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A review by writerdgabrielle
Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
2.0
It pains me, a little, to rate a book of the Dresden Files so low but this really was not the strongest outing after such a long wait for its publication. And while I understand part of that wait was splitting Peace Talks in two, I still expected a lot more from this book. I even left it sitting on a shelf for another year as I built up the courage to read it, expecting much pain and heartache.
What I got instead was a single night that lasted almost 500 pages, one supernatural battle after another. Which, the book is called Battle Ground; battles are to be expected. What isn't expected, from someone with Butcher's chops, is flinging forgotten foes and friendlies at the reader like buckshot. Every new chapter, it seemed we were dredging up someone from the past and giving the Wiki a workout trying to remember, "Who the heck is this guy, now?"
That might be an exaggeration but a small one. I've read a few reviews on this book and it seems everyone is in agreeance regarding what was strong and what was . . . well, not. So, if you have read those reviews and want to stop here, I will not be offended. If you want to see WHY I feel the way I do, then read on.
First, what I liked:
Watching the allies die. Wait, stick with me . . . Up to this point in the series, with a few exceptions, named allies were often only beaten and maimed. See: Carlos Ramirez. Michael Carpenter. Donald Morgan. We have lost a few—Shiro, Ancient Mai, Susan—but for the most part, the Dresden Files has been a good, old fashioned, Good Guys Win structure. There's nothing wrong with it but after seventeen books, a little loss is not only to be expected but really deepens those who are left.
Everything I've always liked about the Dresden Files. The magic-in-the-real-world, the snarky banter . . . Chicago. In my most recent trip to Chicago, I did a few things I never had before and that resulted in my being in the exact location of the main battle of this book, Columbus Ave. and Millennium Park. With that scenery fresh in my mind, I saw that battle unfold. That imagery, that connection to a place is something I strive for in my own work. I want people to be able to see the story and feel like they are there.
Now for the things I didn't like: Here be spoilers
Murphy's death. And here's where my reasoning takes a step to the left. For Murphy's death to really have impact on me, it needed to happen in Chichen Itza. Well, no because there was already too much going on there and Susan's death needed to be the Big Death but everything after Changes ruined Murphy and her relationship with Harry, again for me. Relieving sexual tension between two principal characters is one of the top Jump the Shark moments in television and we see with Murphy's death that it risked being one here too. I felt manipulated by it. I felt like their entire romantic interlude was set up for the sole purpose of knocking it down and bringing Harry pain. I felt like Murphy's death was nothing more than to show that the Winter mantle was pushing Luke toward the Dark Side . . . er, I mean, Harry more toward the monster status he's felt gaining since Laciel.
And that sentence alone contains two more things that bugged me about this book. We were not given three pages without being reminded of what the Winter mantle was and how it worked. This one detail in particular felt like Butcher was given the keys to the kingdom and set free to do as he pleased. That his editor was very hands off on this one. The constant repetition of "The mantle of Winter masked the pain" was very distracting and almost condescending, as if we were not trusted to remember that Harry should be in excruciating pain but that would come later.
And Namshiel. Just. Nope.
Look, I'm not going to lie and say that one of the key reasons Chicago is one of my favorite cities isn't the organized crime angle. Or that I low key (high key) loved that my college town was dubbed Little Chicago because of rumors that a bunch of mid-level gangsters fled to Colorado to escape Ness and his crew. That whole world makes my skin tingle.
So, turning one of my Favorite characters who is a favorite because of who and what he is, into something Else . . . I abhor this idea that Gentleman Johnny Marcone is no longer an above average human but still just human monster. Marcone's entire appeal to me has always been his human scariness, the belief that a regular human man could potentially be the one to take down a powerful rogue wizard after said wizard has bested ghouls and gods alike, after said wizard rode a reanimated dino skeleton into battle . . . that was what made Gentleman Johnny Marcone amazing. Not being possessed by a fallen angel.
Not to mention Namshiel's influence cheapened one of the best (worst) deaths in the book. Where Murphy's death was an abomination and insult, Marcone's death was the only one that truly made me flinch. Probably because of my attachment to him. But watching him go down was a shock. Watching him dust it off and get back into it . . . sucked even worse.
Ethinu was a problem in a lot of ways. First she was B O R I N G. She had no levels, only pure, unadulterated hatred at an 11 on a ten point scale. She had no redeeming qualities, nothing that made you even secretly wonder if she might be right (See: Marcone, the human guy in previous books). Confucius say do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hammer. Eithnu was that hammer. No finesse, no elegance, just Hulk Smash.
But beyond that . . . I advocate strongly for starting a series small—low stakes, young protag—for the purpose of building into something bigger. Where is Butcher to go, now that he has introduced a being that was created to kill gods and shown Harry could defeat her? Demonreach prison break? Sounds a lot like what we just finished. So, with a rumored 7 more books, where does this series go? I feel like lateral movement is really all that's left. I mean, I don't suppose I anticipated a Titan was on the horizon anywhere around the destruction of the Red Court but Titan seems pretty massive, pretty "as big as it gets."
I guess that remains to be seen.
I'm a stubborn person and I will see this series through to the end; I have invested far too much at this point. Plus, I have to see what becomes of Thomas who is my actual Favorite character, the only one to ever earn the title Book Boyfriend (yet another gripe being that the first half of the story—especially if you consider it was, at first, one book—did not play into the second half at all . . .). But Battle Ground changed a lot of things, some for the worse (not sure I'm going to miss Murphy but I will miss human Marcone) and book 18 is going to be a hard sell.
