Book Review: Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 17 of Dresden Files
Publisher: Ace Books (September 29, 2020)
Length: 418 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Published within mere months of each other, Battle Ground follows hot on the heels of Peace Talks, though in truth the two can probably be seen as Parts I and II of a single volume. I guess that’s what happens when you’re dealing with too much epicness for one book to handle—and that’s no exaggeration. This novel can only be described as non-stop explosive action, the kind that never lets up.
Even summarizing the plot will be difficult, because it’s honestly little more than a series of battles coming one right after another as Harry Dresden and his allies unite for a final showdown against an all-powerful enemy bent on destroying Chicago and killing everyone in it. And when I say “unite”, I do mean that everyone who has ever featured in a Dresden Files novel in the long history of the series seems to make an appearance. And then they fight. And they fight. And then they fight some more. After a while, everything starts to look less like a war and more like a chaotic game of Super Smash Bros.
In other words, there’s not much of a story to speak of at all.
I’m thinking that’s probably why I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I should have. Battle Ground is proof positive that you can indeed have too much of a good thing, and while I enjoy action as much as the next person, I can only take it up to a point. Once the conflicts start becoming a little too repetitive, I actually get bored, which was not something I ever expected to happen to me with a Dresden Files novel, but there you have it.
With hardly any downtime in between all the excitement, I found I had to make do with creating my own breaks, which is probably why I took so long to read this book because I would be putting it down all the time. Mind you, it wasn’t because I thought all the action was bad, because on the contrary, Jim Butcher is a genius when it comes to writing fight scenes of all kinds, from your sweeping battle sequences right down to your one-on-one magical duels. But you know, there’s just so much stimulation I can take. I really did want to get onboard with the with all the excitement and thrills, but at the same time I need balance, which requires actual storytelling and character development.
Which brings me next to my mini-rant. Credit where credit’s due, Butcher did try to inject moments of profundity and depth from which our titular protagonist can learn and grow. In fact, there is one MASSIVE plot point which served to accomplish this. And I hated it. I hated the fact it was done for the sake of making Harry hurt. I hated that it was used as a set up for future installments. Thoughts like “Why can’t Harry ever be allowed to be happy?” and “Deserved better” were raging through my mind even as I struggled to come to terms with the fact that what I read actually happened, and that it actually happened in the cheap, crappy way it did. I suspect it was also a huge factor in the more negative reviews you see for this book, and I’m sure some of them will reveal what it is so you can go find out from them if you really want to, but I’m not going to spoil it here. All I’ll say is that I was pretty upset by it, and I can’t bring myself to give this book a higher rating because of the indignant anger and sadness it caused. That said, no one can deny that it was a bombshell which will forever change the course of the series, and I’m willing to see if Butcher will in fact do something meaningful with it. Granted, it will take a lot, but in spite of everything, I still want to give him the benefit of the doubt.
As you can see, if the ultimate goal of this book was to get the reader all amped up and hot and bothered, it certainly succeeded. Now, whether you will be affected in a good or bad way is a question that’s more contentious. While some might be invigorated and inspired by all this relentless action and the numerous changes, personally I was left feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted. Of course, I’m still glad I read the book because it’s the Dresden Files, and come hell or high water I’ll be seeing this series though to the end, but a part of me still felt immense relief following the end of Battle Ground. Despite its epicness, this installment doesn’t rank anywhere near one of my favorites, and I’m actually kind of glad that it is behind me now so I can look forward to a new era for Harry Dresden where anything can happen next.
The BiblioSanctum 
I only tried book 1 in this series. I’m sooo late
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Haha, I feel the same way about the October Daye series.
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I haven’t even read the first book of the series – number 17 sounds like a huge investment
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It is – this series has been going on for a long time! It even surprises me, sometimes!
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Your description of the epic battles in this book reminded me of the more recent Avengers movie, where everyone pitches in to fight the evil armies, but it looks as if the novel was not as successful as the movie… Maybe too much of an otherwise good thing turns out to be not so great after all! 😀
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It’s an apt comparison! Lots of bombastic action, not too much in terms of substance though! 😀
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I have never tried these 😉
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If you start now, it’s going to be a huge time investment, lol!
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Going to skip this because I’m behind and still haven’t read this one yet, but I’ll circle back once I get to it….hopefully in January LOL
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Yeah, having two Dresden Files books this year threw off my groove lol! I didn’t read this until a few months after release.
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Yet another author and series I’d love to try one of these days. I’ve heard so many great things about it, though this one sounds less appealing. Your review just makes me think of all those Hollywood special effects laden movies that end up being so forgettable because they have little more to them than special effects. Granted, it sounds like this maybe wasn’t quite that bad, but it’s what leapt to mind. Any end in sight yet for the series?
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Yeah, I enjoyed it only because it was Dresden Files. As a book though, it was pretty terrible, I have say, lol! Lots of action can be great, but without substance, it’s meaningless
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Phew, it sounds exhausting. Won’t be reading this one for a while though because I have some catching up to do first.
Lynn 😀
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Yes, I certainly felt exhausted after reading! I was pretty relieved it was over! I can only take so much action 😛
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Ah, this is what I was worried about when I saw these two books being published nearly back-to-back after such a long hiatus. And what you’re writing about the twists intended to make the plot of the next books even more convoluted at Harry’s cost is doubly worrying – looks like someone took few pages too many from Martin’s book and wanted to keep readers rooted to his works whatever the cost.
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If you can read both books close together, it might be better – but boy, after the great set up in the previous book I was really let down by this one. I still liked it a lot because it was Dresden Files, but I didn’t feel like it added much substance to the series as a whole. And the developments in it felt like drama for the sake of drama. At least next book should be a “reset” and anything can happen!
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I’m pretty sure I’ll read them anyway, but it’s good to have my expectations curbed 😉 I’m afraid it’s something that happens to all long series – at some point the authors just lose some of their creativity and enthusiasm, and begin writing subpar, somewhat redundant stories which could’ve been entirely non-existent. Not sure if it’s fanbase/publisher pressure, or maybe just writing something for so long without the option of abandoning it makes writing it a chore instead of adventure 😉 Hope it gets better with the next book!
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