What book are you reading now?

Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
Nah, I haven't. I will check it out some time though.

I was thinking though. There is already a potential possibility for Dresden's lifespan being extended beyond that of a normal wizard, exactly because of the Winter Mantle. Because the Mantle of a Knight of Faerie is pretty much the Dresden-verse equivalent of being a Super Soldier, in that your body is pretty much the pinnacle of what a human of your size/build can possibly become (plus some extra magical power). And unlike most Knights, Dresden has the added benefit of wizard healing too. And based on what's been shown so far, the two seem to heavily compliment each other.

Even Butters amended his previous "boxer accumulating injuries" theory from previous books in the latest novel, admitting that while his healing can be overtaxed, Dresden's body does indeed repair all damage if given time. There have been a few examples, like healing from broken bones, cuts etc. seemingly very quickly, but the main example is his spine. It was mentioned that that type of injury would normally take a wizard like 50 years to heal. And early in his Winter Knight career, when Dresden was briefly cut off from his Mantle, he was paralysed again. But in Skin Game, when he was cut off from all magical access for a period of time, his body was in bad shape, but he could move about under his own power. Suppose it could also just be Mab selectively enforcing her power though. IIRC, one act was in defiance of Winter while the other was in service of it. But who knows how Butcher will decide to play it.

Yeah I like the Nightside series, it's almost like the dresden files, but on LSD.

Anyways yeah, barring being slain by someone he will probably live longer than the average wizard. It's possible his connection with the guardian of demonreach might also lengthen his lifespan. It's also possible Mab might just decide "this knight is useful, why let him succumb to old age?". I'm sure it's quite rare to have a wizard for a knight, and that is probably especially true for a wizard of Harry's level. He's among the top 30 wizards on the planet and it has been commented on by other wizards more than once that in his short life he has experienced more than wizards who have lived for centuries.

One theory I have, I might have mentioned it before I don't know, is that before the series ends Harry will be made the new Blackstaff. I think this will happen either because McCoy dies and Harry replaces him or because The Merlin is killed and replaced by McCoy, who then appoints Harry the new Blackstaff.

I had to look up how old Harry is supposed to be and he's only 37. So by the time he reaches age 100(if he lives long enough) his power will probably rival senior council members. Let alone how strong he'll be by the time he has a few centuries under his belt.

I thought he was 37 in Cold Days, which means he's probably around 40 now. Which makes him like the wizard equivalent of a 14-year-old lol. And in Death Masks, IIRC, it's mentioned that a wizard's power only fully matures in their 2nd century of life. So, yeah, assuming he's still alive in his setting a 100 years into the future, Dresden would be a monster. Especially while standing on Demonreach.

Yeah and he has never really tapped into the true power of demonreach. All he has done with it is use intellectus. He's not powerful enough to use tap into it yet without bad things happening, at least according to The Gatekeeper. One day he'll be strong enough, or hell he might use it for a suicide run if put into a bind. I suspect he'll be trying to lure Ethniu to the island. Though it seems impossible she would not know what the island truly is.

It shows how dangerous Nemesis is, it allows supernatural beings to act against their inherent nature that prevents them from taking certain actions. I'd bet you an infected Black Court vampire wouldn't need an invitation to get into someones house. An infected Ethniu can now outright attack humanity. Imagine now if an arch angel like Gabriel got infected.

Since Titania knew about Nemesis it is obvious Mab is aware of it as well, so this is probably one of the reasons why she wanted Harry as her knight so badly given his starborn status. And the Senior Council knows about Nemesis since at one point Morgan had suspected Justin DuMorne was prepping to expose Harry to it.

The info about Morgan is from a very short story(a "microfiction" Butcher called it) released in February of this year that takes the form of a journal entry by Morgan shortly before his death. You can read it here if you haven't yet:

https://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2020/morgan-microfiction-rpg-art-and-more

"From then on, we could not be sure that the child was not molded to be a creature of Nemesis.". Notice the "we". Also notice Morgan is sure Luccio will read his journal and makes no explanation of what Nemesis is, meaning she already knew too.

