Cold Days (book 14 The Dresden Files) -- Jim Butcher

HARRY DRESDEN LIVES!!! After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard.
He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill.
Guess which Mab wants first? Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own…His soul.

It is hard for me to give an honest review of this book as I am a bit of a fanboy about the series. I have long awaited this release with baited (insert Tim Curry voice) antici-pation.

Harry Dresden is back, now with an actual body! Not unlike HBO's True Blood, at the end of the last book I was left with more questions than answers.

• Will Harry live?
• Will he keep his old friends?
• Will he fundamentally change now that he has signed on with the Queen of Darkness?
• Will Harry's daughter show up in the story?
• How do I get a dog like Mouse?
• How did Mac get his bar listed as neutral territory under the Unseelie Accords?
• Will Jim Butcher ever release a recipe for some of Macs beers?

The answers are as follows:

• Yes
• Yes
• Yes/No (HA! How do you like THAT ambivalent answer?)
• Not yet
• I can't (the Landlord doesn't want me to have pets)
• Unanswered (STILL!!!!)
• I'm waiting Jim... I'm waiting.

There isn't much I can really write about on this book without severely giving away the plot twists. The few things I can say is that Jim Butcher wrote Harry with the same nerdy/wise-ass dialogue that he always has which is to say: Kind of formulaic. 

Please don't get me wrong, the book stands on its own in the series. One of the things I love about this series are the ancillary characters. Jim is one of the few authors that I've found that invests almost as much time developing the supporting cast as the main characters.

I truly look forward to book 15. Hopefully, Jim can get better soon (he is currently suffering from gastroenteritis) so that he can get back to entertaining me!

The Dresden Files-Patiently waiting

Reciepe for a Harry Dresden book:

2 parts Hard-boiled detective gumshoe novel
2 parts Low fantasy
1 parts Star-Wars references

 fill shaker with ice, add all ingredients, shake vigorously until you hear cussing.

I am a big fan of the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher. He writes these books as a easy read, but not so easy that you would see the books in the YA section of a Library.

synopsis of Dresdens world taken from the great wiki:

In the world of The Dresden Files, magic is real, along with ghouls, vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, and other mythical monsters.Harry Dresden works to protect the general public, who are ignorant of magic and the dark forces conspiring against them. This makes it difficult for Harry to get by as a working wizard and private eye. The Chicago PD's Special Investigation unit, when led by Karrin Murphy, regularly employs Dresden as a consultant to help solve cases of a supernatural nature.

The White Council, the recognized governing body of Wizards, has decreed the Seven Laws of Magic, which all magic users are expected to follow. Breaking any of the laws carries a death sentence except under very rare and special circumstances.

In The Dresden Files universe, each species (humans, faeries, vampires, etc.) has its own political and societal rules and organizations. The human wizards depend on the White Council, while faeries may belong to either the Summer or Winter courts, or they may belong to neither court, in which case they are known as Wyldfae. Vampires may belong to any of three vampire Courts, be it the White, Red, or Black Court. There are rumours of a Jade court based in the far east.

Jim Butcher has created a world where I not only hope Harry wins, I have a sick curiosity about just much abuse Harry can take before he reaches through the computer and beats his author on the head with his own keyboard.

So far there have been 13 novels written about Harry and 1 book of short stories. the next book set for release is November 27. I have been waiting a while for this one and can guarantee that you will be getting a full write up on this book.

The Casual Vacancy

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (yes THAT J.K. Rowling)

The novel covers the death of a local Councillor, Barry Fairbrother, who croaks in the parking lot of a local golf course. As news spreads throughout town, chaos ensues. The problem arises in deciding whether the estate "The Fields" (which includes a methadone clinic, Bellchapel) should remain as part of Town.

After the election date is announced, the children of those who are standing for election decide to make damaging posts on the Councils online forum. Andrew, is the first person to do so, operating under the name "The_Ghost_Of_Barry_Fairbrother" and informing everyone on the forum that his father had bought a stolen computer. Sukhvinder follows, posting that her mother, Dr. Parminder Jawanda, was in love with Barry. Thirdly, Fats Wall posts, claiming his dad Cubby, diddled a kid.

This book also follows Krystal Weedon. Krystal lives in The Fields with her mother Terri who is a hooker and dope fiend, and brother Robbie. Kay, ( the obligitory Social worker) is determined for Terri to stop her druggie ways and take responsibility for the care of Robbie, however, Terri relapses (of course) and her drug-dealer ends up raping Krystal. Obviously fucked up from yet another traumatic experience in her life. Krystal has hooks up with Fats in an attempt to become preggers. It is during one of these hook-ups that Robbie runs away from the pair in a park, eventually falling and drowning in a river, despite Sukhvinder's attempt to save him. Krystal is so distraught she kills herself via heroin overdose, the novel culminating with her funeral.

The novels major themes were Politics, Class, and Social Issues (such as drugs).
All of which Ms. Rowling, should be able to write about properly, as she was living in the lowest caste of society without being homeless prior to her HP being published.

I feel this book is more CRASS than CLASS. I don't think I went two pages without being assaulted by more "fucks" and "arse" than was even close to necessary for the point of the narrative. I really hope J.K. doesn't stop writing, but I do hope this book comes off the top sellers charts. I feel this book has stayed up there due to her previous achievements.

This is J.K.'s first attempt at an adult book, and it kinda shows. Now please don't get me wrong. I loved her HP series. So much in fact, that when I was last in Orlando I spent a large part of my time at Universal Studios IN the new Hogwarts section.

I was hoping to make my first "official" book review to be something awesome. I guess I was disappointed twice.

I will now leave you with some photos of Hogwarts in Universal Studios.