Summoned by the White Council Harry has a tough job at hands, the war is on between the supernatural nations if the table talk between them fails. There are certain elements that want the table talk to fail in a big way so that the hell is finally unleashed and would take the humans along with it.
The Chicago’s Wizard has been working for money all the time but he loves his home town and the people of the planet on which he has been living for ages. For the safety of both worlds Dresden has to step in or it would be too late for both the worlds and the result would be chaotic.
Wizards and Supernatural beings are disappearing from the scenes and the rage among the allies of those beings is greater than expected, Harry cannot use power against the forces of such magnitude. But power has not been the main area of the great Wizard; he is always with his clever tricks stuffed in his sleeves for the right moment and place. Jim Butcher’s favorite character made it out in Cold Days and Shadowed Souls with the help of his wits and not the powers that he is blessed with.
This book reintroduces many of the old face of the White Council with which Harry used to work when he was a Warden there and there is a chance that the Council might try to have him back. Real war situation and the finish is awesome it has been a while since we have witnessed such a nail biting finish as this one. Dark politics finally gets revealed in a big way but still there are more of its members that are still under the veil.
Whether we call this fantasy, high fantasy, epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, world building or simply mystery, Mr. Butcher is a must read. He does not waste words in this high drama series or fall in the trap of doing too much recapping. There is not a weak book in the series, his characters are crisp and cunning. The characters are old friends as they weave their way in and out of his stories. Most he seems to reintroduce in each book, without dedicating whole books to. His team rocks, terrific editing, James Marsters is fantastic and narrates the entire series, his beta readers are studly. I’ve produced nine books and two screenplays in a completely different genre and I am jealous. I see many authors borrow his world building and characters shamelessly. He’s not Tolkien, but in a way Butcher is more creative with his stories, though he has a longer arc to work with. There are perhaps a handful of writers in this genre that are as gifted, yet most of these are writing by the page and not by the pound as he does. You could start here (with this his latest), however I would start with book one, Storm Front. I’m not going to tease or spoil this, but I will say I’m waiting (impatiently) for Harry to get a new Chicago home; he’d better not flee to the freekin suburbs, or another base. Chicago remarkably is the hardest major market to recruit to, but it is also the most difficult to recruit from. I will close in mentioning that I am a bit apprehensive about the author’s many fringe projects; leave these for your heirs to play with and WRITE!
Goes from chapter36 to the end. Missing last several chapters
The book is only 36 chapters. The cliffhanger ending is intended.
There is one more book after this battle ground