It also shows Morgan knows that McCoy is Harry's grandfather.

And he references Harry potentially being a "Destroyer" with a capital D. Interesting.

Originally posted by Surtur
Yeah and he has never really tapped into the true power of demonreach. All he has done with it is use intellectus. He's not powerful enough to use tap into it yet without bad things happening, at least according to The Gatekeeper. One day he'll be strong enough, or hell he might use it for a suicide run if put into a bind. I suspect he'll be trying to lure Ethniu to the island. Though it seems impossible she would not know what the island truly is.

It shows how dangerous Nemesis is, it allows supernatural beings to act against their inherent nature that prevents them from taking certain actions. I'd bet you an infected Black Court vampire wouldn't need an invitation to get into someones house. An infected Ethniu can now outright attack humanity. Imagine now if an arch angel like Gabriel got infected.

Since Titania knew about Nemesis it is obvious Mab is aware of it as well, so this is probably one of the reasons why she wanted Harry as her knight so badly given his starborn status. And the Senior Council knows about Nemesis since at one point Morgan had suspected Justin DuMorne was prepping to expose Harry to it.

The info about Morgan is from a very short story(a "microfiction" Butcher called it) released in February of this year that takes the form of a journal entry by Morgan shortly before his death. You can read it here if you haven't yet:

https://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2020/morgan-microfiction-rpg-art-and-more

"From then on, we could not be sure that the child was not molded to be a creature of Nemesis.". Notice the "we". Also notice Morgan is sure Luccio will read his journal and makes no explanation of what Nemesis is, meaning she already knew too.

It also shows Morgan knows that McCoy is Harry's grandfather.

Well, he seems to be getting more in tune with Demonreach and what it can do as more time passes. He went from basically just having the nigh-omniscience on the island to later learning how to activate the various defenses. He even mentions in Skin Game, I think, that if a similar invasion happened to what occurred previously, he could probably handle it solo. And in Peace Talks, he mentions

Spoiler:
he's learned to start tapping into the island's power reserves without depleting his own power. And he's now learning more about actually imprisoning things on it.

So, Demonreach has the potential to be a pretty OP stronghold if Dresden can fully master his bond to the island. A base of operations where you essentially have total surveillance, a bunch of defenses, a huge power amp, and of course the embodiment of Demonreach itself, which can take on multiple minor Faerie Queens at once while holding back (Mab's comments implied that if Alfred actually wanted to hurt them, he could have, but was opting for defence) and also allows you to bind and imprison powerful beings, even gods, underneath it.

And yeah, one wonders how much of the Red Court actually was infected before the end, seeing as Bianca was not only infected but one of the chief agents in spreading Nemesis among the wider supernatural community. Would they have really chosen to go to such extremes and risk what's now happening without external prompting? Kinda makes sense from the Outsiders' perspective if their ultimate goal is to wipe out everything. Infect one of the biggest factions and push them into a war that will, regardless of which side wins, result in a huge power vacuum that the Fomor could seize upon. Whereas it doesn't really make sense for an entire millennia-old global organisation to risk total war and annihilation because a couple of nobles got overzealous. IIRC, it was mentioned that the Red King didn't seem quite in his right mind. Maybe Nemesis?

Which brings me back to Ferrovax. He was one of the people at Bianca's party who received gifts, is someone Butcher has explicitly stated will play a big role in these coming novels, and

Spoiler:
could seriously tip the balance of the coming conflict. If it turns out he was also infected by Nemesis? Oh boy, that's not going to end well considering how he's currently positioned.

Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
Well, he seems to be getting more in tune with Demonreach and what it can do as more time passes. He went from basically just having the nigh-omniscience on the island to later learning how to activate the various defenses. He even mentions in Skin Game, I think, that if a similar invasion happened to what occurred previously, he could probably handle it solo. And in Peace Talks, he mentions

Spoiler:
he's learned to start tapping into the island's power reserves without depleting his own power. And he's now learning more about actually imprisoning things on it.

