Skin Game

10 months of Dresden immersion:
15 novels (audiobooks) and all of the short stories (some of which were hard to track down) and even the comics. I guess that's it until Peace Talks is published. My commutes will not be the same without James Marsters.
( )

Ah, that paid off quite nicely. ( )

I had to give up on this book after a couple of chapters. I tried to read the whole thing but I just couldn't get on with the writing style or the whole troubled hero thing.
Guess I won't be voting for this for the Hugo then. Sorry. ( )

Skin Game is the 15th book in the Dresden Files series. I have a real hatred of cliffhanger endings when the next book in the series isn't published yet. Jim Butcher is still working on book 16 (Peace Talks) in the Dresden series. It's a few years over-due and I've just been slowly reading my way through the series hoping for that book to at least get a publication date before I caught up. A recent update that Butcher is currently at Chapter 65 in his manuscript made me feel it was time to read Skin Game. I took a chance on hitting a cliffhanger that would just leave me hanging for awhile.....

I'm glad I finally read this book! There is some awesome character development in it and the story is totally engaging! I needed a Dresden fix! Mab loans Harry out to an old nemesis, Nicodemus. As her Winter Knight, Dresden can't refuse and he has to abide by certain rules or risk angering Mab. They are going to break into a very high security vault in the NeverNever. It's a dangerous task to begin with as the vault belongs to Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. Dresden is sure that Nicodemus is hiding his true intentions.....but he has no choice but to help him.

This is an enjoyable, action-packed story. I loved the character development that happens as the story unfolds. One of my favorite characters comes into his own in the perfect way....not saying more than that to avoid spoilers. I will say I smiled for the rest of the day after one scene in this book. :) I can't wait to read Peace Talks and see where Jim Butcher goes with some of the things this book sets up. So interesting! I didn't finish this story with a negative GRRM "will you just finish the darn book'' feeling....but rather on a much more positive note. I like where the story is going....and I'm perfectly fine with waiting a bit longer while Butcher finishes up the next story. For me, Skin Game interjected a bit of new energy into this series.

I listened to the audio book version of this story. James Marsters does such a great job! The audio is just under 16 hours long. Marsters reads at a steady pace and does a great acting job (as usual). Enjoyable listen while I worked outside in the garden. :)

Great read! I will have to move on to another urban fantasy series while waiting for Peace Talks. I think I might re-read the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne now that it's complete while I'm waiting. And there are a few Dresden short stories I haven't read yet. And I can always re-visit Simon R. Green's Nightside series (another favorite). That's more than enough to fill my urban fantasy needs until Peace Talks comes out. Instant Preorder as soon as it actually has a publication date! ( )

Now that the utter insanity of Changes - Ghost Story - Cold Days is over, we return to a more "classic" Dresden Files book and honestly one of the best ones yet. Great mystery, great suspense, great reveals, and most importantly, great villain. Nicodemus went from bottom of the pile to the very top, and I cannot wait to see him again, especially considering what happens near the end. Now I join the wait for Peace Talks... ( )