Speculation: What did Mab remove from Harry's memory this time?

[Mira]

The fact that Bonea is his daughter -- "Ever since the new-formed spirit of intellect had coalesced inside my mind, it had grown until it was too big for the space..." Perhaps I'm reading too much into it -- but Harry doesn't seem to remember how Bonea came to be in his head.

No, because his conscience self had no clue what was going on. Mab had nothing to do with that.

I was just listening to the interview Jim did on Facebook about Peace Talks.  Now it's easy for us to say the book was split in two as a cash grab by the publisher, but Jim said; well, he screwed up writing the novel.  Jim wanted the story to take a big left turn about two thirds through the story, something that would be really cool.  (I'm paraphrasing, I don't remember Jim's exact words.)  However, Jim's editor said that the story had become kind of a mess.  Not only was it suggested that the story should be split in two, but Jim had to make some changes, some additions to the story, in order for the first book (Peace Talks) to work.

Well, to be honest, Peace Talks is kind of a mess, everyone was overjoyed to at last have a book, however once the novelty wore off, many find it lacking. 

So, my guess is a lot of work; by both Jim and the publisher, went into the changes made in Peace Talks to make it a (sort of) stand alone story; whereas in every other Dresden Files novel that time and effort would have been exclusively spent on polishing the existing story.  It makes me wonder how well Battle Ground will read.

That is the problem though, Peace Talks doesn't work as a stand alone.  I could be wrong, but I think for a story to be a "stand alone" it has to have a beginning, middle, and an end.  Peace Talks doesn't have that.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Peace Talks has a beginning and a mi.....

[Mira]

Peace Talks has a beginning and a mi.....

  No, it is mostly middle... 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Peace Talks is a whodunnit as regards Thomas, you don’t get much of a beginning because it spoils the reveal. The majority of what’s left is a beginning of the Peace Talks setup and part of the middle for both the Thomas and the PT plots. I think that it was cut prematurely,  they should have had his return to Chicago and perhaps half a dozen further chapters, but it was cut at this point because the first couple of chapters of BG contain a huge surprise for the reader, which if we have guessed isn’t going to be a surprise. So mutilation for nothing.

[ClintACK]

Peace Talks is a whodunnit as regards Thomas, you don’t get much of a beginning because it spoils the reveal. The majority of what’s left is a beginning of the Peace Talks setup and part of the middle for both the Thomas and the PT plots. I think that it was cut prematurely,  they should have had his return to Chicago and perhaps half a dozen further chapters, but it was cut at this point because the first couple of chapters of BG contain a huge surprise for the reader, which if we have guessed isn’t going to be a surprise. So mutilation for nothing.

The problem is that a whodunnit is supposed to be a setup for a scene where our intrepid detective sits all the suspects down in the library and expounds his "Here's what happened..." complete with twists and reveals and the culprit making a break for the exit, before being hauled off to justice in an undignified manner.

We got a beautiful version of this at the end of Turn Coat.

Not so much with Peace Talks -- we still don't know who dunnit.

Thomas being "safe" in the prison isn't even a satisfying release of the mild "Is Thomas going to die?" tension, since we still don't know how far gone he is or if it will be possible to save him outside the cell.

But, I agree that it's structural issues from cutting the book. I wish they'd published "Peace Talks, Part I" and not worried so much about trying to make one sort-of-but-not-really resolved plot arc in the first book.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The problem is the denouement of the whodunnit part is going to come after the main action in BG. It should have been published as a single volume, or there should have been a denouement before the split, but far too late for anybody to do anything and have the villain redeem themselves dying in combat against the Fomor.

That would have been a much better first book.

[Mira]

The problem is the denouement of the whodunnit part is going to come after the main action in BG. It should have been published as a single volume, or there should have been a denouement before the split, but far too late for anybody to do anything and have the villain redeem themselves dying in combat against the Fomor.

That would have been a much better first book.

The problem with the "who dunnit" is there is very little of that in the book.  It is basically, Thomas is accused, he is in bad shape, lets get him to safety..  Which is sad, because Jim showed early on in Storm Front that he can write a very good "who dunnit."  Harry is a great truth seeker, that just didn't happen.

[The_Sibelis]

I'm betting it's cause of the forthcoming left turn. Watsonian, Harry didn't have the time to think in depth about who dunnit, he assumes Thomas did indeed do it, as he was caught doing it. His knee jerk reaction is to save him first, ask questions later...

