Turn Coat

The Dresden File novels by Jim Butcher continue to be one of my favorite series. They’re simply fun to read and his stories are engaging, entertaining and action-packed.

Turn Coat is no exception. Butcher presents his readers with a solid murder-mystery thriller where Dresden has only 48 hours to find the killer of a Senior White Council member before Warden Morgan is falsely accused and killed in retribution. His aiding Morgan endangers himself and his apprentice. Dresden’s vampire brother Thomas gets involved which increases friction with the White Court. Add a Native American boogie man, the Naagloshii which is semi-omnipotent, and you have a story that you simply can’t put down.

This series gets better with each new book. show more Butcher’s skill as a writer continually improves. This story was rich in detail and the pace was consistent throughout. He’s willing to take some chances in offending fans of the series as he kills off some characters and significantly changes others. His use of language is also becoming more creative with phrases like “night wasn’t falling so much as sharpening its claws.” He also pays homage to Agatha Christie in having Dresden mention that he’s having “a perfect Hercule Poirot moment” as he unveils the killer in front of the entire White Council.

This was another great installment in the Dresden series. It makes me wish they’d bring the TV series back. show less

Turn Coat is the eleventh full-length installment of the Dresden Files series and like all the others, it keeps the series story arc churning along. In this book, Warden Donald Morgan, Harry’s nemesis of sorts, who’s had it in for Harry since he was caught breaking the laws of magic years ago, shows up on Harry’s doorstep, wounded and on the run from the White Council. Morgan has been charged with a murder he didn’t commit, and with few options left, he reluctantly asks for Harry’s help with clearing his name. Even though there’s no love lost between the two, Harry knows in his heart that Morgan couldn’t possibly have done such a heinous thing, so he agrees to offer his assistance as an investigator. Unfortunately the show more trail of evidence starts leading to a possible conspiracy between the White Council and the White Court vampires. Add in an evil skinwalker who just won’t quit, a mercenary wizard who knows just enough about spells to conjure up some trouble, and an abundance of friends and foes alike, and you have the makings of a rollicking story full of action, adventure, and just the right dose of magical intervention that was a pleasure to read.

Harry is definitely one of the best male characters of any series that I’ve read and he keeps me coming back for more each time I finish one of his stories. He’s a complex hero, in that he doesn’t always play by the rules, but he tries to stay on the side of good and in the White Council’s graces. When Morgan shows up at his door, he has no real reason to help the guy. After all, Morgan, the council’s executioner, has been jonesing for years to catch Harry in a mistake so that he can take him down. But Harry knows how loyal Morgan has always been to the White Council, which makes him certain that Morgan could never murder a White Council member in cold blood. He’s also a strong fighter for the underdog and when he realizes that, for political reasons, the White Council may let Morgan take the fall no matter what, it makes him want to fight that much harder to clear Morgan’s name. He just simply won’t quit even when the villain sends a powerful, nearly unbeatable skinwalker to take them all out. In fact, he’s prepared to die if necessary for the greater good, because it’s just that important to him. I love Harry for his honorable nature and his desire to help those who, for whatever reason, can’t help themselves. He inspires steadfast loyalty in his friends and a healthy dose of caution and even fear in his foes. Time and time again, he’s proven himself to be a powerful wizard, not quite White Council powerful, but he definitely has plenty of raw talent that promises to grow to the level of a council member given time. I really can’t wait to see what he might do next.

As always, there are plenty of great supporting characters to round out the cast. Morgan is a crusty old coot who’s not easy to like, because of the way he’s had it out for Harry since the beginning, and now Molly as well, believing them to be irredeemable warlocks. However, he proves to have some hidden depths and given that he spends most of the story in a very vulnerable state, I couldn’t help but muster some sympathy for him, especially when he keeps fighting despite his weakened state. I also respected his loyalty to the council and to a certain other warden. Karrin Murphy is perhaps Harry’s closest friend and the one he trusts the most, and I’m still rooting for them to hopefully get together at some point in the future. Molly keeps growing as an apprentice and learning more about her powers, which are pretty impressive in their own right. She, too, proves her loyalty by putting her life on the line for Morgan. Mouse is the smartest, bravest, and best dog a wizard could ever hope to have. Mister and Bob also put in brief appearances. A lot happens for Thomas in this installment, as he finds himself used as leverage against Harry, something that damages his psyche and possibly more. I’m hoping that these changes won’t be permanent, while still trying to be optimistic about a real future for him and Justine, who also appears in this story. Thomas’s sister, Lara, once again shows off her brilliant, but ruthless and deadly power as a frenemy, helping Harry and the council fight a common enemy. The wolf pack puts their lives on the line to lend an assist as well. Anastasia Luccio, captain of the Wardens and Harry’s latest lover, can’t help getting involved for multiple reasons, but we learn something surprising about her along the way. Brave little Toot-toot, my favorite pixie, really gets into the action in this one, showing off his fortitude against a formidable foe. All the White Council members are present, but it’s Ebenezer McCoy and Listens-to-Wind who still seem to be Harry’s most likely allies in the conflicts still to come.

