fableheaven's review against another edition
5.0
Jim Butcher knows how to world build, he also knows how to build tension. He's been slowly introducing a wider and wider world with each case and this book is one where many threads intersect and we get many jaw dropping moments.
Yet, in the midst of an epic fight he goes and builds a little more.
I truly wonder where Harry will go next.
Yet, in the midst of an epic fight he goes and builds a little more.
I truly wonder where Harry will go next.
tanjagnz's review against another edition
5.0
Updated review after listening through the audio book.
Holy crap. Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow.
There is something about listening to James Marsters read this one that hit me in the feels FAR, far more than reading the book originally did.
On the downside, I'm more aware of the problematic elements of Harry as a character and the freaking male gaze in the narrative voice now than when I read this one over a decade ago (although I still think that the supporting characters help to keep some of it in check... at least a little)
But still... holy crap, some of the writing, which was powerful when I read it, is absolutely HEARTBREAKING when I hear it read to me by an actor with Mr Marsters' skill.
Even with the problematic issues, I'm still leaving my rating for this one as a 9/10.
_________________________________
It's *REALlY* hard to review Changes without including some massive spoilers (and if you want those, have a read through some of the previous reviewers' comments - you'll get them in spades).
I'll just settle for saying that:
- I loved it
- It had all the things I've always loved about Harry Dresden taken to the nth degree
- For me, it's continued the pattern of every single book since Death Masks being better than the last one
- I loved the way Mr Butcher handled the relationship between Susan and Harry, and what the revelation on p1 does to their dynamic
- I was in awe of the lengths Harry would go to during the book to get the job done - it reminded me of the saying "Never name the thing you will not do..."
- Unlike many people I've heard from who were annoyed by the ending, I was actually OK with it - it was different to what we've come to expect from a Dresden Files book, but after 11 (12 if you count Backup) instalments, that not necesssarily bad
- I WANT the next instalment. NOW.
And then I'll mention that I've given it a 9/10 and just leave it at that.
Holy crap. Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow.
There is something about listening to James Marsters read this one that hit me in the feels FAR, far more than reading the book originally did.
On the downside, I'm more aware of the problematic elements of Harry as a character and the freaking male gaze in the narrative voice now than when I read this one over a decade ago (although I still think that the supporting characters help to keep some of it in check... at least a little)
But still... holy crap, some of the writing, which was powerful when I read it, is absolutely HEARTBREAKING when I hear it read to me by an actor with Mr Marsters' skill.
Spoiler
And holy freaking GODS, the catch in his voice as he's reading the climactic scene at Chichen Itza where Harry has to kill Susan was just devastating.Even with the problematic issues, I'm still leaving my rating for this one as a 9/10.
_________________________________
It's *REALlY* hard to review Changes without including some massive spoilers (and if you want those, have a read through some of the previous reviewers' comments - you'll get them in spades).
I'll just settle for saying that:
- I loved it
- It had all the things I've always loved about Harry Dresden taken to the nth degree
- For me, it's continued the pattern of every single book since Death Masks being better than the last one
- I loved the way Mr Butcher handled the relationship between Susan and Harry, and what the revelation on p1 does to their dynamic
- I was in awe of the lengths Harry would go to during the book to get the job done - it reminded me of the saying "Never name the thing you will not do..."
- Unlike many people I've heard from who were annoyed by the ending, I was actually OK with it - it was different to what we've come to expect from a Dresden Files book, but after 11 (12 if you count Backup) instalments, that not necesssarily bad
- I WANT the next instalment. NOW.
And then I'll mention that I've given it a 9/10 and just leave it at that.
aphelia88's review against another edition
5.0
My review of the previous book, [b:Turn Coat|3475161|Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, #11)|Jim Butcher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1304027128l/3475161._SY75_.jpg|3516480], here.
"Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others - even when there's not going to be anyone telling you what a hero you are." (252)
WOWZERS! Starts intense and never relents on the pressure. Harry's one-time love and now half-vampire Susan Rodriguez unexpectedly sweeps back into his life like a hurricane with an announcement that changes everything: she and Harry have a young daughter, Maggie - who has been kidnapped by the Red Court to be used in a powerful blood magic rite that will obliterate Harry's bloodline.
I'll admit, I was skeptical. There were zero clues that Harry and Susan had a child and those types of surprise plot twists rarely go well. It says a lot about his skill as an author that Butcher made this seem credible and ultimately affecting, especially given the sucker punch surprise of Harry's death at the end (not a spoiler for anyone who's seen the cover of the next book, [b:Ghost Story|8058301|Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13)|Jim Butcher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329104700l/8058301._SY75_.jpg|12731936] (#14), which shows Harry next to his own headstone).
Things are desperate from the start and only get worse. The Red Court are sadistic bloodlust-crazed ancient vampires, unlike the sexual White Court, who depend upon cultivating human relationships for survival. They are rebuilding their numbers and harnessing old Mayan sacrifice rites to increase their already near-untouchable power.
