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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3/5 stars. I enjoyed this book more than Peace Talks, but it took me even longer to finish.The battle with Ethniu felt anti-climactic, though there was a lot more happening overall compared to the last book. It was entertaining, but I wasn’t a fan of Murphy’s needless death. After so much build-up for her character and her relationship with Harry, she deserved better. I suppose Jim was just done writing her story.
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really didn’t enjoy the first 75% of the book and normally I will Dnf but I waited a long time from the library for it. So I finished it. I did enjoy the end but man it was rough.
Alright, I'm on a bit of a post book high so maybe I'll dial back later but this was really good. Good enough to make me retroactively like Peace Talks more. Revelations came to light here that made Peace Talks make more sense but I still feel weird about the first part of the duology.
A few thoughts, first the crap hits the fan and things don't slow down. The whole book is this constant escalation as the Fomor invade punctuated by emotional and funny moments (I'm always thrown by how Butcher can do these 180's between over the top action, hilarity, heartwarming moments and heart breaking tragedy and back, it really disorients me in a great way). It's this awesome back and forth where the Fomor push, the Chicago alliance counters and starts pushing back, the Fomor flank and so on and so forth until the Titan herself attacks and then everyone and their brother throws down.
Then there was this huge spoiler and I appreciated it. Not that I dislike the character but after all this time that death was earned. Earlier in the book I was grumbling to myself that nobody important had died in a while and it was frustrating because it doesn't matter how good you are, if you roll the dice enough, you're going to get snake eyes eventually. But that was so, so earned.
And one last thing, Butcher does a great job of showing everyone being worn down and getting colder and harder. Like everyone's getting more suspicious and paranoid and there's enough monsters around with mind control powers that the suspicion is justified. And the distrust leads to mistrust and division among allies where it honestly seems like everyone was justified in their actions based on the information that they had.
Though side note, Harry was the most frustrating in the secrecy regard. It's like he knows information that other people either need to know or deserve to know but he won't say because he's trying to cover him (and his loved ones I suppose). I'm thinking specifically of. But Harry could also tell his friends why he's tied up with the White's; he complains about Ebenezer not visiting him but Harry didn't make an effort to visit Ebenezer.
Okay, that's not a side note, it's like 20% of my thoughts but dang it Harry, you're an adult. Communicate.
A few thoughts, first the crap hits the fan and things don't slow down. The whole book is this constant escalation as the Fomor invade punctuated by emotional and funny moments (I'm always thrown by how Butcher can do these 180's between over the top action, hilarity, heartwarming moments and heart breaking tragedy and back, it really disorients me in a great way). It's this awesome back and forth where the Fomor push, the Chicago alliance counters and starts pushing back, the Fomor flank and so on and so forth until the Titan herself attacks and then everyone and their brother throws down.
Then there was this huge spoiler
Spoiler
Murphy diesSpoiler
Killing a Jotunn with a rocker launcher? Heck yeah.And one last thing, Butcher does a great job of showing everyone being worn down and getting colder and harder. Like everyone's getting more suspicious and paranoid and there's enough monsters around with mind control powers that the suspicion is justified. And the distrust leads to mistrust and division among allies where it honestly seems like everyone was justified in their actions based on the information that they had.
Though side note, Harry was the most frustrating in the secrecy regard. It's like he knows information that other people either need to know or deserve to know but he won't say because he's trying to cover him (and his loved ones I suppose). I'm thinking specifically of
Spoiler
Thomas being his brother because Ebenezer deserves to know he has another grandson. It's unconscionable for Harry to refuse to tell Ebenezer thatOkay, that's not a side note, it's like 20% of my thoughts but dang it Harry, you're an adult. Communicate.
I was originally going to give this book three stars, but honestly.
I think it is time for me to say goodbye to this series. As I was reading it, I had vague memories of how I was with Buffy. Buffy was a vampire slayer, but when she went to college ... the vampire slaying seemed to grind to a halt and we got more of her personal life than actual... I don't know, vampires and demons? There was no equal balance.
