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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
Every title in the series lately feels like a long culmination of so many things, so many loose end tying up, and new threads fraying. The past three Dresden Files novels have carried a sort of finality to them, that I'm honestly surprised when the ending chapters still leave room open for more books.
Don't get it twisted either, I am not saying that these titles are starting to feel drawn and haggard, there may indeed be some shark jumping here, but Jim Butcher jumps sharks with style and flair that leaves you wondering what he'll vault over next.
Battle Ground is the summation of these feelings, a popcorn epically sized book-length fight that plays out like a fantasy coated rollercoaster. If you want action, twists, and weirdly earnest looks at the perseverance of will in the face of insurmountable odds and tragedy, this Battle Grounds should not be a book you skip.
NOTE: Definitely pick up and read The Dresden Files #16 before reading this book, as this narrative picks up literal minutes after #16 ends, and makes references to it aplenty.
Don't get it twisted either, I am not saying that these titles are starting to feel drawn and haggard, there may indeed be some shark jumping here, but Jim Butcher jumps sharks with style and flair that leaves you wondering what he'll vault over next.
Battle Ground is the summation of these feelings, a popcorn epically sized book-length fight that plays out like a fantasy coated rollercoaster. If you want action, twists, and weirdly earnest looks at the perseverance of will in the face of insurmountable odds and tragedy, this Battle Grounds should not be a book you skip.
NOTE: Definitely pick up and read The Dresden Files #16 before reading this book, as this narrative picks up literal minutes after #16 ends, and makes references to it aplenty.
Sadly the series is losing steam. The story is stuck. And it's getting stale. There's so much folklore and mythology to work with and yet we keep falling back to the same Eurocentric stuff. Titans? Seriously>?
That's it. Took me about a year but I've finally listened to all 17 books and what a journey it was. I remember dropping the series for over a year before deciding to give it another chance in the beginning of last summer and I'm so glad I did. At this point, I've grown so attached to all the characters in the series that a book consisting of a picnic with all the characters present would be immensely entertaining to me.
The book itself was great, high stakes, great moments, emotional at times. More importantly, the book rivals Changes in likely changing the direction of the series. It made me tear up so it's already gets a 5 star rating.
I don't think it's perfect. I wasn't the biggest fan of the villain and a lot of things set up in Peace Talks really aren't important until the end of the novel I feel. But the characters have so much heart and emotion and love put in them that I can't help loving every second still.
Great book, great series. The wait for the next book is going to take forever. 9.5/10
The book itself was great, high stakes, great moments, emotional at times. More importantly, the book rivals Changes in likely changing the direction of the series. It made me tear up so it's already gets a 5 star rating.
I don't think it's perfect. I wasn't the biggest fan of the villain and a lot of things set up in Peace Talks really aren't important until the end of the novel I feel. But the characters have so much heart and emotion and love put in them that I can't help loving every second still.
Great book, great series. The wait for the next book is going to take forever. 9.5/10
There's a pointless death that made me very angry, but it's otherwise a series of battles full of big bads and allies, sacrifices and clever tactics. It's a lot of fighting, really.
Usual Dresden snark and magic, and a good read, though the end is going a direction I don't like.
Usual Dresden snark and magic, and a good read, though the end is going a direction I don't like.
I love this series, which is a major reason the books was such a disappointment. If you read Peace Talks, you know the set-up for this book - big bad powerful evil coming to destroy Chicago. And... that's it. There's no real plot to speak of, just drifting from one scene to another in a more or less endless series of battles with mostly random opponents, like a grab bag of "and next, he has to fight ____". About halfway through, I waited 6 years (the last book before Peace Talks was published in 2014)... for this? Deeply disappointed.
Spoiler
Karen Murphy is murdered in the most pointless, senseless way - by a cop with an itchy trigger finger. Dresden goes a little nuts, and tries to kill the cop, who has repeatedly proven he was a danger to everyone even before this scene. His friends stop him because... this would make him a bad person? And he'd be a worse dad if he did it? They claim he'll face justice legally but a) he's a cop in America and b) there's a mini-Apocalypse going on and c) Dresden would make a shit witness in court and there's probably no other evidence (he could claim someone stole his gun in the chaos). So, it's clearly bullshit and then Dresden just cries a bit and goes back to, you guessed it, killing random monsters, because that is apparently the entire plot of the book. This was worse than fridging, and she damn well deserved better than that.
God my heart..just fuck there better be more books.
