Peace Talks

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Synopsis

After the Fomor indicate that they're open to peace talks, all the supernatural nations of the world gather together at John Marcone's castle in the heart of Chicago to negotiate an end to the hostilities. Harry Dresden is called upon to join the White Council's security team to make sure that things remain civil. However, before the talks even get started, Harry is informed that the White Council is making a move to oust him from their ranks. Then his brother, Thomas, commits an act of aggression against the svartalves, who are now out for blood. Harry has no idea why his brother did it, only that he has to do whatever it takes to save him from being killed, and he has Thomas's sister, Lara, on board as an ally. As the two, along with Karrin Murphy, plan a prison break, Harry is confronted by his grandfather, Ebenenezar, who harbors a hatred for the White Court vampires of which Thomas and Lara are members, about Harry's alliance with Thomas, who he doesn't know is Harry's sibling. Harry may love his grandfather, but he refuses to allow the old man's prejudices to get in the way of helping Thomas escape a death sentence. However, it may mean that Harry will have to take on the most powerful wizard in the world to get his brother to safety, and even then, he may be too late. Not to mention, dangerous unexpected visitors interrupt the peace summit, making threats to end Chicago as everyone knows it and possibly murder thousands of innocent people in the process.

Review

Peace Talks is the sixteenth full-length novel in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. It begins with Harry spending some time with family--his daughter, Maggie, and brother, Thomas--and enjoying a date with Karrin. However, things start going south when he returns home from the date to find the svartalves' compound, where he's been living in Molly's apartment, going up in flames and Maggie being threatened by the svartalves. It seems that Thomas tried to pull off an assassination attempt, but was caught and tortured, leaving the svartalves suspicious of Harry, too. Harry knows that Thomas wouldn't do such a thing without cause, but what his brother's motives might be, he has no idea. All he knows is that he has to find a way to save Thomas before they execute him. Meanwhile, Harry had been approached by Ramirez warning him that the White Council will be taking a vote soon on whether Harry gets to stay on the council. He also enlists Harry's help with security for the upcoming peace summit between the Fomor and the nations under the Unseelie Accords. Harry is additionally told by Mab, in no uncertain terms, that as the Winter Knight, she expects him to act as an emissary at the peace talks, as well as give Lara Raith three favors of her choosing. Lucky for him, the first two involve doing things to rescue their shared half-brother. As the Accorded nations gather at Marcone's castle, Harry does double-duty as a representative of both the White Council and the Winter Court, but after hours, he, Karrin, and Lara hatch a plan to get Thomas to safety. Harry just didn't expect to have to go through his own grandfather, Ebenezar, to get the job done, or for the entire peace conference to be interrupted by a dangerous threat that could destroy the entire city of Chicago.

I enjoyed the opening chapters of Peace Talks, where things are uncharacteristically quiet for our intrepid wizard. It was heartwarming to see Harry interacting, first with Thomas, who had some news to share, and later having a little father/daughter bonding time with Maggie. Even Ebenezar shows up during that time, and while his visit isn't entirely a peaceful one, it was nice to see them interacting again. Harry also looks after the love of Thomas' life, Justine, after Thomas is arrested. All of this shows how important family is to Harry and how he'd go to the ends of the Earth to keep them safe. This especially is borne out as he makes an escape plan for Thomas and knows that even if he dies trying, he can't leave his brother to be killed. Unfortunately Harry must go up against Ebenezar, who has a virulent hatred of the White Court vampires and doesn't know that Thomas is his kin, in order to fully complete the escape. Before enacting the jailbreak, Harry gets a couple of brief romantic moments with Karrin, who is still recovering from the serious injuries she sustained in the previous book, and although it looks like she'll never be at a hundred percent again, she doesn't let it slow her down too much. Harry still has many friends, and although most of them have other things going on now, they don't hesitate to help him out when he's in need. I loved all the little updates on each of them: Butters, Molly, the Carpenters, Mouse, River Shoulders, Ramirez, and others, some of whom we haven't seen for a while.

Overall, Peace Talks was another fantastic story in this series. I initially thought it was rather strange that two full-length Dresden books were published in the same year (2020) within a few months of each other, but after reading this one, I understand why. This book is kind of a calm-before-the-storm story. With the peace talks starting, there's more diplomacy than aggression going on, which leaves Harry with a bit of downtime. There are all those lovely scenes with his loved ones, and some quieter moments with friends, like when he sits down to have a conversation with River Shoulders. There are also touches of the trademark Dresden humor when Harry develops conjuritis, kind of a wizard's version of a cold that makes him conjure random things when he sneezes. Even the jailbreak requires more planning and ninja-style stealth than big shows of force. Now that's not to say that the book doesn't have any of the typical Dresden magic and mayhem. But that's more so at the end when Harry engages in a wizard battle with Ebenezar. Even there, I have to give him credit for working smarter not harder since his grandfather is much more powerful. For a slower-paced story, though, I was never bored for a minute. The ending is fraught with danger and a looming battle after a menacing, uninvited and unexpected guest shows up at the peace summit. This means that Peace Talks doesn't have a solid ending like all the other Dresden books and basically wraps-up on a cliffhanger, as the fate of Chicago hangs in the balance. Hence the rapid release of Battle Ground just two months later. I guess the publisher decided that fans wouldn't want to wait to see what happens next, which I can totally get on board with, as I'm eager to read the next one very soon.

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Jim Butcher