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penguin_emperor_of_the_north 's review for:
Battle Ground
by Jim Butcher
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.