The Eye of the World by: Robert Jordan - Breaking Normalcy (Chapter 5 to 9)

 

““Don’t worry,” Rand said…“I’ll get you to Nynaeve just as quick as I can.”  As he went on, as much to reassure himself as for Tam’s benefit, he peeled off his bloodstained shirt, hardly ever noticing the cold in his haste to be rid of it, and hurriedly pulled on the clean one…“We’ll be safe in the village in no time, and the Wisdom will set everything right.  You’ll see. Everything’s going to be all right.”  That thought was like a beacon as he pulled on his coat and bent to tend Tam’s wound.  They would be safe once they reached the village, and Nynaeve would cure Tam.  He just had to get him there.” – The Eye of the World, p. 79.

 

Last time we discussed normalcy in terms of The Wheel of Time as setup and cut the analysis short so this second installment could discuss how normalcy is ripped away.  Starting with the fifth chapter, the normalcy is ripped away when the mythic creatures right out of the stories which mothers told their children to scare them.  Much of the criticism against The Eye of the World is that Jordan stands in the shadow of J.R.R. Tolkien, something he admitted much of the book was an homage to, however, Jordan starts from where Tolkien ends.  The Lord of the Rings includes a point where the Shire, the home of our four main hobbits, is razed to the ground and taken over by Saruman, the human villain.  That is essentially what Jordan does for Emond’s Field here, though the reader only sees it from the secluded perspective of Rand on his farm.  That fifth chapter drips with tension as there are knocks on the door and Tam slipping upstairs to grab a sword, before being attacked by Trollocs.  This is the first time in the book the reader gets a real sense of Rand’s age, he is a child, he only goes into a fight or flight response.  He confronts Narg, a Trolloc who can speak, something which is seen as out of the ordinary and later commented on as something showing the Dark One rising and the reason he, Mat, and Perrin must leave their quiet lifestyle and go on the run.  The threat is coming from outside and encroaching.

 

The idea of an outside threat is also not entirely accurate.  This is the last time for a while where the reader will get interaction with Rand’s father, Tam, and the last things he does is put doubt into Rand’s mind.  Through his delirium he is speaking of a baby in the snow, his wife, and much of the ramblings come to the point that he may not have been from the Two Rivers and left.  He knows something about the Trollocs.  ““I’d not have thought to find a heron-mark sword in a place like this,” Lan said…Strange thing for a sheepherder to buy” – The Eye of the World, p. 106.  Tam introduces concepts in his delirium of the Trolloc Wars and clearly goes outside and his passes that outsider heritage onto Rand, giving him the sword.  He is an outsider hiding among those on Emond’s Field.  It’s also important as Jordan includes, subtly, this idea that the Two Rivers and Emond’s Field has a more complex and deep history as Manetheren.  Chapter 9, “Tellings of the Wheel”, has Moiraine giving the Two Rivers folk a history lesson after deducing that Rand, Mat, and Perrin are what the Trollocs are after.  Manetheren is a land which defended itself “Not a step of ground was given up until it was soaked in blood, but at last the army of Manetheren was driven back, back to here, to this place you now called Emond’s Field.  And here the Trolloc hordes surrounded them.” – The Eye of the World, p. 133-134.  The inciting incident, on the surface, is an attack, but metaphorically it is the reveal that this quiet little town is actually part of the great history and it’s own nation.  This is something which will become more important as the book and series progresses.  Things are changed. 

 

This section of The Eye of the World is also the first point where we get to deal with perspective and assumptions.  As stated previously, the Two River’s folk are generally superstitious, posting the Dragon’s Fang on the door of the Winespring Inn, a mark associated with Lews Therin and the breaking of the world.  This is all because of Moiraine being an Aes Sedai, a group of women believed to be incredibly tricky and possibly evil.  Rand essentially makes a deal with the devil in allowing Moiraine to heal Tam, but he has to leave with her and Lan.  It’s only Moiraine’s speech in the end which gets them to back down.  The reader reads Moiraine as untrustworthy, but only through Rand’s perspective.  Rand, who has dreams specifically telling him not to trust Moiraine from an evil figure and seeing his home destroyed.  There are also little hints that Moiraine actually does have Rand, Mat, and Perrin’s best interests at heart and is clearly caring.  She is just as important for the healing of the Two Rivers as Nynaeve.  Nynaeve’s cold first impression is also different here as she and Egwene both become emotional at the destruction and Rand’s state, starting one little relationship between the characters which we will discuss in future.  Finally, Lan’s first impression is that of a protector and more standoffish than Moiraine.  Moiraine shows herself as more compassionate while Lan is questioning and almost looking down on the Two Rivers folk which is important.  Normalcy has broken and now it’s time to take leave of home and set out on the quest.

