Tag Archives: the dresden files

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : Twelve Months

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Twelve Months by Jim Butcher

Twelve Months (The Dresden Files, #18) by Jim Butcher (Goodreads Author)

50275498

Amy Caudill‘s review

Jun 22, 2026

After six years of absence felt by his fans, author Jim Butcher is back with the latest installment-number 18-into the Dresden files series, featuring modern-day wizard Harry Dresden. Harry is attempting to pick up the pieces of his life following the events of the last book, Battleground, which concluded a supernatural war fought in and around Chicago.

The city is shattered from the aftermath of the final battle, and Harry is devastated by the death of the love of his life, Karrin Murphy, who fought in the final battle despite being severely injured previously in the conflict. The city is largely without power, shelter, medicine, etc.;in short, is a zone that has seemingly survived a “natural disaster” to those not in the know about the supernatural. The ordinary citizens have seen that the supernatural is real, and come together to protest their continued presence in “their” city.

Surrounding and assisting Harry, is a large group of both supernatural and human beings who are trying to recover and broker peace between discordant factions. Meanwhile, Harry relies on his friends to help him find the will to not only survive, but create a new life for himself and his daughter Maggie, a young and very precocious future wizard.


Twelve Months is the chronicle of a year in the life of Dresden and Chicago, as they recover together. There are ups and downs, there is sorrow and joy, there is magic and even some action though that is not the primary focus in this novel. What we see is a wizard eventually embracing the changes that will come as he settles more fully into his duty as the Winter Knight and as the future consort of Lara Raith, leader of the White Court of Vampires.


While this book is definitely different than many of the other novels in the series, I can see that it demonstrates necessary growth for its main character, and look forward to the direction the author seems to be growing for the future of his universe. The next novella is already out, and I look forward to getting a copy of Outlaw soon.


I award this novel four stars, and recommend it first to fans of the long time series, as well as in general fans of urban fantasy. There are enough explanations for newbies to enjoy the book, and perhaps pique their interest into other books of the series.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : Peace Talks

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Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16) by Jim Butcher (Goodreads Author)
Amy Caudill‘s review

In this highly anticipated return to the world of Harry Dresden, in the first novel added to the series in several years, Harry is faced with a conference that can either bring about the end of hostilities between the supernatural nations, or see the world destroyed.

It doesn’t make things any easier for Harry when he discovers that the leadership of White Council of Wizards, to which Harry still nominally belongs even as he’s serving as the Knight of the Winter Queen, is plotting to remove Harry from their ranks and thus their protection.  Of course, at the same time, Harry finds out he is about to become an uncle to his half-vampire half-brother’s child, just as Thomas for reasons unknown tries to assassinate the King of one of the member nations of the Unseelie Accords.

With many of Harry’s friends and allies either unwilling to help or having their hands tied, he reaches out to the leader of the White Court vampires, Thomas’s half-sister, to help him pull off a rescue under the collective noses of the supernatural world.

Even these events must take secondary priority as it becomes clear that the Peace Conference is in reality the opening volley in a war between the accorded nations and the Fomor, an ancient enemy newly returned.  While several nations offer assistance for a collective defense, the Winter Court is unable to help as an assault of the universe is affected against the Outsiders, the enemy from beyond the universe.

This latest book, while exciting and containing enough action to satisfy many readers, left me thinking something was lacking in the storyline.  There are no resolutions to any of the major plotlines in this book.  Granted this story is much shorter than some of recent novels, those usually showed at least some type of closure to at least most of the major points by the conclusion; while this entire book read more like a setup for the next book, Battleground, which was released a few months later.  I have yet to read the last novel, but I hope the resolutions missing from Peace Talks will be presented here.  Perhaps if the author presented this book as the first of a duology it would have given readers an idea of what to expect.

I’m giving this paranormal thriller four stars because, while the writing is excellent as usual, the plot seems uncomplete.  Still, I will have to get the next book ( the last to date) in short order to see if it meets my expectations.

Amy Caudill’s Reviews : Dead Beat

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Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7) by

Jim Butcher (Goodreads Author)
50275498

Amy Caudill‘s review

What can I say about this latest volume of the Dresden Files?  Dead Beat pits our favorite urban wizard-for-hire, Harry Dresden, against a group of necromancers vying against each other for the ultimate power gain.  It also features a host of both friends and foes, new and old, and a chance to actually see the White Council of Wizards as the good guys, instead of just the overly suspicious and judgmental group out to prove Harry is up to no good.

Of course, the story starts with a seemingly low-key private investigation, followed quickly by Dresden being blackmailed by a vampire sorceress, and even includes a hint of a possible romance for the lovesick Harry (still heartbroken over Susan) that might just cost Harry his soul, his will, and everything he has ever stood for.

I had trouble deciding exactly what the title of this one meant-does it refer to Harry’s half-vampire brother who is living on the couch in Harry’s apartment, or to the fact that Harry does so much magic in the course of this adventure that he is wounded and exhausted for most of the story, or even to the fact that (spoilers) Harry is recruited as a Warden, a sort of cop for the Wizard’s Council, and assigned his home turf as his “beat” ?

This story contains a lot of different side plot points, and a lot of references and characters that newbies to the series may not get, but it’s still a fun ride, especially when Dresden calls for reinforcements by means of a reanimated Tyrannosaurus Rex named Sue.  I give this epic five stars for creativity, and am relieved that the series is still going strong.  After all, I have eight more volumes to read through before the release of the next story, Peace Talks, hopefully to be released in 2020.