Doubt it. I may be imagining this but doesnt it say in one of the books that dark magic leaves a taint or scent to those who know it? If so theres no way in hell someone like Cowl could possibly hide from the Senior Council. I bet he has a minion or two in the Council but not Cowl himself.

 

If Eb leads the Black Council would that make the Black Council legitimate under his role as Blackstaff?

 

I tried to imagine second-guessing myself on everything I’d done for the past eight years.
I wouldn’t be one of those guys for the world.

Was this foreshadowing the size of a brick or am I just crazy?

Grey Council? I guess lame jokes have long lives.

Well, I liked the book quite a bit, and loved Toot. I can't say much more, because I read it so fast I haven't finished digesting it yet.

 

Oh, yeah. I completly forgot about that when I was writing my thoughts. Toot was great in this.

Oh, and as I reread, I'm getting more and more sure it's going to wind up Harry/Molly.

 

Personally I want Harry/Elaine.

 

I wish, but I think not. She's too young. Dresden wouldn't go there, and if he can resist the temptation of Lara, he can resist the temptation of Molly. Though Molly > Lara.

 

Overrated book is overrated. Not bad, just not as epic as all of you are describing. Bottom of the top five maybe, if only for the answers we were given, and the glimpse we got at the White Council inner workings, but certainly not the best in the series.

One thing has been bothering me about the series lately. Jim Butcher is 37 years old, and he seems intent on making Dresden roughly the same physical age. The books and short stories recently have been filled with references to Dresden that seem to refer to him as a man entering the beginning of middle-age, which doesn't really make a lot of sense for someone who could potentially live to be three hundred years old or more. My personal theory is that, with the way wizards age, Harry's physical age should be closer to mid 20s, and that Butcher is projecting too much of himself on his character.

I also thought it was odd that he kept referring to Murphy as looking like "someone's favorite aunt". It just doesn't seem like the way you talk about someone if you're setting up a romantic relationship, which he frankly came closer to with their goodbye scene than he has in any book so far. A lotta kissing and saying of I-love-yous there for someone who looks like your mother's sister.

And speaking of mothers, does anyone else think that "Maggie" is about to become someone who no one has talked about for years, but everyone suddenly knows? We've always known that she was important to Harry's eventual destiny, but it feels like her part in it should be more of a secret than it apparently is.

Thomas going off the wagon is a good thing. Ever since he broke with the White Court he's become more and more Harry's little sidekick, and the character has become stagnant. I thought that Butcher would shake it up by giving him one of the Swords, and he still might, but this brush with the dark side might be just what Thomas needs to become relevant again.

Peabody as the villain was kind of fail, and more than a little obvious once he was introduced, but I'm honestly not sure who would've been better. The Black Council has been built up as so powerful and scary that I don't know who could actually live up to it.

 

I bet everyone of any importance in the Council knows exactly who Dresden's mom is but only a few namely the top wardens, Senior Council, and maybe some of the more powerful and influential people know what she did.

As for the Black Council seeming so all powerful, sure they seem that way compared with Harry and Carlos. But after seeming Injun Joe drive off a thing that Morgan had to lure to a nuke test to kill; Im not really all that worried as long as the entire council doesnt turn Black.

 

The Black Council's strength lies not only in their magical strength but also in their method of warfare.

 

I see Injun Joe as one of the next Senior Council members on a stretcher; he's gotten way more screen time, and is up for more, if Dresden takes him up on the grief counseling/wtfpwn Shapeshifting.

Also, anyone else think Molly should spend a vacation on the farm with Eb while Harry's away being all tribal-emo?

Also in regards to Molly, Creeper!Morgan was hilarious.

 

The way I took it is that it's not a natural aging process, but one that is enhanced via channeling magic all the time, so instead of aging like a hobbit for example, they would age like a normal human, but just keep going where other humans would have died off.

There is are many different kinds of love besides romantic. I think this was meant to show just how deep their friendship has become, after all Harry and Murphy have lived through a lot of interesting times, and that tends to forge friendships like no other.

You have to put it in perspective, all these people are telling him these things about his mom now because their starting to get to know him, up till now the only friendly person who could have told him anything that he knew at the start of the book was Eb, why Eb never said anything I don't know.

Who would have been in a more perfect spot to influence all the leading heads of the White Council? He was in the right place to be useful as a spy and manipulator, he was in charge of all the paper work after all, and by the end of the book he had the entire compound wrapped around his finger.

Your just disappointed that it wasn't some uber powerful Black Council member that would pwen everybody then get his ass kicked and disappear not to be seen for two or three books.

Instead it was your average spy using his brain to fight, where he lacked in sheer strength he made up for in being a sneaky bastard.

 

Interesting idea I just saw on the Butcher forums: what if Dresden's mum was the one to start (or at least plant the seed of) the Black Council, in her campaign to change the White Council and the way it does business?

 

What if she's not dead?!?!

 

What if she's Cowl?!?!

 

Since she used a death curse (which Jim confirmed), and death curses leave their user's dead, that's unlikely. Also, while Harry's mom sound's impressive, the member's of the Black Council seem to make her look like a school girl.

 

True. Also in Fool Moon, Demon Chauncy talks about Maggie's death.

Black Council wanted to overthrow the WC for a long time. It seems that they put a lot of ground work before actively working towards that goal. In TC, Luccio said that Maggie loved pointing out grey area's of magic and wanted to reform the Council. She had great many contacts with Fey and other factions, even Nicodemus knew her. Its possible that Maggie started the whole BC thing or atleast involved with them at one point.

At some point she got enslaved by Raith and I think during that time she recognised her mistake. She escaped later and met Harry's Father on the run. I think Malcom Dresden was the one who changed her views about the world. She fell in love, got married. During her second pregnancy she knew that her end was near, so she planned accordingly - such as timing Harry's birth so that he'll have power over Outsiders, his and Thomas soul gaze message etc. Maybe Harry's whole life revolves around the consequences of her redemption.

 

Is there anyone she didnt meet during those years where she disappeared from the Council's rader? Fae, Raith, didnt she meet Nic too?

 

Yeah, this has bothered me as well, although I'd not really made the connection to his age. My pet theory had been that Harry, unlike most of the wizards his age, has seen a Lot of wear and tear over the years. And while Wizards regenerate perfectly eventually, in the meanwhile that hurt accumulates, ensuring that he feels older and more worn down than he otherwise should.

I'm pretty sure that anything with Murphy was shot down a couple of books ago.

A renegade Warden? Why exactly would she be a secret... especially from the big hitters whom Harry meets all the time?