In one word: Satisfying
Cannonball Read Bingo: Landscape
Oh hello there. It’s me again. With Dresden again. I gotta say, writing up reviews for these books has become an interesting exercise. I can’t remember when I have read a series this long (like, ever), and am doing so basically back-to-back, so being here again fills me with a strange deja vu. Plus writing these reviews is a special challenge because I like to be spoiler-free in my observations so I don’t want to get to deep into plot, and each Dresden book has the same recipe a) re-introduce main characters (again) b) bad guys c) dresden rage d) twist you saw coming e) dresden mentions how much he can’t stand to see girls/women hurt, with charming old-world misogyny, f) twist you didn’t have enough details to foresee e)meandering ending with a coda that sets up some possibilities for the next book. I cannot stress enough that though I sound flippant I do like these books, and I think it’s 65% that I have done them all on audio with James Marsters in my ears. I don’t know if I would have stuck around for all the bravado were it not for that.
Also, like, it’s the 11th book in a series so who am I writing this review for exactly? Any Dresden fans are already in there, and book 11 is pretty deep in, so my aim would just be to inspire someone to start from numero uno. And hey, look, I just got through about 160 words of exposition already. That English degree came to play today. (Pats self on back).
Ah, but yes, the book. One thing of note is that this go around my kiddo and I had a long road trip and so he listed to about the first four hours. Listening to a book with your twelve-year old around does much to elevate the heart rate. And for a kiddo, it’s mostly harmless. They aren’t too scary, the worst language is “hells bells” and the violence is all good guys beating bad guys, and the good guys win. Sometimes they get a little sexy but not so bad. Queue this book, wherein they go to essentially a sexy vampire sex club. Orgies. Nipple talk, and me, just eyes on the road knowing that sudden movements encourage a kid’s ears to perk up. But no questions were asked, so whew.
Any whoodle, this book has some interesting plot developments and we finally find out concrete details about the black council, aka, bad guys who are situated on the wizard’s white council. There are also some family developments that caught me by surprise. All in all, pretty standard fare for the series and it’s on to book 12!