As I mentioned, there’s a lot going on in Turn Coat that makes it not only a great stand-alone story but one that adds intrigue to the overall series arc. I very much enjoyed trying to guess the mystery of who the real killer was. It all suggests that there’s definitely some hinky stuff going on in high places, adding credence to Harry’s theory of a Black Council that’s operating in the shadows in opposition to the White Council. I love Harry’s commitment to figuring it all out and I also love how that even when he’s outnumbered and outgunned, so to speak, he manages to work smarter not harder. There are some humorous moments when Harry leaves home a couple of times, only to come back to a bizarre tableau involving Morgan, Molly, Luccio, and Mouse, in which Mouse appears to be the only one of the bunch with a cool head who’s using his superior doggie brain. In counterpoint, there’s also some grief as we say a sad goodbye to two long-time characters who’ve been a part of the series since the beginning. Everything taken together, Turn Coat was another excellent read in the Dresden Files series that I had a hard time putting down. I very much look forward to seeing what comes next for our intrepid wizard PI. show less

Turn Coat is the eleventh book in The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. In this week's episode... Warden Morgan (yes, that Morgan, the one who has hounded Harry for years) turns up at Harry's door seeking help. Morgan's been accused of murder and needs Chicago's best private detective to help clear his name. Life is full of irony at times.

The banter in these books continues to be one of my favorite things in these books. This quote is one of my favorites:

Thomas stopped his Jag in front of the boarding house where my apartment was and said, "I'll have my cell phone on me. Try to call me before things start exploding."

"Maybe this time it'll be different. Maybe I'll work everything out through reason, diplomacy, dialogue and mutual show more cooperation."

Thomas eyed me.

I tried to look wounded. "It could happen."

Keep dreaming Harry!

That seems like these events are going to have profound implications for the future of the White Council. The series is taking a darker, more serious turn. I'm glad Butcher keeps the funny banter going to help lighten things up. I feel bad for Harry and how his life is turned more and more on its head with every book. I did enjoy seeing more of the senior wizards - they are impressive when they aren't playing politics. I have no idea if Thomas is going to recover from what happened to him. Toot Toot was pure awesome and deserves extra pizza. Mouse remains the best boy ever and steals every scene he's in. show less

Just when you think Harry Dresden has faced the biggest, baddest baddie you (or he) could imagine, here comes an even bigger baddie! This time, the supernatural shapeshifter comes after Harry in search of Harry’s White Council nemesis, Morgan, who has shown up on Harry’s doorstep, wounded and running, accused of murder. Of course Harry’s outsized sense of justice kicks in and he agrees to help his enemy, since he knows how it feels to be wrongly accused by his own kind. But, because of his commitment, he must fight—and possibly lose big, to a fearsome, virtually immortal creature. Once again, wizards and vampires engage, in a kind of uneasy alliance, as they search out the true perpetrator, and try to halt a major undermining of show more both of their societies and governing bodies. The politics and philosophies are getting increasingly complicated here, and the stakes for Harry have risen sharply, as his nearest and dearest are gravely threatened. The danger must eventually accelerate to maximum velocity, and then what? I wonder if this series will keep being engaging if/when all the politics come to a head. Or maybe they never will. I’ll just mention that in the climactic battle sequence, I was reminded of a Greek myth in which a god and a silly opponent get into a metamorphosis contest, which ends when his opponent changes into a fly, and the god swallows her. It didn’t quite end that way here, but that tale was clearly its inspiration, and the Dresden Files are getting seriously mythological. show less

[Cross-posted to Knite Writes]

I really enjoyed this installment of the series.

Butcher brings together numerous supernatural forces from past books in this one, and they all collide in new, interesting, and complex ways that will inevitably reflect on later plot points in later books. I love how Butcher has been gradually increasing the number of forces involved in the plots since Book One instead of just having each book focused on one force at a time. This tactic allows Butcher to craft very unique plot lines that keep characters from past books relevant and developing throughout the series.

With this book, I like how the emphasis finally returned to the White Council. They’ve been in the background throughout a lot of the series, show more only coming to the forefront at certain times. This book delved into the inner workings of the Council in a way that none of the previous books have, and it gave a new dimension to Harry’s views on the Council, as well as the inevitability of certain events involving the Council in subsequent books.

I also enjoyed how Butcher changes the dynamics of character relationships in this one. There are major shifts in how certain characters interact in this book, and I like that Butcher doesn’t let any particular relationship stagnate. The characters’ personalities change and develop over time, and their relationships do as well. It’s a great way to prevent any particular character/relationship elements from becoming dull in such a long series.