So, Demonreach has the potential to be a pretty OP stronghold if Dresden can fully master his bond to the island. A base of operations where you essentially have total surveillance, a bunch of defenses, a huge power amp, and of course the embodiment of Demonreach itself, which can take on multiple minor Faerie Queens at once while holding back (Mab's comments implied that if Alfred actually wanted to hurt them, he could have, but was opting for defence) and also allows you to bind and imprison powerful beings, even gods, underneath it.

And in the event the mortal world does indeed turn against the magical community...the island is a nice refuge for some of the magic community, given the inherent defenses that cause mortals to avoid it. It's not even on any modern maps.

And yeah, one wonders how much of the Red Court actually was infected before the end, seeing as Bianca was not only infected but one of the chief agents in spreading Nemesis among the wider supernatural community. Would they have really chosen to go to such extremes and risk what's now happening without external prompting? Kinda makes sense from the Outsiders' perspective if their ultimate goal is to wipe out everything. Infect one of the biggest factions and push them into a war that will, regardless of which side wins, result in a huge power vacuum that the Fomor could seize upon. Whereas it doesn't really make sense for an entire millennia-old global organisation to risk total war and annihilation because a couple of nobles got overzealous. IIRC, it was mentioned that the Red King didn't seem quite in his right mind. Maybe Nemesis?

It was shown the Red King couldn't control his bloodlust, though comments from his daughter made it seem like this inevitably happens to all vampires it also could have been Nemesis. And if Bianca was infected it seems impossible that Mavra is not. And Mavra has the darkhallow ritual. Yes it is said undead beings can't utilize it, but if Nemesis were to infect a powerful mortal wizard they could use it and then it would have another god-like being under its control. Though it's possible Cowl is infected and thus Nemesis already tried it.

Which brings me back to Ferrovax. He was one of the people at Bianca's party who received gifts, is someone Butcher has explicitly stated will play a big role in these coming novels, and

Spoiler:
could seriously tip the balance of the coming conflict. If it turns out he was also infected by Nemesis? Oh boy, that's not going to end well considering how he's currently positioned.

Well it's interesting because guess who was *also* at that party and who not only gave Ferrovax his gift, but handed the dagger to Bianca that she gave to Lea? Yep, Cowl. I was going to say maybe he isn't infected and maybe he wanted the darkhallow ritual to use the power to try to stop Nemesis, but it seems unlikely he would be helping to infect powerful beings if he wanted to stop it. Of course it is also possible he realized afterwards what had happened and perhaps at least managed to warn Ferrovax, idk. And in fact, we were never told how Mab knew Lea was infected. On the other hand Lea was gifted a magical dagger, something she'd be likely to personally touch. Ferrovax just got gold and gems, given he is a dragon perhaps he has a hoard of treasure and just dumped it there and thus never got infected. Or it could be he is powerful enough to resist, though it begs the question then how someone who can own mab could get infected. It could be Ethniu could have resisted, but chose not to do so because she knew it would allow her to take certain actions she couldn't normally take.

Also I wonder if a Nemesis infected mortal wizard would be able to use technology?

Originally posted by Surtur
It was shown the Red King couldn't control his bloodlust, though comments from his daughter made it seem like this inevitably happens to all vampires it also could have been Nemesis. And if Bianca was infected it seems impossible that Mavra is not. And Mavra has the darkhallow ritual. Yes it is said undead beings can't utilize it, but if Nemesis were to infect a powerful mortal wizard they could use it and then it would have another god-like being under its control. Though it's possible Cowl is infected and thus Nemesis already tried it.

Well, yeah, I'm thinking it might have been Nemesis that pushed the Red King in particular to lose his grip on his bloodlust. Because Bianca started moving up the Red Court ranks right around the time she started actively spreading Nemesis around. Could be a coincidence though.

