1. While I agree Ghost Story was a bit of a let down and definitely felt like it could have been a short story, it did introduce the Ghost plane of the Nevernever. Which I imagine is important for the world building, long term. As you say, it did also give us those character development moments such as the degradation of Molly, the suffering of Murphy, the building of Butters to knight, the impact of Mort etc. A lot of it was showing the void that Harry left behind. It also introduces our new mysterious evil faction, the Fomor. Finally, it was all about Harry learning that actions have consequences (which I suspect ties into the heart of the mechanics of Free Will - you will notice that Uriel finally gets serious stage time and Angels start showing up. This is a pretty big hint to how important things are in this book). There is a fair amount of foreshadowing, and also some discussion on how magic works in a fundamental way. We also get some insight into what really happened with HWWBh, and what Justin was like.  My take is that this book will definitely will become much more relevant as the series goes into it's final stage.

2. I could be uncharitable here and criticise Jim about Sanya. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt and argue that it could just come down to the writing. The character archetype of Michael (as Jim often describes) is a pillar of good - the typical paladin. So he is as close to a perfect paladin (without going OP) as Jim could write. He is noble, virtuous, wise and brave and all the other things. It is also that he is older than Sanya. Michael's teacher and mentor, Shiro, was even better (comparable to Mozart) in terms of his abilities and seemingly even more virtuous than Michael. He fills the classic Yoda/Master Splinter/Gandalf role. Michael as the second oldest is more like Qui-Gon Jin/Obi-Wan (Ep 3)/Aragorn role. Sanya then is still quite new (hence he uses things like AKs) and fits the Obi-Wan (Ep 2)/Boromir type role. Butters being both the youngest AND newest is then of course is Obi-Wan (Ep 1)/Early Spider-Man/Luke (New Hope). A bit heavy handed on the analogies, but you get the idea. I think they just fit the molds Jim has made. Plus of course for plot reasons - sometimes you need something done and you only have certain tools to hand.

3. I think what Sarissa owes Mab is complex - and boils down to a mix of protection and healing. Remember she had a terrible brain illness that Mab saved her from. I wonder even though she is Mab's daughter, if Mab could even heal her daughter without extracting a payment. I suspect not.

4. As some have already pointed out, Demonreach is in the middle of a lake and quite protected from such events. But even if somehow a tsunami did occur, as has been already stated, the Well is actually deep below the island. Perhaps below the bottom of the lake too - if Harry's description in CD is anything to go by. And I am sure the Merlin put some protection in for just that sort of frontal assault. An interesting note though is that Jim has been rather inconsistent on the Water issue with magic. I suspect when Jim first built it in, like happens to us all, he didn't fully consider the implications. So he has to go back and correct, and because he is clever and experienced he often does a very good job. There have been plenty of scenes where it has been raining that haven't affected magic in that scene. Just look at Skin Game when Uriel shows up. Perhaps Dresden's knowledge is incomplete, perhaps the degree to which this affects magic is undefined. Mostly it is used for plot reasons anyway - the water issue.

5. A most interesting question! Not that the others weren't, but this is trickier. Harry states that there is roughly 1 wizard talent per million humans. So roughly 7700 Wizard-level human talents out there, give or take. But as we know, the 200 Wardens (during and previous to Dead Beat) were about 20% of the White Council. Which obviously puts the Council at around 1000 Wizard. We also know that the Council cannot keep up with the amount of new Wizards popping up as the population has exploded. This also does not seem to include Paranet-level practitioners, but may include Warlocks and Sorcerers (in the 7700 number). Now perhaps Jim forgot he wrote that (he has admitted to that in the past - hence why he checks the wiki and has his beta readers) but I think not. It is also not clear if by the 1000 or so Wizards of the White Council includes apprentices. Which again, I believe it does not. It seems somewhat implied that a lot of apprentices got elevated to full-wizard after the events of Grave Peril in order to replenish the ranks (Ramirez and the younger wardens come to mind).  But yeah, I would say that there are not many in the actual Council. Which actually seems really odd - considering the size of the threats out there. A lot of the way Harry used to talk about it made it sound like there was in fact several thousand of them. Harry is massively out of the loop as the series stands, so Peace Talks will hopefully help answer that question (and all the many other overdue ones about the what exactly the White Council has been up to).

