Darkarma. That oneliner just made my fucking day.

 

However, first Harry would have to convince the Church that he's doing this for good, not because he sublet his frontal lobe. Then that Demonreach is good, or at least, on their side.

Then that the Warden would never be in a position to be compromised - just because the current Knight likes Harry, that doesn't mean that Harry's successor is going to be any good. It is easy to imagine a future Warden pulling a Boromir.

 

Dunno... Demonreach seemed to be getting along mostly well without a Warden for a while there...

The position of Warden is only really needed when the problem is too small for the island to take care of itself.

In other words, even if Harry cracked, no new Warden would necessarily be, uh, necessary. And proving that the island is a fine place for containment should be relatively simple - take Forthill down the stairs and show him.

 

Got up to the "I'm Darth Dresden" line and now I really need to see Maggie grow up to confront and save Harry from Nemesis with "I am a wizard, like my father before me."

Ending was too abrupt and but it certainly felt like it was heading back to the story's roots.

 

Pretty sure I lost all respect from my girlfriend when I told her I was reading about a wizard leading Santa Claus to fight against aliens...

 

I think using Demonreach to hold the Fallen would impact too much between the balance of The White God and what i'm assuming to be The Devil, balance has always been a prominent theme in the series in relation to faerie, gaining power and even Uriel himself has his hands tied by balance. The Knights and The Denarians balance each other out, essentially in equilibrium with small shifts to either side of the struggle on occassion, but balance is regularly maintained. Lock all the Fallen away and what happens? The Devil's instruments in the mortal world are compromised and something must be changed to shift the balance towards his ballpark.

That's how I always thought about it but until we get more information it's pretty much up for debate.

 

She's been through a ton of changing lately, it didn't bother me. What did bother me was how she was almost back to old Murphy at the end.

That, for me, was way, way, way too much. One or two dark Gods, or even all the skinwalkers. Okay. But hundreds upon hundreds of them? Too much. I don't understand how the Oblivion war is waged, if those things have been locked up and away, shouldn't they have ceased to exist? Some, like the skinwalkers have a current day mythos, so sure, I'm alright with that, but Harry describes it as row after row after row, as far as his eyes can see, in hallway after hallway. It screams Supernatural. Some of the inhabitants are going to break out soon, that's a given, revisiting the skinwalkers a few times, and the fact that they're in minor security, I'm going to go with them.

I didn't like all the cameo's. Santa Claus/Odin? Bob's seemed very pointless, same as Toot. The time wasted on Captain Hook... I just don't get that at all.

Mac.. "I'm out." I'm betting he was a lock up on Demonreach. Everything involving the Gatekeeper was awesome. Two new ladies, Summer is going to loathe theirs. Brand new at the worst time, even without having them sidelined, Nemesis still did take them out of play. The headaches show back up. Parasite going to burst out of his brain? I was figuring he meant Lash, now I don't know.

Dear god this. I also could've done without Harry constantly going on and on about how he'd like to fuck "insert random girl here" It just didn't seem like Dresden inner monologue. Then you have Murphy pointing out his boner on her back

I'm going to go with Rashid breaking Mac out of jail, I just cant make up my mind what old god Mac would be. Probably one of the various wine or hearth gods, or Oberon. Although seeing the defenses in place, maybe not. Also, Demonreach was a great deal stronger then he let on, remember Mab thanked him for his patience, I got the idea that he could've kicked their ass for awhile instead of just passively holding them off.

Mother Winter/Summer are apparently the same being? I'm going to go with The Fates, based off one of the names Dresden called her, but it would mean there should've been a third mother. If winter is that much stronger then Summer... Wouldn't the power levels of their respective champion be lopsided as hell? Harry's got Fix beat because of magic, not because of the mantle, or was it because Harry was holding back so hard from the mantles power?

he did just resurrect himself from the dead.

 

I say their name is Gaia, but not Titan Gaia... Primordial Gaia. She's always reffered to as a Titan, when in fact she predates them.

 

So...Wow.

