Cold Days

The Dresden Files, Book 14

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: James Marsters

Length: 18 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Harry Dresden lives!

After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad - because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard. He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness.

After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill. Guess which one Mab wants first?

Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.

Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own… his soul.

©2012 Jim Butcher (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Phenominal

The way the author likes to end his chapters, the mystery, The realism in dresdens thought processes, and the phenomenal audio. LOVED EVERYTHING. Such an amazingly well written and performed audio of the dresden book series!

Performance

The story was very good but the last few chapters should be shorter; the fight scenes dragged out too much.

Back to Life and as Good as Ever

Having downloaded the book a few minutes after two in the morning, the day of its release, and taking only a few hours to catch a little sleep, and do that annoying thing called work in between, I just came up for air having spent the best eighteen hours and fifty minutes that I have spent in a long time. Then, taking time only to reacquaint myself with the family again, I couldn’t wait to write this review; Kudos to those reviewers who could transcend time.
Harry’s back and he’s alive again. For those keeping up on the series he had been dead in the last book and only by the help of Mab was he able to come back to the mortal world; but now he belongs to the Queen of Winter as her white knight. Of course, this is Harry and he has every intention of defying her whenever he can.
The story begins in Artic Tor where Harry meets some new “friends,” and begins his rehab; coming back to life is not easy.
After some interesting rehab exercises, orchestrated by Mab, Harry almost feels like his old self again and then receives a surprise birthday party, thrown by some of his new winter court friends.
Having survived his birthday party Harry receives his first assignment as the new white knight.
In order to complete his assignment, and keep his island Demonreach from exploding and taking half of Chicago with it, Harry seeks out his old companions; Bob, the skull, His half-brother Thomas, Molly his apprentice, and the pizza loving faeire general Toot-Toot, to name a few.
This was a great listening experience; Jim Butcher writes a superb story and the narrator, James Marsters, is Harry Dresden and gives a fantastic performance.

How do they keep getting better?!

What made the experience of listening to Cold Days the most enjoyable?

First, the story was incredible. Second, Marsters is THE VOICE for Harry Dresden, period. Butcher's style is fluid, shifting beautifully from action to dialogue to narrative introspection. Jim, I started reading the Dresden Files when the very first one was published. I've re-read them many, many times and have gone back even to listen to them all on audible. Thank you for investing so much into this story, making it more and more incredible with each new installment.

What other book might you compare Cold Days to and why?

You might disagree, but Cold Days reminds me some of the Roger Zelazny series (let's just go with the anthology titled "The Great Book of Amber".) Cold Days is perhaps an evolution of Urban Fantasy and flirts many times with the idea of a higher fantasy mentality where as "The Great Book of Amber" was more of a high fantasy flirting with concepts of urban fantasy.

What does James Marsters bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Marsters has depth for Harry's feelings and those around him. Butcher developed very deep and intricate events around equal parts dialogue, action and narrative perspective. Marsters transitions between all the elements that drive a Dresden novel rather seamlessly. After hearing Marsters's stellar performance on Book 14 after such a disappointing absence for Book 13, it's clear that he is the voice of the Dresden Files.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes. I'm not talking about it though.

Any additional comments?

Cold Days is different than the previous 13, in that there is a lot less censorship. Lot of F-bombs and more graphic sexual descriptions. I don't say these are negatives. None of it was gratuitous, but they do stand out and they give this installment of the Dresden Files a different vibe. Book 14 was rated R to me, where the other 13 were more PG-13. Again, this is not a complaint. Some people like to know these things, so I figure it's a worthy additional comment.

Entralled

While I'm not sure "Enthralled" is the best title for a story featuring so many supernatural elements, I was enthralled. It was hard to stop listening to do things that others seem to think are necessary, like eat, sleep and work. I listened during my commute and any other minute I could squeeze in.

James Marsters, the narrator, does an excellent, nay - amazing - job of binging the characters to life. When I hear his voice, I know which character he is portraying. He delights!

If you're not already a fan of Jim Butcher's "The Dresden Files" this is not the place to start. There have been 13 previous books that led to this book. While you don't have to read all the stories before you get to this one, it does help.

If you're a fan, the story is an excellent extension of a long arc that has been building since we met Harry's Godmother and the Faery. There is so much character development and such great plot twists that I was carried along wishing that James Marsters could read a little faster... and knowing if he did that the story would end too soon. And after something like 14 hours, the story still ended too soon.

I am left counting the hours until the next book is released. Why? I could tell you, but that would be a spoiler, and I don't want to spoil this book for anyone.

WOW!!!!

Amazing! Had me smiling & stunned. I need to listen to it again right now.

Loved it!

If you could sum up Cold Days in three words, what would they be?

Exciting, sexy, MORE!!

What does James Marsters bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

James has a mastery of inflection and an even greater mastery of his voice. Every time he speaks a character to life I believe it to be real, I believe the character has jumped off the page and speaks for him or her self. I can't tell you how many times I got goose-bumps when the author was trying to invoke feelings within me and James spoke them into existence as if he were a wizard himself and I was merely apart of his 30+ hour spell.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I spend many hours on the road every day, so I have little better to entertain myself then the radio, my own thoughts, and my new love for audio books. I also didn't know that this was not Jim Butcher's last book in the series so I am excited beyond measure for the next installment. I only hope that when the paper book hits shelves audible can provide me with the audio book before my patience runs thin and I'm tempted to read, instead of listen, while on the road.

Another Unique and Startling Story

The danger with any long running series like the Dresden Files is that it will fall into a formula where the variations from book to book amount to little more than moving the pieces around through the same story on different days. In contrast, Butcher continues to deliver unique stories that reveal new aspects to the universe he has created and new dangers and possibilities for the characters. The only frustrating thing, and this is not a criticism, is that the universe created over 14 books has grown so rich and complex that some books cannot contain all the characters that you would expect to see. I wanted to know where several of them were and what they were doing but I’ll now have to wait a couple of years to find out.

It’s not possible to say much of anything about the story not already included in the description. It would be too easy to include a spoiler. Suffice to say that rather than getting tedious, this series keeps me wanting more. On a side note I, too, was glad to have James Marsters back. I have to agree with those who say that he is Harry Dresden. John Glover did an outstanding job with Ghost Story but, after 12 books read by Marsters, it just wasn’t the same.

Harry, you rock my world

I'm glad I don't live in Chicago for a few reasons, but if I did, I'd love the musems and I'd hope to see Harry Dresden along the street. I'd know him immediately! He'd be the tall, sexy, guy in the long black coat, wearing a Fedora, and holding a staff, and he's crackle with power.

I was really worried about him; he seemed hoplessly gone at the end of his last book. Now, I'm awfully glad he's back. It'll be interesting to see how he deals with the changes in his life in the next story. I'm thinking he really needs to find a little bit of happiness sometime soon.

Cold Days left me out in the cold

Would you consider the audio edition of Cold Days to be better than the print version?

yes

Who was your favorite character and why?

harry - He is tenacious and willing to take on the impossible

What about James Marsters’s performance did you like?

He gives the verbal flavor to the written word.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

no

Any additional comments?

I thought the book was cut short.