Goddamn that was good. Only big ball droppers I felt was the Adversary!CatSith scene which just didn't really work for me (others have given fairly solid reasons so I won't repeat them) and the whole parasite issue. You have Harry agonizing over how he's about to get Chest Burstered and then forgets about it for the rest of the book. Just felt like a weak dropped plot point. Sure it'll probably come back next book but revealing it in the first 25% of the book, saying how to easily find out more, then not speaking of it again just felt like bad editing.

 

I feel like I got a mixed bag with this one. You guys touched on many issues I have with it already, so I won't bother repeating them (mostly).

I'm not really liking the direction Butcher is taking in regards to the (supposed) Big Bad. The infection sort-of-smells like the Vord, at least the part about it controlling friends/enemies. I don't like it. I would have much preferred a worldwide conspiracy, with villains from all kinds of leagues joining forces for a common goal, while always being ready to backstab each other. If they're all going to be puppets following some mastermind moving strings behind the scene, then I feel there's potential awesome lost. And not even an appealing (but predictable) puppets-suddenly-wresting-control-and-turning-against-their-captors thing would compensate for it. Not even close, in my eyes.

I loved the chapters in which Harry summons Titania and Mother Winter. I loved the discoveries about Demonreach and the Prison of Nightmares. I adored all interactions with Thomas. I liked Rashid and the Outer Gates. I think I liked the Harry/Molly bits, although I want more.

I hated (the lack of development of Harry's relationship with) Murphy. I disliked that Chicago didn't feel like the Chicago we had seen in Ghost Story. I didn't like how the book barely touched upon Harry's return and the consequences/interactions that should arise because of it. The Hunt didn't feel as awesome as it should have. The Redcap was meh. Sharkface too.

I'm torn about the ending. I liked it (minor details aside), but my overall position depends on where Butcher goes with it.

All in all, I (mostly) enjoyed it while I read it, but I'm a bit frustrated now that I'm thinking back on it. It could (should?) have been better, IMO.

 

A couple of thoughts before I go to sleep:

He Who Walks Behind was made out to be such a big deal. And then bam! He Who Walks Before? Kinda cheesy. Also, didn't feel all that *evil*, considering he was supposed to be an outsider. Who is also called the Gatebreaker?

Also, a question. Are HWWB twins Outsiders themselves, or are they serving someone else? I think Aekiel mentioned in IRC about them being Knights of the Old Gods or something (IIRC, the comparison Butcher made was them being equivalent to what Harry does for Mab?)

"Murphy" is "Karrin" now. <_< Before reading the book, I was in the Harry/Molly boat, but now I dunno.

Molly being the Winter lady is just too...convenient. Like Stojil said, the whole Big Bad thing being a conspiracy and then everyone joining forces seems D:

This book was way to fast-paced. Too much info-dump. And I really don't get what Butcher was thinking with the whole Ace angle.

Demonreach's Purpose. Like, holy fuck. Those things are the source of ley-lines?

 

Damn, forgot about that point! A very neat explaination for why wizards/ practitioners have the negative impacts of magic use ( technology, delusions and skin defects) and why the demons are imprisoned rather than destroyed. Could also be a reason for the church condemning magic use?

EDIT: On further thought it seems i got carried away. If demonreach is the origin of magic than that would mean Merlin would not have been a wizard. Nice irony but i doubt it =\

 

Ley lines can serve as a power source for practioners, but aren't required for magic.

 

Well people spoke most of it by now. The whole Wild Hunt showing up part was pretty predictably in happening though, ever since he showed up for Dresden's party I was expecting to at some point try to kill Harry. It is funny that so many people here thought otherwise...

It was also a ridiculous awesome story along with lots of interesting information.

 

This, totally, but tbh I also felt kind of sorry for her. The "I was mortal once, too" line, plus the double whammy of Sarissa and Maeve - she can't have been having an easy day.

 

I didn't read that they were the source of ley-lines, rather that as side effect of Demonreach imprisoning all the evil crap was that it darkened the ley-lines beneath the island of Demonreach.

I thought it was pretty clear from Changes that ley-lines are sort of magical outgrowths of natural causes (like tectonic faults).

 

I feel like the climax was one of the best in the series, but Nemesis/Adversary/whatever you want to call the mindvirus does feel somewhat weak. Just the idea of an extremely hard to detect jersey swapper kind of takes the tension out of a large scale conflict. It's great when you have small level Thing encounters, but on such a massive level that stuff should be spreading exponentially. I'm sure that some mechanics or whatnot will come into being eventually to explain it away, but it feels almost lazy.

 

You know I am now wondering how many of you guys believe this Nemesis to the Big Bad. I can't help but think considering how many different groups acting at the same time we had up to this point that there is no way things are going to be that simple.

And yeah that's how I read it. The entire leyline of Demonreach and all power that one can see that is only that miniscule amount of magic any being gives off. I just know that at some point Dresden is going to have to talk to/set free one of them.

