Skin Game

I’m not sure when I hit full fanboy status with this series, but I’m officially there. Jim Butcher continues to keep me riveted. And after 15 books, THAT is an accomplishment.

I loved Skin Game. In many ways, writing a good sequel is more difficult than writing a good first book. I mean, in a first book, you have to overcome a reader’s disinterest. You have to bring them into your world, keep the stakes high, the tension believable, and make the reader love the characters. That’s a tall enough order for any writer. And if you don’t go absolutely all-out, you’ll never get an audience for your story in the first place.

But in a sequel, when you already have your reader interested, you have to pay them off and keep paying them off. It’s hard to get readers, easy to lose them. A writer has to heighten the stakes, ensure the characters evolve, engineer new surprises and bits of wonderment, but most importantly, a writer must give the readers more of what they loved about the series in the first place. That is a fine line to walk, but Butcher walks it like a tightrope artist. I mean, come on, this is the fourteenth sequel to Storm Front, and I’m still eager for more!

In Skin Game, we’re thrown into the life of the Winter Knight with Butcher’s typical high-octane Dresden style. Harry made the commitment to serve the Winter Queen; now he has to live up to his word. And her first assignment? To assist Nicodemus Archleone, the series’s equivalent of the devil, in a harrowing plan to steal from a Greek god.

If Harry refuses, the Winter Queen will kill him and visit her vengeance upon his loved ones. If Harry helps Nicodemus, he will strengthen the forces of evil forever. And as the plot unfolds, we discover its many layers, filled with chess-like moves and counter-moves, rife with betrayal, until the big surprise at the end.

Harry has evolved so much since the beginning that he seems like a real person, celebrating his successes, living with the scars of his failures, and constantly trying to do right. Butcher gives the same treatment to his side characters, too, turning the extended cast (Murphy, Molly, Butters, Michael, Thomas, and even many of the villains) into something like family.

Once again, bravo, Mr. Butcher. Thank you for bringing Harry Dresden and company into my life.

The latest volume in the series is back to dealing with the fallen angels. Nicodemus and Mab manipulate Harry, into events and traps that are straight out myths.

I’ve been binge reading the whole series in order, and reviewing as I go. My reviews focus on setting readers’ expectations, rather than summarising plots. The most important aspect a new reader needs to know is that the series has an over-arching story arc, with roots starting at book 3 (Grave Peril) but only becoming visible as more and more of the series unfolds. It’s a great thing, but there’s a lot of history and references that you’ll miss without reading in order.

*** What to expect
The fallen angels arc has been going through the books for a while, and is one of the important long term features of the series. In this installment, Harry is forced by Mab into close contact with Nicodemus, and a lot of the previous clashes come up.
The story itself is told as heist of incredible risk and stakes, with genre approriate backstabbing and machinations. Expect a lot of tense emotions, and lot of masks being changed, and charatcers (good and bed) getting their teeth kicked. And, happily, one of my favourite side characters is finally stepping up – and in a brilliant way.
It’s urban fantasy written at a thriller-pace, with fast moving intrigue, action, and dizzying plot twists. Harry spouts his usual brand of flippant humor in the face of the supernatural, though events around him are dark.

*** What I liked
I like Harry’s wise-cracking attitudes towards life, and in dealing with supernatural horrors. I like the supporting characters in general, and I find Butcher is doing excellent job in characterising and building recurring cast and introducing new characters. The long-running support cast are especially complex, and one can see them maturing between books. The borderline characters, those with an ‘evil’ side, always make the best ones – to say nothing about the spirit that inhabits Dresden island getaway. All the characters work together to deliver emotional payoffs for dedicated readers, with their lives and deaths having meaning.

*** Be aware
This is part of a series, and you really need to read them in order.
Butcher has Harry’s mental dialogue to recap previous events and dialogue for those who read the series in breaks, which can feel like he’s talking too much (and also may grate on some reader’s nerves as a “telling” style, or simply for being repetitive). It’s just a function of a long-running series, but as entering the series mid-way is not recommended anyway it doesn’t offer much to new readers while could be distracting to fans.
Also, some readers may find Dresden attitudes chauvinistic and misogynistic, though that is a both a trope of the genre and something of a failing of his.

*** Summary
While ‘Changes’ is still my favourite volume in the series, this is probably the next best thing. Love the characters and the world building, and this book delivers on everything.
It’s a great, fast-paced, emotional, urban-fantasy thriller. If you want a blend of modern-day thrillers with dark fantasy, this is the series to read – just start at Storm Front.
—
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic – for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.

Love, LOVE Harry Dresden! I say, read every one!