Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Skin Game by Jim Butcher Series: The Dresden Files #15
Published by Roc on 27 May 2014
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 454
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Purchase
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Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day….
Because as Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry never knows what the scheming Mab might want him to do. Usually, it’s something awful.
He doesn’t know the half of it….
Mab has just traded Harry’s skills to pay off one of her debts. And now he must help a group of supernatural villains—led by one of Harry’s most dreaded and despised enemies, Nicodemus Archleone—to break into the highest-security vault in town so that they can then access the highest-security vault in the Nevernever.
It’s a smash-and-grab job to recover the literal Holy Grail from the vaults of the greatest treasure hoard in the supernatural world—which belongs to the one and only Hades, Lord of the freaking Underworld and generally unpleasant character. Worse, Dresden suspects that there is another game afoot that no one is talking about. And he’s dead certain that Nicodemus has no intention of allowing any of his crew to survive the experience. Especially Harry.
Dresden’s always been tricky, but he’s going to have to up his backstabbing game to survive this mess—assuming his own allies don’t end up killing him before his enemies get the chance….
Skin Game is an amazing installment in the Dresden Files series! Harry has several epiphanies thanks to his friends, and there are lots of bad guys to fight, while protecting the innocent.
My Skin Game review:
Jim Butcher has outdone himself with Skin Game! To read the 15th book in a series and think ‘yes, this one is my favorite!’ is nothing short of amazing. Harry has come a long, long way, and the fact that he’s been all alone on the strange island in Lake Michigan with Demonreach has made him feel a little out of touch both with himself and with his friends. Who can he trust? Who should he stay away from? And how come his head hurts so much? When Mab shows up to get him back to Chicago for a job she has for him – he’s both happy and not at the same time. If she can help him keep the headaches at bay, and he can see some of his friends and allies, that’s a win-win situation for him.
As Skin Game unfolds, old enemies, new allies and very good friends are present to either help or hinder Harry. And this new adventure takes him on a trip far, far into the never-never, to a place he had never planned on visiting. With a full cast of characters, and the underlying feeling of unease and untrust, there wasn’t a single dull word during the whole book. Harry’s inner battle was also stronger than ever, and there were some very sweet moments when he was able to spend some time with old friends whom he had thought he would not be able to see anymore, as well as with a very special person he never dreamed would accept him.
Even the villains are well developed by Butcher, and some of them were not exactly new to me. The way Harry deals with them, all while pretending all is good in the world clearly is so very Harry, and his sarcasm and stupid puns never fail to make me laugh out loud. Skin Game has it all, action, a little romance, mythology, fights, some of my favorite characters from this series, and so much going on! The main story is a quest of sorts, and I loved how that was done, however, the sub-plots were amazing as well.
If you aren’t familiar with the Dresden Files yet, you should definitely get your hands on it! It’s refreshing to have a male main character, and he’s just a normal guy who happens to be a wizard. I enjoy that he isn’t too young, even if he’s not old yet either. His self-depreciation, while he at the same time thinks he’s important in order to save Chicago is just one of the many contradictions that make me love him so much.
Some of my favorite Skin Game quotes:
It makes you scared. It makes you think that maybe you’ve made some horrible mistakes lately. It drives you to do something, to act – only when you’re stuck on an island in the middle of Lake Michigan, you’re kind of limited in your choices of exactly what you can do to blow off steam.
She expected me to be upset. Definitely, she wanted something. In my experience, when the Queen of Air and Darkness decides she wants something from you, it’s a good time to crawl in a hole and pull it in after you.
She was pale, beautiful on a scale that beggared simple description, and I harbored a healthy and rational terror of her.
It went like that for a subjective century and a half, and maybe thirty objective seconds.
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Twitter: bmreviewsohmy
Just sort of skimmed over this one, but was glad to see the series is still rocking after 15 books. I am only on book 6..lol.
This is just one of those series, Stormi! When I first discovered it, I think there were eight or nine books already released, and I totally binge-read those 🙂 Since then, I’ve been (im)patiently waiting for the next one.