 

Finished it up and I'm impressed. One of my favorites of the series so far.

It had a lot of great moments and I don't want to list them all because who wants to read a list of things already mentioned a dozen times?

My favorite conceptual part of it was the expansion on the fae. Before this book they were very abstract opposites built to oppose eachother but not much else. What was their purpose except to oppose eachother? Now they are much more defined beings. Winter exists to defend the gates, and summer exists to defend humanity.

It makes me wonder though, and I don't think this has been mentioned yet, what exactly happened to this last stand on the edge of the nevernever when all of winter felt the pain of Harry pouring summer fire into the winter wellspring? IIRC, Leah, who is bound not to tell lies, said to Harry that "all of winter is coming."

Did they leave the gates undefended? What exactly happened there? At the very least, the pain and distraction flowing through every single one of the faeries in the ranks would've been like a flashbang grenade for the outsiders and could've been a decisive route in the battle. And Rashid wasn't there to pick up the slack, because he was the only council member AT the meeting with the Merlin later, although that could be time dilation or something.

Then again, Leah was still under the influence of Nemesis at the time, so perhaps it was a lie. Although that doesn't necessarily make sense for her to lie about, and it came out in a moment where she was lucid, iirc, rather than crazed with Nemesis-mind-fuckery. Then there's also the possibility that Leah isn't in the need-to-know crowd, but if they have like 95% of their court out there combating the outsiders, shouldn't she know as well, being second in strength only to mab?

On that note, where does the actual power hierarchy sit? I've definitely seen these forums call Leah 2nd, but apparently mother winter is the biggest badass this side of anything? I guess it's a question of bounds and where the limitations on their power falls?

Lastly, is there WOJ on how faeries procreate? This novel had some mentioning that faeries have children with humans in the whole faeries mimic humans dialogue, and it came across to me as if they were saying that was the only way they procreated. If that's the case, coupled with the line about outsiders not leaving many wounded, how do they keep making soldiers for this supposedly endless conflict since the beginning of time?

 

I've been sort of... ambivalent to the Dresden series overall. Not all of the books have good, and personally I thought Ghost Story was a pile of shit. Cold Days has restored faith. The chapter where we learn Demonreach's true purpose... that was amazing. The book had its ups and downs but overall it was really good.

 

I just finished Cold Days so I'm still on a bit of a high from that, but, I'll dump some of my thoughts:

Kringle is awesome. The scene at the end about masks/mantles with the reveal of Vadderung would have to be one of my favorite scenes in the book. I'm hoping/betting we'll see a lot more of him in the oncoming books. As well as I think the discussion about masks/mantles/identity is going to be important.

The ending scene was great. Harry jacking the circle to summon Mab was awesome. I wasn't expecting Molly to pick of the mantle of Lady Winter at all, for a moment there I thought it was going to be Murphy.

I also really liked the scene with Mother Summer and Winter. The battle at the edge of the outside was awesome (it really shows the stakes that are going to be played for from now on). Also, the Blackstaff hinted at being Mother Winter's walking stick was pretty neat. Finally, the mention of our most powerful name in regards to the mothers is making me think of the White God.

The stuff about the original Merlin and Demonreach was interesting and answered a few questions while opening up about a dozen more. The fact that Demonreach was constructed simultaneously at multiple points in time as well the ensuing discussion about the mechanics of time travel felt really important. Add to that the fact that a lot of what's common knowledge about the Merlin is the equivalent of urban legend (kind of like what the average person knows about Harry) makes me wonder if we're going to see a time traveling Harry as the original Merlin.

A few more random thoughts. I agree with some of the earlier posters that some of the stuff with Mac felt a bit tacked on. I feel like it might have worked a little better if his involvement ended with the scene in the bar where where he was called the watcher (as opposed to being dragged in again with the kidnapping thing). Cat Sith was pretty cool. I'm not sure how I feel about the Nemesis jacking him in the span of like twelve hours though, considering I got the impression he was basically a top tier badass and I felt that Nemesis was slower and more subtle. I can't imagine we won't see him again though. As mentioned by a few other posters I got a Vord like feeling from the Nemesis but I highly doubt that it's going to turn out to be that simple. I really liked the final line of the book about the coming storm I felt like it tied up some of what we have so far.

 

Still in shock/bliss/haze from just finishing it, but calling it now. Mac is Oberon.

 

I think I recall the Wild Hunt as being mentioned as happening every Halloween, but whether it shows up in Chicago or Africa or Siberia is up to the discretion of the Erlking. Kringle just pointed it in the right direction.

When the HELL will Harry and Murphy shack up? Yeah you each have deep personal relationship issues, but ye gods, just screw already! When they do hook up, it better be fucking satisfying--in every sense of the word.

I have to admit, the Harry/Molly angle seemed like a pairing that would only exist outside canon, but with Molly's new position, the whole Harry's being reverberating at the Winter Queens' presence thing might tip the balance of Harry's self-control. Which I kinda want to see.

 

Mac is the White God.