So. This was a good read to me. But it was obviously very incomplete. There is little to no payoff on every subject raised throughout the book. My suggestion is to only read this book once Battlegrounds comes out. Here is my review of it.
Thomas always tried to tell Harry J something when he could barely talk (I didn't really care for the whole plot point that no one ever asked Why Thomas would do something like this or that he couldn't even talk well enough to explain it). A lot of people are already speculating that Justine might have caused Thomas to try the assassination. But this just doesn't make any sense. In one of the short stories, Justine is kidnapped by the Fomor and there is something about mind control in it. Yet it makes no sense that Thomas' actions would be the result of the Fomor meddling. It is very obvious that they had no worries at all about the state of the Accorded Nations. So inner strife between those nations did not matter. The Fomor were kicking off a war no matter what. So who benefits from Thomas' actions? Because as far as I can tell, no one does. That whole plotline is just left dangling with no reason for it at all. Then you have Harry and Mccoy acting like the Dwarves are about to bust up to get Thomas back when a Titan is about to invade which seemed a lot silly.
It really showed that Butcher wrote this over 6 years. There were so many explanations whenever someone was introduced. I think Butcher explained the ghouls and kids and why Harry hates them at least two times. It was just really not necessary. The Mantle trying to dominate his thoughts was always a background thing, but at least he gets points for denying it all the time? I don't need to know Butters' life story or Michael's every time he appears in the book. Its book 16. It can be assumed no one is starting with Book 16.
I am getting kind of tired of Butcher waffling back and forth about the Winter Knight Mantle. Between it actually giving him strength or just loosening his limiters. Running 6 miles through sand with a 220 pound vest on screams super strength to me. It reads like Butcher just doesn't want to give Harry a real strength powerup, so whenever he does something amazingly strong Butcher starts trotting out the line about limits of humanity. The limits excuse just doesn't work for me after we see some of the things he does.
I liked Lara in this novel. The chemistry between her and Harry just works for me. Murphy was... alright in this novel to me. She wasn't too bad, but I still hated the line about how Harry had her so he wouldn't end up like Ebenezer... Like, What? Ebenezer is over 300 years old with a dead wife and daughter. Plus he is the assassin of one of the major powers in the world. Harry Dresden is in his 40s and Murphy will be dead long before he ever reaches 100. I don't know if Murphy's statement is just arrogant or very stupid. I am rooting for her to die in Battlegrounds. In Christmas Eve it has been 6 or more months since Battlegrounds took place. 6 months and yet Harry is still haunted by the deaths. He still cries his eyes out. Since it seems like Thomas will live, that raises the questions of who will die. Harry would be hurt by Ebenezer's death, but it says in Peace Talks that they barely know each other. He would be hurt because of his family dying, but they haven't really talked to each other for 20+ years. Harry's pain makes the most sense if Murphy is dead. Just my 2 cents on that.
Butters was also alright in this novel. Butcher made sure to Balance the lightsaber out. I will echo how Butters was in such good shape to be strange. It seemed like Butcher kept getting mixed up in how long ago SG was. At some points it seems like months, but other times it mentions it being only 1 month ago. Butters couldn't be that good with a sword or so buff in only 1 month. It was also a weird mistake when Harry mentions he has only been to the castle in spirit form, but he went there at the end of SG. I don't know how that got past the betas.
I saw someone mention that the Fomor king brought up all that info to weaken Mab's hold on her mantle which makes sense. Made her more human so her power weakened. I still think being kicked through 2 walls was stupid. Mab is Winter. She is a huge player in Dresden Files. No one else should be that much more powerful than her. That also brings up the Peace Conference. I was expecting a global conference because we know that the Accords include worldwide groups. But it was weird to see only North American groups show up... Heck, I don't think we even saw anyone from Canada or Mexico. So it was only the American groups show up. That was a little disappointing to me. I was expecting a lot more from these Talks. Even the White Council sent their American members for the most part! Just doesn't make much sense. Disappointing conference to me. Ivy was completely ignored which a strange choice.
I was not a fan of the short stories being so important in this book. Their info was everywhere. Molly and the Dwarves, Molly and Carlos, Molly, Butters and his training, Marcone, the bigfoot, etc. Very excessive for a main series book. I was also not a fan of the FBI/police storyline in this book. It feels completely pointless, and I am not sure how Battlegrounds will change that since the electricity is out citywide. That book will last a night or so I assume which means there is no way to resolve any police storyline. So that makes the whole thing pretty pointless.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I read it in a few hours, and it was a fun read. Butcher still has talent after a 6 or so year break in Dresden. There were a lot of small problems however. Butcher's 6 year writing span really shows through in places. I think they probably should have just made 1 book as Butcher originally intended because this book is incomplete, and it needs the next one to payoff all that it has promised. Good thing Battlegrounds is out in a few months.
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