- The Good: Amid a magical conference, Harry plans a heist to save his half-brother
- The Bad: Still popcorn-fare, but full of family and heart
- The Literary: A Goodreads Choice nominee for Fantasy
Professional wizard Harry Dresden is balancing his White Council wizard duties and his duties as Winter Knight for Queen Mab, and he represents both at the upcoming magical peace talks But before they begin, his vampire half-brother Thomas Raith attempts to murder the leader of the Svartalves. Lara Raith, Thomas’ sister, uses a favor from Queen Mab to enlist Harry’s assistance to steal Thomas from the Svartalves’ prison.
This sixteenth novel of the Dresden Files is a heist story, similar to a couple of previous books in the series, but it’s less action packed. It’s a little more philosophical and self-aware, and I enjoy the quieter aspect of this one. Mostly I just enjoy being back with Harry and the incredibly talented audiobook narrator James Marsters.
In this surprisingly sweet installment, Dresden is getting sentimental in his old age, especially now that he has a lot of people he cares about, including his daughter Maggie, his girlfriend Karrin Murphy, his brother the Vampire, and many more. Harry speaks a lot about family, and he’s started making hard choices because of it.
These stories aren’t perfect, and a few things bother me here. Harry is still the Winter Knight for Queen Mab, and his powers have certain side effects, including increased strength, but also increased horniness, which gets old. He manages the lust, but just barely. In addition, Harry, a former detective, doesn’t do any sleuthing to figure out why his brother attempted to kill the Svartalve, which feels like a missed opportunity.
If you’re not into the emotional awareness of Peace Talks, the next installment Battle Ground is likely to be a huge smash-up, with multiple baddie forces gathering to attack Chicago.