Peace Talks

I’m not sure where to begin with this. I mean, I could have a build up and talk a bit about where everything began for me. I’m not even sure if I have done that already while looking at other books in the series or in the same universe (this series covers both comics and books, even had a loosely based tv show at one point). So I mean, do we need my history with the series or can I just skip all that and jump right into the book at hand?

Maybe a little bit of background…

I’m talking about the latest Dresden Files book to come out, Peace Talks (Penguin Random House, Written by Jim Butcher). I think I came into the series through the TV show. Sure it wasn’t a great adaptation of the books but it made me curious enough to jump into the books and then the comics. But I digress.

Basically, we the readers, have been waiting for what seems like ever for this book to come out. Now part of the issue at hand was personal stuff for Mr. Butcher. Writers have things go wonky in their lives too. But this book is actually a pretty big idea book. And it has a essentially a second part coming out roughly two months after it came out (Battle Ground is coming out in just a couple weeks). I feel unprepared.

Anyway, there will probably be a few spoilers in here because I want to hit on a few points in the story itself. You have been warned.

The first thing I want to touch on is the part that made me question a bit of the main plot. And no the main plot isn’t the peace talks. The main thing deals with family and the things we do for them, even when they do something stupid. Which is where I am going here. Not the family being stupid part. But still…

Based on rules that Jim had instilled in the stories early on, I have a bit of a sticky issue with Thomas getting Justine pregnant. The white court has an issue with love. They are so driven by free love and such that when they encounter true love or real love, it has the power to burn them. Justine and Thomas had a real relationship. To get her pregnant would have taken an extreme force of will. Mind you it is possible that there were some precautions involved to protect Thomas from the pain, but still it seems a bit of a stretch for me.

But this was really my only sticking point.

Everything else though, yeah, loved the story as a whole. I am stoked for the next book. I just don’t know how soon I will be able to read it once it comes out. Anyway…

There was so much stuff being set up in this story. Sure the real main plot line of family drama and the issues with Thomas were the real driving force of the story. But there is so much more set up like a loaded gun in the first act to let us know there are going to be some big things coming in the next book. Heck, I would even wager to say that the books coming after this next one are getting the set up treatment as well.

And look at that, I am not really giving you any information at all really. Just hints and innuendo. But nothing to give any story stuff away, not really.

See, this story is one of those stories you really want to talk about. But you only want to do it with those who have already read it so everyone has a frame of reference on equal terms. Which is why as soon as I finished it I sent a message to a friend who had read it already. We both wanted to talk about it and we needed to be prepared for the talk. I have a feeling Battle Ground is going to fit the same mold.

If you are new to this series, this is not the book to jump in with. So much is going on and so many relationships are in play. You need to get that build up that only comes from reading from the beginning. The nice part of that is, When you start at the beginning, you will have a bunch of books to go through to get caught up. It’s worth the extra effort.

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