The sequel to Storm Front improves upon it. Lea, Dresden’s fairy godmother, gets her on-screen introduction. I’d rather have Don Bruce! As Kat says, it also introduces the series’ best companion so far: the knight Michael. In fact, all of the supporting cast are more richly handled here than in Storm Front or Fool Moon. It’s still necessary to scream at them sometimes for their obtusity and tendency to keep secrets for no good reason—but now at least we get to see a bit of Harry’s internal reasoning for this.

The vampire metaphysics and politics presented here are inspiring—much like Guilty Pleasures, before Hamilton stopped building a coherent world and started writing straight porn.

Books read this year: 38