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Yes but was looking at Thomas’s apartment for who may have pressured him. The absence of evidence of eavesdropping suggest someone very very good, or that it was opportunism, someone taking advantage of Thomas and his access. Evanna or Eb. Doesn’t mean  Mab calculated that someone would take the opportunity, and built that into her plans.

[Mira]

Yes but was looking at Thomas’s apartment for who may have pressured him. The absence of evidence of eavesdropping suggest someone very very good, or that it was opportunism, someone taking advantage of Thomas and his access. Evanna or Eb. Doesn’t mean  Mab calculated that someone would take the opportunity, and built that into her plans.

I think the book would have been better served with more investigation climaxing in the rescue attempt..  Very little of that happened, a lot of set up presumably for Battle Ground and a lot of set up for the rescue.  My fear is a lot of the stage, i.e. the Senior Council mistrust of Harry is going to fall to the wayside because of the enormity of the battle itself.  I hope it isn't a repeat of the final season of Game of Thrones, where the writers were hell bent on battle spectacle, oversimplified the
complex story because they ran out of money for more episodes or just lacked the writing skill.   They forgot that a lot of what made Battle of the Bastards great was the set up for it that took more than one season, the special effects were just a bonus.  My point, if the set up for the battle of Chicago isn't handled well, it will disappoint no matter how much action and vivid description.   

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Yes if it was Eb for Eb to admit it in Battle with Harry, under Harry’s goading. I really think Eb believes he can start over with little Maggie, making the same mistakes all over again and that he is prepared to end Harry to achieve this. Harry anticipated him.

[Mira]

Yes if it was Eb for Eb to admit it in Battle with Harry, under Harry’s goading. I really think Eb believes he can start over with little Maggie, making the same mistakes all over again and that he is prepared to end Harry to achieve this. Harry anticipated him.

Which leaves us with a real shrug of shoulders, interesting, maybe painful if Harry gets killed and Eb takes over, or in a paragraph or two in Battle Ground they make peace and Eb vows to become a real great grandfather to little Maggie and dies... But still, not a lot of real ground work so we really care.  We know Eb hates White Court Vamps, okay, why?  Will there be any time at all to go into that in Battle Ground?  Will there be any hope that Eb would ever accept Thomas? Or possibly if Thomas is stuck on the island forever, will Eb help Justine raise his great grand child?  That is should he survive?

[Dina]

It makes me wonder how well Battle Ground will read.

Same 

About Little Chicago, I remember hundreds of posts here about it, with many saying that LC has burn and others (like me) saying that Lea probably saved it. But as it has not been mentioned again, I suspect the first group was right and LC does not exist anymore. Which is a shame 

The reddit posts made me very sad. I really was hoping there was a reason for the things that seemed wrong.

The problem with the "who dunnit" is there is very little of that in the book.  It is basically, Thomas is accused, he is in bad shape, lets get him to safety..  Which is sad, because Jim showed early on in Storm Front that he can write a very good "who dunnit."  Harry is a great truth seeker, that just didn't happen.

I agree, Mira. I would have liked it much more if more investigation happened. In fact, it would have been better if Harry at least asked the questions in his inner monologue, so we as readers realized that he is still a detective 

I'm betting it's cause of the forthcoming left turn. Watsonian, Harry didn't have the time to think in depth about who dunnit, he assumes Thomas did indeed do it, as he was caught doing it. His knee jerk reaction is to save him first, ask questions later...

That makes a lot of sense "in universe", but it is far less exciting for us as readers.

[Mira]

That makes a lot of sense "in universe", but it is far less exciting for us as readers.

Agreed, and in Storm Front he didn't a great deal of time either yet he asked questions, which in turn set up a lot of things for the next few books.  Tracking down who the murdered girl worked for led him to Bianca, which set up all that happened in Grave Peril.

[The_Sibelis]

If we go with the who dunnit is Eb theory, I feel it makes sense all over. He wasn't being allowed to investigate, he had multiple things he had to juggle and when he still put Thomas first he's attacked by outsiders. I don't think EB summoned then per se, I think his confrontation with Harry ended much the same as his later one but Harry was in the flesh. So he goes back to stop it and the corner hounds follow, new Eb uses it to his advantage to distract Harry. It falls together when you consider someone was actively trying to keep him from asking the right questions. Dang I wish I had more than the audio book... I'm betting Eb distracted him at other times too, but the audio didn't stay as solid in my mind as a real book 😥 much harder to peruse at will.