Peace Talks
Jim Butcher
First of all – I
have read all the Harry Dresden books (and to date there are 17 of them).
I absolutely love them.
And, while the early ones can be read as
independent stand-alone books, as the popularity and character development has
come along, it’s less confusing and much more enjoyable if you have an
understanding of who and what Dresden is.
In other words, you need to read some of the earlier books.
After a long drought (
Skin Game
published in 2014), author Jim Butcher released not one but two books within a
few months of one another this year.
I
reread
Skin Game to remind myself what was happening with Harry and then
started on
Peace
Talks.
When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to
ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, joins
the White Council's security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he
succeed? Dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago and
all Harry holds dear.
It's good. It is Harry Dresden in his prime.
Battle Ground
Jim Butcher
Then, I read
Battle
Ground. It came out a few months
after
Peace Talks and page one of the new book, literally, takes up
where page 300-odd of the other, ends.
It seems to me, author Jim Butcher wrote one huge Harry Dresden story
and then divided it into two books.
Battle
Ground
Harry has faced terrible odds
before. He has a long history of fighting enemies - The Red Court of vampires,
The fallen angels of the Order of the Blackened Denarius, The Outsiders. But
this time it’s different. A being more powerful and dangerous beyond what the
world has seen in a millennium is coming. And she’s bringing an army. The Last
Titan has declared war on the city of Chicago, and has come to subjugate
humanity, obliterating any who stand in her way. Harry’s mission is simple but
impossible: Save the city by killing a Titan. And the attempt will change
Harry’s life, Chicago, and the mortal world forever.
This one was harder for me to
read because, I think, it is one massive battle – for 300 pages. It was made even harder since one of Harry’s
long-time allies is lost. I don’t know
that I enjoyed this one as much as some of his other books but, it was the next
in line, so . . . . Hopefully it won’t
be another six years before Harry Dresden takes on the next catastrophe.
The Passage Trilogy
Justin Cronin
This is the story of
the end of the world. I had actually
read The Passage not long after it came out in 2010. But, the second book didn’t come out until
2012 and the third not until 2016. So, I
never got around to finishing the entire trilogy. Since being more “home-bound” these days than
usual, I decided to try again. And, FYI
– if you want to read these, be aware they are huge books --- 600-700 pages
each.
The
Passage
An epic and gripping tale of
catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her
mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures
behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent
Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously
quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes
nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s
collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark
with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying
knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.
The Twelve
In the present day, as the
man-made apocalypse unfolds, three strangers navigate the chaos. Lila, a doctor
and an expectant mother, is so shattered by the spread of violence and
infection that she continues to plan for her child’s arrival even as society
dissolves around her. Kittridge, known to the world as “Last Stand in Denver,”
has been forced to flee his stronghold and is now on the road, dodging the
infected, armed but alone and well aware that a tank of gas will get him only
so far. April is a teenager fighting to guide her little brother safely through
a landscape of death and ruin. These three will learn that they have not been
fully abandoned—and that in connection lies hope, even on the darkest of
nights. One hundred years in the future, Amy and the others fight on for
humankind’s salvation...unaware that the rules have changed. The enemy has
evolved, and a dark new order has arisen with a vision of the future infinitely
more horrifying than man’s extinction. If the Twelve are to fall, one of those
united to vanquish them will have to pay the ultimate price.
City of Mirrors
The world we knew is gone.
What world will rise in its place? The Twelve have been destroyed and the
terrifying hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has
ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build
society anew—and daring to dream of a hopeful future. But far from them, in a
dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish
that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his
transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys
Amy—humanity’s only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him.
Honestly,
I don’t know what to tell you. This is
certainly a “one time only read” for me.
It’s a story about monsters. The
monsters are terrible and unfortunately a bunch of the monsters are 100%
human. In my opinion, of the three
books, the first one – The Passage – is the best. Yes, terrible things happen but it was a
comfortable read. The hardest to read
was The Twelve. The cruelty, death, destruction
was constant. The third book, City of
Mirrors was mostly tedious. I was glad
to be finished with it.
And
a couple for fun –
He
Shall Thunder in the Sky
Elizabeth Peters
I love the Amelia Peabody books.
I was truly sad when Elizabeth Peters died, knowing there would be no
more “found journals and letters” to be turned into an excellent, fun,
historical mystery.
He Shall Thunder in the Sky
Egypt and her hoary secrets
are no match for the indomitable archaeologist sleuth Amelia Peabody. The close
of 1914 finds Amelia Peabody and her husband Radcliffe Emerson back in Egypt
for another season of archaeological excavation--despite the increasing danger
of an attack on the Suez Canal and on Egypt itself. Trouble is brewing in Cairo
and the defiantly pacifist stance of Amelia and Emerson's headstrong son Ramses
is earning the young man the derision, and much worse, of the British
expatriate community. Unknown to his family, Ramses' strange secret role as a
spy could truly bring ruin down upon all their heads. However, there is more
than intrigue and espionage, plots and counterplots, at work here. For an
artifact uncovered at a Giza dig--an exquisite sculpture found where it ought
not to be confirms Amelia's most unsettling suspicion: that the chaos consuming
Cairo has masked the nefarious re-emergence of Amelia's villainous archnemesis,
Sethos, the Master Criminal.
Great,
great, great. Excellent. Somehow I missed reading this book before
now. Great, great, great!
And,
last but not least –
Terns
of Endearment
Donna Andrews
I’ve mentioned other Meg Langslow Mysteries by Donna Andrews
before. This one is just as good as all
the others. A bit more fanciful –
remember, you are reading fiction that was never “ripped from the headlines”.
Terns of Endearment
Meg's grandfather has been
booked to give lectures on a cruise as part of the education/entertainment
itinerary, and he's arranged for a passel of family members to join him. The
passengers' vacation quickly becomes a nightmare when they wake up to find
themselves broken down and in need of repairs. Things get even worse when a
crew member announces to all that a woman has jumped overboard. The captain
decides not to investigate, saying he'll notify American authorities when they
reach their destination. But Meg's father decides they need to look into
whether there was possible foul play while the prime suspects are all stuck on
board. It'll be a race against the clock to solve this mystery before they make
the necessary repairs and return to shore.
Need a light fluffy, entertaining read? This is it!
13 Nov 2020
