That’s the thing. You say the direction the books “have taken,” but it was always headed in that direction from book 3 at the latest, and quite possibly from the very beginning.
And of course I didn’t say anything about those books. I rather thought that was implicit in the way I said “fully half.” I acknowledge not all the books dealt with the Fae. All of them have, however, dealt with the Black Council/Circle/Outsiders/whatever else has yet to be revealed. And as we saw in Cold Days, the Winter Fae are intimately bound with protecting this reality from the Outsiders. That is the story being told.
I finally read the book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It felt almost like the beginning of a series within a series–which I suppose makes sense, because Butcher is planning to write so many books for the series.
Harry is now fully “grown up,” so to speak. The conversation he had with the Gatekeeper about needing help/being the help I think kind of gently slammed the point home to him that he will always have to face very tough things. Harry himself mused about how frighteningly ignorant he used to be about some things.
Obviously, there are still several questions about who and what exactly is the Black Council. I think that Butcher did a good job of both tying up some loose ends and setting the stage for further adventures on an epic scale.
It will be VERY interesting to see how much Harry is able to help Molly with her new job, and how much both of them get changed. I’m not certain that she’s stable enough for that kind of power.
No; that’s was him letting him know that Odin and Santa are the same being, just wearing different masks, different “mantles” for the same being*. Gods gain power from belief after all, and there’s a whole lot more kids believe in Santa these days than people who believe in Odin. And on another board someone pointed out that there used to by myths about Odin leaving gifts on the Solstice; so there’s continuity between the roles even.
*Something of a theme in the book; Mothers Winter and Summer are shown to have had more than one name/identity, including a powerful one Harry hasn’t guessed yet.
She seemed rather horrified; I find myself wondering just what horrible thing been Harry doing to those poor fairies without realizing it?
Knowing Butcher, we’ll find out it was foreshadowing something that’ll show up in another 3-4 books.
Speaking of subtle hints; I’ve heard people speculating elsewhere that Mother Winter’s lost walking stick is in fact the Blackstaff. Butcher mentioned at one point it was stolen from a powerful being who wants it back, so that seems plausible.