6. I can't quite remember exactly, but I believe there is a WOJ on Fae's dying in the mortal world. Essentially it stated because Fae are of two worlds, they don't turn to ectoplasm. However unless they had a mantle, they do not come back. The title of Eldest is normally passed on (like a mantle, yet not a mantle). Fae are seemingly grown from seed stock peoples, so I don't think the younger Gruff brothers will return. Which I imagine Titania isn't super pleased about. In fact, I am surprised how calm Eldest Gruff is. Although I think there are more small and medium Gruffs, than just what we saw.

7. Ah yes. Mother Winter. Why indeed would such a being need a walking stick? Or indeed a body? She is more equivalent to a star or blizzard on a thousand worlds. My guess? The "walking stick" is like the mantles, a part of her. Perhaps the physical representation of her ability to interact. Mother Summer always seems more mobile, and has no walking stick to speak of. When it comes to the Nevernever, and especially the Powers, I believe that we are entering the realms of metaphor as much a physical reality. Abstract concepts such as thoughts and time can have physical representations (which is really what the Mothers are, after all). Remember the Outer Gates - Harry's mind can only process so much so he boils them down into something as obvious and simplistic as those massive gates. He cannot experience reality in more than 3 or 4 dimensions. Same with when he was in Ghost Story, he can only experience a very limited view of reality. The Nevernever is very similar to the Immaterium of Warhammer 40K, where thoughts become reality. Jim used to play both types of Warhammer I believe, so I am not totally surprised.

So to get back to your question - why does she feel pain, or appear old etc? Because that is the best representation of WHAT she is, and how Mortal minds have shaped her. Consider the fact that Harry hurt her at all, and how both angry and insulted she was. Consider Uriel's reaction when Harry dropped the -el from his name. Mortal Free Will seems to have unlimited power in some deep ways...and Immortals hate it. Mortals can constantly redefine their reality, and of course themselves (to speak of one is to speak of the other really). Immortals have only the illusion of this. I suspect this is the crux of Lucifer's argument with God: Mortal's have unlimited power in a sense, and can change all of reality. Any mortal. All of them together...leads to a massive problem. Immortals were only given limited will (enough to act somewhat on their own - Jim has said Angel's at least had enough will to Fall) but cannot really change their own destinies. Why? No idea. Jim may have an answer for his series - but people have been trying to answer question like that forever. So this is why she feels pain from moving - she has perhaps lost the part of her power that allows her to interact more freely. Anyone would be upset by that - imagine if you lost your legs and then some fool tries to drag you out to him!

Sorry about the ridiculously long post, but you ask big questions!

Forumghost, I think Harry would like you. Well done lol 

As for you g33k. I agree that Vadderung is both nexus and key conspirator...but I do think the plan was more Mab's than his. If only because she has a bigger axe to grind. But she is just as calculating, and a lot colder.

I'm quite familiar with the Devil as a serpent, have heard the devil referenced as a dragon, but have never heard the phrase "Blood of the Dragon" used outside of a modern fantasy reference. I don't think I've ever heard of a reference to the Devil's blood even more generally.

Fair enough, can't always be sure how well versed people are in Christian theology. I suspect that the actual phrase is either one that Jim created specifically for Michael, or one that is quite uncommon and perhaps only exists in certain communities (such as the one Jim grew up in). I too found little reference to that exact phrase.

Although you will note that the full phrase that Michael uses is "Blood of the Dragon, that old Serpent" which is strikingly similar to 12:7-12 Book of Revelation. On balance of probabilities it is more likely that this is what is in reference to, as nowhere else does anyone ever use that phrase or discuss the connection between the Black Court and Dragons.

