Jim Butcher says grief and fatherhood impact Dresden Files ‘Twelve Months’
Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, an urban fantasy series that has sold more than 14 million copies in the U.S., as well as the Codex Alera, and the Cinder Spires novels. His latest Harry Dresden book, “Twelve Months,” is out this week, five years after the last installment. Butcher is appearing at San Diego’s Mysterious Galaxy today for a sold-out event to launch this 18th book in the series. Butcher took the Q&A to talk about the book and his reading life.
Q. Please tell readers about your new Dresden Files book, “Twelve Months.”
“Twelve Months” is the 18th book of the Dresden Files, an urban fantasy series I managed to sell with the elevator pitch of “Dirty Harry Potter.” Its lead character is Harry Dresden, a professional wizard operating out of the city of Chicago in a world where ghouls, ghosts, werewolves and vampires exist in the shadows of modern society.
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In this story, the city of Chicago has been recently devastated by supernatural war. Harry Dresden is one of the supernatural players still standing in the aftermath of the battle and must contend with the grief of loved ones lost and grapple with the despair of a lifetime of paranormal conflict while struggling to balance his new life as a father, a political engagement to a vampire queen, while he strives to remain a stable pillar of the supernatural community and rescue his brother from an almost certain death sentence.
He’s barely a shadow of himself after recent events, but his enemies and the challenges of his world are not going to wait for him to regain his balance. Harry and his longtime friends and allies must find a way to carry forward in the aftermath of the Battle of Chicago.
Q. What are the biggest challenges of writing a series – and the benefits?
After 25 years, 18 novels, and two anthologies of short stories, it can get difficult to track the large cast of characters and the many convoluted plot events. I’ve been very fortunate to work with dedicated beta readers, and for the raw enthusiasm of many fans who, among other things, built a Dresden Files wiki that encompasses the series in far more detail than I’m confident I could have managed on my own.
Q. Is there a book or books you always recommend to other readers?
“Watchers,” by Dean Koontz, virtually any Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, “Honor of the Queen,” by David Weber, the Belgariad by David Eddings, and (inevitably) the Unorthodox Chronicles by my son, James J. Butcher, and the Blood Trail novels by my wife, Jennifer Blackstream.
Q. Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?
“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis. It was my very first novel, picked up from a wire shelf at the local grocery store on a whim, and it ignited a love of fantasy that has lasted all my life.
Q. Is there a book or type of book you’re reluctant to read?
Anything that gives good financial advice, apparently.
Q. Do you have any favorite book covers?
“The Dresden Files Omnibus Edition #3, Wizard at Large,” hands down. It features Dresden, carrying his wizard staff and wearing his black leather duster while riding a zombie T.rex animated from the bones of Sue, the famous T.rex at Chicago’s Museum of Natural History. I think it’s a great encapsulation of the series as a whole.
Q. Are you someone who must finish every book you start – or is it OK to put down the ones you don’t connect with?
I’d love to say I can put one down before I finish and that I think that’s OK—I’d really like that to be true. But the reality is that if I don’t finish a book, I feel guilty about it, so they really become kind of a commitment.
Q. What’s your comfort read?
“The Hobbit,” by Tolkien.