Wow a heck of a lot happens this time around. The fallout from the previous with Molly is downplayed a lot more than I’d have liked, in favour of this weird heist. It mostly works but it’s less interesting than staying on a particular thread—until that resolution, which was so bombastic and fun that I got on board. The stuff with the coins and the angels and Michael have always been fairly interesting, I’m glad they resurfaced, if in a strange way.

It’s also taking forever for this whole Dresden being a winter knight but not actually thing to play out in the books. He’s the knight and has some power, but not that much, and he’s invincible but not actually, he just doesn’t feel pain. If Molly is the person he serves now, technically, why isn’t this explained a bit more. Doesn’t she know now? The whole mantle business feels very muddy.

Again, the inclusion of the secondary characters are what make it enjoyable because Dresden, though he’s grown a bit, still feels very solipsistic and a specific kind of fantasy, where he’s literally the protagonist of the world and everyone else suffers around him (usually women), and he feels bad man. I guess it’s a testament to how much better the other elements of the story are, because I certainly am reading them in spite of the titular character most of the time. He has his moments, but most of the time he reverts to being a man baby.