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A review by pixelthis
Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
4.0
Not really 4 stars, but the short story at the end was good enough to make me round it round it up.
TL;DR Peace Talks and Battle Ground are parts 1 and 2 of the "Infinity War" of the Dresden universe (at least we didn't have to wait a year between the installments).
All the words... I met Jim Butcher at ComicCon shortly after Dead Beat came out back in 2005 or 2006 and I got a chance to talk to him for a few minutes because his line was short compared to Robert Jordan sitting next to him. I remember asking him if he was worried about the "power up" problem wherein the character has just defeated an enemy of X power and so in the next story he must deal with an enemy who is X+1 or 2X power so the main character keeps getting stronger and stronger and the consequences of the stories have to keep getting larger and larger to the point where the character is constantly saving the world from one book to the next. He didn't think so, he felt at that point that he knew where the overall story was going and that that wouldn't be a problem.
I think with these last several books, we've definitely gotten to that level where the "fate of world" is resting squarely on Harry's shoulders all the time (though Skin Game was nice in that it felt more like a traditional heist story, even with potential world shattering consequences). I find it a bit disappointing because I enjoyed the smaller, less massively consequential stories. Harry just a being the hometown wizard trying to good. Your basic Phillip Marlowe detective with a wizard staff, a talking skull, and some skeletons in the closet.
I'm also saving some trouble with this whole "starborn" thing, it feels like we're moving into "The Chosen One" trope territory.
Also, while I'm venting, when Harry is all guilting out about how everything is his fault and how he is guilty of for all these deaths and everyone is reassuring him that it's not his fault and that these things would have happened anyway... it is literally all his fault, and it can all be traced back to when he tried to back out on his bargain with the Leanansidhe back in Grave Peril. He failed to honor his deal and she took Amoracchius. The efforts to recover the sword result in Susan Rodriguez being turned into a vampire which more or less directly leads to the war with the Red Court and all the death and destruction that follows...
TL;DR Peace Talks and Battle Ground are parts 1 and 2 of the "Infinity War" of the Dresden universe (at least we didn't have to wait a year between the installments).
All the words... I met Jim Butcher at ComicCon shortly after Dead Beat came out back in 2005 or 2006 and I got a chance to talk to him for a few minutes because his line was short compared to Robert Jordan sitting next to him. I remember asking him if he was worried about the "power up" problem wherein the character has just defeated an enemy of X power and so in the next story he must deal with an enemy who is X+1 or 2X power so the main character keeps getting stronger and stronger and the consequences of the stories have to keep getting larger and larger to the point where the character is constantly saving the world from one book to the next. He didn't think so, he felt at that point that he knew where the overall story was going and that that wouldn't be a problem.
I think with these last several books, we've definitely gotten to that level where the "fate of world" is resting squarely on Harry's shoulders all the time (though Skin Game was nice in that it felt more like a traditional heist story, even with potential world shattering consequences). I find it a bit disappointing because I enjoyed the smaller, less massively consequential stories. Harry just a being the hometown wizard trying to good. Your basic Phillip Marlowe detective with a wizard staff, a talking skull, and some skeletons in the closet.
I'm also saving some trouble with this whole "starborn" thing, it feels like we're moving into "The Chosen One" trope territory.
Also, while I'm venting, when Harry is all guilting out about how everything is his fault and how he is guilty of for all these deaths and everyone is reassuring him that it's not his fault and that these things would have happened anyway... it is literally all his fault, and it can all be traced back to when he tried to back out on his bargain with the Leanansidhe back in Grave Peril. He failed to honor his deal and she took Amoracchius. The efforts to recover the sword result in Susan Rodriguez being turned into a vampire which more or less directly leads to the war with the Red Court and all the death and destruction that follows...