At this point in the series I'm pretty invested in specific characters and scenarios, which mean there's always things I don't really like in each new book. But damn if it isn't always a hell of a ride. Even if there were parts that left me cold, I wasn't disappointed.

I thought it was pretty neat that Dresden got through the whole book without a magical foci. Yeah, it was frustrating, but it really goes to show how far he's come. Plus it's fun watching him participating in some purely physical through downs.

I didn't really mind Harry's preoccupation with sex and violence in this book. I'll get sick of it if it continues too long, but I'm glad the temptation of the Winter Mantle is so starkly different to his experience with Lash.

Demonreach, the Gatekeeper, and pretty much all the exploration into Faerie was awesome in my book. Yeah, it takes a minute to readjust to the whole Summer/Winter power dynamic, but it doesn't bother me.

On the other hand, I'm not so sure about this Nemesis thing. I don't hate it, it's just a bit...convenient? I don't really dig the "evil virus". Plus it's kind of inconsistent. It seems to absorb Sith into some kind of hive mind while Maeve becomes more over emotional than anything. I guess Outsiders were always meant to be one of the biggest bads, but things are getting pretty muddled. In ghost story the Fomor seemed like the new big bad, but they're not really present here. Are they controlled by the "Black Council"? Is the Council controlled by Nemesis? Or the other way around?

The end of the book really knocked my socks off. I got that Sarissa was important somehow and even expected Maeve to die, but Molly and Lily completely surprised me. Also, I seem to be the only person who feels this way, but Molly as the winter lady ranks a big fat "Do Not Want" from me. It seems like the rules for faerie beings and mantles of power keep changing for whenever it's convenient. At first it was implied that Lily remained a changeling after gaining her mantle (which never made sense), but later WOJ explained that she had the choice forced on her. Now a mortal can become a queen because she was prepared by a powerful fae? Seriously? Plus I just find Molly boring, and sometimes irritating. Murphy frustrates me more often, but I least I think she's supposed too. I do not look forward to more of Molly battling her inner darkness while Dresden tries to be a good mentor.

Anyway, all bitching aside I seriously enjoyed Cold Days. And so begins the wait for next fall...

Also, Toot/Lacuna :facepalm. So help me this bullshit had better have a point.

 

I'm with the majority who'd figured that Harry might have figured away out of the WK gig by the end of the book but now I'm not sure it won't last for a long ass time. By Harry's own choice.

He felt a measure of responsibility over Lily being made a Summer Queen. Imagine what he's going to be like with Molly? He's now dedicated to protecting and serving her and I can't help but think that looking after her and trying to make sure she keeps her humanity will be a priority for him.

Of course it's a little different from his normal "protecting her" gig as from now on... she's in charge. Relationship dynamic changed. :/

 

To those of you that think this Winter Knight thing isn't going to last, what do you think Harry is going to replace it with?

Because, y'know, after the scene with Hook it's clear that without the mantle he's about as useless as tits on a boar. What would be a better alternative? I doubt that Lash has enough power to keep him up and running and as strong as he is now all by herself, and getting Lasciel involved would not only go against a lot of principles Harry has always had and that we've seen him building up in this book, but also be pretty redundant.

What does a Fallen really have to offer Harry that Mab can't give him, anyway? Soul Fire is a perfectly adequate substitute for hellfire and he's already supernaturally-jacked through his mantle. Sure, he won't have to deal with Winter and its horny bloodlust nonsense, but in exchange he'll have to deal with something just as bad and sentient, that also just so happens to have the ability to force him to suicide by creating a fucking fire in his mind as a shade.

So no Fallen. What else could spontaneously give Harry his legs back and allow him to jump a few pegs up the moral ladder? We know that being a Knight of the Cross won't do it, as seen by Michael. We know that the Mothers and Mab have capital B-I-G big plans for him. And we know that Molly was just instated as Winter Lady, a position that you can only escape through death or ascension.

And bottom line, it feels like its here to stay. Harry spent the whole book fighting the urges of the mantle and thinking about how he's going to survive it and keep himself as a person intact, not how to escape it. I'd be willing to bet money that Butcher is going to go the resistance path and just have Harry tough it out. We know from Mother Summer that not many people can do it, but Harry isn't many people, now is he?

