Out Law by Jim Butcher: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Out Law by Jim Butcher

Out Law is book number 18.75 in Dresden Files series, an odd number considering there isn’t a book n:o 18.5 and it’s a long novella of almost 200 pages. I hadn’t read book 18, Twelve Months, which came out this January (2026), or the novella The Law (2022), which apparently set the stage for this one, and it’s been ages since I read the previous full book, Battle Ground, which came out in 2020. There were a lot I didn’t remember and a lot that had happened in Harry’s life since then, but I was able to read this perfectly fine without knowing all the details. Though now I’m spoiled for some of them, should I go and read the books I skipped.

Harry owes the crime boss Marcone a favour. Marcone decides to collect. A goon of his, Tripp Gregory, wants to get out of the life of crime by starting a charity to help children. But he’s gone about it in a very gangster way, which has landed him in trouble with the IRS, and a bookie who won’t pay up his winnings. Marcone wants Harry to help. Harry is reluctant, because he doesn’t like Tripp. But Marcone appeals to his moral core: you don’t always only get to help the people you like or who deserve your help.

What starts as a straightforward case gets a supernatural twist when someone sends a demonic entity to try and kill Tripp. It turns out, Harry has battled the entity before, and it’s kind of his fault that it’s on the loose. So, now it’s personal.

This was a good and compact, but full story with proper three acts and a good story arc. The old Harry was back, a bit grumpy but one that isn’t crushed with grief, guilt and PTSD. There were funny moments, and good banter. There were many life lessons delivered to Tripp who took them like a five-year-old who has never considered moral questions before. The enemy was powerful, but not overly so; Harry was powerful, but not overly so. I liked this. It returned my love for the series and I might continue with it again.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Battle Ground by Jim Butcher: review

3/5 stars on Goodreads

Battle Ground by Jim Butcher

Battle Ground is already seventeenth book in the Dresden Files UF series about Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard in Chicago. There was a long gap between books fifteen and sixteen, which ended with an epic two-part story consisting of Peace Talks and this one.

Battle Ground is a good book, but exhausting. Sooo exhausting. It starts right where the previous book ended, at the same scene, on the eve of a great battle against an ancient goddess. From there it’s basically nonstop war, with the enemy getting bigger and more brutal, forcing Harry to become bigger and more brutal too, which isn’t always good for him. Once the action starts, there are barely any breathers for the reader to rest for a minute or two. I had to put the book aside several times just to be able to go on. There are some sad moments—it is a battle, after all—the biggest taking place surprisingly early in the book, but the narrative doesn’t really pause for them either, to let the reader mourn. The war takes precedence.

I’m not entirely sure it was a good idea to split into two books what could have been one with more brutal editing. Peace Talks especially was full of filler scenes that could’ve been cut, and the epic battle in Battle Ground could’ve been shorter. What turned out to be the main story arc between the two—Thomas’s fate and the new baddie—was completely lost in unnecessary noise, and only became visible as an afterthought in the last chapter, where we learned in one sentence why Thomas had attacked the goblin king in the first place. I’d given Peace Talks four stars originally—most likely because I was so happy there was a new Dresden Files book—but after reading both, I don’t think it deserves more than three stars either.

I’m also not happy with how Murphy was treated in these two books. It was as if the author didn’t know what to do with her now that she and Harry were romantically involved. Physically broken, she was made a bit too dependent on him, and that wasn’t good for her, which she rightly railed against—and was punished for. And I do mean punished, in the meanest and most unnecessary way possible, robbing her off all glory and agency.

Going in, I was sure this would be the last book in the series. But once the dust had settled and Harry had had a chance to take a stock of his life, it turned out there’s more to him yet. The ending put him firmly in a new place in life—the table was definitely cleared for it—though not entirely to his liking. I was ready to give up the series that was once my absolute favourite, but I think I’ll hang on to see how Harry will wriggle his way out of that.

The edition I read had a short story at the end. It was a sweet Christmas story, and nicely cleansing after the book itself. Left me feeling much better.