Originally posted by Surtur
Well it's interesting because guess who was *also* at that party and who not only gave Ferrovax his gift, but handed the dagger to Bianca that she gave to Lea? Yep, Cowl. I was going to say maybe he isn't infected and maybe he wanted the darkhallow ritual to use the power to try to stop Nemesis, but it seems unlikely he would be helping to infect powerful beings if he wanted to stop it. Of course it is also possible he realized afterwards what had happened and perhaps at least managed to warn Ferrovax, idk. And in fact, we were never told how Mab knew Lea was infected. On the other hand Lea was gifted a magical dagger, something she'd be likely to personally touch. Ferrovax just got gold and gems, given he is a dragon perhaps he has a hoard of treasure and just dumped it there and thus never got infected. Or it could be he is powerful enough to resist, though it begs the question then how someone who can own mab could get infected. It could be Ethniu could have resisted, but chose not to do so because she knew it would allow her to take certain actions she couldn't normally take.

Also I wonder if a Nemesis infected mortal wizard would be able to use technology?

It's pretty hard to say anything for certain regarding Cowl. Beyond his various actions, his apprentice's comments in Dead Beat also suggested that his agenda isn't always straightforward. And there's still also been the suspicion that he is also either secretly current or former Senior Council. And we'll see about Ferrovax. It did seem to be a case in Skin Game that he basically had a small mountain of treasure in his vault (I specifically recall the IDs on one of the vaults indicating that it belonged to him). Maybe he threw it in the corner and forgot about it lol.

Speaking of, I imagine more of the Senior Council will be rocking up as well in the next book. At the very least it would make sense for the Gatekeeper to appear. I wonder what the Merlin is up to as well. Arthur Langtry seems like one of those characters who could easily end up being a bad guy in disguise, but just as easily end up being one of those characters who is a jerk 99% of the time but comes through when the chips are really down. I feel like it's probably option 2, but I can't say for sure. I recall Dresden being pretty intimidated by him after fighting by his side for a while though. Something about his remains not even filling a match box if he tried fighting Langtry. But then, the guy is the Merlin. I considered Langtry actually being Cowl, but that seems way too obvious.

I'm thinking if Ferrovax is infected it will probably be revealed in the next book, which thankfully is only 22 days away. Butcher has written Dresden novels that were shorter than Peace Talks, but I do hope "Battle Ground" is longer than "Peace Talks" was. Talking about "Skin Game" had me thinking of Nicodemus and if he does what he does in order to gain enough power to fight Nemesis.

If I had to guess Cowl is former senior council and not currently involved. I also doubt he is Langtry, Harry didn't recognize his voice. On the other hand Langtry is the most powerful wizard on the planet so changing his voice would be nothing to him. Injun Joe, McCoy, and Gatekeeper also seem unlikely. Though if it is an active member the most likely would probably be Langtry or Gatekeeper.

I think there is more to Langtry than he lets on, but I don't actually think he's Black Council or anything like that. I don't think he hates Harry as much as he acts like he does.

Originally posted by Surtur
I'm thinking if Ferrovax is infected it will probably be revealed in the next book, which thankfully is only 22 days away. Butcher has written Dresden novels that were shorter than Peace Talks, but I do hope "Battle Ground" is longer than "Peace Talks" was. Talking about "Skin Game" had me thinking of Nicodemus and if he does what he does in order to gain enough power to fight Nemesis.

Well, IIRC, Nicodemus has in the past claimed something along the lines of that he's trying to save the world. And is frequently in conflict with his wife and co, who were not only infected, but actually launched an attack on Arctis Tor. IIRC, it was strongly implied that the hellfire that destroyed the gates was launched by Namshiel. So, maybe in his own twisted way, Nicodemus is trying to fight the Outsiders.

