Battle Ground by Jim Butcher

From the publisher: THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET SERIOUS FOR HARRY DRESDEN, CHICAGO’S ONLY PROFESSIONAL WIZARD, in the next entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files.

Harry has faced terrible odds before. He has a long history of fighting enemies above his weight class. 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 on an order of magnitude 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.

After I reviewed Peace Talks last month, I knew I had to review this 17th book featuring "the other wizard named Harry" as soon as possible. As I mentioned in the Peace Talks review, Battle Ground is the second half of that story, which was originally one book but was split in half by the publisher. While I think splitting into two books was probably the right decision, neither book feels quite complete on its own so I recommend reading the two back-to-back if at all possible.

For those unfamiliar with the series, I recommend starting with Storm Front, the first book, rather than jumping in here. The rest of this review may contain some spoilers for earlier books in the series, so please stop reading now if you don't want to know anything about the earlier books.

Since it was basically the first half of one story, Peace Talks left readers with a lot of unanswered questions:

• What happens when Harry Dresden's divided loyalties between the White Council of wizards and the Winter Court come into conflict?
• Why did Harry's brother Thomas try to assassinate the svartalf king?
• Can even the combined forces of the Accorded nations survive the onslaught of Ethniu and the Fomor?
• Even if they survive, can the world ever be the same after such a large-scale conflict happens out in the open?
• Do krakens have souls?

Okay, that last one isn't a lingering question from the last book, but readers are going to find out the answer anyway. 😁

One side effect of being the second half of a two-part story is that Battle Ground has a LOT of action. From start to finish, this book is practically one long sequence of action scenes and battles. The stakes here are higher than they've ever been before, with the fate of all of Chicago and possibly the entire world riding on Harry's success. But thanks to his tangled relationships and family, the personal stakes are still quite high as well. Harry still has family and loved ones to protect, even as some of them fight beside him and try to keep him safe as well. Thanks to the relentless pace of the story, I was totally sucked in and finished all 402 pages of this book in just one day.

All in all, Battle Ground has everything that was missing from the last book and more. It brings a true Dresden Files action climax with all the cool moments, sarcastic wit, and heart-wrenching drama that fans have come to expect from Jim Butcher over the first 16 books. Fans of the series will not be disappointed. The hardcover edition also contains a short story called "Christmas Eve," which was previously published online on the author's website.

Battle Ground is available to check out from Galesburg Public Library in hardcover format, and through the library's ebook collections using the Libby and Axis360 apps.

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

From the Publisher: HARRY DRESDEN IS BACK AND READY FOR ACTION, in the new entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files.

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, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago—and all he holds dear?

Harry Dresden is back in the 16th book in Jim Butcher's urban fantasy series, and the first full-length novel since 2014's Skin Game. This far into the series, fans likely know what to expect: explosive action, snarky humor, lovable secondary characters (a great many of whom appear in this book), and ever-increasing stakes. 

Readers new to the Dresden Files series might prefer to start with the first book, Storm Front, also available for checkout at GPL. You also might want to stop reading here, to avoid spoilers for other books in the series.

The big thing thing to know about Peace Talks is that it's an incomplete story - the manuscript was large enough that the publisher split the book in two. As a result, many plot threads begin in Peace Talks that won't be resolved until the next book, which leaves the story feeling incomplete. Thankfully, Battle Ground, the next book, comes out on September 29th so it's not too long of a wait.

Peace Talks begins with Harry, Chicago's only practicing wizard/private detective, balancing his duties as a Warden of the White Council, as Knight of the Winter Court, and as a father raising both a human child and a spiritual one. The peaceful, domestic bliss is short-lived though, as several big events hit at once:

• Harry's vampire brother Thomas informs Harry that he's expecting a child
• The White Council of wizards is holding in inquest whether to revoke Harry's status as a member of the Council, even as...
• Queen Mab of the Winter Court is holding a peace talks summit between signatories of her Accords, which will bring important members of the supernatural community from all over the world to Chicago. As both a Warden of the White Council and the Winter Knight, Harry will have to represent both groups at the event and put his divided loyalties to the test.
• The Accords are disrupted even before they begin by an assassination attempt made against the king of the Svartalves, and the assassin turns out to be someone very close to Harry.

With all of this going on, things are even crazier for Harry than ever before. The peace talks bring all sorts of characters from previous books and short stories back to Chicago, which is a fun treat for readers. Harry's trademark sarcastic wit is still very much on display, but Butcher has also done a great job developing our favorite wizard/detective into a wiser, more mature Harry with a family to protect. 

However, because the story was split into two books, many of the plot threads set up in Peace Talks are left unresolved until the next one. While hardcore fans will be eager to devour this new entry into the series, more casual fans might prefer to wait until they can read the whole story at once.

Peace Talks is available for checkout from Galesburg Public Library in hardcover format, and through the library's ebook collections using the Libby and Axis360 apps.

The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman

The Lost Plot is book 4 in the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman. This series has moments of great fun for lovers of fantasy, libraries, dragons, Fae, and strong female leads.

In Cogman's world, Librarians can work a sort of magic by speaking the Language. They travel into alternate time periods and versions of our world to find rare and alternate copies of books. Irene Winters is a Librarian with a dragon apprentice and a Victorian detective friend. She gets involved in a remarkable amount of intrigue as she goes about her book finding duties.

In The Lost Plot, Irene and her assistant head to Prohibition-era New York and are thrust into the middle of a political fight with dragons, mobsters, and Fae. In a 1920s-esque New York, Prohibition is in force, fedoras, flapper dresses, and tommy guns are in fashion, and intrigue is afoot.

The tension between the Fae and the dragons adds some spice, Irene is a resourceful and intelligent lead, and there is a nice balance between character interaction and action. I really enjoyed the 1920s gangster setting of The Lost Plot.

The romantic tension and hints of a love triangle are by far the least interesting aspects of this otherwise fabulous series. I wish the author would drop the romance and concentrate on the fun.

I read an advance reader copy of The Lost Plot. It will be released on January 8, 2018, and the Galesburg Public Library will own it in print and as an ebook. If you want to get started on this fantasy series, The Invisible Library, book 1, is available at the library.

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

From the publisher: The story follows Irene, a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. Along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she’s posted to an alternative London. Their mission – to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it’s already been stolen. London’s underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.

The Invisible Library is an enjoyable mash up of too many things to mention. There is a Sherlock Holmes-like detective, dragons who can take human form, werewolves, vampires, the Fae, a mysterious Library, a mysterious language that is almost like magic but not quite - all set in an alternate Victorian London.

The world building is fine, given that we’ve already visited parts of it in many other fantasy novels. The characters are interesting. The dialog is entertaining. The plot is frantic and engaging. I didn’t worry too much about things that reminded me of other things – I was too busy enjoying myself.

A couple of the things I especially enjoyed:

When Librarian Irene and her student Kai are sent to an alternate world, they are instructed to claim to be “barbarian visitors from Canada.” (“Do you suppose barbarian Canadians wear jeans? “I hope female Canadian barbarians wear trousers….They’re easier to run in.”)

When Irene is invited to a party by one of the local Fae lords, he tells her, “I’ve invited all the best people. Lords, ladies, authors, ambassadors, debauchers, grave-robbers, perverts, sorcerers, courtesans, deranged scientists, and doll-makers.” Doll-makers, ha!

The Invisible Library is a ton of fun, and I look forward to book 2, The Masked City. Recommended for fantasy lovers looking for a fun romp

The Invisible Library will be published on June 14 and will be available at the Galesburg Public Library in print and as an ebook