Dresden was a cop once upon a time. His stories were interesting when you had him doing that job. It seems to be that the moment that he stopped being a Private Investigator, his life just seemed no longer interesting to me. Sure, there are a couple other urban fantasies (with a male, and one with a female) that have to do with detectives that deal with fantasy in their city. But Dresden was fun.
Where did the downfall begin? When I look back at my reviews... I'd say Book 12 was when I was running into problems. That was when the issues with Susan came about and when he found out he had a daughter, when there was a lot more personal problems happening. Gone went his days of doing PI business.
Now? Dresden is a Knight of the Winter Court. He handles things and doesn't seem to have any setbacks. He gets out of every scrape easily. He has all this power, this mantle of the Winter Court that in my eyes makes him a bit like Superman. Or, could it be that Mr. Butcher has just gotten tired of writing for Dresden that after 17 books, it's time for him to live his life.
This book was fight heavy, and there was some loss. ... Look, that has to be the most strangest, saddest, rage-inducing death of a character I have ever read and when it happened I had to re-read the paragraph to make sure I read it correctly. I and a few others obviously did not react to the death kindly. Some reviews actually accepted the death but did not like how it was done. I fall in that camp. The death set-up (scene) was lame and I can't believe it happened the way it did, but it did and we have to live with it?
Or do I? I'm just done with Dresden. I am done waiting for these books and then when I get them I'm upset and disheartened at the PI Detective that used to exist in Chicago. I know people change, and I know you can't make him a detective forever... but I don't know, just make the stories interesting?
I think it is time for me to say goodbye to this series. As I was reading it, I had vague memories of how I was with Buffy. Buffy was a vampire slayer, but when she went to college ... the vampire slaying seemed to grind to a halt and we got more of her personal life than actual... I don't know, vampires and demons? There was no equal balance.
Dresden was a cop once upon a time. His stories were interesting when you had him doing that job. It seems to be that the moment that he stopped being a Private Investigator, his life just seemed no longer interesting to me. Sure, there are a couple other urban fantasies (with a male, and one with a female) that have to do with detectives that deal with fantasy in their city. But Dresden was fun.
Where did the downfall begin? When I look back at my reviews... I'd say Book 12 was when I was running into problems. That was when the issues with Susan came about and when he found out he had a daughter, when there was a lot more personal problems happening. Gone went his days of doing PI business.
Now? Dresden is a Knight of the Winter Court. He handles things and doesn't seem to have any setbacks. He gets out of every scrape easily. He has all this power, this mantle of the Winter Court that in my eyes makes him a bit like Superman. Or, could it be that Mr. Butcher has just gotten tired of writing for Dresden that after 17 books, it's time for him to live his life.
This book was fight heavy, and there was some loss. ... Look, that has to be the most strangest, saddest, rage-inducing death of a character I have ever read and when it happened I had to re-read the paragraph to make sure I read it correctly. I and a few others obviously did not react to the death kindly. Some reviews actually accepted the death but did not like how it was done. I fall in that camp. The death set-up (scene) was lame and I can't believe it happened the way it did, but it did and we have to live with it?
Or do I? I'm just done with Dresden. I am done waiting for these books and then when I get them I'm upset and disheartened at the PI Detective that used to exist in Chicago. I know people change, and I know you can't make him a detective forever... but I don't know, just make the stories interesting?
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pros: incredible, cinematic action moments to rival the best fantasy and science fiction I’ve ever read.
Cons: the continued marginalization or tokenization of every female character— particularly some of the coolest characters in the series, who never seem to realize plots or objectives of their own, since they spend all their pages in service of Harry’s story/ego/priorities.
Cons: the continued marginalization or tokenization of every female character— particularly some of the coolest characters in the series, who never seem to realize plots or objectives of their own, since they spend all their pages in service of Harry’s story/ego/priorities.