OMG, this was so worth the wait! It was pretty much non-stop action from beginning to end. And just when you thought it had to be the end, something else would happen and you would be off again. These last two books, Peace Talks and Battle Ground, are really two parts of one big story. The story begins in Peace Talks, and although there are some things that are sort of resolved, it really does leave you completely hanging, although not in a cliffhanger way. My review of this book really pertains to both books as a whole, and I really loved it. I loved how there were many threads and events mentioned not just from previous novels, but also some of the short stories. And Mr. Butcher brought in just about every character, major and minor, who has previously played a role (assuming they're still alive). It was incredible just watching him pull together all these threads from the previous stories--it was much more impactful that way. You find out quite a few answers in this book, although there are definitely many more questions left, which sets everything up quite nicely for future stories to explore. I will give people a heads-up that there are a ton of battles in this book (it is aptly named) and I will also mention that I don't tend to love books that are full of battles. It's actually why I gave up on the Tolkien trilogy about 2/3rds of the way through the third book. Yep, I made it that far and finally had to throw in the towel because the battles were getting so tiresome. And yet, there were quite enough other things happening along with the battle that made everything feel more urgent and more important that kept me riveted. As is usually the case with Dresden, there is a lot of death and there were several times when I felt gutted (no spoilers), but there were also people (other than Harry) acting in such heroic ways that I got all teary-eyed. This book also included a bonus (to me, because I didn't know it was there) novella that shares a little bit more about the aftermath that had me sniffling. I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend this series to everyone, even if you have to work to get through the first 3ish books (which are weaker compared to the rest of the series). If you don't mind slogging through the first 3 or so (Harry is kinda whiny in the early episodes), the rest of the series is so worth it. It's been a real trip watching Harry grow and learn over these years! I look forward to many more books in the future!
I fucking LOVED this book.
I made a mistake. I reread the entire series before Peace Talks and Battle Grounds came out, hoping to get hyped. The lechery in the early books didn’t sit well with me the second time through, and I felt slightly dismayed as I slogged through Peace Talks, feeling bored and real fuckin sick of Harry Blackstone Copperfield I Ogle Every Single Ass Dresden’s bullshit.
But.
This book.
Holy ✨shit✨.
This book had no pace other than full sprint. No level other than over 9000. No volume lower than 11.
This was a fucking masterpiece. It destroyed me, revived me, destroyed me and resurrected me again. I alternately cackled, sobbed, had full body chills, laughed in genuine belly-aching mirth, and sobbed some more. This book grabbed me right by my heart and pulled me straight back into loving Dresden and the whole world Butcher has built around him.
I finished the last page and felt genuinely pumped. Like about life. I had readers’ high. When you finish a book so good that it makes you want to be a better person, live life harder and more awesomely, sell your soul to dark fae for unspeakable powers and use them for good… I mean can you really ask for more than that from an author? Thank you, Jim. All the wrinkles I got from glaring at the ass ogling passages in your previous books were worth getting here, for this.
I really fucking loved this book.
I made a mistake. I reread the entire series before Peace Talks and Battle Grounds came out, hoping to get hyped. The lechery in the early books didn’t sit well with me the second time through, and I felt slightly dismayed as I slogged through Peace Talks, feeling bored and real fuckin sick of Harry Blackstone Copperfield I Ogle Every Single Ass Dresden’s bullshit.
But.
This book.
Holy ✨shit✨.
This book had no pace other than full sprint. No level other than over 9000. No volume lower than 11.
This was a fucking masterpiece. It destroyed me, revived me, destroyed me and resurrected me again. I alternately cackled, sobbed, had full body chills, laughed in genuine belly-aching mirth, and sobbed some more. This book grabbed me right by my heart and pulled me straight back into loving Dresden and the whole world Butcher has built around him.
I finished the last page and felt genuinely pumped. Like about life. I had readers’ high. When you finish a book so good that it makes you want to be a better person, live life harder and more awesomely, sell your soul to dark fae for unspeakable powers and use them for good… I mean can you really ask for more than that from an author? Thank you, Jim. All the wrinkles I got from glaring at the ass ogling passages in your previous books were worth getting here, for this.
I really fucking loved this book.
Probably should be 5 stars but as Butcher has thoroughly torn my heart out, i feel i have earned the right to be petty . This book left changes in the dust as far as big shifts and that is represented with parallels between the two books that started from the very first line on Peace talks. as much as i don't like change i am eager to see where the series goes next . That being said i am almost happy that i will need to wait a (hopefully just a little) while, to give my heart a chance to heal.
Spoiler
and Murphy deserved so much betterSpoiler
but honestly if this was all an excuse for a Molly/Lara love triangle i might actually be done... Murph was so much more than a love interest she was the happily ever after and again she deserved better.
still reading. the wait was worth it. Nobody writes like Jim Butcher and the doesn't write like anyone else.