Bingo 2026-27 Review: Twelve Months by Jim Butcher

Submitting for: Published in 2026

YMMV: Political and Court Intrigue

A welcome debrief from the previous books, where it's kind of felt like each book was 'yes, and also'-ing the book before. Like there are only so many increasingly powerful threats to the city/world/universe an increasingly powerful wizard can take, you know? I was tentative about what this one might contain after the events of Battle Ground; another Big Bad Evil Thing would have been far too much of a stress on the series, I think. But this one felt like a decent representation of grief. The world goes on and eventually so do you. It felt like a return to what I liked about the earlier books; the danger is real, the stakes are pretty high, but not as forceful as in previous books. This one *allows* a little time for burn out instead of just throwing more on more on top of a man who is effectively a cross-pocketverse nuke in human form, only a step or two away from being tipped over the edge. The stakes are still high heading in to the next book, but this one allows us all to reset just a little.

4 out of 5 stars