Review: Changes, by Jim Butcher

Rating:

😭😭😭😭😭

First Response:

I... I need a minute.

One Sentence Summary:

I can't even. I just... I can't.

Tell Me More:

This book broke my heart and short circuited my brain. It was a wonderful ride, and is probably the best book in the series so far. It almost defies description.

But I'm gonna try.

Last chance to hop off before <spoilers>.

Harry has a daughter. Susan Rodriguez is the mother (you remember Susan, right? The reporter for the Arcane? Got bit by a vampire and is trying desperately not to turn into a bloodsucking monster?). Her name is Margaret, Maggie for short, after Harry's mom. She's been kidnapped by the Red Court.

Harry's quest in this book is personal to a degree we haven't seen before in the series. The Red Court wants to use Maggie for a sacrificial rite that will wipe out her entire bloodline, including Harry, Susan, and Thomas (also Ebenezer McCoy, because he's Harry's grandfather on his mother's side. Shocked? I was.) Harry goes to unfathomable lengths to get her back.

No pun intended, but this book changes everything. By the time the dust settles, the Red Court has been obliterated. And I don't mean that figuratively-- there's none of them left. The war is over; but Harry's lost almost everything. His office has been blown to bits. His apartment has burned to the ground. Mister is MISSING (I'm not worried, you're worried!). Molly is in critical condition (but probably getting better). And Susan is dead. By his own hand.

Also, Harry is now the Winter Knight (unfathomable lengths, remember?), and Murphy has taken up Amoracchius (reluctantly, though she's also, (probably?) lost her job as a cop). I've wanted Murphy to take up a sword of the cross since Harry described her as an avenging angel in Grave Peril (I think that's the one where he saw her with his sight, but I might be wrong... anyway); and when it finally happened it didn't disappoint. The climax of this book is a full scale battle between the Red Court and the White (technically the Grey) Council; and everybody is in rare form. I finally got to see "Black Staff" Ebenezer McCoy in action, wielding his eponymous weapon of choice; and it was terrifying. I thought he'd be doing some cool magical acrobatics-- but he just waves his hand and people die. By the hundreds. Like I said, terrifying.

Amidst all this horror, I just want to point out one moment that I thought was kinda cute. There's a moment where the strike force that is going to start the attack on the Red Court (in an attempt to rescue Maggie), assign each other roles from Lord of the Rings. Harry's a little put out that they name him Sam instead of Gandalf (since he's the only wizard in the group); but the honor of Gandalf-ry is given instead to the Leanansidhe. Sanya and Harry have a touching conversation about Sam's true heroism in the novel, and it's really sweet.

What really makes it work, though, is when Lea summons up the reinforcements of the Grey Council. It had real strong "morning-of-the-fifth-day" vibes, and I had a similar goosebumpy reaction to the one I always get when I watch that scene in The Two Towers.

I feel like I've just kinda rambled around this book, but I literally cannot put into words just how wonderful it was. Hard at times-- this was definitely the belly of the beast in Harry's Hero's Journey arc-- but a good read. Harry has been changed. Who knows where he'll go next?