“A wizard is never late,” I muttered. “He arrives as soon as he’s dealt with his PTSD.”
page 124
Table of Contents
Why Twelve Months?
This is going to be a weird review to write. Before I even get into this book itself, I need to provide just a small bit of context about my relationship to the Dresden Files series.
The Dresden Files series is a urban fantasy series that I have been reading since my late teenage years. This particular book is the eighteenth book in the series so it is a series that has been around for a long time and I have spent a lot of time reading every book in the series and getting to know the characters and the world so this is a series I am emotionally connected to in a way that doesn’t apply to any other fantasy series I’ve read.
This will be the first time I will review a Dresden Files book for this blog because the previous book in the series Battle Ground came out in 2020, nearly six years ago. I was not writing book reviews back then. Hell, I was a very different person in 2020, a lot happened in 2020 that changed me as a person.
So when I heard about the release for this book I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if I was going to still enjoy a new book in this series after so long. What I expect out of good fantasy novels had changed in the intervening six years and I didn’t know if the new book in the series was going to live up these new expectations.
That is why I did not pre-order Twelve Months. Instead I put in a very early hold for this book in the Toronto Public Library system and as such was in the first wave of holds that were distributed after the TPL system had obtained copies of the book.
So with that context, let’s get into it.
The Book
How does one even begin to review the eighteenth book in a long running series? Let’s start by introducing the basics. Twelve Months like the books before it is an urban fantasy novel with a story told from the perspective of the main character Harry Dresden, the titular wizard of the Dresden Files series. All of the books are primarily set in the city of Chicago which is what gives the series its urban fantasy cred.
From what I remember of reading the previous book in the series, it was an exhausting read because it was a book filled with conflict, war and trauma. Which is a lot of what the Dresden Files books are in some way but Battle Ground really went and upped the amount of conflict. So with Twelve Months I was a little skeptical about how the series was going to pick itself up and deal with all the emotional debts it had taken on.
Turns out, it was going to deal with all of that by writing a novel that is at its core about Harry dealing with the trauma and grief he has accrued since we last saw him in action. The man has taken a lot of hits over the years but the events of the last book has left him in complete shambles mentally and physically. He’s got PTSD symptoms, he’s not sleeping well, he’s got bad nightmares, he hasn’t figured out a way to process his anger and his sadness.
In Twelve Months, Jim Butcher has returned to what he does best. Telling a story about a group of characters that I’ve come to know and love and have them go some real shit, all the while dealing with enemies that are content to tear him into little pieces and throw him into Lake Michigan.
This is a story that is unironically about the power of friendship, about how Harry learns to lean on his friends and allies, both old and new to help him with the emotional turmoil he is constantly dealing with. Time may heal some wounds but having people who care about you guide you through the process make it a whole of a lot more bearable.
There were so many points in this book where I was tearing up and had to take breaks to wipe my tears and collect myself. The themes of this book felt timely considering the various horrors we face in the world today. It was a good reminder of what it is we are fighting for and who we need by our side. The interactions that Harry has with his friends in this book just felt real in a way that reminded me why I fell in love with the Dresden Files series all those years ago.
Reading this book felt like returning home after a long time away and it is so so good to be back. Goddamn, does it feel good to come home to this. This is a return to form for Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files.
Concluding Thoughts
January 2026 has been one hell of a reading month. I read a total of eight books and four of those eight books, including Twelve Months are books I am putting on my 2026 Books of the Year list. Any skepticism that I had about coming back to the Dresden Files after so many years away was unwarranted and I am so happy that it was.
The Dresden Files remains at the pinnacle of urban fantasy and I generally recommend it to folks who are interested in that sub-genre with two major caveats. The first is that this is a long series, currently at eight books with a total of twenty-three to twenty-four expected, so it is a lot of books to read.
Second, the first few books are a little rough to read, Jim Butcher is still finding his footing in the world he has created and those books very much has the vibes of 2000s fantasy going so expect some mild cringe, especially if you are used to reading more contemporary fantasy.
This book review is relatively short considering my long relationship with this series. I can talk about the Dresden Files for thousands of words and for hours on end but most of that will have significant spoilers in it and that is something I wanted to avoid entirely because I think the journey through the series is very precious to me and I don’t want to ruin it for someone else.
That is all from me. See y’all in the next one.
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