I liked how Hades made the comparison between his position and Dresden's

 

Well... Holy Fuck.

This was the first book since Changes that I felt compelled to finish in one sitting - and it took me until 2 AM and sleeping in the guest room, but I damn well did it.

And I'm seriously glad I did.

First off, Butcher's take on an honest-to-gods Ocean's Eleven was beautiful; not super-over-complicated, but definitely twisted in that familiar way we've all come to expect. Was the overall plot original? not in the least. Was it well-executed? Hells yeah. Compulsive read.

Now, specific points:

I fucking love Bob. I have always fucking loved Bob. When my brothers and I (and a couple cousins) who have all read the books compared ourselves to characters in the books, I was Bob. I love how active he has become as a character, and I hope he continues to play a bigger role than 'smart-ass pervert in the basement.' I also think there's a chance he'll take on a mentorship role with the New Girl.

Speaking of whom, we need a name for her. I have no idea what Dresden will come up with, but he'll probably relate her to the friends she most closely reflects, in which case, I vote for Bobbi. Or Michelle. Or M'ciel? just anything but 'Lash Jr.,' or 'Little Lash,' please. (I'm voting for Michelle, actually; Butcher loves the letter 'M'.)

Michael coming in - and Mr. Sunshine skirting the letter of the law to allow it - was a big, bright, beautiful 'Fuck You' to Nic, and I loved it. And Michael basically slapping Harry right in the ego, giving him that headshake that he so desperately needed, more than anything, made me wish I knew someone like Michael. Touched by God, (or god, or gods, or whatever) or not, the man is solid and wise, and a damn fine father/uncle surrogate for Harry and the reader. He is literally the only character I've never looked at and thought, "You idiot! Why are you doing that?!" Every action he takes, every bit of wisdom he imparts, makes sense, in the context of his character. I'm glad he was able to return to retirement.

Goodman Grey is officially my new 2nd favourite supporting character, right after Santa VadderOdin. Part of me wishes he'd shown up earlier in the series, just so that we could have more of him.

I didn't feel hammered over the head with the Christian-ness, especially since it was a fucking Greek God at the centre of everything, but I know Butcher stays with what he knows, or is at least familiar with. Still, we're a long way from considering the Dresden Files 'Christian Lit'... though a tiny piece of me admits we're getting closer. I second the hope for a mixed pantheon.

I feel bad for Karrin. Not just the injuries, but also the fact that she, on some level, must have taken a serious ego-shattering. I mean, she was doing fine, until Nic played the Sword against her. But that was perfectly in keeping with his character, so I can't stop and say 'That was stupid.' I can be mad about it, though, and I guess that was the point. But in the end, she was supplanted by Butters.

I'll say that again, and express what so many of us are feeling.

She was down-voted as a Knight in favour of fucking Butters.

I'm not going to rant too hard here; I was in Butters' corner until he went and caused The Incident With the Breakage. And yes, I get where he was coming from - his trust in Harry had been seriously rattled, if not violated altogether. As explained by Karrin, he had Bob, which meant he had information - knowledge. Knowledge is power, and as we all know, with power, responsibility, yada yada.

I'm not objecting to his 'Batmaning' it - though in a way, based on his circumstance and motives, I think 'Spidermaning' it is more accurate - and I admire that he brought so many tricks to the game. My problem is how damn irresponsible it all was. Not the lack of trust, that I get, but how he went about trying to resolve it. Instead of asking bob to do some recon, which is one of bob's fucking specialties, keeping the skull safe, he charges into the field himself.

Which would have made a lot more sense if he'd brought along a single god-damned offensive weapon instead of just his escape tricks. There is literally no reason that he needed to be there himself, and he obviously wasn't prepared to be.

All that being said, it was probably guilt over everything that happened in the wake of the IWB that pushed him to take the duster, and step outside... but it was still a very long scene (subplot, really) that centred on an otherwise intelligent and cautious person holding the idiot ball.

Speaking of which, despite all the arguments that he was just trying to get some revenge, and wasn't really going out of his way, Nic's final showdown at Chez Carpenter shouldn't have happened. He would have known that the safe wouldn't hold the team for long.

There was no reason for him to go there personally. He could have sent Jordan and the others on a suicide run while making good his escape. there were other minor instances, such as right after the Gate of Ice, where he could have done things as didn't; but I can accept those as Nic keeping his options open. He never makes a move unless he has to or sees no downside; he keeps his options open at all times, and besides - if he'd killed Dresden, who has experience acting as a ghost (something it would not at all surprise me to know Nic was aware of) while in Hades' domain, that would have released Harry from Mab's deal, and would have allowed Ghost!Harry to fuck shit up, hard.

