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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
I am going to do the opposite of what I did for Peace Talks for this book, which is I’m not going to write hardly anything, and only one thing will be under spoiler tags. If you have read the book, you know what that thing is.
So, bullet points!
• I do not think either of these books was really served well by being split in two. I think they should have been one big book, and maybe cut like 100 pages from both. Maybe more from this one.
• Action scenes have always been my least favorite part of the Dresden Files and this book is mostly action. He does do a pretty good job varying the tone of the story so that it’s not just one big battle, but a large portion of this book does blur in my memory, which means a large portion of it didn’t need to be there.
• Butters is awesome.
• I continue to love what Butcher is doing with Lara.
• I am loving Mab more each book.
• I think a lot of good themes and character work were buried here under The Battle.
• Some cool revelations about side characters like Marcone that have been building for books and books, but again, which were sort of lost amidst the chaos of The Battle.
•I don’t care if it’s the Winter Mantle or not (and it probably is) I’m really tired of the horny thoughts from Harry and am ready for him to get a handle on them so I can stop reading them.
•I’m not a fan of the way the Carlos/Harry relationship was handled here. I did not understand Carlos’s motivations.
•There was a bit of a conflicting tone here, even after some really really bad things happened, Butcher still wanted to preserve Harry's smart-ass attitude for the rest of the narrative, which I don’t think was a good decision and didn’t work for me.
•
• FUTURE SPOILERS?
So, bullet points!
• I do not think either of these books was really served well by being split in two. I think they should have been one big book, and maybe cut like 100 pages from both. Maybe more from this one.
• Action scenes have always been my least favorite part of the Dresden Files and this book is mostly action. He does do a pretty good job varying the tone of the story so that it’s not just one big battle, but a large portion of this book does blur in my memory, which means a large portion of it didn’t need to be there.
• Butters is awesome.
• I continue to love what Butcher is doing with Lara.
• I am loving Mab more each book.
• I think a lot of good themes and character work were buried here under The Battle.
• Some cool revelations about side characters like Marcone that have been building for books and books, but again, which were sort of lost amidst the chaos of The Battle.
•I don’t care if it’s the Winter Mantle or not (and it probably is) I’m really tired of the horny thoughts from Harry and am ready for him to get a handle on them so I can stop reading them.
•I’m not a fan of the way the Carlos/Harry relationship was handled here. I did not understand Carlos’s motivations.
•There was a bit of a conflicting tone here, even after some really really bad things happened, Butcher still wanted to preserve Harry's smart-ass attitude for the rest of the narrative, which I don’t think was a good decision and didn’t work for me.
•
Spoiler
The thing. Look, I knew Murphy was toast even if I didn’t want to say it/type it out loud. I’ve guessed since we learned in book seven that Harry was going to live for hundreds of years. I’ve pretty much known she was going to die since Skin Game when Murph didn’t qualify for the sword, and Butters got it instead, and my feelings were only confirmed in Peace Talks. Butcher had to have some other role in mind for her that would have leveled her up enough to remain in the game long enough to stay narratively interesting, and it was only after PT that I thought she might turn out to be a Valkyrie. This is honestly the only reason I’m not mad she’s dead, because I’m convinced Butcher killed her solely so he could make her a Valkyrie, and honestly, I’m totally okay with it if that’s the reason. I honestly never saw Harry with her long term anyway. This way, she’s not really dead, and who are we kidding, there’s no way that she’s not coming back into the story. My bet would be in the Big Apocalyptic Trilogy down the road, which will probably be quite a ways down Harry’s timeline, if I had to guess. Plus Murphy as a badass Valkyrie is an appealing thought. The one thing I’m not sure about is how she died. I get she killed a big monster and saved people, but it was Rudy that killed her in the end. I’ll have to think about it a little.• FUTURE SPOILERS?
Spoiler
In case you were wondering what the other thing I have predicted after reading Peace Talks was, it’s that Thomas will get the last sword and it will finally give him some sort of peace from being a vampire. It’s the sword of love, which is like his thing. No idea when this will happen, but I have a really good feeling about it.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
No
This moves the Dresden World's plot forward more than the previous book and feels like a natural escalation of the series' recent tone. Unfortunately extended battle set pieces are a great spectacle for movies that don't work on the page, at least not within Butcher's abilities. The war sequences are drawn out and bogged down with characters of increasing power levels appearing briefly only to be struck down unceremoniously in an instant. Thankfully it isn't as overly morose like recent fantasy-war porn The Poppy War or Iron Gold trilogies but doesn't have the care free spirit of prior Dresden Files.
I wish Butcher could find a way to build out his mythology and characters in balance with his plots. Asides from an interesting development with Marcone, no other villains or anti heroes get much character development in this book especially the episodically-banished Big Bad.
I wish Butcher could find a way to build out his mythology and characters in balance with his plots. Asides from an interesting development with Marcone, no other villains or anti heroes get much character development in this book especially the episodically-banished Big Bad.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-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
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Oh man, Battle Ground DEFINITELY makes up for how mediocre and boring Peace Talks was.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