Originally posted by Surtur
If I had to guess Cowl is former senior council and not currently involved. I also doubt he is Langtry, Harry didn't recognize his voice. On the other hand Langtry is the most powerful wizard on the planet so changing his voice would be nothing to him. Injun Joe, McCoy, and Gatekeeper also seem unlikely. Though if it is an active member the most likely would probably be Langtry or Gatekeeper.

I think there is more to Langtry than he lets on, but I don't actually think he's Black Council or anything like that. I don't think he hates Harry as much as he acts like he does.

Yeah, I think Langtry is probably more like Morgan was, in that he's not a bad guy, but his position and the threats he has to deal with force him to be a mistrustful a-hole. Because considering the sheer potential for a variety of bad things possibly happening at any given time, ranging from supernatural wars to mind control etc. leading to sabotage, espionage and the like, being the Merlin must be a shit job.

Another obvious contender is Cristos, but, again, seems way too obvious. I mean he's already depicted as the proverbial mustache twirling villain whenever he makes an appearance.

Another interesting thing about Langtry that Butcher has revealed in some of his comments is that the Merlin is basically the best telepath in the White Council and most skilled at using mind magic without suffering its corrupting effects. And he does arguably have the best feat (among wizards at least) to date, during the Mistfiend attack where he not only mentally linked up everyone in the room (and there were a couple hundred wizards in there) but created a mental 3D image of the surroundings so that everyone could coordinate, while simultaneously restraining the Mistfiend. Add in his crazy defense powers that allowed him to stonewall an entire army without any threshold, albeit with the Gatekeeper's aid, with a single spell he threw together in like a minute, and yeah, let's hope he's not secretly also a bad guy. Though the fact that he fought so hard against the Red Court and was one of the few who refused to buy into their supposed peace talks towards the end suggests he is not infected. In fact, based on some of Dresden's comments, under Langtry's leadership through the war, from a military standpoint the White Council is stronger than ever. IIRC, the Warden force is larger than ever and most are experienced veterans of the Red Court war at this point. And who knows? Maybe his age (Luccio I think it was mentioned that older wizards get progressively harder to mentally manipulate), power and skill at mind magic helps him against Nemesis.

Originally posted by Surtur
I think there is more to Langtry than he lets on, but I don't actually think he's Black Council or anything like that. I don't think he hates Harry as much as he acts like he does.

I was actually thinking about this. I recall that Dresden believed that the Merlin had wanted to execute Molly purely to spite him, but I don't think that's the case either. I think he's just paranoid and obsessed with his job. Because for all his faults, fighting black magic and its users has been a consistent strong theme to his character throughout the series. Of course, it does position him perfectly to be a surprise villain, but eh, as already mentioned, I somehow doubt it. I don't think a lot of what the Merlin directs at Dresden is actually that personal. It's probably a case of him having known people of similar character to Dresden during his long life who didn't turn out so well. And then, again, consider his position. It'd probably be like serving as the director for the CIA or something, but for a much longer time frame and with magic to make things even more complicated. Enough to get to anyone after a while. Like I said previously, seems like a shit job.

I do agree The Merlin is paranoid, but I also do not believe for a single second he is unaware of the Grey Council. Just like he is clearly aware of the Black Council.

It will be interesting to see his next encounter with Harry, they haven't interacted since Changes.

I think in the end Dresden will end up having to work with Nicodemus to an extent too.

Shit did you know Jim Butcher has producing trailers for his books for several years? Here is the trailer for the next book. It shows Ethniu using her eye to take out the power of Chicago.

Hell it shows Molly and...she has the fae feline eyes. So Molly is gone now, she isn't Molly anymore.

We got Mac's bar shown, we got Murphy with a damn bazooka

YouTube video

Originally posted by Surtur
Shit did you know Jim Butcher has producing trailers for his books for several years? Here is the trailer for the next book. It shows Ethniu using her eye to take out the power of Chicago.

Hell it shows Molly and...she has the fae feline eyes. So Molly is gone now, she isn't Molly anymore.

