Book Review: Battle Ground
A few months ago, I said that Peace Talks wasn’t really a full book, that we would have to wait for Battle Ground to really judge the quality of the story. I am pleased to report that Battle Ground has delivered tremendously on the long wait and delivers the payoff we wanted from Peace Talks.
War has come to Chicago. As night falls on the city, the supernatural powers-that-be prepared to duke it out with a wrathful Titan. At the core of their flimsy plan, outclassed and outgunned, is Winter Knight Harry Dresden, determined not to let his city fall. But Harry’s friends don’t trust him like they once did, and even all their combined powers may not be enough to defeat a woman who can only be hurt if she believes she can.
Holy shit. Holy. Shit.
This book is a wild ride from start to finish. If there was ever a book to which the term “breathless” could be applied, this is it. All the waiting around from Peace Talks, this is where it leads: a non-stop war, fought on multiple fronts, and designed to put Harry through his paces like never before. Even the slower scenes are carrying so much weight and forward momentum that it feels like you’re gasping for air at the end. I’m sure this is by design — Harry, too, is gasping for breath by the end. For the first time, this book truly evokes how Harry feels at the end of a case: exhausted, battered, drained. I literally wandered around my house for half an hour just processing after reading this.
If you thought Peace Talks was a who’s who of the Dresdenverse, well. Think again. This one is even moreso, with all of the Peace Talks character pushed into action and more appearing by the minute. In addition, new characters who we’ve only heard of in passing make appearances here that will leave your jaw on the floor.
Surprisingly, an awful lot of the focus is on Mab, and boy howdy, I am HERE FOR IT. Mab has been one of my favorites since Summer Knight, and I’ve always felt she tends to get a raw deal in public opinion within the Dresdenverse. We know the purpose of the Winter Sidhe, and now we see how carrying that burden can change someone. Mab is almost tender with Dresden here, letting him into her private thoughts and philosophy, explaining how, deep down, she does care. She feels the pain, too. It’s easy to see the beginnings of her displacement of Ebenezar as Harry’s mentor, in part because she sees herself in Harry. These scenes were my favorites of the book, tucked into little corners, and Harry standing by her side in combat was positively thrilling.
Pain is, in fact, quite a bit of the focus of this book: how we deal with it, how we move through it. There is a montage towards the middle of the book which can only be described as harrowing. Harry and his friends move through Chicago to regroup and they see the damage the enemies have done and it’s just…the crib. The crib will break your heart.
Harry takes losses here, and he feels them in a way like never before. His former friends continue to doubt him. Some people die. He almost loses control. But it’s a part of stepping up to greater responsibility, and the roots are here for Harry to truly become a leader in a way he’s never shouldered before. Dresden books don’t usually tackle themes so head-on, but I appreciated the change here.
The book’s not perfect - there are a few things that are a little off. Maggie and Bonea virtually disappear, which is perhaps understandable but feels a little abrupt. I have extremely mixed feelings on one of the major deaths. But at the end of the day…I didn’t really feel like I could dock the book for those things, not when it left me reeling at the end and buzzing for someone to talk to. That’s a 5-star sensation.
Finally, there are a lot of revelations I don’t want to spoil, which makes it hard to write much more of this review, and there are a lot of minor threads left loose for the future. New enemies, old enemies, improved enemies, new losses, a wedding (!!) even! Mirror Mirror, the next planned book, is going to be something else, and I couldn’t be more excited to see where the series goes as it heads toward the big final trilogy.
Grade: 5/5 stars
Memorable Quotes:
“Winter called to me, the whole time. The cold would numb pain, swallow my sickness, leave everything calm and sharp-edged and rational and clear. I could lean into that power. Forget this pain, at least for a time.
But somewhere deep down inside my guts, there emerged a solid, unalterable realization of truth:
Some things should hurt.
Some things should leave you with scars.
Some things should haunt your nightmares.
Some things should be burned into memory.
Because that was the only way to make sure that they would be fought. It was the only way to face them. It was the only way to cast down the future agents of death and havoc before they could bring things to this.
The words never again mean more to some people than others.”
“Maybe the process of becoming something horrible wasn’t about temptation to sin, forbidden delights, and bad impulse control.
Maybe it was about choosing to throw your soul into a meat grinder, over and over again. Until what remained couldn’t even be seen as a soul any longer. Maybe the real monsters, the big bad monsters, aren’t created.
They’re forged. Hammered. One blow at a time...
The real battle for your own soul isn’t about falling from a great height; it’s about descending, or not, one choice at a time.
And sometimes, it’s about choosing to pay a price so someone else doesn’t have to.”