The thing is, it isn't to be taken literally. Otherwise why not use that phrase with Ferrovax in the earlier scene? Being that there is an actual capital-D Dragon in the room with them...wouldn't that make more sense?

Also if Michael really were referencing the connection to Drakul, assuming he actually knew of that connection (which only exists as WOJ, and a indirect connection that Ebenezar mentioned), why have he and Harry never discussed the origins of the Black Court before? Or Drakul for that matter? Harry (especially this early in the series) barely even knows who the Vampire Courts are (other than surface information - remember Thomas fills him in during the party). Let alone who Drakul is, which he doesn't even understand the difference between Dracula and Drakul until Ebenezar tells him 3 books later in Blood Rites.

After having a listen through of Grave Peril recently, I had this observation. Michael refers to Mavra as "Blood of the Dragon, that old Serpent". Dresden Wiki says that this implies that she is the spawn of Vlad Drakul.  I'm not sure where that implication comes from. Is this something Jim has talked about?

The Dresden Wiki talks about Drakul being "half-human" based on a quote from Ebenezer. Kindler, where did the concept of Drakul being something else trapped in a human body come from.  Sounds familiar. Maybe the Wiki isn't updated?

If Drakul isn't a dragon trapped in a human body, then why is Michael calling Mavra "Blood of the Dragon"?

Yeah Bad Alias is right. This isn't a in-universe reference; the phrase "Blood of the Dragon, that old Serpent" refers to the Devil. While yes this could also be a reference to both Drakul (the Dragon) and Dracula (little Dragon), considering Michael's highly catholic nature and his perchant for using old biblical phrases as curses, it is most likely that he is refering to the literal Devil (as in Satan/Lucifer). Satan/Lucifer is often referred to as the Dragon and the Serpent (as both words were somewhat interchangeable, Serpent does not always mean snake).

Michael may well be aware of Drakul and probably Dracula (as her progenitor). Although we have no actual indication of this in the series, or in WOJ. But it much more likely he was simply calling her a demon/devil and not making a literal reference to her origin as a Black Court vampire.

The concept of Drakul (not Dracula but his father) in the Dresdenverse, comes from several references in the books and WOJ. This quote best explains it from a 2015 reddit AMA.

And also what is Drakul a scion of?
Drakul wasn’t a scion of anything! He was something entirely unhuman that got trapped in human form. Dracula was his half-human child, who naturally had enormous paternal issues, and wound up creating himself as the first Black Court Vampire in an effort to win his father’s approval.
It didn’t work out so well.
2015 AMA

Well that could be true - he might know some secret or truth that Nicodemus couldn't know (for example, how Nicodemus meets his end. Or perhaps the really cheesy "Love always wins", in the more supernatural way).

But I think there are two more obvious possibilities. Or at least possibilities that would be in conjunction.

1. He has access to (a) certain pool(s) of information that Nicodemus does not;
2. He knew what was about to happen to Nicodemus (as in by the end of Skin Game).

All are possible. But no. 2 is the nicest fit in many ways, both from a story telling perspective (consider this conversation happens before most of the events of the book) and from a world-centred way.

Consider this - WOJ is that Vadderung is the kinda guy who knows what you will do a year before you do, and makes his moves a week before you do. His level of foresight and planning is beyond most. Only when something/someone of equal foresight, planning and skill do counter-moves do things get all Monday Night Nitro as everyone's planning cancels out. He probably was pretty certain about Mab, Hades and Marcone's game on Nicodemus. He "knew" pretty much what was about to happen to him. I think he was foreshadowing the ending. Which is not to say he doesn't have other resources that Nicodemus does not have access to, but I think that foreshadowing the ending fits best with that scene.

It's a good idea. I believe it has been floated before in some fashion, somewhere in the boards.

Consider this then: Black Court Vampires CANNOT cross a threshold uninvited, full stop. I suspect this is to do with how far removed they are from mortals, and more likely, the source of their creation (Drakul, via Dracula).

But yes, the analogy that creation is our home and not the Outsiders, and therefore that is why all mortal dwellings are protected in that way against the Supernatural.

