Chengar Reviews: Skin Game · 7:15am May 29th, 2014
So, there's a new Dresden book out, and I just finished reading it. Time to say what I thoughts of it. Short version: I liked it. A lot. I'll try to avoid handing out any major spoilers, while still giving it a full review. Fair warning, this is a completely biased and subjective review, so YMMV.
First off, the things I liked about it.
The characters were rock-solid. The Denarians remain my favorite bad guys in the series, and it's a real pleasure to see them in action again. They're just so wonderfully evil. Harry being forced into teaming up with them, and the tension of having both sides constantly waiting for the sudden but inevitable betrayal makes for a nice setup. The new and returning characters who help with the main plot are all fun to see in action. I especially liked Hannah Ascher, since shortly after her establishing character scenes I dubbed her "Dresdenized Sunbeam." Granted, it's not a perfect parallel, but when you've got a pyromancer who tries to seduce Harry in her first scene...
Also, Butters has become even more awesome. Though he does screw up pretty badly at one point, he more than makes up for it later. Michael getting proper pagetime after being benched since Small Favor was also very nice, and his dynamic with Harry continues to be some of the best character interaction in the series.
Likewise, the story does an excellent job of raising the stakes. Things get more and more dangerous for our heroes, and it's clearly going to take everything they can manage to make it out of this mess in one piece without blowing up or otherwise dooming the world.
It also worked to develop a few of the elements of Cold Days I found a bit problematic. Murphy lost quite a few points with me in that book on account of her general paranoia and hostility towards Harry, but Skin Game put some work into fixing the issues. Opinions may vary, but I found the combination of a comeuppance and a softening of her attitude very welcome. It's nice to see her character back in a place I can like. Now if Butcher could just stop it with the eternal Unresolved Sexual Tension... (Though I will at least give points to Harry's Subconscious for channeling some Cloud Kicker and saying "How come you haven't banged Murphy yet?)
Also, since a couple people have already mentioned it, yes, I fairly close to the mark with my prediction of what the Parasite was in My Little Denarians. I didn't get it exactly right, but I was in the general neighborhood. Though I don't think anyone could have predicted exactly what Butcher was planning with that.
Now, the one or two parts I was ... less fond of. It's a rock-solid book, but that doesn't mean it's a flawless book. There were two points I was less than one hundred percent happy with. Well, technically three, but the first two points are pretty closely linked.
First off, Butcher has added more weaknesses to the Winter Knight Mantle, and semi-retconned away one of its bigger benefits. The second issue is that despite more than a year of downtime since the last book, Harry has replaced none of his magical tools other than his duster and staff, despite having a year of free time and the resources that come from working with the Winter Court.
I'm bringing these two points up together because I suspect they both stem from the main root cause. Namely, that Butcher is wary of letting Harry have too much power to play with. Which is understandable, given that Harry has always been a plucky underdog character. However, it's gotten to the point where my credulity is straining—the Winter Knight Mantle is starting to look like it's actually made Harry weaker than he was before. It makes for a less than satisfying narrative when the main character seems to be growing less capable as the story progresses.
The last point involves the ending, so I'll have to keep things vague to avoid spoilers. Suffice to say, it left behind a few too many "To be continued..." hooks for my liking. It's a tricky balance to advance the overall series plot while still providing relatively self-contained individual stories. I think Skin Game spent a bit too much of its endgame setting up things for future books. There's lots of buildup and hints of things to come, but not many answers within the story itself, and some of the payoff we do get feels less than satisfying.
Thanks for the reminder that Skin Game is out, and the warning about the less favorable plot elements. Still, it's not like Butcher is physically capable of writing a genuinely bad book, so I still majorly look forward to reading it.
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!
I had no idea that it was available! Where did you find it? I had it on hold on the library, because I don't know where to find books and it isn't ready yet.
I can't wait to read it!
I had mine set to be delivered on the release date, but it got pushed to Saturday. We are not amused by this delay -.-
On the flip side of this, it'll give me a chance to finish Cold Days again.
Anyhows, thanks for the spoiler-free review :D
Wait, it's out already?!
For some reason I thought we still had a month or few left!
All right, screw eating - first chance I get, I'm going to go find a copy of that book and hit the seller over the head with the coming week's lunch money 'til they give me it.
On a related note, have you got any more story ideas with Dresden coming up anytime in the foreseeable future? I've enjoyed all of your stuff that I've read so far (curse work for keeping me from reading...) and I definitely like your Dresden pieces the most. No pressure, but if one were to show up it would make me rather pleased.
(Incidentally, there've been a couple of times where I've quoted lines from your Dresden stories out of context and had people ask which Dresden novels said lines were from, since they couldn't remember. Needless to say, good job.
.)
If anyone needs me, I'll be running, on foot, to the nearest bookstore.
Spoilers within
Yeah, I finished it in 24 hours and I'm very happy with it. The first Harry/Maggie scene actually brought a few tears to my eyes
"Do you want to be my daddy?"
