I just finished “Cold Days”, the fourteenth book in the Dresden Files series.
My original plan was to write a review. I absolutely adored the novel. However, a darker issue suddenly presented itself, and now I feel an important need to address that issue. Because there is one aspect of the book that is utterly NOT okay.
Here is your disclaimer - this will be a very dicey post dealing with an unpleasant topic. And that is the topic of rape. If that makes you uncomfortable, please skip this. I don’t wish to offend anyone. If you don’t want to read such unfortunate subject matter, but want my bottom line? I am against rape in any possible context. And I feel that it should only be used in fiction when the concept or act has a very important point, a point that cannot be conveyed in any other fashion.
Also, this post will contain spoilers for the twelfth and thirteenth books in the Dresden Files, “Changes” and “Ghost Story” respectively.
I was so excited when I finished “Cold Days.” The scenes I will be discussing definitely made me uncomfortable, but I still logged onto the internet with glee, hoping to talk about the ending with other Dresden Files fans. When I started to read the reactions to “Cold Days”, though, I started to see just how troubling the book truly is.
To give a little context for non-fans, the lead hero (Harry) recently pledged himself to serve a dark Faerie Queen (Mab) in a recent book. To escape this fate, he went so far as to try and have himself assassinated. The reasons for him even accepting the offer in the first place are complicated, but let’s just say he had very few options. We start this novel very shortly after his failure to attempt suicide, as he is forced to take on the title and duties of the Winter Knight.
The title and magical power of being the Winter Knight also, apparently, changes the personality of whoever holds it. This means that the main character is constantly at odds with his own mind on whether or not to give in to a powerful sense of corruption that spends the entire book trying to invade his thoughts. The more he uses this source of magic, the more hold it has over him. It’s meant to be similar to the Dark Side in Star Wars.
How do these wicked thoughts decide to present themselves?
Harry Dresden, the heroic protagonist of the series, begins to fantasize about rape.
Needless to say, I am not at all surprised that some people are outraged. I felt very uncomfortable whenever his mind drifted in this direction. I would have paused to think it over more, but mostly the thoughts last for a single paragraph, and then he recognizes that these thoughts are not coming from “him”. Add on the fact that I was inherently sucked into the plot of the novel, and I zipped away and was happy to leave those brief bouts of icky-ness in my rearview mirror while I took in the rest of the book.
These fantasies are never downright vivid, just implied. However, their very presence makes it that much harder to root for the hero. In fact, if this were the first book in the series, I’d have been out. It obviously helps that Harry has spent thirteen previous books NEVER thinking about raping someone. It doesn’t make it any better though.
I am incredibly disappointed with Jim Butcher, the author of the series. He’s obviously trying to use the idea of rape in terms of power and control. Harry’s subconscious mind, the part now being manipulated by a dark power, is attempting to corrupt him. And the very idea of power and control are integral to that.
But there are many, many other ways to do this. Why not just let it show by having the hero lose his temper more? That does happen a few times in the book, and I feel like that should have been more than enough to show that Harry is on a slippery slope. The rape fantasies were going too far, and even worse they were downright unnecessary to convey the point.
Making your lead hero struggle with disgusting fantasies is absolutely inexcusable. There is no thematic road that this can lead down that doesn’t end with me giving up the series, whether it’s my favorite book series (and it is) or not. Either Harry gives in to the urges, and I eternally lose respect for him as a character, or he doesn’t. But then he would probably be having the same fantasies until he stops being the Winter Knight.
Only one hint (a very minor hint) exists that suggests he may be able to escape being the Winter Knight (a throwaway line by Odin in the final chapter). My sincerest hope is that Butcher goes straight for undoing this. But my worry is that he is going to linger on the Winter subplot for several books. How many novels worth of rape subtext should a fandom be forced to endure? Even one book was far too much.
Now, it’s hard to say whether this was intentional or not. A lot of people say that sexism is rampant in Butcher’s novels. Personally, I have never seen that. The vast majority of the women in these books are intelligent, powerful, and multi-faceted individuals. So I genuinely doubt that sexism is the intent. I think it’s merely a byproduct of him not thinking clearly.
At the end of the day, I’m not ready to give up this series yet. There were a ton of very, very amazing things in this novel. The opening party sequence was hilarious and entertaining, the introduction of an overarching threat to the narrative was tantalizing, the novels climax was the best naval battle I’ve ever seen in a book, and there were a handful of new plot threads that really do work extraordinarily well.
I just hope the author can reel in this very, very troubling development. I’d hate to have my favorite book series destroyed.
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