We got Mac's bar shown, we got Murphy with a damn bazooka

YouTube video

Not gonna lie. That had a major cheese-factor to it. But then the sheer fact that even books now have trailers is rather amusing.

And Molly hasn't really been Molly since she took the mantle. Remember in Skin Game when they found the statues of the Faeries Queens and even Michael remarked that one looked like Molly? And those statues are probably old as hell (especially considering where they were lol), which means they changed to reflect the current youngest Winter Queen. But I can recall a couple of instances in the books where the Faerie Queens' eyes would turn like that when they were fully drawing on their mantle of power. What was a more telling sign to me was actually when Dresden remarked in Peace Talks how

Spoiler:
similar Molly and Sarissa looked. We know the Queens of Summer and Winter physically resemble their counterparts and become more like their mantle as time goes by. And then, of course, there was the whole thing with the magic circle, which even freaked Harry out. Wonder if we will see Molly with ocean-coloured dreadlocks in a few years.

But one could argue Dresden isn't really Dresden anymore either. Not completely. Not as he was before he took one of the mantles of Winter himself. Because normal people, even Dresden-verse wizards, don't have

Spoiler:
an actual supernatural predatory force in the back of their head, constantly trying to influence their decisions, or the ability to ignore broken bones and gunshots, as well as make 50-foot leaps or flip pick-up trucks on their side via physical muscle. And then there's Lara's observation regarding how Harry had, whether consciously or not, basically ensured that the leadership of the White Court were invested in helping him and keeping him alive. Could be a sign that being the Winter Knight is starting to slowly change him without him realising. Just like Mab wanted. I mean it's not like she's been at all subtle about it.

On a related note, the Faerie Queen mantles have always kind of confused me. Because it's been repeatedly implied Mab

Spoiler:
was a human female once. Ethniu also treats her with disdain/disgust. But doesn't seem she was ever a Winter Lady. Seems she stepped right into Queen position. But it must have been from another Mab then I presume, who had been guarding the Outer Gates before this one took her mantle at some point. But it also seems a case that they groom them to take up the next rank in power, if necessary, which implies that can also rank up in Queen status that way. But we also know Faerie Queens can produce Changeling offspring that make excellent candidates to take a Faerie Queen mantle themselves. Shit is confusing. Because, for example, if Mab dies, does Molly become the Winter Queen and someone else becomes the Winter Lady, and Molly becomes more like Mab instead of Maeve over time, or does someone else take Mab's mantle, even though Molly has seniority by experience?

I noticed the first 3 chapters of Battle Ground are actually up on Jim's site as a sampler. Part of me wants to check them out, but another part of me thinks it's more worth waiting the two weeks or so until I'll probably actually be able to buy a copy somewhere.

On a random note, I read an interesting and rather amusing statement about Ferrovax's level of power by Butcher. He said that if Lea and Eldest Brother Gruff were allowed every resource available to them to take him on together, they'd still get slaughtered. He apparently likened it to prime Mike Tyson fighting a 13-year-old girl.

Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
Not gonna lie. That had a major cheese-factor to it. But then the sheer fact that even books now have trailers is rather amusing.

It was pretty cheesy, but for a book trailer I think it's quite well done. And having seen the trailers they did for Cold Days and Skin Game...the quality has gone up by 1,000 for the Peace Talks and Battle Ground trailer. They also have a different actor for Harry.

And I've watched the other trailers and they are quite accurate when it comes to showing what would go down in the books.

And Molly hasn't really been Molly since she took the mantle. Remember in Skin Game when they found the statues of the Faeries Queens and even Michael remarked that one looked like Molly? And those statues are probably old as hell (especially considering where they were lol), which means they changed to reflect the current youngest Winter Queen. But I can recall a couple of instances in the books where the Faerie Queens' eyes would turn like that when they were fully drawing on their mantle of power. What was a more telling sign to me was actually when Dresden remarked in Peace Talks how

Spoiler:
similar Molly and Sarissa looked. We know the Queens of Summer and Winter physically resemble their counterparts and become more like their mantle as time goes by. And then, of course, there was the whole thing with the magic circle, which even freaked Harry out. Wonder if we will see Molly with ocean-coloured dreadlocks in a few years.

