Battle Ground Cover Art

[Yuillegan]

Okay, Harry has a spear. But on closer inspection it very well looks like a wizard staff with a bayonet...perhaps Harry affixes his staff with the Knife (Spear of Longinus) that he picked up in Skin Game...creating the Spear of Destiny.

Which makes sense. The blade is long for a knife, with a cross guard. The shape is reminiscent of a Roman spear. However...it isn't bronze.

But it does track that Dresden would need a powerful new weapon against the Titanness and her forces.

Also the theory that Dresden is Vadderung's past self is looking more likely. Vadderung's wields Gungnir ("swaying one") that never missed it's mark, and was unstoppable. In some interpretations it was considered to always be fatal and to make the wielder... invincible. Rather similar to the Spear of Longinus, no?

Also I might be reading to much into the artwork but the green magic light in the staff often means he is channeling Demonreach magic, when he channels dark blue and green it means Winter and light blue and white means Soulfire. So what does the red/orange light mean? Does Dresden get Hellfire again? I know Jim has said that is impossible to wield Soulfire and Hellfire together, as they are opposite sides of the same coin...which could mean Harry learns to "flip the coin" so to speak, transitioning as needed.

EDIT: https://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2020/battle-ground-cover-revealed

[Yuillegan]

Further, I think that if you examine the Peace Talks cover it appears he has not yet affixed the Knife to his staff.

And I might be stretching here but it does appear that the staff/spear has...tendrils? Attaching the knife to the staff? Is this the Blackstaff? I would say not as this staff has runes, and the Blackstaff supposedly is unadorned and unmarked. Yet as many have suspected, Peace Talks is possibly the book where Ebenezer bites the dust. Which seems obvious that Harry will get that role, as it would create more problems/opportunities. So maybe it IS the Blackstaff. The combination of the Blackstaff and the Knife/Spear seems like a super weapon, perfectly suited to killing Immortals and causing destruction. 

[Mira]

Further, I think that if you examine the Peace Talks cover it appears he has not yet affixed the Knife to his staff.

  Knife or Spear of Destiny?  One of the weapons he got out of the vault and what Nic was really after, not the Grail.

And I might be stretching here but it does appear that the staff/spear has...tendrils?

Runes clearly I believe, a lot of them are carved on his staff and light up as needed.  The power of the Spear head would make them light up.

[Yuillegan]

Knife or Spear of Destiny?  One of the weapons he got out of the vault and what Nic was really after, not the Grail.

Knife and Spear are the same thing - at least in theory. It is true it hasn't been confirmed, but a lot of the lore around the Spear of Longinus have it as a Knife in it's present day. If you read the description of the Knife in Skin Game it gives a good indication.

Yes it was one of the items that are related to the Christ, one of the weapons that were in Hades' Vault. Obviously not the Holy Grail...Harry suspects Nic was really after the Knife but that isn't confirmed and there is a good thread about why Nice may have not been lying about the Grail. I suspect he wanted ALL of the weapons myself, and had different purposes for each individually - and maybe one horrible plan that involved all of them.

Runes clearly I believe, a lot of them are carved on his staff and light up as needed.  The power of the Spear head would make them light up.

Indeed the runes are clear, yet perhaps Harry had to carve runes on the Blackstaff. It isn't implausible to think he had a reason to do that, perhaps related to attaching the Knife/Spear. I don't doubt the Knife could cause the staff to light up, but wouldn't it be with that same holy power that Ammoracchius uses?


Of course everything in the covers had to be taken with a grain of salt as often there are red herrings and artistic licence by the cover artist - such as Harry's non-existent Hat that is on each cover.

[nadia.skylark]

Isn't the blackstaff black? The staff in the picture is brown.

[g33k]

Isn't the blackstaff black? The staff in the picture is brown.

  Again:  artistic license.  It could explain any discrepancies.
But yeah, it doesn't physically match.

The Blackstaff is shorter, thicker, less shaped & polished.  It's a walking-stick / cane height.

I think this is Harry's new staff, either Eb finally got him a blank, or he used wood from the island.

And yeah... seems to have mounted the Knife / Spear.

[g33k]

My own theory is that Battle Ground is the "end of the masquerade" book.

Titaness invades Chicago, news at 11:00.

Because that cover looks like an urban disaster of larger than typical Dresden scope.

I think the "Terrorist" excuse finally unravels at the end of the book... on live TV.
 

[Yuillegan]

Isn't the blackstaff black? The staff in the picture is brown.

