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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
The best Dresden book I never want to read/listen to again. Such a roller coaster of emotions. Jim Butcher is amazing.
Well, this is certainly action-packed. The Fomor and their allies, lead by a Titan are coming to destroy Chicago. The Accorded nations all work together to repel the invasion. Nearly all of Dresden's friends, enemies, and frienemies make an appearance in this book. The White Council, the White Court, the Summer Court, the Winter court, Marcone with his people, Odin with his people, the Knights of the Sword, the werewolves, even the ghouls and River Shoulders the Bigfoot band together to defend Chicago. Large sections of Chicago are destroyed. Thousands of normal humans are killed, and tens of thousands injured. The existence of the supernatural may no longer be a secret in Dresden's world, at least not in Chicago.
Nicodemus and his crew do not make an appearance. Mavra shows up with Dracul, Dracula's less famous, but more powerful father. I've been expecting Dresden to destroy Mavra ever since he acquired the Winter Mantle, but she gets away.
Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers, don't read this unless you want some shocking events spoiled.
So, this was fun, this was exciting. Probably worth the six-year wait.
Nicodemus and his crew do not make an appearance. Mavra shows up with Dracul, Dracula's less famous, but more powerful father. I've been expecting Dresden to destroy Mavra ever since he acquired the Winter Mantle, but she gets away.
Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers, don't read this unless you want some shocking events spoiled.
Spoiler
The big one first. Murphy dies. Killed by a panicky cop with poor trigger discipline. Rudolph, her old partner from the first few books. Dresden almost kills him, but Sanya and Butters stop him. As upsetting as it is, it makes sense for the series for this to happen. Dresden has been cursed to die alone, and wizards age slower than non-wizards. It pretty much had to happen at some point. Next spoiler. Marcone is secretly a Dinarian. He ended up with the Thorned Namshiel coin that went missing in Small Favor. Marcone seems to be unaffiliated with Nicodemus. Certainly, the events of Skin Game would indicate that they have nothing to do with each other. Next one. Harry and Lara Raith get engaged. Mab is forcing them into a marriage for political reasons. I'm certainly curious about how that will turn out. Especially with Harry's die alone curse.So, this was fun, this was exciting. Probably worth the six-year wait.
Ugh. Now I have to wait until the next book comes out. This book was so good! I laughed, I cried. So good.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m a big fan of the Dresden Files and found book 17 to be another winner. Battle Ground is a large battle for the whole novel. Full of cameos from other characters from previous volumes in the series. You can tell that Butcher is working towards his ending for this series. Big character deaths will be making a large change in the power structure of the magical world . Dresden has been building towards an ending and he is tired of waiting for answers.
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh, Harry. What is Butcher doing to you? It's hard for me to even think where we go from here. Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any harder/worse for ole Harry, a freaking Titan shows up and tries to lay waste to all of Chicago.
Of course there are casualties. Big ones. And honestly? It feels mostly cruel at this point. I get that the world is a harsh one. I get that when we are facing magical creatures of unimaginable power that mere mortals cannot always make it unscathed. But dang, this whole book hurt.
This was kind of a slog to get through because it is basically all one big long fight scene. There were a couple ebbs and flows but overall I just wanted to get to the finale as soon as possible. There were some side fights that didn't seem to do much to serve the story, and my only guess is that at some point in the future they become relevant. But what feels more likely is that there was not enough to cut to make this and Peace Talks one book, but too much to cut to make this one worth the page count to stand alone. So they left in the filler to flesh it out to a full length. Snooze.
I'm sure I'll keep reading, because I do want to see where things go with Harry and Ebenezer, Thomas and Justine, and Molly. But I'm also glad that I will have to wait awhile before the next chapter so I can sit with my feels on this one.
Of course there are casualties. Big ones. And honestly? It feels mostly cruel at this point. I get that the world is a harsh one. I get that when we are facing magical creatures of unimaginable power that mere mortals cannot always make it unscathed. But dang, this whole book hurt.
This was kind of a slog to get through because it is basically all one big long fight scene. There were a couple ebbs and flows but overall I just wanted to get to the finale as soon as possible. There were some side fights that didn't seem to do much to serve the story, and my only guess is that at some point in the future they become relevant. But what feels more likely is that there was not enough to cut to make this and Peace Talks one book, but too much to cut to make this one worth the page count to stand alone. So they left in the filler to flesh it out to a full length. Snooze.
I'm sure I'll keep reading, because I do want to see where things go with Harry and Ebenezer, Thomas and Justine, and Molly. But I'm also glad that I will have to wait awhile before the next chapter so I can sit with my feels on this one.
This is one long battle sequence, hence the name. I found it very boring to read and ended up skimming most of the book.
Originally, Peace Talks and Battle Ground were one book. I would have preferred that. Cut a few bits out and make the narrative tighter and it would have worked. On its own, Battle Ground is a slog.
Because of the grand scale of things, many character details and plots got lost. Thomas was hardly mentioned for example.
The Murphy thing was very stupid and unnecessary. Harry didn't need more reason to fight. It was cheap.
It's still a well written book but I've not been enjoying this series as much. The last few books were very hard to read and don't have the re-readability of the early books.
Originally, Peace Talks and Battle Ground were one book. I would have preferred that. Cut a few bits out and make the narrative tighter and it would have worked. On its own, Battle Ground is a slog.
Because of the grand scale of things, many character details and plots got lost. Thomas was hardly mentioned for example.
The Murphy thing was very stupid and unnecessary. Harry didn't need more reason to fight. It was cheap.
It's still a well written book but I've not been enjoying this series as much. The last few books were very hard to read and don't have the re-readability of the early books.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoy the film noir aspects of these books. I have read them all countless times now because they are what I turn to in order to find some old friends. I have read this book at least five times now and still cry at points because so many of the story lines come together and create sad endings, but also interesting new beginnings. I find Harry to be engaging and while he has his flaws he is communicated at human and acts accordingly. There’s so much more I could say.
holy shit.
This book was intense and definitely ups the stakes by a significant margin. Definitely some unexpected shit here, and I was definitely crying in multiple spots, so, you know... It felt a bit grimmer/darker than the previous books in tone, though certainly moments of love and levity throughout. Also, my little Dresden/Marcone shipper heart was *very* happy about a number of moments throughout. :D
Ugh, so good. Already keen for the next!
This book was intense and definitely ups the stakes by a significant margin. Definitely some unexpected shit here, and I was definitely crying in multiple spots, so, you know... It felt a bit grimmer/darker than the previous books in tone, though certainly moments of love and levity throughout. Also, my little Dresden/Marcone shipper heart was *very* happy about a number of moments throughout. :D
Ugh, so good. Already keen for the next!