When Marcone, the Chicago crime lord, is kidnapped, Dresden is called in to help find him by Mab, the Queen of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, and she refuses to take no for an answer. But any favor for the Queen of the Winter Court, even one that is owed, is no small thing, and soon Dresden finds himself at odds with the Summer Court and the Denarians, fallen angels who use humans as hosts. And what Dresden uncovers is a far larger plan that gives the Denarians more power than anyone in their right mind would want them to have.
Impression: While the story itself is up to Butcher's usual excellence, the writing is starting to slip a little...or maybe it's the editing. Particularly early in the novel, there were some small technical issues, repetitions, and a few other things that are unusual for a Dresden book. But once the story got rolling, either those problems became less prevalent (and they weren't all that frequent to begin with, just noticeable when you're used to the quality that a Dresden book usually has), or the story did its job and made the problems disappear. Either way, the bumps were only in the first few chapters for me. After that, I was too drawn in to care much.
And, as usual, Butcher dives into the action early. Even before Harry knows Mab will be calling in one of her remaining favors, the Summer Court is after him. From there, it only gets worse as Mab forces him to hunt for Marcone, a man he's sure Chocago is better off without, and he quickly uncovers his own reasons to find the mobster before he accepts a Denarian coin and becomes an greater power and worse danger to the city. But in the process of trying to negotiate for Marcone's release, he uncovers an even more dangerous plan and finds himself the target of suspicions from the friends who aide him.
I think, if anything, the book could have used a lull or two, places for Dresden, and the reader, to catch their breath a little. The plot flowed, the reason for the constant rush of the novel made sense, it was just hard to process the events. I'm sure a lot of readers would say that's just a me thing.
Other than that, it was another excellent addition to the Dresden series (it really is nice to see a series continue to so strongly after the 4th or 5th book, when so many other series are starting to lose steam or are having other issues). Character development wasn't as strong in this particular installment, but with as much as was going on, that makes sense. The plot twists worked very well as usual. If there's one thing Butcher is the master at, it's putting in a twist you don’t see coming, but you can definitely see events leading to it once it happens. So I highly recommend the book, but there is one thing readers do need to be aware of: a lot of the earlier books didn't need to be read in a particular order to make sense, but this book (and, to be honest, at least the two or three before it) needs to be read in order or a lot of what goes on, particularly with the Denarians, will not make sense.
And if you haven't started reading the Dresden Files, and you love fantasy (particularly urban fantasy), what are you waiting for? Pick them all up, including this one. You won't be disappointed.
The story of Sachiko and Masato and their autistic son, Hikaru, continues through Hikaru's later elementary school years with some new challenges and experiences. Hikaru gets sick for the first time and goes to a camp with his class for a few days. Continuing challenges include Hikaru's teacher, who continues to expect more from her autistic students than can they can realistically achieve, particularly in their emotional responses. There are also new problems that have no relationship with Hikaru: Masato is transferred to a job that makes less income because of a supervisor who wants him out of the office, and ends up getting drunk. Sachiko also continues to have problems with her mother-in-law, who tries to take Kanon, Hikaru's sister, from her parents to raise her in a way she deems more appropriate. The family continues to rely on each other, neighbors, friends, and community resources to make it through each new challenge.
Impression: For some reason, I wasn't as impressed with this volume as with the previous two. It's still a good series, but there seemed to be some inconsistency this time around. For example, Hikaru, like most autistics, is fairly rigid when it comes to routines, yet there were actually very few problems on his trip away from home. From the way Hikaru has been portrayed in the past, he is much like my son when overwhelmed by changes and tends to melt down not only more quickly but also more dramatically. My son is in high school and has only recently begun to manage some control over that. This is just one example of the "little things" that struck me as off this time around.
But the story is still good, and the family's internal support and reliance on outside resources is very realistically portrayed. Raising an autistic child is a tough job, and all of us who are doing it need to find supports and resources to help us keep our sanity and to make it through the challenges. The story also continues to raise awareness of autism, its affect on the children, and the struggles of the families raising autistic children.
Belinda Primrose is the bastard daughter of Queen Lorraine and her adviser, Lord Drake. Trained since childhood to serve her father, and through him the Queen, Belinda is the Queen's secret weapon, an assassin wrapped in a pretty face and a woman's body. Held within, unknown even to herself, is the power of the witchbreed, placed out of reach by her father's witchbreed magic. Sent to Gallin to spy upon Queen Sandalia and to discover if she or her son, Javier, stir up rebellion against Lorraine, Belinda becomes entangled in political intrigue and a prince's heart in ways she had not planned. And now her powers are awakening....
Impression: While I generally enjoyed The Queen's Bastard and think I might like to read the sequel (if only to find out what happens to Belinda from here), I can't say the book totally held my interest. It was actually easy for me to put it down, and I can’t completely put my finger on why. This saddens me as I was, when I first bought the book, really looking forward to reading it.
Belinda is an well-rounded, engaging character, loyal to her father and the Queen she remembers being born to. The other characters are equally well written. The story itself, once it gets started, is rather predictable, however, but the writing itself is good. I think one of my biggest problems is the answer to the question of the witchbreed powers. There is absolutely NO hint of the implied answer prior to the last few pages of the book, so it takes you a bit by surprise, and for me it was out of line with the world setting that had already been established. This occurred so late in the book, however, that I can't say it was the reason I had difficulty keeping a sustained interest in the book. Perhaps it was the predictability of the plot. Maybe it was the heavy focus on sex (not that I'm a prude; I enjoyed the first 4 or 5 books of the Anita Blake series). As I said, I do kind of want to know what happens to Belinda and Javier after this, but I can see it not being a priority. Not going to say don't read the book, but I also can't really recommend it.