3.5 stars
[b:Battle Ground|53257805|Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17)|Jim Butcher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600199080l/53257805._SX50_.jpg|42654036] is book 17 in [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]’s Dresden Files series. I have always been a fan of this series and look forward to reading (or in this case listening to) each installment as they are always well written and entertaining forays into the fictional magical world of Chicago. I can't say this installment was any different. It has everything I have always liked about this series; wizards working some magic spells, creepy inhuman monsters, interesting supernatural creatures, and really all the best of the urban fantasy genre. That being said, Battle Ground was not one of my favourites.
The entire book is essentially one very long battle scene, which in theory sounds great, but actually turned out to be a bit too much to have the proper impact. There was so much going on at any time that my attention did not know where to focus. And with everyone fighting everywhere, the individual battles sort of blended together and were easy to sort of skim over. Also every previous ally and side character ever introduced was present, (OK maybe not every one, but it was close). Again, in theory that sounds great, but it has been a very, very long series, so I only vaguely remembered who most of them were, if I recalled them at all, so a lot of the time I had to rely on context to refresh my memory.
I also found the overall tone of the novel was a little too dramatic. Yes, it was a very large and important battle, lots of people were injured, some even died, lots of consequences for Harry and all the major characters, blah blah blah, I get it, really I do. But I only have so much ability to be affected by the ongoing devastation, after a certain point I had reached my limit and I just became numb to it. I just wanted everything to be over and done with so that the overall storyline would get moving again.
I actually quite liked the unexpected twists at the end, as this is where the story picked up again and started advancing forward again. My interest, which had been flagging quite a bit, perked up again just in time for the book to end. I can see that this installment was a necessary one to get the story arc to where it needed to be, and now I am ready to see what is in store for the next adventure, whenever we are fortunate enough to get our hands on it.
[b:Battle Ground|53257805|Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17)|Jim Butcher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600199080l/53257805._SX50_.jpg|42654036] is book 17 in [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]’s Dresden Files series. I have always been a fan of this series and look forward to reading (or in this case listening to) each installment as they are always well written and entertaining forays into the fictional magical world of Chicago. I can't say this installment was any different. It has everything I have always liked about this series; wizards working some magic spells, creepy inhuman monsters, interesting supernatural creatures, and really all the best of the urban fantasy genre. That being said, Battle Ground was not one of my favourites.
The entire book is essentially one very long battle scene, which in theory sounds great, but actually turned out to be a bit too much to have the proper impact. There was so much going on at any time that my attention did not know where to focus. And with everyone fighting everywhere, the individual battles sort of blended together and were easy to sort of skim over. Also every previous ally and side character ever introduced was present, (OK maybe not every one, but it was close). Again, in theory that sounds great, but it has been a very, very long series, so I only vaguely remembered who most of them were, if I recalled them at all, so a lot of the time I had to rely on context to refresh my memory.
I also found the overall tone of the novel was a little too dramatic. Yes, it was a very large and important battle, lots of people were injured, some even died, lots of consequences for Harry and all the major characters, blah blah blah, I get it, really I do. But I only have so much ability to be affected by the ongoing devastation, after a certain point I had reached my limit and I just became numb to it. I just wanted everything to be over and done with so that the overall storyline would get moving again.
I actually quite liked the unexpected twists at the end, as this is where the story picked up again and started advancing forward again. My interest, which had been flagging quite a bit, perked up again just in time for the book to end. I can see that this installment was a necessary one to get the story arc to where it needed to be, and now I am ready to see what is in store for the next adventure, whenever we are fortunate enough to get our hands on it.
Most of the book is written as one big anime fight sequence, and not a subtle one. I would not be surprised that Mr. Butcher made a bet, literally (pun proudly intended), with his publisher that he could get away with writing an anime book. In that respect, it was too long and too repetitive.
Based on the other people's recommendation, he got away with it. I was considering giving it 2 stars, but ending of the book not half bad; and I read it till the end, didn't I.
Based on the other people's recommendation, he got away with it. I was considering giving it 2 stars, but ending of the book not half bad; and I read it till the end, didn't I.
I don't know why I had such a hard time getting into this one. I had to restart it 3 different times before i was finally able to go all the way through. It just didn't grab me like the others, but i did enjoy it.