The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
True Love's Protection
LaraBeck:
--- Quote from: Dina on January 31, 2026, 07:40:36 PM ---It does matter though, that is why Harry was not protected when he was with Luccio. He Loved her but she did not.
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I would have said that he cared about her, but didn't love her. I don't remember him even thinking he might. That's around the same time as he realized Karrin had some deeper feelings for Kincaid besides horny, so he was on the rebound, IMO. Actually the whole Kincaid situationship is a big "tell me you like Harry Dresden without telling me you like Harry Dresden" moment for Karrin and the same can be said about Luccio, she was basically Wizard Murphy.
But I do agree that the lore so far is not exactly that true love is ilogical, what it is is a mutual communion, a mutual coming together in mind, soul, body, but it is mutual. But sure, once it has settled can be disturbed, not the love itself, but the mark it left, by the action of just one individual. Now, before 12M, the disturbance had to be physical, that was what we knew, now, it can be, let's say spiritual too.
Still, the more I sit with this book, the more in awe I am at the five stars reviews. I think parts of this book were good, the grief part is well done. But there's a lot about the lore that is ... meh, either out of nowhere or soft-retcon, there's a lot of ilogical decisions made, and a lot of stuff that feel like Jim just needed to "fix" *cough Justine cough* in order to move on to the book he really wants to write: MM.
And the more I sit with this Lara/Harry/Murphy/True Love™ situationship, the more it feels like Jim just wants to push the narrative into a direction where there is a romance between Harry and Lara or at the very least, there is the titillating possibility of a sexual partnership, and so he just had to fix the whole Ture Love™ thing in whichever way he could, and this was his best.
This makes me concerned about where the series is going. I've been worried since Battle Ground, tbh, and this book did not soothe me. Why? Because to me this is an important part of the series. I know that the romantic life of our protagonist is not the main reason why most people read these books, and it's not even mine, but I'd said is not unimportant. For a guy like Harry who is very much about "where his heart is" his sentimental life is important, as it is his choice of romantic partner and his struggle to find them or keep them. I genuinely think that part is lacking in the series (we can do romance without going into paranormal romance territory) and my wish would always be that we get to see Harry actually fighting to win and keep the person he loves, he has never done that, and I thought it'd be with Murphy, but oh well...
Dina:
Ah, it all depends of what you care about. For example, the inconsistency in the soulgaze and the true love thing bothered me, but I still love the book, it is actually of my favourites right now and I had no time to reread it yet. It's just that for me the good parts far outweigh the bad ones.
And yes, Harry realizes what is going on with Luccio because he is genuinely shocked he is not protected from whampires. He is sure of his love, so he knows she does not love him so much and he begins thinking why she seems so perfectly in love if she is not. And he begins actually thinking. But, we can argue that Harry himself may be wrong. He may think that protection only comes for people mutually in love, but he may be wrong. I don't remember a whampire explicitly saying so.
LaraBeck:
--- Quote from: Dina on January 31, 2026, 09:57:59 PM ---Ah, it all depends of what you care about. For example, the inconsistency in the soulgaze and the true love thing bothered me, but I still love the book, it is actually of my favourites right now and I had no time to reread it yet. It's just that for me the good parts far outweigh the bad ones.
And yes, Harry realizes what is going on with Luccio because he is genuinely shocked he is not protected from whampires. He is sure of his love, so he knows she does not love him so much and he begins thinking why she seems so perfectly in love if she is not. And he begins actually thinking. But, we can argue that Harry himself may be wrong. He may think that protection only comes for people mutually in love, but he may be wrong. I don't remember a whampire explicitly saying so.
--- End quote ---
So, I went back to Turn Coat, when this is touched upon. Alright, I didn't remember how exactly it went, but I guess that yeah, the subtext here could be interpreted as Harry thinking he might me in love. I don't agree with that interpretation, as I feel like he was more disappointed that it wasn't going into that direction, I see him more like lamenting they'll never get a chance to go there. But I can concede the point.
About the overall book, for me Battle Ground was that book that had more things that I liked vs the things I didn't like, even though the thing I didn't like, I hated with a passion. Twelve Months is more like a 50/50 and I'm being very generous there. And again, I repeat that is not the lack of action or a lack of "a main villain" like I see pointed out in reviews that are not so favorable of this book around the internet, it is about other deeper things, some of which I've mentioned here.
But there's always a book that's going to be like that in a collection of 18, I guess.
Bad Alias:
Jim has said that True Love Protection comes from two equals loving each other.
--- Quote from: Mira on January 31, 2026, 01:39:01 PM ---Not only messy, but true love doesn't work that way, if a person loves their partner truly, it doesn't matter how the partner feels about it, it continues. True love isn't logical, that's what sets it apart.
--- End quote ---
True Love and True Love Protection aren't the same thing.
Dina:
--- Quote from: LaraBeck on January 31, 2026, 10:37:52 PM ---About the overall book, for me Battle Ground was that book that had more things that I liked vs the things I didn't like, even though the thing I didn't like, I hated with a passion. Twelve Months is more like a 50/50 and I'm being very generous there. And again, I repeat that is not the lack of action or a lack of "a main villain" like I see pointed out in reviews that are not so favorable of this book around the internet, it is about other deeper things, some of which I've mentioned here.
--- End quote ---
That is what people is complaining about? Not my case, clearly.
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