Changes by Jim Butcher – review

Private detective, full-time wizard Harry Dresden is back and faces some strange changes indeed in Jim Butcher’s exciting, page-turning twelfth novel in his Dresden Files series of books, Changes. This is the second review of the novel at this site, because the paperback is just out, and I managed to score a copy of it. The first review is a great one by my fellow reviewer at the site, the talented Amberdrake, and if you would like to compare the two, click here. My take on it offers a different perspective that I hope you can also enjoy.

Changes is a fairly long and complex novel, but it’s kept interesting by lots of twists and turns in the plot. The vampire Duchess Ariana of the Red Court and the Red King, whom Harry Dresden and the White Council of Wizards have warred with in the past, kidnap the daughter Harry had with Susan Rodriguez, Maggie. He has just learned of her at the book’s beginning from Susan, who is herself a vampire. She has traveled to Chicago with a fellow vampire, Martin, to enlist Dresden’s aid in rescuing Maggie from the Red Court. This is far easier said than done, because Dresden is considered a rogue by many of the other wizards on the White Council, and Ariana speaks in front of a gathering of the wizards (that Dresden crashes) proposing a new era of peace between the wizards and vampires.

Dresden disrupts the meeting by demanding his daughter’s return, though he doesn’t call Maggie his daughter. This is because he doesn’t want people to know Maggie is his daughter, if they don’t already know, since he has lots of enemies, and Maggie’s life is already endangered. Far from getting the help he needs and would like the White Council to give him, he is escorted from the meeting.  The Council believes Ariana, who says she and the Red Court had nothing to do with Maggie’s disappearance. In essence, they refuse to help him. The reasoning is that even if Ariana had something to do with Maggie’s kidnapping, what’s the life of one girl compared with the possibility of saving the lives of millions of others due to the peace that would ensue between the wizards and vampires.

Long story short, the novel is at its most basic level, one about Harry Dresden’s efforts to save his daughter Maggie from being sacrificed in Mexico by the Red Court. A brief synopsis of the novel–or even a lengthy one, like the one at the Jim Butcher wiki site–does not do the novel justice. You miss out on the definitive style that Jim Butcher uses in all of his Dresden Files novels, and his sly wit and dry sense of humor. And in Changes, you miss out on reading and experiencing vicariously what Harry goes through, the agony he feels at the kidnapping of his daughter, the great lengths he goes to to save her life. You don’t get to experience the continuing developing relationship Harry has with his apprentice, Molly, whom he often refers to as “grasshopper,” echoing the nickname of Caine (David Carradine) in the television series Kung Fu. You miss out on what makes Jim Butcher and his series great.

So, what are a few of the changes that Harry Dresden goes through in Changes? I don’t want to give away too many of the various changes, though if you wish to, you can read about them all at the Jim Butcher wiki site, or better yet, read the darn book, already! But, as the novel is called Changes, I would be probably somewhat remiss if I didn’t mention at least some of them.

SPOILERS Besides the major surprise that begins the novel, where we learn that the relationship between Harry and Susan resulted in their daughter, Margeret (Maggie), there are several other changes that Dresden undergoes. Another one is that it’s revealed that Harry’s office building is owned by The Red Court of Vampires. That building is blown up by C4 in an attempt to kill Harry and stop him from rescuing Maggie. There’s a kind of funny line that Harry gets in after this happens (though I’m sure it wouldn’t have been funny to him at the time): “I mailed in the rent on my office this morning.”

Harry also changes in that he is given his mother’s (Margaret LaFey’s) necklace, which enables him to travel all of The Ways. This makes it far easier for him to get from Point A to Point B faster and safer than he ever could before, which comes in useful for him in his quest to save his daughter. His car, the Blue Beetle, gets crushed and co-mingled with his vampire half brother’s, Thomas’, car when a Mayan demon, Ik’k'uox (which Dresden calls “the Ick”) attacks them. His oak wizard’s staff is in the car, and is also destroyed.  END SPOILERS

How does Changes stack up to the rest of the series thus far? It is a definite Must Read for all Dresden Files fans, and it’s a great Urban Fantasy novel in its own right which can be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel. It’s a crossroads type of novel, with a cliffhanger ending that might make you wonder how the series can continue on. The author has said that there will be 7-10 further novels in the Dresden Files series, so it will, indeed, carry on, which is great news. I’m eagerly anticipating reading the next book, Ghost Story. I highly recommend that you check out Changes if you haven’t read it yet, and I’ll leave you with a preview of the cover of Ghost Story, below, which is out July 26!