Anyway, loved the book. I felt like the Redcoat/Ace/Hook were unnecessary, and wasn't too impressed with Murphy's reaction to Harry's resurrection, but whatevs. The rest was freaking phenomenal. Everything with Kringle, everything with Demonreach, everything the Queens That Are and up. Amazing.

5/5 would speed-read again.

 

I'd rather see him stay as the Knight, with Molly as the lady tbh. Just drop the constant omg I'm gonna turn into an evil boy an day now stuff constantly.

 

I echo a lot of what people have already said. Definitively going to have to go reread the series to see where this book fits in. The whole Outer Gates being an actual place was a bit weird...but interesting. I'm still not quite sure what to think about it. It seems a bit like, yeah, walk past those walls, go a bit further and boom! you are beyond the universe? I'll have to reread it. I loved the whole explanation for the position of Gatekeeper though, and it certainly explains why it was Rashid that got involved during Summer Knight, rather than anyone else.

I liked the end, especially everything to do with Mab. Her last line, imo, just added so much more depth to her character. I'm not sure if the conversation afterwards with Kringle added to, or marred that moment yet; not entirely sure if it was necessary. Though, I do suppose it seems to highlight the interesting relationship Harry has with her. And in this vein, I totally ship Harry/Sarissa. The images I kept getting of her and Mab going out and doing random mortal stuff was great, probably one of my favourite moments in the book.

Also Titania. So much Titania. It was interesting the parallels they kept drawing between Winter/Summer, but at the same time how the differences kept being pointed out--differences that fit in with their roles. Titania goes with the heart, Mab with reason etc. I really want to know how The Leanansidhe fits in though, especially with the Outer Gates. I'm really surprised and disappointed she didn't show, especially with the ridiculous amount of random characters that appeared.

I'm not sure what to think about the situation with Maggie. On one hand, I think that any resolution being rushed into Cold Days would have been shit, because of the quick pace, but on the other... I don't want to wait more, dammit. Also, Dresden's character seemingly going backwards. I don't get it. Seemed like it was the same rehash of enlightened moments and what not as have been happening the last few books in particularly. Getting a little annoying.

 

Sooo.. local bookshops don't have Dresden can't find it anywhere and I need a link so I can buy it online; I'm too lazy for google.

 

So, I spent last ten hours reading it. I see there is a discussion going on, but before I read it want to post my thoughts about the book. And I will probably repeat some already stated things.

- I'm less surprised that Molly became a Lady than that it was even possible for a human female to be one. I thought that you need to be at least a Changeling, but apparently it was more of the matter of proper preparation.
- Though I'm not sure I like this direction for her character. I mean, not only we will have a repetition of Dresden's problem with holding back dark urges, but she will slowly become a Sidhe, which means she will lose her humanity one way or another and drastically change her character. And I like Grasshopper.
- Also, being a Lady really seems like a dangerous job these days. Molly really should watch out for herself.
- The Big Bad, Nemesis, seems interesting enough.
- Nice to have a details about the Outer Gates and Rashid's role, though most of it wasn't unexpected. Or at least I did imagine them as physical gates, though without a wall and ongoing battle around it.
- Really unexpected was the revelation about the Winters Court's role in the war with the Outsiders. And that balance between Courts is a fiction.
- And we finally saw Titania. Turns out that there was no big mystery about a lack of her direct interactions with Harry.
- Demonreach's stuff also wasn't all that surprising, also because Jim suggested some of it in one of his interviews when he was talking about where Wardens' name came from. But the scope of it? Wow. Just wow.
- I'm a little disappointed about revelation that Odin is Santa. I would prefer them to be two different characters. At the same time I like the idea behind it, changing masks, names and so on.