I will agree that The Enemy is Nemesis. I'm not sure how being in Hades' realm will protect anyone once the universe is shut off, but maybe Nic was just lying to himself. Something tells me he has a remarkable talent for self-deception... you live a life of lies, you eventually live a lie.

Smaller criticisms: Needs moar Thomas.

I also think Molly is a little too put together after everything she went through. Yeah, I get it, she's tough, but it two years enough to get out of a crippling depression, sudden change in circumstance (and, possibly, race), multiple deaths and the resultant psychic impact, and all the various other hazards she's endured recently? Maybe, given the right guidance, but I'm hesitant to believe it. I think she's heading for a major breakdown; it's the only way I can accept her quick recovery.

Beyond all that, happy with the book overall and will definitely be re-reading the conversations with Grey. Also definitely agree that some wheels were put in motion with this latest wild weekend, and Harry is going to be suffering through for a bit.

I am sad to have confirmation that Lash is dead. Having met (a very fresh-faced, incompetent) Lasciel, "She does not deserve you," has just been promoted to one of the best parting lines ever... and one of the most heart-wrenching.

Speaking of which, as a guy who has recently found himself thinking "children might not be such a bad idea after all,' Maggie and Harry hit me with the feelbat. I most certainly did not cry. And it was most definitely not manly, and even if it was... I'm sure as fuck not ashamed.

Protecting those you care about, yeah, I always got it, on some level - friends, SO, even pets. But your kids... Yeah, I would stand beside a friend, or my wife, maybe even a little in front of them. But I would fucking cover my children, and keep the world from hitting them for as long as I possibly could.

Last note: Happy as the king of sofas that everybody took their cuts. could have been so easy to write them off as being noble or some shit, but it's about goddamned time Harry walked away from an adventure with a profit to show.

Besides, he's got depleted uranium to buy. And another back-up vessel to build. And two daughters to provide for, now. Something tells me those diamonds ain't gonna last long.

 

Someone on IRC coined Babiel which I love.

 

What about her Mantle as an acceptable explanation? As Titania said in Cold Days, Mab is all about "reason, logic, calculation, the cold numbers, the supremacy of the mind". I can't imagine the Winter Lady being much different. Maybe the Mantle has helped her. Maybe it has already changed her on a significant level.

Anyway, great book. Maybe cracks my top five. I feel like the ending was weaker than the rest, though. Weaker than the endings of my favorite books in the series, too. I think there was a lot of missed potential with how the birth was handled, especially considering Molly was the one to deliver the spirit of intellect. I'm hoping in a flashback. Also the last fight at the Carpenters' was way less exciting than the first one, and that's a serious knock on the ramping-up of the book.

Minor gripes are: no Thomas, no White Council, no Outsiders. I'm still waiting for the consequences of Harry's return to life, and that's mostly because I'm still waiting for Harry to actually return to Chicago (there was that bit with the Fomor, but come on). Marcone was meh. Lasciel was underwhelming.

I loved everything else.

“Why would I, Hades, take such a personal interest in you, Harry Dresden?”

When he said that, I honestly thought he was going to talk about Harry skirting death. Multiple entities told Dresden that was a huge deal that would draw a lot of attention to him, but Hades (who coincidentally enough has a tiny itsy bit to do with death) ignored it and took me by surprise with his answer.

Anyway, gonna reread it in the next few days.

 

Not true. We know what Dresden knows about how it works. Nicodemus never explained why it had to be Deidre who he sacrificed. I'm saying that the Gate of Blood requires the Sacrificer and the Sacrificee to be related by blood. The sacrifice having to be a blood relation fits with the dual nature of each of the gates. The fire gate had extreme heat and a creature of fire, the Ice gate had extreme cold and the obstacle course of ice. The blood gate had the willing sacrifice of a person, who had to be a blood relation to the one who killed them.

If it could have been Random Fanatic Squire #4 then that completely ruins Nicodemus' character. Which is not something Butcher does.

 

I don't really get the Winter Mantle at the moment. On one hand we have Harry who needs to fight with his prime instincts and on the other we have a cold reasoning from Mab. That's two rather extremely different takes on it. And what would be Summer counterpart of them? Emotions for reason, but what for instinct?

I agree that Lasciel was very underwhelming to the point that this book would be better if she didn't appear in it. After her vicious seven words revenge she relegated to simply being Nicodemus' lackey.

 

Tessa's angle was really simple:

She was a mother trying to prevent her daughter's death. There really wasn't anything more complicated to it.

It's explicitly said in the book that the new spirit knows everything both Harry and Lash knew, so yeah....