(May not be exact but you get the point)
I kind of wanted Nicky to bite the dust, the longer we keep him around the less I think he deserves it. I realize that Butcher is building him up to be one of the Big Bads of the series End-game but still, at this point Butters should have just cut his head off at the end.
As for our little 'parasite' I'm looking forward to see how she acts when not entirely exhausted (who's up for seeing Harry and Maggie having a picnic in the park with the newest member of their strange little family?)
Hades was actually my favorite character in the book (sans Dresden of course) simply because he seems like such a cool dude. And naming your three headed dog 'Spot' very awesome man. (though I'm not sure if that's actually true...).
All in all, it was a great book and I'm looking forwards to the next one... and for Harry and Murphy to just Fuck already.
Here is my rather strange take on this part.
Harry isn't his own anymore. Sure before he may have been a bit out of of depth at times but he was his own force. Now he is a piece on the board for others to blatantly use to advance their position.
Thanks for the review
And the heads up on Harry's lack of equipment. At the very least Harry should always have his staff, blasting rod, duster, and shield bracelet(and at least the first version of it, he can now use Winter to counter any heat). 
Also when is Harry going to start experimenting with SoulFire? So far he only really used it for attack spells, but its supposed to be for creation. I always figured that he would make a blasting rod with soul fire that when fully activated would generate a tubular containment field that would Fully contain even the strongest, and hottest fires(like the super Hellfire beam used to capture Ivy), thus creating a magic Lightsaber.
think you're exaggerating the toning down of the Winter Knight's mantle powers. It's still functionally every bit as powerful as it seemed before. Butters' theory, if accurate, really just means that Harry will still suffer after getting beaten up, and that the beatings can be expected to increase in severity. Remember the bit about how the mantle apparently didn't care about blocking out the pain once he was out of danger?
PS: Odds are p. good that Dresden will be using at least some of those artifacts he recovered to make new magical equipment. I betcha that dagger in particular would make for one bitchin' blasting rod if attached to the end of it. Especially given what it probably is.
Also note: Five artifacts. Which is what you need for a summoning. Remember what happens at the end of the apocalypse?
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Functionally, what the Winter Knight Mantle does has not changed, yes. However, to quote Harry himself: "If Butters was right, then the strength i'd gained as the Winter Knight was something I'd had all along." (p. 299) It makes the Mantle feel less like super strength, and more like Dumbo's magic feather. I'm not a fan of that.
2158458 also, i think you had a subtle shout out with the posters in maggies room. and butters gets badass.
2155743 from wikipedia: *k̑érberos, meaning "spotted"
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Oh good, I figured Buther wouldn't make something like that up, that just makes it even better
2158839 nope, hes named spot...
PARKOUR!
You can't forget Harry's new battle cry. An odd thing that happened a few times while reading, possibly due to brightly colored ponies being mentioned, I'd read something Harry did and then say to myself "Damn it Dash, er Harry." I blame you, Cheng, for making my brain confused.
As for the lack of tools, only the lack of a blasting rod was unexplained. Surely there were enough sticks on Alfred, er Demonreach. PARKOUR!
Now I just have to wait for it to come out in paperback.
2158458
Eh. Even if Butters' theory is accurate, he still has increased magical power. He was throwing around ice magic like it was nothing from the moment he woke up. Harry was already pushing himself to the limits of his magical stamina long, long before Changes, so I don't buy that the mantle just unlocks ability he already had. I would guess that its a combination thing.
Hmm. Come to think of it, the Winter Knight's pain resistance mean that Loyld Slate's torture must have been that much worse to get through it.
Anyway, this is also assuming that the mantle doesn't have other powers which we have not yet seen. Which I would bet anything that it does.
To clarify: even if Butters is right about the physical side of the mantle's effects I think Harry's magic is still being directly boosted. Most strongly when it comes to ice magic, but likely in general as well.
Which I think fits because Harry is a wizard first and foremost and a physical threat second, at best. So it makes sense that any true power boost would be applied to his magic and that his physical enhancements would come with hefty drawbacks designed to screw him over and make his life more unpleasant. Because this is Harry Dresden we're talking about and unambiguously good things just do not happen to him.
Also I'm pretty sure you can't magic feather away a broken spine.
I will agree and disagree on a few points there.
In regards to Dresden's power boost...Mab doesn't want Harry to be too strong. He's already proven problematic and powerful enough ( and lucky enough ) in the past to have gained quite the arsenal of tricks and allies. Uriel, Knights of the Cross, Daemonsreach...if Harry made a play for power, it is theoretically possible he could come out on top. That isn't even mentioning the rituals he knows. The Darkhallow for example. That could give him enough of a boost to slug it out with Mab.
So she sabotaged him, and it makes sense. Harry thought he got the full Winter Knight gig, and in a way he did. But I would be willing to bet that Mab is holding a fair bit of the power back so Harry doesn't get any notions of resistance. He's an unwilling but mostly harmless pawn now. Give him the full power, and he'll remember every slight Mab made against him. And you can bet good money he won't be forgiving.