What I got instead was a single night that lasted almost 500 pages, one supernatural battle after another. Which, the book is called Battle Ground; battles are to be expected. What isn't expected, from someone with Butcher's chops, is flinging forgotten foes and friendlies at the reader like buckshot. Every new chapter, it seemed we were dredging up someone from the past and giving the Wiki a workout trying to remember, "Who the heck is this guy, now?"
That might be an exaggeration but a small one. I've read a few reviews on this book and it seems everyone is in agreeance regarding what was strong and what was . . . well, not. So, if you have read those reviews and want to stop here, I will not be offended. If you want to see WHY I feel the way I do, then read on.
First, what I liked:
Watching the allies die. Wait, stick with me . . . Up to this point in the series, with a few exceptions, named allies were often only beaten and maimed. See: Carlos Ramirez. Michael Carpenter. Donald Morgan. We have lost a few—Shiro, Ancient Mai, Susan—but for the most part, the Dresden Files has been a good, old fashioned, Good Guys Win structure. There's nothing wrong with it but after seventeen books, a little loss is not only to be expected but really deepens those who are left.
Everything I've always liked about the Dresden Files. The magic-in-the-real-world, the snarky banter . . . Chicago. In my most recent trip to Chicago, I did a few things I never had before and that resulted in my being in the exact location of the main battle of this book, Columbus Ave. and Millennium Park. With that scenery fresh in my mind, I saw that battle unfold. That imagery, that connection to a place is something I strive for in my own work. I want people to be able to see the story and feel like they are there.
Now for the things I didn't like: Here be spoilers
Murphy's death. And here's where my reasoning takes a step to the left. For Murphy's death to really have impact on me, it needed to happen in Chichen Itza. Well, no because there was already too much going on there and Susan's death needed to be the Big Death but everything after Changes ruined Murphy and her relationship with Harry, again for me. Relieving sexual tension between two principal characters is one of the top Jump the Shark moments in television and we see with Murphy's death that it risked being one here too. I felt manipulated by it. I felt like their entire romantic interlude was set up for the sole purpose of knocking it down and bringing Harry pain. I felt like Murphy's death was nothing more than to show that the Winter mantle was pushing Luke toward the Dark Side . . . er, I mean, Harry more toward the monster status he's felt gaining since Laciel.
And that sentence alone contains two more things that bugged me about this book. We were not given three pages without being reminded of what the Winter mantle was and how it worked. This one detail in particular felt like Butcher was given the keys to the kingdom and set free to do as he pleased. That his editor was very hands off on this one. The constant repetition of "The mantle of Winter masked the pain" was very distracting and almost condescending, as if we were not trusted to remember that Harry should be in excruciating pain but that would come later.
And Namshiel. Just. Nope.
Look, I'm not going to lie and say that one of the key reasons Chicago is one of my favorite cities isn't the organized crime angle. Or that I low key (high key) loved that my college town was dubbed Little Chicago because of rumors that a bunch of mid-level gangsters fled to Colorado to escape Ness and his crew. That whole world makes my skin tingle.
So, turning one of my Favorite characters who is a favorite because of who and what he is, into something Else . . . I abhor this idea that Gentleman Johnny Marcone is no longer an above average human but still just human monster. Marcone's entire appeal to me has always been his human scariness, the belief that a regular human man could potentially be the one to take down a powerful rogue wizard after said wizard has bested ghouls and gods alike, after said wizard rode a reanimated dino skeleton into battle . . . that was what made Gentleman Johnny Marcone amazing. Not being possessed by a fallen angel.
Not to mention Namshiel's influence cheapened one of the best (worst) deaths in the book. Where Murphy's death was an abomination and insult, Marcone's death was the only one that truly made me flinch. Probably because of my attachment to him. But watching him go down was a shock. Watching him dust it off and get back into it . . . sucked even worse.
Ethinu was a problem in a lot of ways. First she was B O R I N G. She had no levels, only pure, unadulterated hatred at an 11 on a ten point scale. She had no redeeming qualities, nothing that made you even secretly wonder if she might be right (See: Marcone, the human guy in previous books). Confucius say do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hammer. Eithnu was that hammer. No finesse, no elegance, just Hulk Smash.
But beyond that . . . I advocate strongly for starting a series small—low stakes, young protag—for the purpose of building into something bigger. Where is Butcher to go, now that he has introduced a being that was created to kill gods and shown Harry could defeat her? Demonreach prison break? Sounds a lot like what we just finished. So, with a rumored 7 more books, where does this series go? I feel like lateral movement is really all that's left. I mean, I don't suppose I anticipated a Titan was on the horizon anywhere around the destruction of the Red Court but Titan seems pretty massive, pretty "as big as it gets."
I guess that remains to be seen.
I'm a stubborn person and I will see this series through to the end; I have invested far too much at this point. Plus, I have to see what becomes of Thomas who is my actual Favorite character, the only one to ever earn the title Book Boyfriend (yet another gripe being that the first half of the story—especially if you consider it was, at first, one book—did not play into the second half at all . . .). But Battle Ground changed a lot of things, some for the worse (not sure I'm going to miss Murphy but I will miss human Marcone) and book 18 is going to be a hard sell.