I got Peace Talks by Jim Butcher out of the library. I’m not sure they have Battle Ground, I guess I should check. I was…underwhelmed. I’m starting to think that Jim Butcher can’t write/doesn’t know what to do with his female characters. Everyone wants Harry, Harry wants everyone, except Justine, because she’s off limits. He can’t even act like a normal dude about Butters’ consensual poly relationship. And yes, I’m glad he and Karrin Murphy finally traded I love yous, but he couldn’t get it up because he didn’t want to hurt her? I’m 90% sure Jim Butcher is going to fridge her in the next book (If Harry is a gnat in this world then what is Karrin?) and I will be so, so pissed. I am not spoiled. Yes, I will probably read it anyway, sigh.
Alrighty, now that I’m likely to get my first hateful comments on one of these reviews I will list off all the things that annoyed me about this book:
- Harry Dresden has a cold. But magical. Ugh, is this supposed to be related to the “Winter Mantle?” the convenient thing that makes Harry Dresden want to swing his dick all around Chicago?
- You drop a badass bronze woman who can swat Mab away like a fly at the very end of the book? There’s no hint she’s going to exist anywhere else.
- STAY AWAY FROM MOLLY YOU CREEP. Stop using this mantle as an excuse for your horniness, Harry, and get your shit together.
- Magical MacGuffin island is certainly convenient for Harry.
And in the interest of fairness, here are the things I did like:
- The party scene during the peace talks. I do love a good dragon.
- Michael and Butters being their usual amazing selves.
- Molly is pretty clever too.
- The fight between Ebenezer and Harry. That felt a long time coming, and I really liked the way it played out.
I guess I will see how this plays out eventually. But for a book with a cliffhanger ending, I’m not racing to pick up the next one. This is a lot of words for a book in transition to the next one, but after such a long hiatus, I expected more.