Questions:
- Who was Merlin? Until this book I thought he was "just" a talented wizard who created the White Council. But now I'm not so sure that he was simply a human using magic, even if Maeve sort of confirmed it.
- Who is Mac? Sure, I expected him to be someone important, but it turns out that he is involved with the Outsiders and have some impressive powers.
- Who are the Mothers? Their most powerful name? Gaia? The Mother Nature? Something less obvious?
- Additionally, I'd like to know if we are still working on assumption that Titania is the second Summer Queen as stated in WoJ. Their relationship just makes more sense to me f Mab and Titania are peers.

Prediction:
- So, the Mother Winter lost her walking stick? Was it by any chance black? And more like a staff than a stick?

Also, lots of awesome scenes that could easily be overdone, but aren't.

As for the next one, since it seems that we are now learning hidden knowledge of the world, I'm hoping that we will see expanding of Denarians mythology.

And what is the deal with the Parasite inside Dresden? Could it be that Lash is actually becoming a real being and in the end she will come out of his head like Athena? Presumably with Harry's help, otherwise it will probably kill him.

And maybe the next book could include Ivy, because we haven't seen her for some time.

 

Well I assume so, book 5 and 10 both had large roles for her. Same with Nic. Since Nic is coming back, I would assume she would too.

 

Motherfucker. That ending. This book was amazing. I think I spent most of it making little mental notes and trying to figure out a way to use all the new shit we learned for fic. So much awesome was packed in and its canon now, which is the great thing.

I'm usually indifferent toward Murphy, but she bothered the fuck out of me the entire book. She's that one girl you know who doesn't have girlfriends cuz she says girls are too catty, and doesn't wear dresses, and drinks beer and just try's to be ~one of the guys. I knew all this before but this book it was just hammered in that she's tough okay. When she rode up on that motorcycle like Lucy Lawless or some shit I was done with her. Then instead of Dresden putting the brakes on their hookup, since you know bitch she shot Maeve, and pretty much got Molly screwed over, she preemptively breaks up with him. What in the even. And now she knows when the swords should be used even though she refuses to take up one? Oh okay. I just found her so frustrating.

Demonreach continues to be awesome. Not here for the Deeper Well. I saw that season of Angel. The Outer Gates was definitely a nice surprise. It reminded me of the Wall from Game of Thrones/ASoIaF. In fact I was pretty much fascinated and impressed by every reveal Butcher gave us on the world he's built up. 14 books in and we finally know concrete facts about the Faerie/Time-travel/Merlin/Outsiderbane = a starborn (a starborn not THE starborn)/Nemesis/Odin=Santa Claus (not sure how I feel about that still).

The ending was damn good but there was some retconning in there for sure. The mantles go in the nearest reflection of themselves so Molly being the winter lady does not jel. At all. I read it and I just keep saying I can't, I fucking can't until the scene ended. She's completely mortal and because Lea gives her tutoring she's a potential vassal? I just don't get it. BUT I may not get how it happened, but I'm definitely here for Winter Lady Molly and Winter Knight Dresden. Now that Dresden/Murphy is dead my OTP can finally get some screen time and frollick through Winter and fuck.

 

I'm not gonna bother repeating anything anyone's already said.

I'll stick to the one important point in the book that I didn't see anyone discuss.

Harry already has a way out of his mantle. Bob gave him the hint and Odin put the link in place. Halloween night is the night to don and shed masks, mantles, etc. You can be damn sure Harry will be ridding himself of that mantle eventually with the use of Halloween.

I'm personally hoping for sooner rather than later. Winter Knight is cool but Aggressive!Dresden will get old for me quick and I don't see Butcher writing him differently while he still has the mantle.

Oh and to reiterate: Harry gave his Name away... why didn't he immediately have some sort of inner monologue realizing his idiocy like he used to?

 

Lots of interesting stuff going on, most of which has been touched upon. Something that hasn't been brought up though, what if Gatekeeper is more of a title like Warden is than just a name. We found out that the Outer Gates are actually a real place, so to me it only makes sense that it would always need someone to be Gatekeeper. I could see Rashid grooming Dresden for the role sometime in the future. I forget what exactly he said to make me think that, but reading through that part it struck me as an interesting idea. Especially since we know that Dresden already seems to have some type of power over the Outsiders.

 

How's he gonna walk afterwards?