The Sontaran Experiment by: Bob Baker and Dave Martin directed by: Rodney Bennett

The Sontaran Experiment stars Tom Baker as the Doctor, Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, and Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan with Kevin Lindsay as Styre and the Marshal.  It was written by: Bob Baker and Dave Martin and directed by: Rodney Bennett with Robert Holmes as Script Editor and Philip Hinchcliffe as Producer.  It was originally broadcast on Saturdays from 22 February to 1 March 1975 on BBC1.

 

When the decision was made to split Serial 4B in two, it came upon Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes to find a writer willing to fill in the shorter slot, doing something which hadn’t been seen since The Rescue in 1965, ten years previous.  Holmes’ predecessor, Terrance Dicks, recommended Bob Baker and Dave Martin as potential writers due to their ability to write under constraint and writing such classic serials as The Claws of Axos and The Three Doctors.  Holmes also requested the return of the Sontarans, last seen the previous year in his own serial, The Time Warrior.  Baker and Martin got to work on The Destructors which would have reflected many of the things that Hinchcliffe’s era would be known for, mainly gothic horror and homages.  The Destructors would have seen a ruined Nelson’s Column rising out of the rubble and a ruined priory to add gothic flair, but as these would both involve models in the studio and The Destructors, by that point retitled The Sontaran Experiment, was reworked to only imply in the script the Planet of the Apes like setting.  Filming came upon two major problems: first Kevin Lindsay playing the Sontaran, Styre, was quite ill and indeed would die soon after this serial was produced, and second Tom Baker broke his collarbone meaning for many of the action shots stuntman Terry Walsh would have to step in.

 

As this story is only two episodes in length, the plot is simple: the Sontaran Empire has sent Styre to assess the remnants of humanity once again as Earth seems to have strategic value in their war against the Rutans.  To do so Styre is assessing humanity’s ability to deal with fear and pain, though the reasons as to why these are chosen are never explained to the audience.  In fact, Styre initially appears at the cliffhanger to Part One, meaning that he really is only in half the story and his robot and the location on Earth are more threats for half of the story.  This would be fine if the initial title was kept, but having the title be The Sontaran Experiment means the audience is expecting an experiment which does not appear until over halfway through the story.  The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry are also really only on the periphery of the story for the first episode and while their chemistry is impeccable, especially Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, it really doesn’t do much to give the story a lot of weight until the end.  The final action sequence between the Doctor and Styre is also underwhelming as while director Rodney Bennett does a good job in hiding the fact that both performers are stuntmen for much of the actual action, it is less clever a solution than The Time Warrior and honestly quite a bit too simplistic, even for the shorter runtime.

 

Overall, The Sontaran Experiment is perhaps the first weak link in Season 12.  Of course the Blu-ray release is restored and full of bonus features which are excellent, but this story is one which will leave the viewer wishing something and beginning a three story run of returning villains which would turn producer Philip Hinchcliffe off from featuring any more returning enemies until after his run of stories was over.  It’s by no means a bad story, but it is one of those stories which are painfully average which really only is brought up by some nice direction and chemistry between the trio of leads.  5/10.

The Eye of the World by: Robert Jordan - It Was A Beginning (Prologue to Chapter 4)

 

“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend.  Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.  In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist.  The wind was not the beginning.  There are no beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time.  But it was a beginning.” – The Eye of the World, p. 1.

 

This is how the first chapter of The Wheel of Time opens, not with an action scene, not with a bang, but a monologue.  Indeed, this monologue with variation on the setting will open every installment and is perhaps the best mission statement of what The Wheel of Time is, one small part of a history being told.  When initially planning this analysis, the intention was to cover the first eight chapters with the prologue of The Eye of the World, however, in reading changes already found their way into the pattern.  Robert Jordan begins this first book with two key aspects: intrigue and normalcy.  These aspects are paramount to successfully starting the story and before even an inciting incident to the journey can begin, four chapters are dedicated to establishment.

 

“Dragonmount” is the prologue and is responsible for much of the intrigue.  Jordan opens the novel with a madman, in the wake of some great battle, being given his sanity and committing suicide as a mountain grows around him, destroying the land in the past.  This prologue is intentionally confusing, introducing two figures, glimpses at the magic of this world, and more about what is going to happen in the series that only will be clear with hindsight.  There is already hints of Jordan’s florid descriptions of people and the surroundings as the emotions of this man, Lews Therin Telamon, right before his inevitable death.  There are two epigraphs ending the prologue which give the reader the first glimpses of the normalcy of the world once the book starts proper.  As a prologue, it is truly a prologue, setting up features in the distant past which informs the present.  Lews Therin is referred to as the Dragon, and is prophesized to be Reborn, the world is described as broken, and the magic of the world is tainted by the Great Lord of the Dark.  This is also a prologue which new readers to The Wheel of Time simply must power through, which is easier than it may appear.  It is brief, which becomes apparent for a series which is characterized for having longer prologues, some clocking in at approximately 100 pages (though this does not start until Lord of Chaos).  It is a piece of history which will be important later.

