Book Review: Twelve Months, by Jim Butcher
The Dresden Files #18
Normally, Upstream Reviews wouldn’t review an author who’s this popular already. Jim Butcher is probably the last person on the planet who needs more accolades. However, the next on my to read pile was the next Shami Stovall not-Dresden, the enjoyable Chronos Warlock series.
When Twelve Months came out, I figured it was time to put the comparison to the test.
For the record, I tend not to comment on the personal life of authors in reviews. But here, there might be a dovetail between the author and the novel. Due to a headline I read, and even the dedication, Butcher has undergone a rough time with depression. No, I do not really know any of the details.
Why do I mention this? Trust me, it comes up.
Granted, reading through Twelve Months, parts were hard enough to read that I would have asked if writing it had given Butcher a bit of depression.
The Story
After Peace Talks and Battle Ground, Harry Dresden had a day that would have had Jack Bauer reconsidering his life choices.1 Harry lost loved ones. Chicago was hit with an EMP that sent the city back into the 19th century. Everyone in Chicago knows that the monsters in the dark are real.
You know it’s bad for Harry when the monsters feel sorry for him.
But there’s no rest for the wizard. There is more than structural damage and a body count after the war for Chicago. Important relationships were damaged in Peace Talks and Battle Ground. As the Knight for the Fae Winter Court, Dresden has to fix them.
Also as Winter Knight, in order to seal an alliance with the Vampire White Court, Dresden has to marry Lara Raith, who is basically a succubus.
The plot of this book is “How many different balls can Harry juggle when he’s suffering from survivor’s guilt, PTSD, depression, and insomnia?”
And the answer is that I lost count. Between the lack of power in the city, protestors, counter protestors, vigilantes, a new apprentice, problems with his brother, Mab, Lara, ghouls, The White Council, their assassin the Blackstaff, other vampires, and dwarfs … there’s a lot going one. The book reads almost like a vignette of multiple shorts and novellas, just cut up and patched together into a novel. But it is almost entirely dealing with the fallout from the very long day Dresden had in Peace Talks and Battle Ground.
But nearly everything I can think of gets a resolution. Although as usual for Dresden, sometimes the solution means coming at the problem sideways. And there’s still one big loose thread that’s still dangling, and that problem will probably end in fire.
Oh yes, and Jim Butcher has definitely seen the cartoon Gargoyles. It comes up. For reasons.
First things first: in the first few chapters, there is an examination of depression that reads like Lewis’ An Examination of Grief. And it’s scattered among the book. Like I said above, this can be a tough one to read.
Funny enough, while I went into this thinking that I would compare and contrast it to Shami Stovall’s work, this turned out to be an atypical Dresden novel. While a lot of the recent Dresden novels have felt a lot like the urban fantasy 24, or magical John Wick, this was almost laid back in comparison. Then again, instead of being set during one of the longest weeks in Harry’s life, it’s the longest year.
Frankly, it’s handled very well. The pacing is nice and even. Despite being nearly 500 pages, Twelve Months was a quick read. Though if you want to tackle it at an easy pace, every two or three chapters is its own self-contained vignette, part of the larger whole. It’s basically the most character-driven Harry Dresden novel. And it’s about as much fun as any of the others.
The nice thing about Jim Butcher is that he is truly an urban fantasy author. The city itself has a personality and has characters. It is a distinctive location, and the events are firmly rooted in this place. Chicago is alive here. Maybe more alive than it was when I was actually there in person.
Just to round things off, the ending does have a nice, moderately sized battle to round things off. Because what would a Dresden novel be if something wasn’t on fire.
The Characters
This section will have to be slightly truncated, otherwise it would take up much of the review.
After pulling off an escape attempt that was pretty much a heist movie in Peace Talks, and winning a war in Battle Ground that he shouldn’t have won, Harry Dresden needs a nap, maybe a vacation, and a sit down with a priest, a shrink, or both. But this is the Harry Dresden who insists on being agnostic just to tweak the angel that he’s on a first-name basis with. Things need doing, and slowing down is for other people. Self-medication will be more than sufficient, right?
Again, when the other monsters feel sorry for him, you’d think he’d listen.
Speaking of monsters, Lara Raith has more personal character development here than anyone would have guessed from her first appearance. There’s more going on in her head than one would have guessed, and she’s far more interesting than her default femme fatale setting.
Mab, Queen of Winter, is interesting because she’s like a snake. One never knows exactly which way she’s going to jump.
And then there’s Bear, but that gets into spoilers. But let’s say that Bear has some unique perspectives to give to events.
The World
After 18 books, the world of The Dresden Files is pretty well established by now. However, after Battle Ground, when every monster jumped out of the closet and fought openly in the streets, things have changes a little. Those who have stayed in the city are aware of magic and monsters, and they’re irked. Which means the lesser magic users are scared of reprisals, leading to at least two major cluster f***s throughout.
We also get more lore for the White Court vampires, more insights into magic as practiced here, and a refresher on what magic is for Dresden and company.
It’s nice when a book’s world still has more avenues to explore.
Politics
Jim Butcher does not do modern politics. The closest you could say that it gets to politics is that everyone in this book is armed.
I will note that there is a situation with protestors. The only thing that makes it worse? Counter protestors.
Content Warning
There might be some language issues, but nothing I didn’t hear in grammar school. The violence never breaks Lord of the Rings levels of graphic.
Who is it for?
Normally, this is the point where we say “If you like the A-quality of B-author, or the X-quality of Y-author, you will like this book.”
If you read urban fantasy, you’re clearly reading Jim Butcher. He’s the gold standard of urban fantasy.
Why buy it?
Jim Butcher really is the gold standard in urban fantasy, with vivid characters, vivid places, and a world that is just as alive.
If you haven’t jumped into The Dresden Files, might as well start. You’ve got work ahead of you.2
Is that too dated a reference?
The first three books are a slow start, but they pick up fast after that. It took him time to find his footing.
Reading thru it now slowly. Let's just say it hits hard.
Some of the Dresden Files novels work as stand-alone stories, or "Read this first and go back and start with Storm Front if you like it" entry-point books. This is definitely not one of them. If I judged Twelve Months on its own, I wouldn't like it. But after the massive nonstop screaming chaos of Battle Grounds, taking a novel to breathe and look around is allowed.