Honestly, I really don't mind Maggie or even Bonnie... what I do mind is the 6 year sabbatical. I'm only 52, but I also worry that I won't live to see the end of this series.

Burned by Robert Jordan. Burned by GRR Martin (no way he ever finishes his series)... I hope I don't get burned by Jim Butcher, but I fully expect to be.

I think 2 episodes for a Dresden Files book would be nearly criminal. So much of the mystery, backstory, character development would have to be cut that while it would be a story with the same characters and major action beats, it would not be the Dresden Files. I think 6 (earlier, shorter books) to 8 or 9 episodes (the longest books) per book would still move quickly, but would allow for the world building and character development that are required to do the stories justice.

At the very end of Battle Ground, Harry describes Maggie as hugging him with uncommon strength. At the beginning of Christmas Story, Maggie's favorite color is red.

Harry and Susan conceived of Maggie whoe Susan was infected by the Red Court's demon or whatever you want to call it. Maggie is Susan's daughter. We don't know. As far as I can tell, if red court vampirism is transmissable by birth. If so, Maggie should have died when Susan did.

But those two lines from the end of Battle Ground and beginning of Christmas Story sure do seem to foreshadow Maggie having some Red blood in her. Maybe she didn't die because she also has Starborn blood in her.

I mean, wouldn't it be strange if Maggie was a normal wizard (even weirder if due was a normal human) considering her parents???

Hasn't Jim said that Drakul was a scion, i.e. the child of something monstrous and a human? How does that relate to him being Starborn? Does it mean that maybe his parents were actually both human, but the conditions of his birth allowed him to be Starborn and somehow there be a "third" parent? If so, then I wonder who or what that third is.

And, how does this relate to Harry? Perhaps that third parent is an Outsider... which would explain how and why Harry has the ability to resist and hurt outsiders. And why the White Council is so scared of him. He was called a "Destroyer" by Donald Morgan. The White Council knows he is Starborn. They know what Drakul is and how he is evil (maybe Drakul did start off as good, but turned evil), and they are terrified of Harry doing the same.

I enjoyed both books, but I have to agree with the "too much" part of the battle descriptions. Thing is, I don't know how you don't write what Jim wrote. How does he not include something about each of the characters? He has so many characters involved, and he kind of HAD to write something about each of them. So, never ending battle.

The Battle of the Bean came off as a bit ridiculous, with too many characters to take a look at, and none of them getting enough focus. This is a limitation of the first person POV writing style. I don't know if it's possible to write about a battle involving so many amazing characters from a first person POV. By it's very nature, it ends up being disjointed and "vignetty".

I think Jim was in a trap of his own making. Too many beloved characters that he HAD to write something about, and not enough about any of them.

I wish we had seen more of the Archive. As far as I can tell, Harry never even talked to her.

Drakul and the Black Court were a distraction, but I suppose it is setting up stuff for the future. That is really the only explanation. Those pages would have been far better served focusing on further developing other characters or Harry's relationship with them.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I really do think that this series cannot support this many characters in one book. I look forward to Mirror Mirror where the number of characters involved is necessarily cut way back.

I think all of this is easily explained by the idea that Rudy's evidence doesn't have to make sense. Rudy isn't operating on the up and up. He's got a vendetta against Harry. Why? Money. His house is way too nice, clearly someone has been paying him under the table.

I think Rudy being in the pocket of the Black Council all along, not necessarily the Red Court. If the Red Court were his direct handler (the Eebs... remember, they are possibly not dead...), then either the Eebs could still be working him OR it could be whoever was directing the Red Court at the White Council, which is, I believe, the Black Council. Cowl. Or someone working with Cowl. Hell, Cowl could have bargained for the lives of the Eebs and gotten them out of the Erlking's court.

Come to think of it, why didn't Harry ask the Erlking about the Eebs when he met the Erlking in Cold Days? He didn't have a ton of time, sure, but no reference at all to the last time he saw the Erlking being a rumble? None at all? Probably because Jim didn't want us to know what happened to them.

Crap, I don't even remember there being a discussion of there being a bomb that killed Austri... Do I need to listen to Peace Talks again, lol?

Also, I think the fomor and the red court are both cat's paws of the Black Council.