Knowing he's out of his depth from the start and sinking rapidly, this is not a fight Harry can win with smarts and snark alone. He calls in every marker he's owed and all his allies, only to come up short. And then he and his friends (Murphy - especially awesome here as a temporary Knight of the Sword - Sanya, Molly, Mouse, Thomas and even Bob the Skull), along with a few unexpected faces, throw down anyway, against all odds.
Harry, forever scarred by his own hard life as a young orphan, will save his daughter or die trying, even if he has to make bargains to get the power he needs that he knows he'll regret:,
Hell's bells, as Harry is wont to say. What a ride! So glad I already have the next book on deck!
"Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others - even when there's not going to be anyone telling you what a hero you are." (252)
WOWZERS! Starts intense and never relents on the pressure. Harry's one-time love and now half-vampire Susan Rodriguez unexpectedly sweeps back into his life like a hurricane with an announcement that changes everything: she and Harry have a young daughter, Maggie - who has been kidnapped by the Red Court to be used in a powerful blood magic rite that will obliterate Harry's bloodline.
I'll admit, I was skeptical. There were zero clues that Harry and Susan had a child and those types of surprise plot twists rarely go well. It says a lot about his skill as an author that Butcher made this seem credible and ultimately affecting, especially given the sucker punch surprise of Harry's death at the end (not a spoiler for anyone who's seen the cover of the next book, [b:Ghost Story|8058301|Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13)|Jim Butcher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329104700l/8058301._SY75_.jpg|12731936] (#14), which shows Harry next to his own headstone).
Things are desperate from the start and only get worse. The Red Court are sadistic bloodlust-crazed ancient vampires, unlike the sexual White Court, who depend upon cultivating human relationships for survival. They are rebuilding their numbers and harnessing old Mayan sacrifice rites to increase their already near-untouchable power.
Knowing he's out of his depth from the start and sinking rapidly, this is not a fight Harry can win with smarts and snark alone. He calls in every marker he's owed and all his allies, only to come up short. And then he and his friends (Murphy - especially awesome here as a temporary Knight of the Sword - Sanya, Molly, Mouse, Thomas and even Bob the Skull), along with a few unexpected faces, throw down anyway, against all odds.
Harry, forever scarred by his own hard life as a young orphan, will save his daughter or die trying, even if he has to make bargains to get the power he needs that he knows he'll regret:
Spoiler
he says yes to Mab and becomes the new Winter KnightHell's bells, as Harry is wont to say. What a ride! So glad I already have the next book on deck!
aestheticsprkls's review
Love this series. For some reason I just never picked this book back up. There was nothing wrong with it but other books caught my fancy instead. Still, really love the series, the characters, and the story lines. Would try to pick it up again.
thinde's review
5.0
This is the book around which the series will pivot. There are the books that preceded it and then there are those that come after.
By the end of the book, it almost feels like Butcher is doing a hard reset. He's swept the board almost clean so that something new can be built from the rubble. Having already read it before, I was perhaps more emotionally impacted this time around. So many revelations. Just amazing. Harry didn't leave any chips in his pocket for this hand. It was "all in" from the start.
My only complaint was the lack of foreshadowing surrounding his Mother's last gift. It felt a bit like a MacGuffin retroactively wedged into the story to fill a plot hole.
I remember the subsequent book as a difficult read. Not because it was bad, but because it gets DARK. I'll dive in again soon, I just need to work up my courage.
By the end of the book, it almost feels like Butcher is doing a hard reset. He's swept the board almost clean so that something new can be built from the rubble. Having already read it before, I was perhaps more emotionally impacted this time around. So many revelations. Just amazing. Harry didn't leave any chips in his pocket for this hand. It was "all in" from the start.
My only complaint was the lack of foreshadowing surrounding his Mother's last gift. It felt a bit like a MacGuffin retroactively wedged into the story to fill a plot hole.
I remember the subsequent book as a difficult read. Not because it was bad, but because it gets DARK. I'll dive in again soon, I just need to work up my courage.
coleton1793's review
5.0
January 2022 - I might have just read my favorite book of the year in the first week of January.
August 2022 reread - Immaculate. Even better on reread with the context of the rest of the series and knowing where the story goes from here, and how important everything that happens is.
One of the most powerful, emotional, exciting, and incredibly epic books I've ever read or ever will have the pleasure to read. This is a book I will reread dozens of times throughout my life. Masterpiece.
Now, having said all of that insanely high praise, during my first read through of the series I actually thought later books in the series even surpass this... That's how good this series is... It is absolutely legendary.
August 2022 reread - Immaculate. Even better on reread with the context of the rest of the series and knowing where the story goes from here, and how important everything that happens is.
One of the most powerful, emotional, exciting, and incredibly epic books I've ever read or ever will have the pleasure to read. This is a book I will reread dozens of times throughout my life. Masterpiece.
