Wizard Harry Dresden and his allies managed to win the battle that saved the world, though much of Chicago was destroyed in the process. The woman that Harry loved was killed, leaving him heartbroken. Yet, it was still up to him and his friends to defend the people of Chicago from those who would take advantage of the chaos and destruction around them. Mab has arranged his betrothal as her Winter Knight to Lara Raith, a Vampire of the White Court in order to forge an alliance. While it is not something either Harry or Lara truly wants, this alliance is necessary if they want to be able to help the people of Chicago rebuild and survive. Ghouls and others have come, brought by all the death and destruction. And alone, even Harry isn’t enough to save everyone important to him. But in order for this to work, he needs to find a way to overcome his personal heartbreak and pain. The question seems to be, can he manage to overcome the current challenges in front of him? Or will he succumb to the despair that he has been struggling with?
I enjoyed reading this book. In my opinion, this story is about Harry’s healing from what seems an insurmountable amount of pain, both physical and emotional. He wants to keep helping his friends, family, and his city, while at the same time, a significant part of him just wants to give in to his despair and pain. He has quite a bit to overcome, and new challenges and problems keep arising that require his attention. But he also has friends who are there to help him, family who care about him, and his new fiancee and her people are there to help too. And more than anything else, he has a daughter who needs him. So he has quite a few reasons to find his way back to the man he once was.
The story itself is at times quite negative and painful. But that is the character’s state of mind at the beginning of the book when he feels he has lost pretty much everything he cares about, yet he must still find a way to not give in to despair. And as the story progresses, we can begin to see him finding his way back from the brink, slowly finding reasons to continue to fight for the good in the world, and to see that there are those who still love him and who are there to help him, if he will let them. And while yes, he hurts and likely will for quite some time, we can see that he is beginning to heal and to both find and see the good things that still exist around him. And that is why I enjoyed reading this book. Because no matter how dark the world may seem at the moment, it won’t always be that way.
When I began reading it, I was, myself, feeling in a somewhat dark place. The world around me has quite a few problems right now, and I was worried that a story with a main character who was in so much pain would make me feel worse. But as the story progressed and he began to heal, it helped me to also see that there is still good in the world. And that as we work to help those around us, things can and will become better for everyone. This book, to me, is saying that no matter how bad things may seem right now, that if you want things to get better and are willing to put in the work to make it happen, that the world around us can improve. It won’t happen overnight, and it will very likely take a lot of time and effort, but nothing is impossible.
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