I'm not saying he would, but Mab is Queen of Winter. You don't stay in power for as long as she has by taking risks and she has to rule over the Sidhe of winter which on their worst days could outclass Machiavelli on his best.
And do you really think Mab would allow harry carte blanche to replace and upgrade his entire arsenal? She wants him hamstrung because she knows thats when he pulls miracles out of his ass.
On to the foci...Dresden has had a lot of matters to attend to. In order to create a staff properly, it can take far longer to make it battle-worthy like his old one. He also had to trade out the advanced control for the surprise he pulls out at the end against THAT thing. He also has to magically attune it, something which would be difficult on Daemonsreach. Keep in mind that the whole island is all but saturated in the darkest thoughts and powers of creatures that could use a Naagloshi as a foot-rest. Add this on to the skull, keeping himself in shape, reacquainting himself with his limits and advantages...if he had three years he MIGHT have been prepared.
As to the ending...I will agree somewhat. I was hoping for something more than just what happened.
Still, we got to see Butters go all badass so it's a trade-off.
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Mab holding back part of the Winter Mantle, I could actually see. It would be very much like her to give Harry only the bare minimum amount of power he needed to get the job done. However, my understanding was that the Knight Mantles were more of an all-or-nothing thing. Not to mention there's been no indications that she's holding back in-story. Granted, Mab's not one to tip her hand unless she has to...
If Butcher reveals that to be the case, I would withdraw the objection on that point.
2170343 I would point out though, there has never been a Winter Knight like Harry before. One who retains his autonomy despite pledging himself to Mab. It wouldn't surprise me if Mab would be scared of Harry. A being like him, Starborn, with the power of Daemonsreach and the power of the Winter Knight, constrained only by morals. The Sidhe are held back by protocol and the lack of free will. She needs him and I would wager, a lot more than he needs him.
So of course she would go out of her way to prove he is expendable and easily replaced. Because he knows that if he doesn't hold the position then someone like Lloyd Slate will take the mantle back and...well, that wouldn't be good. In point of fact, with his continued service he is somewhat insulating Molly. Should he turn from Mab then she has a hard-line direct to his heart through Molly.
As for the Mantle...we don't know if its Mab who is holding it back and not Mother Winter, do we? We don't know what her role is, in point of fact. Mab is the one who keeps the Outsiders back, Molly is, for lack of a better term, a liason to Harry and Mother Winter is...unknown.
And that is scary as hell.
H'okay. So I stayed up until 4am on Saturday reading it.
I avoided this blog until I had.
But yes, my own views essentially line up with yours on this one, Chen. When I closed the book and looked back, I was really disappointed with the portrayal of the Winter Knight mantle in this. It seems like Butcher went 'Oh shit! This is too much!' And went way too far in retconning it.
Dresden actually felt weaker in this book than he ever has since the start of the series, barring when he was a ghost (though it's so bad that even the ghost thing is debatable).
He barely felt like a freaking wizard.
In theory, he's stronger now than he has been, ever. But he can't even pull of the sorts of crap he did in the first few novels.
I actually loved the narrative in the novel. Parkour(!), Octokongs, Dresden breaking into tears upon going back to Michael (Actually, anything with Michael was gold. He's most assuredly my favorite character in the series). All of it was great and Dresden-y.
But man, do I not care for the Dresden Novels as Injury Recovery Simulator 2014.
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Even withholding the power, it still seems iffy. Look at when Dresden burns down the vampires' place, early in the series. Compare that to now.
Dresden gets winded to the point of death over pulling off magic he would have breezed through before.
Nevermind Dresden as the Winter Knight. I didn't even get the vibe of Dresden as one of the most feared wizards in the world.
Honestly, the side-character wizards felt far scarier.
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Oh yes, Mab's definitely doing everything she can to get her hooks into Harry. Probably because she knows that, given a choice, Harry would get out of being the Winter Knight as fast as possible.
On the other hand, Dresden is now standing in toe-to-toe fights with creatures and demons that he originally just ran the heck away from, so there is that point?
As for the Winter Knight mantle, I'm probably with Donraj on it. To me it seems to be something like Captain America's Super-Soldier serum; it's made Harry the best that he could potentially be physically, without him having to go through the training and hardships (other than a couple of murder attempts from Mab, but hey, that's more affectionate than anything, right?). The fact that, like most deals with the Sidhe, it is now revealed to have a hidden downside means that he has to think before just automatically employing it, which to me seems very much in keeping with how he has traditionally approached applying his magic anyway.
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This right here. I was wondering if this was a subtle nod to My Little Denarians since he specifically mentioned that poster twice in the story.
I just read it last night, but Two coins currently residing in 'hell', plus Deidre dead... means the Knights of the Blackened Denarius are probably out of it for a while.
The twists are pretty good, and I enjoyed most of it. Seeing Michael in action again was worth the Canadian price tag all by itself.