Twelve Months (A Novel Of The Dresden Files)

Twelve Months
A Novel Of The Dresden Files (Book 18: Dresden Files)
Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook
By Jim Butcher
Publisher: Ace Books
Release Date: January 20, 2026

I feel like it has been a lifetime since I last wrote a review of a Jim Butcher book. Point of fact, it has been about five years since his last Dresden Files book was published. And looking back through my reviews here, it has been over a decade since I had one posted here. Allow me to give us a tour back into the world of Harry Dresden and his quest to do the right thing. This amazing journey is brought to you by the awesome folks at Ace Books. Without further ado, here is my take on Twelve Months: A Novel Of The Dresden Files.

Depending on your depth of knowledge in this series and whether you are up to date on the current books, there might be some spoilers for previous novels. That said, I will not spoil anything in this book, but may refer to previous ones that hopefully you have read.

I was surprised to find this release was somewhat different in tone than previous ones, though retrospectively, after the tragic events in the last two books, I should not have been astonished. Harry went through a lot of pain and trouble only to find himself on the losing end of several deals and situations. In a whirlwind of events, he simultaneously lost the love of his life and became engaged to a deadly White Court vampire. He saves the world (or at least Chicago) from total annihilation only to find his own personal world falling apart. If you’ve read this series, you’ll know this is par for the course for our wizard at large. Twelve Months explores the following year in Harry’s life as he comes to terms with the fallout of his latest battle and how it has impacted millions of Chicagoans.

The story opens with Harry in distress; a more than realistic take on loss of a loved one, in my opinion. I was stunned at how closely it matched my own feelings when I went through a similar situation. Butcher does a wonderful job of capturing the turmoil and grief, so much so that I wonder what he has been through that gave him that clarity. As Harry wallows in his pain and self-blame, we are able to experience it with him as he tries and fails to break free of it, time and again. Molly is there, both because she wanted to be there for him, but also at Mab’s behest. Harry spends days going through the motions of his own life but spares no expense in protecting those he can, as always. But then, things continue to fall apart for our distressed protagonist.

Upon setting up a meeting with the king of the Svartalves, Harry is not only threatened, but also placed in jeopardy based on the events that Tomas brought into being in his haste to protect others. He needs to offer a life for a life, due to the loss of one of the Svartalves at his brother’s hands. This danger is tempered by a newer character acting as his bodyguard, Sigrun Gard, whom I have begun to really enjoy reading. Known as Bear, this Valkyrie is likely to be a large part of the upcoming novels, luckily. Of course, the way he keeps angering the White Council is likely to need the support of one of the Choosers of the Dead. That was one of the multiple dynamics explored in depth in Twelve Months. The fact that his betrothed, Lara Raith, is the one who secured her use for Harry is not lost on the reader.

Speaking of Lara, this is probably my favorite part. Having the effective leader of the White Court as a fiancée has its advantages and more than its share of disadvantages, especially when someone else is pulling all the strings. As these two characters explore their new relationship status, I was amazed at how well this couple works together and how cohesively they work to attain their goals. It might just be that Harry has met his match in stubbornness and resolve. In fact, they might just be the most dangerous duo in this story to date, and I am in no way forgetting the Fallen. His power and her ruthlessness are a force with which to be reckoned, as you will read.

As a father, I was pleasantly thrilled to watch the father-daughter relationship grow between Maggie and Harry, helping to keep him grounded and focused on solutions, rather than self-destruction, as he oftentimes does. Of course, Mouse is always there in all of his Foo Doggy-ness to protect the spawn of the star-born, allowing no one to hurt his precious charge. Forces align against our heroes in this book, but honestly, they always seem to do that anyway, regardless of whether or not a Titan with elder god fury has come to play in their backyard. We have other groups with agendas, and a mishmash of regulars appear throughout the story, as well. The further we get into the book, the more aligned it seems with the main plot of Harry Dresden attaining power to save the world from itself and the denizens of the underworld/netherworld/hell.

I rewrote this a multitude of times, to be fair. I am not doing justice to the emotional roller coaster that Twelve Months brought out in me. I have been a Jim Butcher fan since I first met him years ago, reading and rereading his books with an addictive fervor. The self-deprecating manner of the lead character is an immediate draw-in. But the supporting cast really creates a world that is not just plausible but feels real, once you suspend the disbelief of wizard detectives living near a great lake and all that. Harry is like many of us, trying to do the best we can with what we have. He, however, is loaded with a bit more Power than the rest of us, enabling him to actually have an impact. Whether that is a good thing or not truly depends on the setting. He has, as we know, caused much of his own strife by trying to do the right thing, just in the wrong way, many of the times.

All in all, this was an excellent transitional novel. It collapsed a year of the timeline into a manageable tome, quite unlike earlier books that would have a systematic gap between books, allowing the reader to fill in the missing months with tidbits of information, but mainly through our own imagination. Not every day of every year has a climactic event happening, so it made sense at the time as we grew to know the protagonist. But with Harry being so well established now, this granted us a window into his everyday life, with certain events highlighted and detailed for our consumption and to further the plot. If you read this series, and you should, you must grab this immediately. Five years is a long time for us to wait, but it was well worth it, at least in my eyes. I read this one twice prior to the review, trying to decide what I could say and what I could not for fear of spoiling the story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and I look forward to hopefully getting more stories and books in the near future from our beloved scribe.

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has always managed to save the day—but, in this powerful entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files, can he save himself?

One year. 365 days. Twelve months.

Harry Dresden has been through a lot, and so has his city. After Harry and his allies narrowly managed to save Chicago from being razed to the ground, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity.

In the battle, Harry lost people he cared about. And that’s the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his level best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild. But it’s a heavy load, and he needs time.

But time is one thing Harry doesn’t have. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and taking out innocent civilians. Harry’s brother is dying, and Harry doesn’t know how to help him. And last but certainly not least, the Winter Queen of the Fae has allied with the White Court of vampires—and Harry’s been betrothed to the seductive, deadly vampire Lara Raith to seal the deal.

It’s been a tough year. More than ever, the city needs Harry Dresden the wizard—but after loss and grief, is there enough left of Harry Dresden the man to rise to the challenge?