Well Bob says it can take some time before the mantle completely erodes who you were. But yeah he also freaked out over her being able to use a cell phone.

But one could argue Dresden isn't really Dresden anymore either. Not completely. Not as he was before he took one of the mantles of Winter himself. Because normal people, even Dresden-verse wizards, don't have

Spoiler:
an actual supernatural predatory force in the back of their head, constantly trying to influence their decisions, or the ability to ignore broken bones and gunshots, as well as make 50-foot leaps or flip pick-up trucks on their side via physical muscle. And then there's Lara's observation regarding how Harry had, whether consciously or not, basically ensured that the leadership of the White Court were invested in helping him and keeping him alive. Could be a sign that being the Winter Knight is starting to slowly change him without him realising. Just like Mab wanted. I mean it's not like she's been at all subtle about it.

It has definitely changed him, but I'd still say he is himself more or less. Now the increased physical stats can definitely be attributed to the mantle, but the thing he did to Lara? I dunno. It could be, or it could just be Harry is learning to play the game. It could be the result of nearly 2 decades of battling evil. Remember that more than 1 wizard has commented on how he has more battle experience than most wizards on the planet.

On a related note, the Faerie Queen mantles have always kind of confused me. Because it's been repeatedly implied Mab

Spoiler:
was a human female once. Ethniu also treats her with disdain/disgust. But doesn't seem she was ever a Winter Lady. Seems she stepped right into Queen position. But it must have been from another Mab then I presume, who had been guarding the Outer Gates before this one took her mantle at some point. But it also seems a case that they groom them to take up the next rank in power, if necessary, which implies that can also rank up in Queen status that way. But we also know Faerie Queens can produce Changeling offspring that make excellent candidates to take a Faerie Queen mantle themselves. Shit is confusing. Because, for example, if Mab dies, does Molly become the Winter Queen and someone else becomes the Winter Lady, and Molly becomes more like Mab instead of Maeve over time, or does someone else take Mab's mantle, even though Molly has seniority by experience?

Given what happened in Cold Days, if Mab was killed I don't think Molly would become the Queen. Remember how when Maeve was unaware Molly was nearby she said if Mab killed her that her mantle would just go into someone random? It is likely that will happen.

Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
I noticed the first 3 chapters of Battle Ground are actually up on Jim's site as a sampler. Part of me wants to check them out, but another part of me thinks it's more worth waiting the two weeks or so until I'll probably actually be able to buy a copy somewhere.

Yeah I'm just gonna wait there is only 4-5 days until the book comes out.

Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
On a random note, I read an interesting and rather amusing statement about Ferrovax's level of power by Butcher. He said that if Lea and Eldest Brother Gruff were allowed every resource available to them to take him on together, they'd still get slaughtered. He apparently likened it to prime Mike Tyson fighting a 13-year-old girl.

Interesting since Lea is supposed to be close to Mab in power.

Originally posted by Surtur
Interesting since Lea is supposed to be close to Mab in power.

Yeah, and Eldest Brother Gruff casually one-shots Denarians. Also shows you how retardedly powerful Knights of the Cross can become under the right circumstances, seeing as Michael killed Siriothrax. But then they essentially channel Archangels at full power, which are basically the most powerful beings currently in the setting. What got me though was how Butcher chose to describe it lol. It's so ridiculous, yet it really does bring the power gap across.

Which brings me to a kind of related topic. Saw an interesting comment on another site by someone who has read the first few chapters of Battle Ground. Apparently, there's a big reveal about

Spoiler:
Mac

Spoiler:
he is/was some kind of celestial/angelic being himself. Would explain an awful lot.