By Blake Bouza
Welcome back to The Settler’s book review! I’m here to sift through the hundreds of thousands of books (for free) that are released each year to bring you the best of the bunch (good thing I love it so much).
Skin Game by Jim Butcher
Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day. He must help a group of supernatural villains—led by one of Harry’s most dreaded and despised enemies, Nicodemus Archleone—to break into the highest-security vault in town so that they can access the highest-security vault in the Nevernever.
It’s a smash-and-grab job to recover the literal Holy Grail from the vaults of the greatest treasure hoard in the supernatural world—which belongs to the one and only Hades, Lord of the freaking Underworld and generally unpleasant character.
The Dresden Files will always be a pure adrenaline ride with lots of moments that will make you think and reflect on the power of faith, love, and hope, often taking us to the darkest places in the Nevernever to do it. This is book 15, but let me persuade you to jump on the Harry Dresden, down-on-his-luck wizard for hire, bandwagon.
A major thing I love about this series is that it just never gets stagnant. Butcher always keeps it fresh and hilarious. You can get world-shattering events in one book (zombie-T-Rex stomping-through-downtown-Chicago doing battle with necromancers, no big deal) to intense character study in the next book. Both are equally fascinating. Never have I found myself saying, “here we go again,” a rarity with a series so long. These characters grow and change like real people should.
This urban fantasy series is a breath of fresh air in that it does not treat the topic of power – political or magical – lightly. Everything has a consequence; from accepting a favor to being the guardian of a special sword. It harps on this without seeming cliché or filler. This series has also tackled predestination and come out on top. Respectful and enlightened views on religion, too.
Skin Game itself seemed a bit disjointed in the beginning, the urgency of the mission undermined by the side trips Harry and company kept going on – but as always, every side adventure furthers the story and the characters so it is kind of necessary. These kinks are ironed out as we see that the side trips were necessary, like whoa.
If you’re new to the series give Storm Front, the first book, a whirl. You won’t be sorry.
A solid 4 out of 5 Stars.
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