Now, having said all of that insanely high praise, during my first read through of the series I actually thought later books in the series even surpass this... That's how good this series is... It is absolutely legendary.
books_with_benghis_kahn's review
5.0
This book deserves its reputation, fully. It wows on first read with its nonstop pacing with the highest stakes imaginable from page 1 to the last sentence. It wows on re-read just as much with its emotional punches and ingenious (long-term) plotting that pays off both what came before throughout the series and with what we know will came later.
This is why I love long fantasy series so much, since only staying with characters over thousands of pages and handfuls of books could produce the stupefying effect that Changes manages to.
Harry's scene with Uriel is heartbreaking, and then his scene with Mab accepting the mantle of the Winter Knight is just so loaded with power it's truly something to behold. It would have been easy for Butcher to write the scene where Harry killing Slate is just seen as a mercy to get past to the main event, but he and Harry both painted it in all of its deserving coldness, and damn if I didn't get chills as Harry did the deed.
The invasion of Chichen Itza is a tremendous epic fantasy set piece, but it's really Chapter 48 that blows my mind every time. The long-term plotting that reveals itself here is just stupendous, with the double-backstabbing Martin whose intentions Harry uncovers through a last-second soul gaze before he dies at Susan's hands, Harry learning about Ebenezar being his grandfather, AND needing to kill the woman he loved/loves by his own hand to destroy the whole Red Court -- are you freaking kidding me Jim with this confluence of impactful events!?!?!? Butcher breaks out one of his few noticeable prose flourishes to end the chapter with his famed bunch of short sentences, and it really works to maximum emotional effect.
Then there is unusually emotionally loaded falling action, where Harry entrusts Murphy with getting Maggie to Father Forthill to be sent away without his knowledge of where, and Harry and Murphy seem to be getting together finally until HE GETS SHOT AND FALLS INTO LAKE MICHIGAN--what an epic ending to an epic book!!
On its own as a standalone the book would be merely excellent and very engaging, but as the fulcrum of a massive epic fantasy series that we're highly invested emotionally in by the time we reach it, it's a monumental achievement (yes, it's epic fantasy at the same time as being urban fantasy). Changes is only as unbelievably good as it is because of the many quality books that come before it (and after for re-readers). It does the best job I could possibly imagine transitioning the series into its second half to refresh the whole endeavor and prevent the formula from becoming too stale. Bravo, Jim...bravo.
This is why I love long fantasy series so much, since only staying with characters over thousands of pages and handfuls of books could produce the stupefying effect that Changes manages to.
Spoiler
If a standalone book started with an old flame calling about vampires taking their daughter he didn't know existed, I would be intrigued, but I wouldn't feel like I just got run over by a truck. We know Harry so well by now that what he's going through in this book feels visceral to the reader like we're going through it ourselves (or a dear friend is). As his life gets torn out from under him, from his office to the blue Beetle to his apartment to his body, we feel like we're losing it all along with him just as he needs to gather all his strength to save his little girl. The set up of Harry having to work together with Susan when he still loves her but is fuming mad about not being told about Maggie makes the beginning and middle of the book incredibly emotionally charged.Harry's scene with Uriel is heartbreaking, and then his scene with Mab accepting the mantle of the Winter Knight is just so loaded with power it's truly something to behold. It would have been easy for Butcher to write the scene where Harry killing Slate is just seen as a mercy to get past to the main event, but he and Harry both painted it in all of its deserving coldness, and damn if I didn't get chills as Harry did the deed.
The invasion of Chichen Itza is a tremendous epic fantasy set piece, but it's really Chapter 48 that blows my mind every time. The long-term plotting that reveals itself here is just stupendous, with the double-backstabbing Martin whose intentions Harry uncovers through a last-second soul gaze before he dies at Susan's hands, Harry learning about Ebenezar being his grandfather, AND needing to kill the woman he loved/loves by his own hand to destroy the whole Red Court -- are you freaking kidding me Jim with this confluence of impactful events!?!?!? Butcher breaks out one of his few noticeable prose flourishes to end the chapter with his famed bunch of short sentences, and it really works to maximum emotional effect.
Then there is unusually emotionally loaded falling action, where Harry entrusts Murphy with getting Maggie to Father Forthill to be sent away without his knowledge of where, and Harry and Murphy seem to be getting together finally until HE GETS SHOT AND FALLS INTO LAKE MICHIGAN--what an epic ending to an epic book!!
On its own as a standalone the book would be merely excellent and very engaging, but as the fulcrum of a massive epic fantasy series that we're highly invested emotionally in by the time we reach it, it's a monumental achievement (yes, it's epic fantasy at the same time as being urban fantasy). Changes is only as unbelievably good as it is because of the many quality books that come before it (and after for re-readers). It does the best job I could possibly imagine transitioning the series into its second half to refresh the whole endeavor and prevent the formula from becoming too stale. Bravo, Jim...bravo.
trysarahtop's review against another edition
5.0
Proceed with caution. This is a game changer for sure!!
hearth_and_homereviews's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Blood