Aside from artistic license, it could be how the picture is lit by the burning Chicago city making the wood appear lighter...but I do admit, I am speculating wildly.

  Again:  artistic license.  It could explain any discrepancies.
But yeah, it doesn't physically match.

The Blackstaff is shorter, thicker, less shaped & polished.  It's a walking-stick / cane height.

I think this is Harry's new staff, either Eb finally got him a blank, or he used wood from the island.

And yeah... seems to have mounted the Knife / Spear.

I don't remember it saying it was cane height...just because it might be Mother Winter's walking stick (possibly, but unconfirmed) doesn't make it necessarily the size an old crone would use for a walking cane/stick. And many supernatural creatures can be the height they wish to, so it has no bearing. Hell, the fact that it's a "walking stick" merely is a representation of part of her power - and seems to limit her ability to travel. What it actually IS, is anyone's guess. But my money is it is somewhat similar to a mantle, part of winter in physical form, severed from her - like Sauron and the One Ring.

But it probably is more likely a new staff made from the island. Still, it would be cool for Harry to get the Blackstaff (sooner than later - although perhaps the fact he hasn't got it yet signifies how much that will change the game i.e. he will have MUCH bigger problems)

I bloody hope it is the end of the masquerade, otherwise Jim has to keep it in sync with our world - which is both difficult and depressing enough. A divergence would be nice. It would be exciting for it all to come undone and vindicating for Harry to be right, which of course means that he will be blamed.

[Bad Alias]

Okay, Harry has a spear. But on closer inspection it very well looks like a wizard staff with a bayonet...perhaps Harry affixes his staff with the Knife (Spear of Longinus) that he picked up in Skin Game...creating the Spear of Destiny.

Which makes sense. The blade is long for a knife, with a cross guard. The shape is reminiscent of a Roman spear. However...it isn't bronze.

But it does track that Dresden would need a powerful new weapon against the Titanness and her forces.

Also the theory that Dresden is Vadderung's past self is looking more likely.

Those were pretty close to my thoughts when I saw the cover.

My thoughts: Not the blackstaff. The red in the runes could be reflections of the fire or he's channeling fire. The tendrils could be smoke coming off the staff. Also, I don't want Eb to die mostly because I hate the whole "the mentor must die" trope.

Some things I noticed: Harry's pentacle is "upside down" and doesn't have his mom's ruby. Also, McGrath's signature has "19" after it. Could that mean he had this done some time last year? If so, why was the book announced without the cover art?

[didymos]

Some things I noticed: Harry's pentacle is "upside down" and doesn't have his mom's ruby.

It's like that on the Peace Talks cover too.

[Arjan]

It looks like the spearhead has a socket and you can use that to attach it to any pole that fits including a wizard staff. Maybe sand the top of the staff a bit.Does someone recognise that type of spearhead? It is not a Roman pilum or an Ancient Greek or early medieval European as far as I can see.

[Mira]

It looks like the spearhead has a socket and you can use that to attach it to any pole that fits including a wizard staff. Maybe sand the top of the staff a bit.Does someone recognise that type of spearhead? It is not a Roman pilum or an Ancient Greek or early medieval European as far as I can see.

   Artist conception of what a Roman spearhead looks like verses doing the actual research on what one really looks like perhaps?  Details do matter but perhaps not so much in book cover art.

[Snark Knight]

Also I might be reading to much into the artwork but the green magic light in the staff often means he is channeling Demonreach magic, when he channels dark blue and green it means Winter and light blue and white means Soulfire. So what does the red/orange light mean? Does Dresden get Hellfire again? I know Jim has said that is impossible to wield Soulfire and Hellfire together, as they are opposite sides of the same coin...which could mean Harry learns to "flip the coin" so to speak, transitioning as needed.

The carvings on his staff and blasting rod were originally described as glowing red-orange and sometimes smelling of clean woodsmoke even before Lasciel provided hellfire, weren't they? I think that's just the default when Harry is using his own fire magic.

[Arjan]

   Artist conception of what a Roman spearhead looks like verses doing the actual research on what one really looks like perhaps?  Details do matter but perhaps not so much in book cover art.

Like the hat?

I know it is not an original roman spearhead, I just wondered of somebody would know where the inspiration came from.

[Bad Alias]

It looks to me as if the inspiration is either a hunting spear or fantasy awesomeness instead of any familiarity with spears, though I say this without much familiarity with spears.