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kareila_booksI'm starting to get annoyed by Butcher's increasing reliance on hiding things that Dresden knows or has done until a "big reveal" moment - in essence, surprising the reader but not the protagonist. That may be part of a magician's trade, but in a narrative, it feels like a cheap trick for building suspense.
I also don't appreciate feeling like I've not witnessed important events that have happened since the previous novel. Did I miss a short story somewhere that explained the onset of this "parasite" that somehow survived his near death experience to plague him with symptoms for years, or did it just suddenly appear because it was convenient? Usually Butcher does a better job of setting up that sort of plot device.
That said, the ultimate payoff was very satisfying, and again, as with Cold Days, I find myself wanting to reread the first part of the series as old, mostly forgotten adversaries from ten books ago pop up for another round of action.
I also don't appreciate feeling like I've not witnessed important events that have happened since the previous novel. Did I miss a short story somewhere that explained the onset of this "parasite" that somehow survived his near death experience to plague him with symptoms for years, or did it just suddenly appear because it was convenient? Usually Butcher does a better job of setting up that sort of plot device.
That said, the ultimate payoff was very satisfying, and again, as with Cold Days, I find myself wanting to reread the first part of the series as old, mostly forgotten adversaries from ten books ago pop up for another round of action.
Re: Hmm, I had a different reading re: "parasite"
Date: 2014-08-07 01:35 am (UTC)To be honest, I found the beginning (read: first 1/2 to 3/4) of this book to be very slow-going, but of course, as with any Dresden novel, the last 100 pages are what REALLY counts and where Butcher does his best writing. In this book, it was actually the last 30-50 pages that made the whole rest of the book worth it. I almost gave it a 5 star rating in Goodreads based on the ending alone... but since it really did take me a long time to get into it, and I didn't enjoy the first part as much as I hoped, I dropped it to a 4. But the ending, as Oliver said the other day, really should rate about a 7/5.
Polka may never die... but it might just Jedi.