Cold Days

The Dresden Files, Book 14

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: James Marsters

Harry Dresden lives!

After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad - because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard. He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness.

After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill. Guess which one Mab wants first?

Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.

Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own… his soul.

©2012 Jim Butcher (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Can't wait for the next book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I wouldn't recommend this Audiobook.... I recommend this series!The main character "Harry Dresden" is like a very good old friend that comes around once a year and you spend the night and part of the next day catching up.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Harry Dresden because he never disappoints and as far as character development goes... he keeps getting better.

Which character – as performed by James Marsters – was your favorite?

"Butters," James Marsters is absolutely comical doing this character.

Like this needed another review...

I mean it's Harry, we all love him. He's not a ghost, he's back to his corporeal self and he's messing sh*t up and fixing it at the same time all over Chicago to save friends and the world. It's great. I tried as hard as I could to stretch it out so it lasted as long as it could. But it eventually ended and I'll have to wait another year again. Loved it.

Exceptional, definitely best book of the series.

Any additional comments?

Once I started I just couldn't let it go. John Glover did an excellent job as a narrator but James Marsters is Harry Dresden.

Stupendous!!!

Would you consider the audio edition of Cold Days to be better than the print version?

This is a little difficult to answer. I have a wild imagination and easily get lost in books, whether in print or recorded voice. It is not a matter of it being better, a good book will be great no matter what.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I LOVE BOB! He cracks me up and is loyalty is unparalleled!

What does James Marsters bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

This is easy, life. James brings the books to life like no one else can. I actually refused to even buy Ghost Story in audio format because he did not perform it. Yes, perform not read. I can see the story when he performs.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Thomas and Harry seeing each other again.

Any additional comments?

I told my boyfriend about 2 years ago that he should try these books, he was hesitant. Now he is addicted. Anyone who picks up one of these books should be prepared to read all of them and Side Jobs as well. They always leave you salivating for the next installment.

One of the best ones yet

First, I was so happy to hear James' voice as Harry again! Second, the story was fantastic. I wanted to hurry up and listen, but I also didn't want it to end. Can't wait for the next book!

Greatest series ever

If you could sum up Cold Days in three words, what would they be?

CAN'T GET ENOUGH

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cold Days?

“Okay," I said to Karrin. "Let's move."

"Uh," she asked, without turning her head. "move where?"

"The island," I said.

"Harry, this is a motorcycle."

"It'll work," I said. "Look at it."

Karrin jerked as she noted the appearance of the Harley. "You want me to drive into the lake."

"You have to admit," I said, "it isn't the craziest thing I've ever asked you to do. It isn't even the craziest thing I've asked you to do tonight.”

What about James Marsters’s performance did you like?

He is Harry Dresden. It is amazing I started listening to it thinking Spike reading and now I watch Buffy and hear Harry in a British accent. Such a great voice there.

Any additional comments?

This series is my background music at home. It is an amazing world Mr. Butcher made, waiting for Skin Games now.

lots of action

Action-packed and lots of big developments. You can really appreciate Jim Butcher's planning as you see all the threads of the previous plot points being drawn toward the resolution of the series.

The book is a giant swashbuckling action tale and the Faery politics drive the tale. There are powerful new baddies to fight. The climax on the hill literally took my breath away! I am really excited to see how that plays out in book #15. I loved Mab and all the other Faery royalty in this tale.

I had a couple of nit-picky problems with this book. Suddenly Harry drops the f-bomb repeatedly, after 13 books of "stars and stones" oaths. Perhaps that is the Winter Knight's mantle's influence? Molly seems remarkably calm and sane after the tattered state she was in in Ghost Story... which is nice but surprised me and felt disingenuine. Murphy is completely nonplussed by Harry's re-appearance from the "dead" and just magically appears to help him in the city before he contacts her, despite her emotional despair and retreat after losing Harry in Ghost Story. None of these little things ruin the book but they were distracting, especially the swearing, which pulled me out of the book in surprise each time.

I'm surprised how many people did not like Ghost Story (the previous book in the series). I actually loved the emotionally heavy and almost introspective feel of it. It was a hard thing to read, with all the characters laid emotionally bare, and Harry grew a lot during it. This is a physicality book, full of battles - a nice foil to Ghost Story.

James Marsters does a masterful reading of Harry, as usual.

Larger than life!

These stories, as often is the case with long series, are getting larger than life. Gone are the days of simple, interesting stories. At this point in this series, each book has to be bigger and larger and more sensational than the last. Luckily for the readers, Butcher is a master storyteller, and has created characters that can live up to the challenge! One of the best fantasy series ever created, and the addition of Marsters reading them just may push them over the edge. Fantastic!

Great Tie Ins, Sad Changes

Without giving anything away, I miss the regular gum-shoe detective. But can see how things have been building to the new/same Harry.
Looking forward to what is to come.

Would give it 6 stars if I could

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cold Days?

Tons of them.

What about James Marsters’s performance did you like?

James Marsters is back - what a relief after Book 13!

Any additional comments?

Hard to believe, but the author keeps raising the bar - best one yet.