep the books coming.
January 21, 2026
This book is a fucking masterpiece. Like genuinely, it's fucking perfect. It's content is so well-placed within the series and especially the context of the last few books, but simultaneously, you can tell that Jim was also going through some serious shit when he was writing this. His experience, his struggle, his progress, his healing, it all permeates through every sentence in this book, and it's just the perfect lens to read this book through, considering Dresden's journey in this book.
The character relationships and interactions are also well-fucking-done. Without getting into spoilers, the core relationships and side characters of this book needed to be handled delicately, as authorial missteps within this regard would threaten to undermine what Jim has worked so hard towards building in this story. But he handles and writes these relationships and characters in a way that remains so true to who the characters fundamentally are, while moving them forward in their relationships and selves through the story and through them simply talking and learning more about each other. In a book like this it is easy to get preachy through side characters, but this series has gone through 17 books up to this point, so every message just feels earned, and not corny.
This book is far from a typical Dresden Files book. There isn't really a case to solve. There isn't really a big bad that Dresden needs to stop before time runs out (in this book, at least). There isn't really a lot of action. But nonetheless, and somehow, it might just be the best written book in the series. The Dresden Files is fundamentally about Harry Dresden, and this book is just such a good reminder of who he is, and all that he has done and earned up to this point of the story, and that weight carries itself through the book.
This is a 15/5 type book. Genuinely. Holy shit.
The character relationships and interactions are also well-fucking-done. Without getting into spoilers, the core relationships and side characters of this book needed to be handled delicately, as authorial missteps within this regard would threaten to undermine what Jim has worked so hard towards building in this story. But he handles and writes these relationships and characters in a way that remains so true to who the characters fundamentally are, while moving them forward in their relationships and selves through the story and through them simply talking and learning more about each other. In a book like this it is easy to get preachy through side characters, but this series has gone through 17 books up to this point, so every message just feels earned, and not corny.
This book is far from a typical Dresden Files book. There isn't really a case to solve. There isn't really a big bad that Dresden needs to stop before time runs out (in this book, at least). There isn't really a lot of action. But nonetheless, and somehow, it might just be the best written book in the series. The Dresden Files is fundamentally about Harry Dresden, and this book is just such a good reminder of who he is, and all that he has done and earned up to this point of the story, and that weight carries itself through the book.
This is a 15/5 type book. Genuinely. Holy shit.
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