Lord Lucifer by Jade Lee: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Lord Lucifer by Jade Lee

Lord Lucifer is the first book in a new Regency romance trilogy by Jade Lee, Lords of the Masquerade, and I received a review copy from the NetGalley.

Regency romances tend to repeat a certain formula of an innocent maiden paired with a more experienced man. The pair then waltzes through the society season from balls to opera performances that offer private moments for them to fall in love and have hot sex in a side. Some authors are better at making it feel fresh; some less so.

Jade Lee has taken a different approach in her romance. Diana has been married off at sixteen to a much older man to save family finances. Lucas had offered to save her, but his attempts to raise money with gambling had landed him in such hot waters that he had seen it best to enlist and leave the country. Twelve years later they meet again. A fairly average approach so far. But there’s a twist: Diana’s ailing husband is still alive. She’s not a merry widow with whom the hero connects for a second chance. And she’s not a damsel in distress, no matter what Lucas tries to tell her—though there is a villain out to get her.

Most of the book takes place in a sick room and in private parlours instead of balls and other glittering events. Diana is a dutiful wife who has carved a life for herself in her husband’s hostile household. Her husband needs to die, of course, for the young couple to have their happily ever after, and much is made of his death and the causes of it. Lucas is a soldier who sets his duty before anything, and so probably for the first time in a romance history, the hero refuses sex with the heroine unless she agrees to marry him. It works too.

For all that this is a romance, it’s a fairly gloomy book. There’s sickness and death. There’s a murderous villain making everyone’s life worse. There’s a lot of resentment between children and parents. All sorts of issues that have to be dealt with, and while they add depth to the characters, they dominate over the romance. There are a couple of fairly bland sex scenes that fail to engage my emotions, and although I liked Diana and Lucas both, I wasn’t terribly invested in their HEA. She could’ve retained her hard-earned independence for all I cared and kept him in a side. But she caves in the end.

The other two gentlemen of the trilogy are introduced in this book too. A lot is made of it—and then they are completely forgotten for the rest of the book. So, as a lure for the reader to continue with these characters, it comes somewhat short. But if I come across them, I may give them a look.

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

4/5 stars on Goodreads

I’ve also read Peace Talks by Jim Butcher, the long-awaited fifteenth Dresden Files book. It’s one of my all-time favourite series, but it fell a bit short. Harry was still familiar, but the way he interacted with his friends and family felt slightly off. I remember wishing in earlier books that he would be more connected with emotions, but now I sort of found him creepy at times. Especially with how he became aroused by every which woman that he came across, except the one he professed to be in love with. So the author needs to work on the delivery there.

Most of the book was spent with waffling about, likely so that the reader could connect with the characters again. I was still a bit lost for the great part of it, as it had been so many years since I read this series last. And then the plot picks up at the very end, only to continue in the next book. But I’ll read it too, of course.

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

4/5 stars on Goodreads

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones is the last book in the trilogy that starts with Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s a charming book of Charmain Baker, a young woman who would much rather read books than do anything useful. And then she’s given a task to look after her great-uncle’s house while he’s gone.

The uncle is a wizard and his house is a mysterious place where rooms appear where ever, but only if you know how to get there. One is even located in the past. The place is messy and Charmain isn’t terribly practical, but luckily for her, her uncle’s apprentice Peter shows up to help her. Not that either of them is terribly pleased by their circumstances. There’s a plot about the king’s missing gold and a villainous heir to the kingdom. Howl and Sophie show up too to help with that, and it’s nice to connect with them again. In the end Charmain discovers that she’s more capable than she thought she was and that she’s able to do magic. All in all, a nice story about growing up and finding one’s true self.

 

Five books to get you to read SF

Damien Walter prompted his followers on Twitter to share books that would get people who don’t like SF to read it, with the added incentive that the best would get a mention on the Guardian. Who could resist?

I haven’t really tried to persuade people to read books they don’t care about. I constantly share reading recommendations with likeminded people, especially on the Urban Fantasy Fans community on G+, but converting SF haters has never been on my agenda. I’m not a convert myself, as readers of this blog may have noticed, having read SF very much from the beginning in various forms, so I don’t have the book that convinced me to offer either.

