E-E-E-E-Epic win!

The count down is going to take forever.

 

This.

Turn Coat while decent was kind of a let down for me considering that the traitor turned out to be some nobody and the final enemy was simply a skinwalker, so I'm definitely hoping that Dresden can cut loose here and really shine in terms of his true potential. Also it'll be interesting to see how Harry deals with the Thomas issue.

 

Some nobody? Please, we called it back in Dead Beat.

 

A nobody? Nobodies dont usual manage to alter decisions made by the Senior Council, and completely take over the minds of probably 90% of the younger wardens.

 

If, by nobody, you mean a relatively minor character, I almost agree with you. Peabody didn't get a lot of 'page time'. He was kind of third tier. Actually, Aside from Thomas, it was mostly minor characters who were affected in Turn Coat - again, I mean 'minor' as not getting a lot of attention, the way, say, Murphy or Molly or Mouse or... the letter 'M' gets. Point is, TC had some sweet moments - but I think it was just a prelude to the next book. I think Changes will affect the major characters - Harry himself and Murphy.

 

I don't see how you can assume that Changes can seriously affect Murphy based on the information we have right now. Granted, if Murphy ditches to go fight with Harry, maybe she'll finally get fired and pick up the damn sword!

I don't see any reason for disappointment with Turn Coat. Peabody may not have gotten much screentime, but he wouldn't be much of a double agent if he was overt and obvious now would he? Recall that he's not only responsible for the events in Turn Coat (Death of a Senior Council member, and the Warden's most powerful evocator), but the ambush in Italy which decimated the Wardens, the attack on Archangel which killed numerous wizards and another Senior Council member, and had a hand in the Darkhallow.

I don't really see why people have such scorn for the skinwalker. It was a beast, literally. I loved the assault on Chateau Raith. Snacking on fingers, pull Dresden through multiple floors from below. Completely robbing Thomas of what humanity he'd gained. He did more damage than most Dresden villains manage.

 

You didn't feel like Peabody was obvious, Sol? He showed up everywhere Dresden did at the WC HQ. That said to me "I'm following you around to see what I might overhear." I'm sure I'm not the only one here who figured he was the traitor, either. Not counting the folks who figured Peabody was it several novels back.

As for Murphy...I really hope she doesn't take up a sword. Or end up on Harry's quest for the alleged daughter. Or jump on Dresden's metaphorical staff. I don't mind the character, but I don't love her, either.

That said, I agree with you about Turn Coat. I wasn't disappointed at all, and Shagnasty was actually done really well. If he'd been the sole point of the story (like many of the main baddies have been so far) then he might have beenkind of weak. Instead he was a fucking badass who showed up only in key moments. He was used in the best way I could imagine.

 

There was only one disappointing thing about Turn Coat; we didn't get to see Elder Gruff vs The Skinwalker.

 

I suspected it was Peabody long before Turn Coat came out, that hardly means it was obvious to the characters in the story. Who expects their secretary to be a super secret spy? I more mean he was more circumspect than the typical Dresden baddy a la Nicodemus or Cowl.

Dresden is almost never at HQ, a senior council member has dead, Morgan has fled and Dresden talks exclusively to Senior Council members, why would the characters find this suspicious?

 

The Warden Boot Camp being given away. The fact that McCoy didn't mention Peabody (The WC's secretary possibly the one guy capable of finding out any WC secret he wants) when mentioning possible traitors was fairly obvious on Butcher's part. Though in-universe I wouldn't be surprised if Peabody himself had something to do with the lack of suspicion concerning himself. Mind benders be tricky.

 

He could nudge the Senior Council members slightly, but I doubt he could go quite that far with it. Sure he could do pretty much whatever with the younger members about Dresden's age or younger, but theres alot of difference between a 40 year old and a 240 year old. Im going with the idea that he could nudge the Senior Council this way and that but he did most of his work by keeping his head down and doing nothing to raise suspicions. Basically being AntiHarry.

 

Preview chapters

I am not sure if it was mentioned before, but here it goes:

According to Priscellie from Jim Butcher's Forum there will be only 4 preview chapters, starting March 2nd.

Just a bit over three weeks left...

 

That sucks. The original date given was Feb 9th.... I was really getting excited.

Oh well.

 

Good to know, before I got too excited about soon.

 

If this is accurate, I guess the White Council will learn just how highly Harry values them, and just how much control they have over him, which is to say none. Hopefully he calls in all sorts of backup.

 

I honestly wouldn't be that surprised. He'd probably would use a more delicate wording in front of the council, though... Maybe send a proxy to say that and try and lure him into attacking, like Morgan in SK?