Cold Days
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''Cold Days'' is a 2012 bestselling novel by
Jim Butcher Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author., He has written the contemporary fantasy ''The Dresden Files'', ''Codex Alera'', and '' Cinder Spires'' book series. Personal life Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1971. H ...
and the 14th book in the ongoing ''
The Dresden Files ''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/ mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are wr ...
'' series. The book was first published on November 27, 2012 through Roc Hardcover and continues the adventures of wizard detective
Harry Dresden ''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/ mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are w ...
.


Plot summary

As the story begins, Harry is in Arctis Tor where he is nursed back to health by Sarissa, a member of the Winter Court and a servant of Mab, the Winter Queen. His recovery culminates in a Winter Court party, serving both as an introduction of the new Winter Knight and as Harry's surprise birthday party. During the party he is set up by
Maeve Maeve, Maev or Maiv is a female given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish name ''Méabh'', which was spelt in early modern Irish (), or in Middle Irish, and in Old Irish (). It may derive from a word meaning "she who intoxicates", ...
, the Winter Lady, who sets a number of events in motion in an attempt to kill him. With help from Sarissa and advice from Kris Kringle, he defeats Maeve's minions and asserts himself as the Winter Knight before the entire Winter Court. Mab, quite satisfied at this outcome, gives Harry his first mission as the new Winter Knight: to kill Maeve. Harry returns to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
and consults
Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...
, to find out how to go about killing an immortal. Bob is initially reluctant to give out such dangerous information, but eventually tells Harry that immortals can be killed during certain conjunctions, such as on Earth on Halloween night, the day after tomorrow. Harry meets up with Molly, who informs him that energy is growing on Demonreach and she thinks it might explode. He travels to the island and speaks to the spirit of Demonreach, learning that the island is a prison which was created by Merlin himself to contain a massive number of various unspeakable supernatural horrors. Because of his connection to the island, he is now the prison's de facto Warden. The island is under attack, and if the attack is not stopped, the prison's fail-safe will trigger, releasing enough magical energy to destroy the prison as well as level a significant portion of the Midwest. In trying to figure out how to proceed, Harry consults with many magical powers, including Donar Vadderung, Lily, Titania, the Faerie Mothers, and Rashid. Harry learns that Outsiders are constantly attempting to get past the Outer Gates, which are defended by the Winter Fae. He discovers that Outsiders are behind his present troubles, and that an Outsider infiltrator named Nemesis has been behind many challenges faced by Harry and by the world in general for many years. He also figures out that the ritual that will be used to destroy Demonreach will be performed at the island itself at some point in the near future. While preparing for the assault against the hundreds of Outsiders attacking Demonreach, Harry is chased and attacked by the
Wild Hunt The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...
. With
Karrin Murphy ''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/ mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are wr ...
's assistance, he is able to evade the Hunt temporarily, and after shooting the
Erlking In European folklore and myth, the Erlking is a sinister elf who lingers in the woods. He stalks children who stay in the woods for too long, and kills them by a single touch. The name "Erlking" (german: Erlkönig, lit=alder-king) is a name us ...
, he takes command of the Hunt and leads it against the Outsiders. With the reinforcement of the Hunt, Harry is able to disrupt the ritual and repel the Outsider attack. Harry and his friends head for the top of the island, where they find Lily and Maeve magically assaulting Demonreach. Harry, having determined that Maeve has been corrupted by the Nemesis, attacks Maeve. She defeats him soundly but he is rescued by his friends. Harry, out of options, summons Mab, who appears and confronts Maeve. Maeve refuses to yield to her mother and shoots and kills Lily, resulting in the mantle of the Summer Lady passing to Sarissa. Murphy then shoots Maeve, resulting in the mantle of the Winter Lady passing to Molly. Harry decides to remain on the island for the time being so that he can learn more about it and establish a new base of operations, and takes a branch from its oldest oak tree to use in making a new staff.


Introduced characters

*
Sarissa The sarisa or sarissa ( el, σάρισα) was a long spear or pike about in length. It was introduced by Philip II of Macedon and was used in his Macedonian phalanxes as a replacement for the earlier dory, which was considerably shorter. The ...
: Dresden's physical therapist and someone indebted to Winter, now the Summer Lady. * He Who Walks Before: another one of the Walkers akin to He Who Walks Behind. Harry usually refers to the Outsider as Sharkface. * Cat Sith is a cat-like creature. He is the King of the malks, and the batman (right-hand vassal) of the Winter Knight. *
Redcap The redcap (or powrie) is a type of malevolent, murderous goblin found in Border folklore. He is said to inhabit ruined castles along the Anglo-Scottish border, especially those that were the scenes of tyranny or wicked deeds and is known for soa ...
: servant of Maeve and the original Redcap legend. *
Lacuna Lacuna (plural lacunas or lacunae) may refer to: Related to the meaning "gap" * Lacuna (manuscripts), a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or musical work ** Great Lacuna, a lacuna of eight leaves where there was heroic Old Norse p ...
is a fairy of the little folk. She is as tall as Toot-Toot.


Reception

Critical reception has been mostly positive. ''
Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...
'' praised ''Cold Days'' and wrote that they viewed it as "one of the best books in the series". '' Kirkus Reviews'' gave the work a favorable review but commented that the book would have benefited from "more rigorous copy editing to clean up the continuity errors which continue to riddle the series". ''CNN'' and ''Geeks of Doom'' also reviewed ''Cold Days'', and ''Geeks of Doom'' recommended the book highly.


References


External links

* The first four chapters can be found on the author's {{Authority control 2012 American novels American fantasy novels The Dresden Files Novels by Jim Butcher Low fantasy novels Urban fantasy novels Roc Books books