Turn Coat Read. *SPOILERS!*

[Saeltari]

Picked it up this morning. Just finished it as I had a busy afternoon. A good read and very involved.

I am not sure how I feel about it, I enjoyed it but gonna have to let it settle a bit before I can really have an opinion.

It definitely went places I didn't expect. I am kind of, "Wow" and then, "What the...".

I did like it but, quite a bit to think about.

At first blush it felt like a middle book of a trilogy, but a good one. Of course it is a series, but still...

And I liked Morgan, and not sure if I'm really ok with what happened. Or with Luccio.

 

[Saeltari]

Anybody else finished it yet? I am itching to discuss a couple of things.

 

[Shingetsu]

I just finished it. Took me two and a half days. Would have been less but I had some things to do.

I didn't expect Morgan to be killed. That was a bit surprising. But I did like the book. I think things are getting allot more interesting with the white council and the black council and now the grey council. And more stuff with the mysterious Rashid. I was glad Molly was in the book quite a bit. And you gotta love Mouse. Looks like there will be trouble with Thomas now for awhile. Wonder how that will get fixed or changes. And of course it sucked what happend between Harry and Luccio. But hardly unexpected.

 

[Saeltari]

Not unexpected but it happened a lot faster than I figured on. It was fun to see Molly and of course Mouse is always good!

Those were the two things that had me taking some time to think. Morgan and Luccio. Of course, Thomas too. It was good, but it did change many things in regards to the status quo in the wizards council.

I was kind of hoping Morgan would not be killed, but he went in a way that I could see him going. I was hoping for a little more tricky, though, because when they first insisted on signatures I could feel which way the wind was blowing already.

And I didn't really agree with the political reasons, neither did the characters, but things made sense. It felt a bit more gritty to me, more realistic in a way.

I also would have liked to seen a bit more about Michael's condition.

I certainly enjoyed the book. I made them get it out of the back room at the store I went to, I was the first one to pick it up there. They did say others were waiting for it too so that is good news.

I am going to have to reread it as soon as I get a chance, I am really curious about the island and the journal bit that Harry was allowed to read.

 

[Shingetsu]

Yeah, I would of liked to hear about Michael as well. And it will be interesting to hear more about the island too. Sounds like Rashid has some history with it. The political stuff was pretty bad. The Merlin won't even acknowledge that there is a black council. But it will be interesting to see what Harry and them do with the grey council.

 

[Saeltari]

He won't publicly acknowledge it. I think that because of this latest book and the lead in Jim did with Harry's mother and grey magic then going to a gre council we may be seeing more of her work fairly soon.

 

[The44]

I found the political discussion between Harry and Luccio about the amorality of the White Council with regard to its laws to be very interesting and well thought out.

It is a takeoff on the power corrupts idea and power used to control normal humans. Very good. If the powers that be are not holy and moral, then the unrestrained use of power is tyranny.

JB is a good guy. !!!!!!

 

[thepaladin]

Did anyone consider what the "Gray Council" could be saying about the ones "founding" it? I wonder about Eb a little. He's such a likeable character and has had Harry's back often, but that in a way makes him a good candidate.

JB has plans for several more volumes and then a finishing trilogy so we have some detail sifting to look forward to (assuming I live that long ).

 

[The44]

I had noticed that several posters had lamented over Harry's lack of thinking ahead from how the series began. I suggest that his foresight in nailing the traitor was an excellent case of thinking ahead. I also noted that Mouse, a foo dog, had not been known by the WC as being a part of Harry's life. I thought that was very interesting. I also noted that Mouse's evidence suddenly became worthy because of his nature. It is clear that members of the WC know more about the nature of a foo dog than Harry does. Harry will learn more as tiime goes on I am very sure.

I also want to see Harry become a learner at the feet of Injun Joe. That fight scene with Joe and the Skinwalker was really nifty. Harry must learn all he can about his abilities as well as learning a philosophy for using them than just jumping into the middle of stuff with only his basic instincts being used. Do not misunderstand me, Harry's desire to help the helpless and weak is worthy and notable. It has to be brought into line with the bigger picture of why he is being selected to be the point of the spear in sorting all of the bad stuff that happens to him.

This issue of 'why Harry' will be brought more to the front as the next volumes roll out. I am really interested in those answers.

Thomas is going to be painful for Harry.

 

[Frozeninja]

Finished reading it earlier today, and to be honest I felt a little underwhelmed.

Not to say it wasn't a good read because it definitely was, but it didn't match up to some of the higher points of the series in my opinion.

I liked a lot of the elements about it, the notion of claiming sanctuary and Dresden taking the island I found quite interesting and will rather likely become an important point later on in the series. The idea of the island "holding a grudge" against the Gatekeeper also intrigues me, something to do with Dresden's mother perhaps?

I also liked the way it humanised the Gatekeeper a bit, before he's always been some kind of mysterious presence, appearing when needing and vanishing again. Yet his flawed assumption that Dresden was a traitor on the island demonstrates that while he's hugely knowledgeable, he still doesn't know everything that goes on.

So what didn't I like? I'm not honestly sure. I think after White Night I figured the White Court would be too devastated to play much of a part in the following few books and I think maybe I hoped we'd stay focused on the Denarians and the Fae, or maybe Mavra. Or maybe the swords. Or ... well, about anything else really.

And I miss Lash.

 

[The44]

The Gatekeeper's statement that the island was holding a grudge against him suggests that he tried to make the island a sanctuary and he failed. It could be something else, of course. I see no connection between that statement and Harry's mother.

The Gatekeeper clearly has some sort of precog ability that allows him to see future possibilities. Yes, he will be more of a force in future books.

The struggle with the Denarians is not the central focus of the series. It seems to me that it is about those forces that are attempting to destroy the WC and along the way to destroy Harry or recruit him. It may be slightly possible that Harry's mom started some of the action against the WC because she had a different world view than they do. This may also be part of the reason why Harry seems to be a focus for the action that involves the state of the WC.

Now it may well be that there will be more action that involves the Denarians. However, they have done well to break even when they have gone up against Harry.

Yes, I miss that interaction between Lasciel's ghost and Harry. However, it was way too dangerous