A lot of people have complained about the way Bonea is being treated in Peace Talks/Battle Ground, more as an afterthought to be stuffed in a bowling bag than Harry’s younger daughter. A lot is made of the gifts for Maggie, and making sure she has a good Christmas in Christmas Eve, but not a peep on Bonea.

It’s fine to treat Bob as a talking head, it’s what he was introduced for but Bonea is Harry’s daughter, she needs to be treated as such.

Part of the problem is that Bonea is a disembodied spirit living in a wooden replica skull, it limits her interaction with the story and with other characters.

We know Bob can possess Mister and even a statue. He can use magic as he empowers Butters devices. Surely Bonea can summon ectoplasm from the Never Never and make herself a body around the skull based on the body image we saw in Harry’s subconscious in Skin Game? It would allow her to interact with Harry and Maggie in a more human fashion, to be a proper playmate for her sister and a daughter for Harry.

She would have body memory from her parents, so would be able to navigate her new form, and aside from dawn it would be stable. She would merely have to make sure that she wasn’t embodied over dawn somewhere inconvenient.

She also has memories of food from her parents (she would know exactly how many Burger King burgers Harry had eaten up to her birth) and could create from ectoplasm fairy food to simulate exact taste and texture and therefore enjoy food along with her family (see Skin Game on how communal eating is a bonding exercise).

If something like this occurred it would have to after Christmas Eve in Next Book, but that would be consistent, that story marks the nadir of Harry’s depression and PTSD, until Kringle provides a literal cup of good cheer (yes I think that was another deliberate play on words brought to life by Jim, as it has Christmas associations). On an upswing, Harry is suddenly able to connect with his second daughter like he couldn’t before.

What other ways could Bonea be brought into the narrative?

President Biden has just given the Pope a ceremonial challenge coin.

How long before the Pope mislays it?

What will Nicky do to the person who provides him with a “special coin” from the Vatican when he finds out it isn’t a Blackened Denarius?

Recent WOJ has it that Little Chicago perished in the fire, neither Lea nor Mab saved it.

It was clearly Harry’s masterpiece as a magical artificer, and would have been of great use in BG, but it was not to be.

With Chicago rebuilding Harry has the opportunity to build Little Chicago II, Bigger Little Chicago.

As the Wizard of Chicago it is the obvious move to protect the City, and he could make Little Chicago quicker and easier than before, he has the practice, his hand is much better, and he has the time and money, and the help of the little folk in gathering samples. He has soulpower.

But Harry being Harry he is always thinking about making his stuff better, whether it is giving his staff an extra kick, or making the enchantments of duster last longer. You just have to look at the evolution of his shield bracelet.

There are a couple of obvious things Bigger Little Chicago will need, it will have to include Demonreach so Harry can monitor the locale and route to the Island. He may be able to use BLC to extend Demonreaches demonic reach across Chicago, allowing real-time communication and a massive security upgrade for the City if he can send someone down from within the City. Luring the Titan to the lakeshore shows the need for this, and Demonreach was shown to operate in a limited fashion with Mab’s aid in GS. It would allow for much better protection of St Mark’s and Maggie.

If Harry can use BLC to integrate multiple upgrades, what about one more? If Harry can plug his Amulet with his mothers crystal into BLC then he can use it to identify all way points in Chicago and to monitor them through Bob. Use it as a removable starter key to BLC.

With the NEXT BOOK (I hate the current title) we could see Harry do just this as a big New Years project

This is a being we never see, never hear but has a major impact upon the Dresdenverse. We get hints in series and in WOJ, but here are my speculations.

(1) The White God stabilised reality by clearing the other major players off the board, some are in Demonreach, some are just gone, some knuckled under and agreed not to interfere in reality, staying like Hades in the Never Never, or taking a lesser role like Odin. It did this by agreeing not to otherwise intervene. Ethnui never agreed and hid until BG.

(2) as part of the agreement the White God established thresholds and the sunrise rule to protect humanity from the Supernatural, as well as the other limitations on Fae, vampires etc. We have evidence in universe as to Thresholds, Kringle can bypass them on Christmas Night without losing power or express invitation (Christmas Eve) even the Carpenters. He lunches annually with Uriel, servant of the White God, ergo the White God controls Thresholds, allowing Kringle through all Thresholds.

(3) Starborn, what little we know suggests this is a heavenly event, it is too contrived for it to be otherwise than on purpose, so this suggests that this is again another arrangement.

Perhaps the White God was powerful enough to take on all comers from either inside or outside reality, but could not win a war on two fronts, simultaneous attacks from Inside and Out. The Arrangements effectively mean the White God is pretty much policing them full time, and only really has Uriel, who can’t do anything to intervene in mortal realities.

We don’t see the White God because he does pretty much nothing, we don’t see the White God because he is doing pretty much everything.

In Peace Talks Lara takes energy from an Einenjharen, and later gives it to Thomas to slow down the Hungers advance. We found out subsequently via WOJ that Einenjharen are created by Soulfire, as the only true way of bringing back the dead.

This would suggest that Thomas has now ingested the life energy of the Einenjharen, and perhaps Soulfire with it? Odin’s soulfire? If Thomas were to die would he re-animate as an Einenjharen? Soulfire itself is a gift of the White God would this provide a connection between the White God and Thomas.

Jim confirmed in the James Marsters Comicon interview for Comicon that we are getting 22 and not 20 case file plus the three book BAT, making 25 novels  in total.

18 - Mirror, Mirror
19 - Wrestlemania
20 - ?
21 - ?
22 - ?
23 - ?

In the interview one of the 20 -23 will be timetravel, and another WOJ in a recent interview was one would be about dragons. There is no reason that isn’t the same book, or that they are separate books.

But yay, extra book confirmed.

Murphy’s killing shot took Svangar in the hollow of his throat, leaving his jaws intact with their “dinner plate sized teeth”. Given Lacuna’s predilections and presence at his death, she is bound to collect them and repurpose them, but into what?

I think Harry is going to receive an Ivory scrimshaw dinner service from Lacuna as a wedding present, given Jim’s description. It is the most suitably creepy gift from Lacuna he could receive.

I believe the Placard is a magical broadcast device, anything written on it gets broadcast to those chosen to be broadcast to, telepathically and with absolute certainty and trust. Not unlike Mouses barking during a fire, bu far larger and far more complex

This would be very useful with all electronic communication down, it can broadcast to the citizenry to stay away from the lake, stay in their homes, it can broadcast to SI and CPD, the Paranet, Marcone’s organization,Eric Instructions and Rally points, and of course with Ivy present they can communicate back by writing down replies, as they have a multitasking magical communications receiver.

Instead of facing a chaotic disorganised defence, the Fomor would be facing a calmed citizenry and highly organised defence, relieving the little folk  of this task (I would redeploy them “see Toot this is a grenade, find them on the Fomor, remove the pin and let the spoon come loose, then retreat at speed for fresh instructions while the Fomor go boom”) same with their seashell grenades, automatic weapons and superglue etc.

So what do you think Harry is going to use the Placard for.