The assumption behind Walter’s prompt was that SF has become mainstream enough to get people who don’t usually read it interested in trying it out. They simply need a book with which to start. The assignment is somewhat vague, but I’m assuming that he means adults set in their reading habits; children tend to be more open to try different genres. I’m also assuming certain acceptance of SF in general, otherwise the idea of SF being mainstream would be void: “So you like True Blood? Why don’t you try reading the book.” Or: “You know, as ‘exciting’ as the Total Recall remake was, you might find the original short story to be better.”

The world is full of great SF in many different subgenres and the potential books to recommend to the hypothetical initiate too many to count. Some limiting criteria are therefore needed.

• The books can’t be too overwhelming. If the initiates feel like drowning with their reading, it won’t make them pick up another. Some of the suggestions Walter received included space operas that will take even a dedicated SF fan some digesting so offering them as the first read seems counterintuitive to me. Which leads to:
• The books should be relatively short reads. It’s much easier to get a reluctant reader to pick up a short book than a huge tome. Think of a gateway book that will lead to longer series.
• A classic isn’t necessarily the best book to start with. On the other hand, a book becomes a classic only because generation after another reads it. Choose wisely.
• There’s more to SF than science fiction and there’s more to sci-fi than hard-core technology orgies.
• Just because I love a book doesn’t mean everyone will. But there’s no point in recommending books I wouldn’t read myself just because I think I ought to recommend something better.
• Just because a TV series or a movie is popular doesn’t mean the book it’s based on is suitable reading for a novice. Or a very good book.

Following my criteria, I can leave out some books. The Lord of the Rings may be the classic introduction to fantasy for countless generations and the movies based on it have undoubtedly helped to make SF more mainstream. But an easy read it isn’t, nor is it short. Likewise, in sci-fi, there are some names brandished as ‘must reads’. Asimov may forever have his place in sci-fi canon, but his books don’t necessarily make for ideal first reads.  

Here’s my list. I’ve already written blog posts on the first three if you want to find out more about what I thought of them.

Ursula LeGuin: The Left Hand of Darkness

I wanted the list to have one book with space, faraway planets and aliens. LeGuin’s book has all that. It’s a relatively short book with important themes that are universal so should transcend the genre. And it’s definitely a classic. Moreover, it’s an interesting read.

Philip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Another sci-fi classic, this one more technology oriented than LeGuin’s book. I wavered between this and William Gibson’s Neuromancer, but chose this one because of the movie. If one is trying to lure another to reading SF, a good movie with a better book behind it should make the transition easier. Reading one Philip K. Dick novel can easily lead to reading more of his work and from that, the path is open.

Terry Pratchett: Guards! Guards!

For fantasy, I went with Discworld. There are some epic fantasy series that I’ve enjoyed a lot, but since they tend to be those huge tomes that never end, they got discarded. Discworld is a brilliant fantasy universe, the books are short and funny, and the best of them are good commentary on our world. Any of the books in the long-running series would do fine, but the original Guards trilogy is my favourite.

Neil Gaiman: American Gods

As an introduction to UF, Neverwhere would probably be a more popular choice. And while it’s the book that first introduced me to the genre, I actually like American Gods better. It’s longer than other books on my list, but well worth every page. It’s also the only book that I have successfully recommended to someone who doesn’t read fantasy, though the result was them reading more Neil Gaiman, not more fantasy in general. But that’s a positive outcome too.

Jim Butcher: The Dresden Files

I must recommend the entire series, because the books should be read in order and they’re all good. Dresden Files has everything that makes urban fantasy great, with a good mix of mundane and mythology, monsters and humans and themes that are important regardless of the genre. They’re action packed and fun, and the quality of the writing has remained constant throughout the series, which isn’t always given in UF, so it has a good chance of becoming a classic eventually. More importantly, they are easy to read so if one is to pick up an UF book for the first time, this one will sweep them away.

As a bonus, I’ll throw in Harry Potter. If it got boys to read for the first time, it should get an SF virgin hooked too.

My list doesn’t necessarily contain the best or most valued books there are in the genre. But they are an easy introduction to different genres, styles and themes that make SF. Besides, I like them all. How about you?