Mark Yon has been a reviewer and web administrator at SFFWorld, one of the world’s biggest genre forum sites, for nearly ten years. He has also been on the David Gemmell Awards organisation committee for the last two years. In this series of rereads, Mark will guide us below through the whole of Jim Butcher’s fabulous Dresden Files series as we count down to the new hardback Ghost Story at the end of July.
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Changes: a Dresden Files novel by Jim Butcher.

Here is, as the title would suggest, where everything changes. This is the Dresden equivalent of Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, or of the Battle of Minas Tirith. This is one where Jim rips up what has gone before, and makes, in many ways, a fresh start. Many of our previous reference points are removed here — this book really does transform things in the Dresden world.

As I’ve said before, the Dresden books have a reputation of starting with a bang. This one is pretty outstanding:
‘I answered the phone, no big deal, until I heard the message: ‘They’ve taken our daughter.’

The phone call is from Susan Rodriguez, his ex-girlfriend who was turned into a vampire by the Red Court back in Death Masks. Harry is told about the daughter he didn’t know, Maggie, kept in secret from Harry for her protection. And then that Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has found out about her, kidnapped her and plans to use Maggie against Harry. Arianna is out for revenge following the death of her husband, an action precipitated by Harry.

Over the next three days Harry’s task, with Susan and half-vampire Martin, is to find his daughter and save her from Queen Arianna and the evil vampires!

Simple? Well, when Arianna initiates the kidnapping, she also simultaneously proposes a peace settlement between the vampire Red Court and the Wizards: something that would be greatly desired by the exhausted Wizard Council. Thus given a choice of saving Harry’s daughter or ending the war, the Wizards’ activities seem most concerned with ending the War – exactly Arianna’s point.

As the coup unfolds, each potential source of help for Harry is removed. A serious and mysterious illness debilitates many at the Council Headquarters in Edinburgh. Newly appointed White Council leader Gregori Cristos has many of the Senior Wardens arrested. Harry is therefore pretty much on his own here, with only his closest friends to rally round. Well, them and Queen Mab, who for reasons of her own is enlisted to help in a pact made with Harry.

To get help, Harry has to pay back some old debts, all at a cost. He also uncovers secrets and makes serious sacrifices that will affect him, and those around him, forever.

So: we finally see a resolution of sorts of the Vampire/Wizard War, though perhaps not the one we initially expected.

We have some great new characters too: Esteban and Esmeralda Bastiste, collectively known as ‘the Ebs’, who are sent as hired assassins to kill Harry. In addition, we have the appearance of an ancient God and the emergence of the Red King, plus Harry visits the domain of the ErlKing. Some of our regulars have their star moments too — the training of Molly as an apprentice finally comes to fruition, Mouse has an interesting development and Harry’s friend Karrin excels herself as we always knew she would.

As you might expect from previous Dresden Files, Jim does do epic battles well. Here there is an epic battle at Chicken Itza, where Maggie is to be sacrificed. This places Harry and his friends against the might of the Red Court. We discover that Arianna’s aim is to sacrifice Maggie in a blood ritual which would release a death curse. This would travel up the family tree from the sacrificial victim to all her siblings, then to her parents, then to all their siblings (like Harry’s half brother, Thomas), then spreading to the grandparents, then the grandparent’s siblings, ad infinitum.

The book features jaw-dropping moment after jaw-dropping moment. Most importantly, here’s where a lot of those plot lines previously told come together. We see aspects of Harry’s past, Harry’s responsibilities, the Vampire-Wizard War and Harry’s friendships. There are minor characters that come to the fore and unexpected betrayals.

And just when you think the tale’s been ramped up as much as it can be, the ending is a stunner — which, in a page, changes things again. In summary, fans of the series are going to be shocked and horrified by some of the things that happen in Changes.

This, for me, puts Harry above the genre competition by a mile. This is where everything that has gone before counts. And for the reader, this gives what happens here an emotional punch that makes reading all the books up to this point really pay off.

Big time.

SEE BELOW FOR A RUN DOWN OF THE DRESDEN FILES
Previous rereads are available here, though books don’t have to be read in this order:

STORM FRONT
FOOL MOON
GRAVE PERIL
SUMMER KNIGHT
DEATH MASKS
BLOOD RITES
DEAD BEAT
PROVEN GUILTY
WHITE NIGHT
SMALL FAVOUR
TURN COAT