So, it was with great eagerness that I sat down with the very latest Dresden Files... collection of short stories (DANG IT JIM WHERE IS PEACE TALKS?). Then I stood up a hours later or so, because I'd finished it. Jeez. I go through these things like tissue paper sometimes.

Anyways, I'm not going over whether you should buy it, because if you're a Dresden fan, it's a forgone conclusion, and if you're not, then you should go out and read the first three books to see if you'll become one. Because Dresden is Good.

For my TL;DR: It's good, but not as good as Side Jobs. That's probably just because Side Jobs had the single best Dresden short ever. You are welcome to guess which one that is, and you'll probably get it in one, because it's Just The Best, and that's obvious. But this is still good. Read it.

Basically, I'm going through the book story by story and giving my opinions. Added bonus, I'll try to make the whole thing as spoiler-free as possible (note from future me: I couldn't pull this off, everything from "Bombshells" onwards has spoilers. If you want to talk about spoiler stuff when you give opinions or whatever (and please do that thing, because yes), here's a spoiler block:

The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault. The spoilers were on fire, and it wasn't my fault.

Right, let's get this show on the road.

"A Fistful of Warlocks" - Yawn. Evil warlocks, necromancers, awesome fights... we've seen it all before. Maybe not from Lucio's perspective in the Old West, but still... this wasn't exactly the best note to open on IMO, because... pretty dull. By Dresden standards.

"B is for Bigfoot" - Now see, this is the story they should have started with. Yetis, classic Dresden investigation, and some Hitchhiker's Guide references for good measure. Then again, maybe it's just because I can empathize with Irving. I wasn't that kid, exactly. But I can certainly understand some of what he was going through. Also, if you wanted to know about Harry's dealings with Yetis after Skin Game... well. Here ya go.

"AAAA Wizardry" - It was okay. Not great, but... okay. Competant. Strong ending, all that jazz. But it's missing something...

"I was a Teenage Bigfoot" - And here's a story not missing that thing, whatever it is. Man, I really love this Bigfoot trilogy. It's fantastic. And this one has a punchline. Danged funny one at that.

"Curses" - Harry gets hired to lift The Billy Goat Curse, allowing the Cubs to once again win a World Series. It goes as well as you'd expect, although the actual reasons why it goes that way will probably surprise you. It certainly made me laugh a lot. Nothing funnier than a goat.

"Even Hand" - Ever wondered what goes on behind Marcone's eyes? This here's for you. Not great, really, but rock-solid, enjoyable, and interesting.

"Bigfoot on Campus" - The conclusion of the Bigfoot trilogy. It's good, just like all the others. I thought I found a plothole in this one, turns out I was wrong. But it does deliver a few good laughs, and definitely made me feel some things as well. So that was nice. Also, it's basically "How I wound up in the middle of a wrecked building/orgy in the middle of a college campus, by Harry Dresden." Which is hilarious, as is all the skepticism he gets from the guy he's telling the story to.

...and at this point, I've realized that I actually can't talk about these next few stories without spoiling some stuff. So beyond this point, I assume you've read up to Skin Game. You have been warned. Sorry about this.

"Bombshells" - This is how Molly got her deal with the Svartalves from Cold Days. We get to see some post-Ghost Stories Molly, which is cool. And... well. Dark. Molly is scary at this point. But even through all that, we get some laughs. From Andi, Thomas, Butters, and Molly herself. Mostly Thomas. That ending... jeez.

"Cold Case" - Okay, so after that last story, I thought this anthology couldn't get any more grim.

I stand corrected.

This is post-Cold Days Molly. And it's terrifying. I don't know if I'm scared for her, of her, or with her. Possibly all three. Everything about this story was harrowing, terrifying, and heartbreaking. And we get Cthulhu in the mix. Because in a terrifying and awful story that is as or more Grimdark than anything GW has ever put out, that was what we needed.

Um. At least we got to see some Ramirez? He is pretty attractive, or so I hear...

"Jury Duty" - Yeah, we needed a breather after that last one. Thanks, Jim.

This story is exactly what you think it: post-Changes Dresden gets called up for jury duty. Yes, this is exactly as hilarious as you think it is. No, it doesn't get old. Yes, it is more complicated than that. Yes, we get to see Will again, and that's pretty great. Just... read it. It makes me smile, in the way that is so very Dresden.

"Day One" - We get to see Waldo! WAAAALDO!

Also, it's post-Skin Game. So yeah. Great, fascinating, and... well, I'm not gonna deny it, it's absolutely hilarious. There's nothing for comedy quite like someone seeing The Call To Do The Will Of The Allmighty as a WoW quest icon. And somehow, it gets better. There is nothing more to be said about this one.

"Zoo Day" - This one's in competition for all-time favorite Dresden short. Okay, there is no competition, because one of them blatantly stands head and shoulders above the rest. But this one's close, just like "Aftermath" was in the last volume.

Harry takes Maggie to the zoo. Which... well, if your hard didn't just melt, stop reading this, because you've probably stumbled into the spoiler section by accident. :-P

Anyways, we get the story from three perspectives. Harry, who is... Harry, Maggie, who gives us valuable insight in how horrifyingly nightmarish being a child in the Dresdenverse actually is, and Mouse. Man, why don't we get more stories from his perspective? Mouse is great. He's like... uh... something really great. Like a giant magical dog or something. Anyways, each perspective gives us progressively more insight into what's going on, which is a style of storytelling I really like. Also, I think "Baglered" might become a permanant part of my vocabulary. We'll see.