Finished Changes

[kriadydragon]

Not gonna cry, not gonna cry, not gonna.... Haaaaarryyyyy! :(.. Good gravy how much more can Butcher put that poor man through! But the "wow" factor was through the roof. And even though I'm not a fan of main characters up and suddenly having a kid, Harry holding his daughter, unable to let anyone else touch her, just about broke my heart. As did him having to give her up, to be hidden where not even he can find her.

Harry's house, car, staff, Mister... *hugs him*

Vampire attack on the FBI... Priceless! :D

Mab making Harry the Winter Knight. Okay, I wasn't happy with this scene but not because it was sexual content. The sexuality/sensuality in Butcher's books doesn't really bother me - it's easy enough to skip and is mostly non-explicit (except in that one book, but a friend had censored that scene using post-its). But I guess, to me, it was such a "Butcher" thing that I was rather "meh" about it. I'm the kind of person that, after a while of the same old, same old, I want something different. I know why Butcher went this route, and agree that it was totally a Mab thing to do. But I guess, to me, it made Mab just like every other bad-gal, no different from the Red Court, the White court, or any other evil female who had tried to put the sexual whammy on Harry.

I did like the aftermath - Sanya joking with Harry about it because it was the only way to cope, and acknowledging that it was the only way to cope. I love it when a story doesn't gloss over trauma.

Lea totally rocked :D I love how giddy she was during the whole battle, but at the end sat by Harry and made sure no one bothered him until he was ready.

Molly using magic to create her own rave and Thomas fighting/dancing to it... heee!.

How Harry took down the Red once and for all... *wibbles*

Harry taking down the REd Court once and for all... yay!

And the end. Oh, crap, the end...*wibbles some more*

Butcher doesn't just deliver a good story he whops you upside the head with it.

Comments

[kajahryujin.livejournal.com]

I too enjoyed Changes. It seems that Jim Butcher is able to be what would be overdone plot devices and tropes and make them enjoyable and new. I do agree with you that poor Harry has been put through the ringer quite a few times. I also enjoy the fact that the secondary characters get quite a bit of backstory and attention devoted to them rather than just being pushed aside to make the main character look amazing in the same way that some fan fiction writers do. I am really looking forward to Ghost Stories.
It would be great if there was Dresden Files fan fiction. It also be nice to see that fiction written in a more gen manner. Perhaps there should be some prompts for Dresden Files fan fiction at a gen community or starting its own meme. Agreed?

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I'm not really interested in reading Dresden fanfic myself but it does exist. It's a small fandom, I believe, so you really have to dig for some good ones.

Butcher knows how to have fun with a story. He also knows how to make it quality reading. He makes his characters human (including the non-human ones) which may look easy but can be pretty tricky. I've read stories that focused more on the plot and less on the characters and they lost me pretty quick. Butcher engaged me from book one, sentence one.

[sholio]

I don't think I've looked forward to a book as much as I'm looking forward to Ghost Story since the final Harry Potter came out. :D Maybe not even then. I have been DYING for a YEAR to find out what happens, and now the wait is almost at an end! (And based on past years, he ought to start posting chapters on his website a month or so before the book comes out, which means ... late February? I am SO THERE!)

Butcher has really stripped Harry of so much lately. And yet, at least based on past experience, I trust Butcher to do something worthwhile with the whole concept. I have faith that the next book will not suck and it won't pull some kind of deus ex machina ending. :D

The books have gotten so dark, though -- discussing it with people on my LJ, I do trust that Butcher is not going to end the series on a horribly depressing note, but I'm not sure how much more I can take of the sort of heart-stomping that's been going on in the last couple of books. I hope things turn the corner and start improving for poor Harry soon. Meeeeep.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

After I finished reading I thought back on book one, how much lighter it was compared to the books that followed. Seriously, how much more can poor Harry take? I, too, am crossing my fingers for a happy ending for Harry. Poor man deserves it.

My fingers are twitching to pre-order the next book, but I'm holding back (with fragile effort) since we're trying to cut back on credit card use. It's torture! :P