I wish I’d written this review closer to the time when I finished, as I had some rather strong opinions about it at that point ….aaannnnnd I pretty much can’t remember them right now.   Still, it’s time to move this downstairs, so the spice… err review must flow!

I think I twittered something about it being a “game changer” for the series…trying to remember.. OK, I think I’ve got it!

Well, first off, it seems to mark the point where the books all grow by about 100-150 pages (seems to be consistent, judging by the books that follow it).  So that must mean something right?

But no, the “game changer” had to do with a plot aspect that I won’t spoil for you, but that I think is a really nice progression into Harry’s (the protagonist, surname “Dresden”, hence the “Dresden Files”) mental struggle with what makes “good” and “bad” magic.  Or something like that, I’m butchering it just trying to explain it.  Let’s try a different track:  in some books, the character is clearly straddling a light/dark line and does things that some might consider evil for the better good (see: The Punisher), in others the protagonist does things that would only be viewed as evil in a certain, poorly informed light (Spider-Man, most heroes) – and this is where Harry falls.  He’s firmly on the side of the angels (except I suspect he doesn’t like angels much).  Everything he does has noble intentions, defending the weak, etc.

There’s a couple running subplots about temptation and various “dark forces” Harry has been forced to use over the years to get out of particularly sticky situation – none in themselves particularly bad, but all together well, maybe….  Annnnnnyway so he gets backed into a convincing corner in this volume, and (literally) his only way out is to do something somewhat surprising.

Honestly, I was going into the volume expecting to be kind of tedious, and suspecting the formula would just be starting to show it’s age, but Butcher injects just enough newness, and two decent twists (character wise) to take the series up to some kind of “next level”.

I think I’m going to have to give this

FOUR STARS

and hope the new goodness carries on into following volumes.

Note: I hope Butcher has an endgame in sight.  I can see pieces of what it should be – and indeed, it feels like when he wraps those up, he’ll have to end the series.  So, we’ll hope and see. I hate it when things run past their expiration date and careen dangerously into ruin.