Thanks for stopping by.
gosh I love this series so much, Harry is awesome. I really need to catch up on it. The last book I bought is just sitting there waiting >.<
I agree! Harry is one of my favourite male MCs, too, Lily. And the whole universe is so well done, too.
Thanks for stopping by.
I only tried book 1 and I was a little mixed in the end but I heard that they’re better as we progress in the series. I think now I should try book 2 to see if it’s true. I’m glad you had a great time with this one!
I think that when I started this series, I was just so happy to read and enjoy a male main character – as I had read many UF series with female leads. And Harry is pretty amazing.
I hope you’ll enjoy the 2nd book more than you did the 1st, Melliane.
Thanks for stopping by.
I’m sooooo behind on this series, I do need to catch up !
Woot! Harry Dresden is great 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Iza.
Twitter: Mlsimmons
I’m so glad that I’ve started this series. I just finished book two last week. The audios are great. I highly recommend people try them, if they are interested in audiobooks. “Spike” from Buffy is the narrator, though he doesn’t really sound like Spike when he is doing these. 🙂
It’s really good to know that the audios are good, too, Melanie! I am branching out and need to know about some that have good narrators.
I’m a little weird, though, I prefer to get audio books for ‘re-reads’ not for all new to me books.
Thanks for stopping by.
Twitter: Mlsimmons
That is how I started out when my audiobooks, was with re-reads. Then I added a new book that someone recommended to me, and things spiraled out of control from there and I love it. 🙂
I will probably end up being a complete audio-junkie myself… I love some of the narrators and the way they make a story come to life!
I just bought the first two installments in this series in audio because I heard that the narrator is wicked good, and they were on sale. The fact that the fourteenth book is still earning 5-stars is amazing. Can’t wait to get started!
Yeah, I love the Dresden-verse, Carmel! I hope you’ll enjoy it, too. It’s actually nice to read a UF story with a male MC every now and then.
Ah yes, another series you love and I’ve yet to read. But I will…eventually. I know I have #1 on my nook and I’ve always been curious about this series. I’m glad that at #15, Butcher can still make things fresh and exciting…enough so that you’re thinking this is your fav so far. That is something. Lovely review, my dear.
I hope you’re having a marvelous Monday. I’ve a busy day – orthodontist appt for Jax, and making a birthday cake and wrapping gifts for Berk…her birthday is tomorrow. 🙂 **BIG HUGS**
And it’s a series I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy, too, Brandee!
My Monday was good, busy classes and also a meeting, as I’m part of the committee that looks into changes in different study plans at Uni.
Tell Berk happy birthday tomorrow! *BIG HUGS*
OMG! I know, Iknow! I really need to continue this series, I’m so tempted to jump to this book right now…I just might!! LOL It’s been so hard to keep up once I got so behind, but I already know how awesome this series is!
Great review Lexxie! 🙂
Don’t jump ahead! There are so many things happening in each book you’d totally miss out if you did. Really, and you know the dry humor and sarcastic barbs would not be the same if you didn’t know exactly where Harry comes from…
I haven’t gotten into this series…yet. I have three friends (including you) that highly recommend it, so eventually. 🙂
Yeah, this is one of those series where the characters, the world-building, the different paranormal creatures and the magic is quite different from other series I’ve read. Pretty sure it’s exactly your cup of tea, Xyra 🙂
Very nice! 😀
I’ve been interested in this series for quite some time. I think I would really enjoy it. You’re right, when you can absolutely love a book that far in, it truly says something. I love some great villains as well. Thanks so much for sharing 😀
I am sure you’ll enjoy this series, too, Jaclyn! It’s really well done. Thanks for stopping by.
After looking at that cover I wasn’t expecting it to be a wizard book. Glad you liked it as it sounds like a good read.
Yeah, wizards and witches are usually making my day 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Sharon.
It is so good to get that many books into a series and find that it’s your new favourite! And to have so many good and bad well developed characters… awesome!
Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace
Character driven stories are the best! And Harry Dresden has a lot of characters over the span of 15 books 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Naomi.