Cold Days

Cold Days is a modern fantasy novel, for The Dresden Files series, written by Jim Butcher and published by Penguin Group.

By Cape Rust



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Purchase Cold Days (Dresden Files Series #14)

Cold Days (The Dresden Files): Harry Dresden, you know that wizard who happens to be Private Detective. He is a tall skinny guy who loves junk food and Micro Brews. Yea he is the same guy who is associated with several “unexplained” explosions in Chicago. He is that same guy who was shot and killed while boarding his boat. Well to paraphrase in the immortal words of Twain the reports of his death were accurate, but greatly misleading. Now after spending some time as a Ghost, Harry is back and well… he isn’t quite the same. I guess death and specterhood can do that to a guy. He has a new boss and to say that she is cold hearted is a gross understatement. For Harry Dresden there are Cold Days ahead.

Cold Days picks up after the rather unexpected ending of Ghost Story. Harry Dresden has a new job and while unemployment numbers are still high, you could still argue that this is one job Harry shouldn’t have taken. He is the new knight of the winter court. For those of you not familiar with how things work in Harry’s world, let’s just say that no one was upset when the last winter knight died and the movie Horrible Bosses was based on Harry’s new boss. Jim Butcher found a creative and interesting way to keep Harry Dresden alive and as usual, his continued existence leads to all sorts of situations that leave the world at the brink of magical destruction. I would have to say that this book was one of the most action packed installments of the series. In fact, at times some of the interaction between Harry and his long time friends felt abbreviated. This book once again has Harry on a timer that seems way too short to actually do everything he needs to do to save the world, yet again.

As you can expect, Harry is back to his usual snarky self and, not surprisingly, his mouth gets him into plenty of painful trouble. At this point in the series, writing a review of one of the Dresden Files without repeating one’s self is a difficult task. This is a bestselling series for several reasons. In a culture full of zombies and vampires, Harry Dresden stands out as a unique character that has to deal with vampires of the no glitter type. Jim Butcher has a writing style that speaks to readers. He is in touch with pop culture and is not afraid to make references that instantly take readers back to the 80s or 90s or even the 2000s. As with all Dresden books you can not only count on Harry’s smart assery, but you can be sure that he will get treated like a chew toy in a room full of angry, well rested puppies.

I will admit that at this point in the series a few of the usual Dresden activities and phrases have gotten a bit bland. I swear if Harry had mentioned that he knew Molly when she was in a training bra, I would have stopped reading the book. I fully understand how shocking it is to see a young girl blossom into a stunning young woman, but Butcher needs to put the training bra comment to rest. This novel was a step forward in Harry’s interpersonal relationships as he, while still reluctant, was willing to more readily place trust in his friends. I did find myself making several comparisons with another magic user named Harry, but that might just be me.

As far RPG fodder, this book would keep any gaming group on the edge of their seats for several weeks. I would recommend running an adventure or campaign based on this book in the Dresden Files RPG (no big surprise there). The FATE system lends itself to capturing the over-the-top action as well as the impact the events have on the characters involved. Trying to adjust some of the situations encountered in Cold Days would definitely require some tweaking, but it is manageable. This story revolves around a central character so I would advise a GM to look at the major “encounters” in this book and see how the player characters could be involved in that event, even if it is on the fringes. In fact, I really get a kick out of imagining how the situation looks from several obtuse perspectives. There was a Star Wars book called Tales From the Cantina that did a really good job of looking at the cantina scene from Star Wars: A New Hope from the perspective of several of the other patrons who witnessed Greedo shooting first (as portrayed in the updated movie). I would love to play in a game where the GM did the same thing to a story like Cold Days. The chances for the players’ characters to run into one of the heavy hitters in Harry’s world would be loads of fun. If done infrequently and handled correctly, meeting someone like Harry or even a quick conversation with Bob make for some great gaming memories.

To sum things up this was not my favorite Dresden files book but at the same time it was not my least favorite. There are a few of the standbys that are starting to get a bit stale, but when it is all said and done, Harry Dresden and the world that Jim Butcher has built up around him is still awesome. This book is an exciting read that really brings back the Harry we all fell in love with in the first few books. Harry still struggles with his fears of abusing power and rightfully so. Even after death he really hasn’t changed that much and to be honest, I think we all love him just the way he is. This book will not change your life, but it will keep you occupied during the Cold Days of winter.