 

I had a couple thoughts about the gate of blood. Originally, given that the others were chosen for their specialties, I would have bet Blood was guarded and Nick would have sworded them to death. The thing with Deidre was better though.
And secondly, a crossover idea, the blood lever must be activated by a soul. The Resurrection Stone can call up souls (kinda, depending on your interpretation). Just an idea for fanfic.
Did Shezza's Denarian series leave the Stone with Harry?

 

Well it could always be possible that he plans on getting her get back, after all there is at least one prominent Greek story where exactly that is accomplished. And maybe he really meant it with her being safe there for the time being, because with what he planned to do with the cup/spear would greatly upset heaven (and maybe even hell) and Deidre is safe from any retribution as long as she remains in the Tartaros. (Not that I give this scenario high odd)

And I have question.. how much do you think will Dresden change over the next 1-2 years? Will he finally get back on track and stop worrying about becoming a monster (I fear not), what sort of father do you think he will make? An active one or more of an distant uncle? Will he reclaim Chicago , both from outside threats like the Formor and inside ones or do you think that he will concentrate on the bigger issues? And will he get Bob back or not? (Because I see no longer any rationality for it to remain with Butters)

 

I very much doubt Dresden will ever stop worrying about becoming a monster for the remainder of the series. He might stop angsting about it as hard, but given the tone and how it's been treated so far, I don't think it'll ever stop fully.

I imagine the next year or so is going to involve Dresden establishing himself back in Chicago proper (quite possibly in that house down the street from the Carpenter's Molly mentioned), and when the next book opens it'll be to Dresden having at least started working on driving out the Fomor and re-establishing the no-go zone his presence had originally created in the city, if not having done it already.

As for Bob, I highly doubt he'll ever wind up back in Dresden's possession. Most likely, he'll be Butters' assistant in Knighting as he was in Batmaning, and the mpreg baby will take over his role as Dresden's research assistant in addition to being his kid.

 

^This
He beat me to it Ryuugi but basically this, the exact requirements of the gate are never actually stated so we just know what we saw happen through Dresdens eyes. It doesn't make any sense at all for Nicodemus to off Dierdre unless it had to be someone he cared about/was related too.

 

Additional thoughts:

Finally have an answer to whether Karrin will pick up a Sword.

New question:

What was Tessa working on for '15 centuries' that the Tartarus Job might have fucked up?

 

Deirdre. She was her baby. Yeah, Deirdre was a daddy's girl, but that doesn't mean Tessa doesn't care about her daughter.

 

Ooor. Tessa is Black Council. Nicodemus thought so. Him and Deirdre saving the world work against whatever designs she has going.

I think the next time Harry and Nicodemus meet, they'll have to work together... And not with the intention of backstabbing or anything. They'll have to trust one another and shit, when they both fucking loathe each other.

That'd be hilarious. I'm still hoping for that soulgaze.

 

I think you shouldn't lump Knight and Mother/Queen/Lady's Mantles together under "Winter Mantle".

The Knight's Mantle was created by the Winter Queen, and I think it's based on instincts because that was what was most convenient for what is basically a thug. It's less dangerous to her while still being plenty dangerous to her enemies. Also, another mortal is going to get it after the current one dies, as opposed to the Lady, who is supposed to (somehow) become the Queen. The Lady is a Queen in training. I think it's likely her Mantle is more similar to the Queen's than the Knight's.

Of course, Maeve and her characterization aren't very in line with that, but you have to wonder how much of it was the Adversary and how much of it was mommy issues.

Edit - we still don't know what the purpose of the Winter Lady is (Mab doesn't answer when Harry asks her at the end of Cold Days), but if Mab is playing General in the battle against the Outsiders (and "reason, logic, calculation, the cold numbers, the supremacy of the mind" fit with that), then Molly could either be working for something related to that war, or something related to the duties Mab can't give her whole attention to because of that war.

 

Btw, I was reading through some old stuff, and apparently Butcher mentioned at one point, that both Lash and Lasciel were appeared in Ghost Story. Lasciel was confirmed as the angel who whispered in Harry's ear, and New Girl is Lash and Harry's spiritual child. I wonder now if Lash was indeed there or Butcher just meant the child? I want Lash back.

 

A lot of it was also a facade constructed by Maeve to make her enemies underestimate her.

 

Lash is dead and gone, RIP.

Most likely, Butcher was being coy and wanted people to think the parasite was Lash. Strictly speaking, he didn't lie, after all the spirit knows everything both Lash and Harry did, and from a certain point of view, she is a piece of Lash, but it was still something of a dick move.

 

Sigh. Guess next it's now Murphy's turn to pop a kid and then die on Harry. :facepalm

 

I love this expression. From now on, whenever someone references supernatural sexy times, I'll being thinking, "Got himself a piece of Lash," or "Dat Lash."