I used to really like The Dresden Files but I haven’t been as excited about them in a long time. The two long gaps between releases didn’t help at all, and after discovering Seanan McGuire and Ilona Andrews, some of the bro-iness of The Dresden Files was bit harder to overlook/stood out more in comparison. While Harry matured a lot over the years in that regard, he seemed to be backsliding in the novels released most recently before this one, 2020’s Peace Talks and Battle Ground. I actually had quite a few issues with those two novels, which were originally written as one and split into two for pacing. There was a big character moment I didn’t love, I don’t think the split the way they did it was the best way to tell the story etc.
So … let’s just say I was coming into this novel with some trepidation and hesitation, especially since I just didn’t want to do a series reread (I know the audiobooks are great but I have too many podcasts to catch up on) and wasn’t sure I would remember half the characters. And overall, I think the novel worked really well for what it needed to do. This is very much a rebuilding and reset novel but it’s also a great way to get the readers re-engaged after all this time.
I had originally expected this to be set 12 months after Battle Ground as a check in, but it covers the twelve months after the battle. It’s a quieter novel as Harry deals with his grief and his constant questions about the type of man he wants to be. We see him slowly rebuild himself and his relationships.
We also watch Chicago rebuild and see how the battle and knowledge of the supernatural has impacted the people, while we get more insights into the new powers and politics of it all. Butcher uses this novel to resolve some open points from previous novels and remind the reader that there is an even bigger picture at play here, one where Dresden doesn’t know everything that is coming.
One challenge I have always had with Harry in the past is how black and white he could be (especially ironic given that he butted heads with the White Council because they were so black and white in their approaches). But some of my favorite characters have always been the ones that Harry judged the harshest or viewed as villains or antagonists, whether we are talking about Marcone (he’s not in the novel), Mab or Lara Raith and the White Court. We see a bit more of Dresden gaining greater understanding and perhaps even tolerance or acceptance for some of these people.
There are still moments where Harry is going to going Harry, like multiple references to Justine as his brother’s woman (it just feels so Neanderthal, especially when repeated multiple times) and interactions with fist-bumps and corny “my man” statements (is that even still a thing?) But the horniness has been dialed down quite a bit so I very much appreciated that, and I am also looking forward to see what is next. This wasn’t a page turner for me since it wasn’t that kind of storyline, but I think it was exactly what the series needed before getting back into more action heavy and plot driven stories in this universe.
