One of my favorite subgenres in book is urban fantasy, or stories set in something like the modern world but which also has magic and other supernatural things going on for the main character. And the poster child, so to speak, for those stories are author Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files novels, a series of books about a wizard named Harry Dresden who lives and works out of the city of Chicago. And aside from being a wizard named Harry, that is all this character has in common with a certain Mr. Potter.
Fans were happy to hear Butcher’s announcement of not one, but two new Dresden Files novels for 2020, the first being the recently released Peace Talks.
Life for wizard Harry Dresden is approaching a kind of new normal. As the Winter Knight, he has more power that he must constantly tamp down to keep from hurting other people, but he’s got that more or less under control. He and his White Court vampire half-brother Thomas are getting along well, and Harry is doing what he can to raise his daughter Maggie in a safehouse donated to them by Harry’s former apprentice Molly, now the Winter Lady of the Unseelie fey. Word comes to Harry of some imminent problems: the White Council of wizards is looking to remove Harry from their ranks, costing him a lot of protection he has from his many supernatural enemies, and the Formor, sea monsters that have been causing problems for supernaturals all over the world, are coming to some peace talks with the various signatories of the Unseelie Accords in Chicago, conveniently coming at the same time as the White Council’s vote.
Now, this all by itself would probably make for a great novel, but Butcher as an author rarely lets things sit this easily. In fact, most of the novel isn’t even about the peace talks so much as it is Harry’s relationship with Thomas. Thomas appears to commit a dastardly crime that gets him into a lot of trouble, and the fact Thomas even commits the acts seem really out-of-character, but Harry now has an obligation to help his brother. To make matters worse, Harry’s grandfather, Ebeneezer McCoy, the White Council’s official assassin and one of the most powerful and dangerous wizards on the planet, has a decided distaste for vampires and wants to “save” Harry from whatever control the White Court has on him.
Apparently, few characters beyond Harry, his ex-cop love interest Murphy, and a few others are even aware that Thomas and Harry are related. That was a mild surprise to me, all told, but it makes sense. As such, most of this particular book has Harry working to help his brother while many of his friends and allies assume he’s under some kind of vampire control when, well, he isn’t, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t being watched far more closely than he’d like.
In many ways, this is a very standard Dresden Files adventure; however, there is one thing that makes it different and that is this is clearly not a complete story. Yes, the Thomas plot makes up much of this book, but there are events that happen here that are clearly lead-in to the next book, coming out in September, Battle Ground. If anything, that next works sounds a bit more promising given where those plotlines lay as this novel came to a close. Really this felt more like half a Harry Dresden adventure, and while I always enjoy a trip to that world, I would have also liked to see the rest of it. Good thing I am a patient man who can wait that long, and with plenty of other books to read in the meantime. All things being equal, I did enjoy this book, but I know the story isn’t over yet.
Grade: B+
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