Everything ‘Changes’ for Harry Dresden

When author Jim Butcher decided to title the 12th installment of the Dresden Files "Changes," he wasn't kidding.

Followers of the series know the investigative wizard who hangs his shingle in Chicago is no stranger to adversity. Harry Dresden's fate seems to be finding himself in the worst situation imaginable — before the gasoline gets poured on. He's gone up against his own kind, demon-kind, vampire-kind the criminal class, shapeshifters and has even unsuccessfully tried to bill an archangel for his services. And as epic as he's been, nothing to date measures up to what Dresden has to face in this book.

The first page makes it clear that Dresden's headed off a cliff. If you don't want to know why, stop reading now. Dresden, the hardened magic-user who values family above all because he lost most of his as a child, finds out he has a daughter. Maggie isn't in the cradle. Ex-girlfriend and now half-vampire Susan just never told him about her. Until now. Because Maggie's been kidnapped by the wizard's worst enemy of all. The Red Court vampires plan to use the 8-year-old girl as a human sacrifice in a devastating black magic ritual. It's Red Court Duchess Ariana Ortega's way of settling her blood vendetta with Dresden.

Dresden vows to recover his daughter before she's killed. Doing so throws his reality into chaos as those he thought of as friends turn from him and his enemies become his last best hope. The White Council, which governs the use of magic and counts Dresden as a reluctant member, refuses him aid as it tries to end its devastating war with the Red Court. While individual wizards offer assistance, it's nothing Dresden can count on. And so he finds himself turning to his most powerful enemies at his time of greatest need — only to find they've been waiting for just such a moment.

Butcher's delivered a book that builds on crisis after escalating crisis, shot through with the gallows humor and shocking twists that make this such a popular series. He's also earned the equivalent of an author's medal of valor because "Changes" tears down almost everything we know about Dresden and his world. Just when you think you've seen the ultimate no-win situation atop Chichen Itza, he delivers another one, stage left, Lake Michigan, on the last page. Butcher ends the story without giving readers any clear notion of what's to become of the only wizard listed in Chicago's yellow pages. Not that you could reach him now anyway. Somewhere along the line, his office blew up.