However, as a counter - Bob states in one of the earlier books (It might have been Blood Rites but I am uncertain) that one of the few beings that could flat stick cross a threshold and still have enough power to torture someone with magic is an Old One, or a "hoary old god". I suspect upper level Outsiders (even the Walkers perhaps) could do so too, considering the fact that it appears higher-tier, multi-reality spanning beings (Angels, and especially Archangels) seem to have no issue crossing threshold or magical circles.

Which leads me to my point about magical circles also being in the same boat, to a degree, as threshold. I think it is all tied up in Choice and Free Will (the emphasis on Will is important, as that is how you make a circle actually work or any act of magic really). The Freedom is most important also, but you can have restricted or compromised Will whereas Freedom cannot be on its own, as it indicates there must be some level of Will (even in the supernatural and immortals - WOJ on that).

Exartiem, very interesting idea about how they must borrow power. I suspect its less about Power, and more about Choice. Outsiders seem to be able to provide Power to mortals and supernaturals, and some measure of Freedom to Immortals (who traditionally by their nature are limited in their Choice). The Outsiders are very similar to the Void Walkers (etc) in DnD/WoW. The curious thing with Void Walkers is they have enormous amounts of power, but are constantly losing it in when they are inside the universe. I think the Outsiders have a similar issue. When they are invited in, it give the the ability to employ their Power. They are given a level of Choice. Without it, they would be either very limited or perhaps completely unable to act and impose their Will. Which is why they can only be summoned via MORTAL magic. Immortals do not have the unlimited, truly Free Will that mortals in the Dresdenverse seem to have. Perhaps they borrow the body of the summoner, and their soul (granting access to their ability to Choose). Perhaps not, we can really only speculate on the mechanics...although He Who Walks Behind did possess (Madge? the main Witch) in Blood Rites, in order to act in the Universe. So we have partially seen how an Outsider summoning works.

This all begs the bigger question of why almost every supernatural being is somewhat hampered by thresholds and circles, etc. Where does magic really come from? What is the origin of all these supernatural beings? Perhaps it is more connected to the Outsiders than we are led to believe. 

Would it be, though? I mean, Kumori as Elaine would be awful for him, sure, but Justin as Cowl...actually might make him feel quite a bit better about himself. It would, after all, confirm that Harry had never broken the Laws of magic. That doesn't seem like it would be a torment to him--quite the opposite.

Yes I think it would hit hard. He thought he got rid of his initial nightmare (Justin) but he has been "alive/around" all along, manipulating Harry's life from behind the scenes and basically responsible for a lot of Harry's misfortune. I think that would be pretty emotional stuff. Elaine is an old wound - I think it would sting a lot. But I think if it were those two as Cowl and Kumori, the way it would have most impact is if when they reveal their identities they actually have a convincing, even necessary "Join Us" plan. If Harry realised he might be wrong, I think that would really shatter him. 

Well actually, it might confirm that he didn't break the first law initially - but it doesn't rule him out of breaking the other laws. He definitely used Necromancy (which while he didn't break law technically - I am not sure the after affects will care much), he also quite likely killed some humans during his battle with Bianca (which he won't look into because he is scared of what he might find).

ClintACK, while you are correct on Mother Winter probably loving a whole bunch of death and destruction for an Ascension ritual, I think in this particular case she would have been a bit mad. Necromancy (true Necromancy) may have it's origins in the Outside. This would make it almost anti-death (which the natural destroyer might take issue with - after all she is like the seasons, everything must die in due course so new life can grow. Everything existing forever is antithesis to her nature). I also think that if it were Eb, he would absorb the power of the Blackstaff into the ritual if he could - and Mother Winter wouldn't exactly be thrilled by such a loss to her power.

I think the Gatekeeper is unlikely purely on the fact he has worked with fae and Outsiders for a thousand years - he could have taken godly power long ago and didn't, so why now? Also after the Darkhallow - both Eb and the Gatekeeper are active. Cowl took a little longer too come back as he was blown to bits. So the timing doesn't work.