Finally, like usual, I enjoyed the complex foreshadowing and setups for the sequels. Butcher has always included a level of foreshadowing that a lot of writers don’t, and in this book, the clues pointed toward world-changing events to come. This book did a great job setting up the impending conflicts between numerous major forces in the Dresden Verse, and I can’t wait to see how they all collide throughout the rest of the series.

Yet again, another great Dresden Files novel! show less

Six-word review: Everything depends on whom you trust.

Extended review:

Among the Dresden Files novels I've read so far (this being the eleventh), I'd place Turn Coat toward the "best of" end of the scale.

There are interesting complexities and clashes of character, physical and political conflict, love and tenderness, compelling displays of treachery and loyalty, and a toweringly nasty adversary. There's a nice depiction of a mystical bond with place, and the development of Dresden's apprentice is turning out to be far less obnoxious than I had feared.

As usual, the pacing is good, and as usual there are the deft phrases that slip by so easily that they almost seem like throwaway lines. Here's one (page 49): "His abs look like they were show more added in with CGI." And another (page 311): "Lara and her two sisters walked toward us, and they were good at it." The description that follows is so sensual that it's bound to affect the pulse rate, as does every description of Lara and her kin--without being repetitive; and that's a feat.

Yet somehow Butcher seems to have an absolutely blind eye to repetitions of another sort. For instance, I want to tell him not to use the word "quietly" ever again. It's not just that he uses it a whopping 87 times between the covers of this book (as counted by Amazon's Search Inside feature). It appears five times on one page--368--and three times more on the next two.

And that's not the only word he gets a run on (or the only volume marred by this overuse). People's eyes blink and eyebrows arch, and they chew lips, and they growl and snarl and howl things, as uninhibitedly as if they were auditioning for an operatic version of Charles Darwin's The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.

I don't like it when people purr things all the time, either. It happens only nine times in this book; it just seems like more.

I do like the sly little allusions he slides in. For instance, he acknowledges just in passing--in a way that no one would notice who hadn't caught the error in the first place--the messed up quasi-German title of a book that appears in Dead Beat, title 7 of the series (so now we know that he does notice some feedback). He tosses in a plug for the authentic, non-Disneyfied versions of folktales. He spares a scornful sidelong glance at the well-known principle voiced by Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

He also knows how to use "O" as opposed to "oh," says "lent" instead of "loaned," and respects a number of other subtleties of grammar and usage, even if his editor lets a lot of lapses with the subjunctive ("as if he was") pass without remediation.

Another nice aspect is the fact that Harry has helpers, people (and other entities) whom he can trust and who do have his back, people who actually save his life, just as he would do and has done for them. He's not a solo act. The fact that he allows himself to rely on others is not a weakness; it's part of his strength. He tells his apprentice, Molly:

Hell's bells, kid. I choose to trust [her] because that's what people do. You don't ever get to know for sure what someone thinks of you. What they really feel inside.... Even psychomancy doesn't give you everything. We aren't meant to know what's going on in there. That's what talking is for. That's what trust is for. (page 256)

Harry's down-to-earth manner is part of what keeps him from being a Super-duperman that we just can't identify with.

There's also the fact that he habitually tackles things that are a little too big for him, whether they be assignments or foes or forces he taps to fuel his magic. The only assurance we have of a favorable outcome (since we can't even really trust first-person narratives) is that there's still another volume in the series.

So keep them coming, please, Jim Butcher. And don't do it quietly. show less

When a reader was first introduced to Harry Dresden’s world, Donald Morgan was very much the Bad Guy, with his inability to accept Harry’s overall goodness and stark differentiation between black and white. My, how things have changed after eleven books! In Turn Coat Harry finds himself protecting the man he once tried to do everything to avoid and in so doing establishes a line of demarcation that means the difference between life and death, something Harry knows all too well.

While every book in the series elicits some laughter with Harry’s wisecracking nature, there is a darkness to Turn Coat that is an indicator of bleaker things to come. That is not to say that there is not some humor behind Turn Coat The reappearance of show more Toot-toot is always delightful, as is his allegiance to his Pizza Lord. However, there is an unspoken gloom that seeps insidiously into each scene but can best be seen in the drastic and somewhat desperate actions Harry is forced to take and by the horrifying results. Better yet, there is a mastery behind this building tension that shows that this is not some random chance. Mr. Butcher has a plan, and he excels at balancing his plan with keeping the reader’s interest in the current story.

James Marsters is Harry Dresden. Enough said.

Turn Coat ratchets up the already-significant tension and anticipation as readers finally get some concrete clues to the existence of the Black Council and its various members. While details have been elusive to date, one gets the impression that the truth is slowly becoming more concrete and the insidious plot of the Black Council is slowly gaining distinction from its shadowy nature. Sides are definitely being drawn, and there is a subtle air of desperation among the Grey Council and Harry that adds to the strain. With plots that become more intricate to the sinister mystery of the Black Council, the anticipation for future novels in the series becomes intense. show less