 

Normalcy is established throughout the first three chapters of The Eye of the World as several characters are introduced and a status quo is maintained.  Our principle players introduced here are Rand al’Thor (son of a farmer), Matrim Cauthon (local village trickster), and Perrin Aybara (blacksmith’s apprentice).  All three are young men, preparing their village, Emond’s Field, for Bel Tine, a festival marking the end of winter and is setup in this section to be the best Winternight and Bel Tine the boys have seen.  Much of these early chapters are used to set them up with a few character traits, following archetypes.  Rand is our point of view character and Jordan gives him perhaps the weakest characterization, something which will become an issue for people, though he is set up as a normal farm boy.  Mat is clearly a troublemaker and is also just as one-note, something which we will come back to at a later date.  Perrin is the more quiet type, strong, but gentle.  All three boys are spooked by a mysterious rider, and there are strangers in the village: a noblewoman who may be Aes Sedai, a peddler who has become gloom, and a gleeman.  The important part of establishing normalcy is done through a minor character, Ewin Finngar.  It is obvious that Ewin is not meant to be an important character: he interacts with Moiraine, who completely brushes him off, giving him a coin because he is there, but clearly being interested in Rand and Mat (and later Perrin), but what he does provide is an insight into the world.  Stories of Darkfriends and Forsaken, those meant to scare children, and those which are seen by our important characters as that.

 

The superstition of the village is important in seeing how the four outsiders are treated.  Moiraine is essentially royalty, “She held herself with a grace and air of command that made him feel awkward and stumble footed. She was barely tall enough to come up to his chest, but her presence was such that her height seemed the proper one, and he felt ungainly in his tallness” – The Eye of the World, p. 26-27.  She is our intrigue, come to break down the stubborn men and women of Emond’s Field, though immediately bringing the young under her spell.  She is called Aes Sedai and her companion, Lan, as Warder, something which has a bad connotation for Rand which is important.  She is our main source of intrigue.  Moiraine is contrasted with the gleeman, Thom Merrilin, who expects to be treated as a showman, precisely what he is.  While he represents the outside world, there is a simplicity in his introduction so the reader through Rand knows what he is about.  He laughs at the peddler, Padan Fain, and the stories of war brewing over a potential False Dragon, a man who can touch the One Power, something which is apparently only safe for women to do.  Fain and his stories provide the final aspect of normalcy, that of the far-off conflict.  The conflict is something which must be dealt with by the male and female leaders of the village, but not until after the festivities.  The point is that this is something not to be worried.

 

Finally, these chapters introduce two other characters of note, Nynaeve al’Maera and Egwene al’Vere.  Both characters only get introductions but there is plenty of important things to note which will be discussed as their arcs develop.  Nynaeve has something to prove: she is the youngest person in the village to become Wisdom and is clearly not respected by the men and women.  Moiraine called her a child, something which is mused upon as maddening.  Egwene on the other hand is also young, about the age of Rand, and it is noted, is implied to be a romantic interest, training to eventually be Nynaeve’s successor.  But outside of that, the wheel has begun to turn, and the journey has begun.

Beyond the Sun by: Matthew Jones

 

Beyond the Sun is a loaded title.  To Doctor Who fans it is a small reference to the second serial, The Daleks, which used the title on certain paperwork in the early stage as well as being associated with The Edge of Destruction in some circles.  For the first story that goes outside of the planet Earth and into a fictional solar system beyond the sun, it is a fitting title, but Matthew Jones using it for the third Bernice Summerfield New Adventure is an interesting trick.  It makes the reader think this is going to be something about going light years away, but beyond here is used more closely to having power more than a sun.  Power and the power of people is essentially the theme of the book here, as Jones crafts an alien civilization built around living as a family unit of eight.  The Eights make for an interesting society and Jones includes a commentary on capitalism and consumerism, as the planet Ursu is under the thumb of the Sunless and profiteers.  Jason Kane has found himself kidnapped by someone, initially thought to be Dr. Kitzinger who has been experimenting on the native population, as he became too close to stopping the finding of an ultimate weapon.  Benny has to go and rescue him, taking two students along for the ride as they were on a makeup course at the time.  The plot itself is relatively simple, and that’s where Matthew Jones’ work actually succeeds, in providing a framework for interesting character exploration and dynamics.

 

Benny and Jason’s relationship as it stands post-Eternity Weeps is first explored here.  They were divorced by editors who believed that in becoming the lead to her own series, Benny shouldn’t have been tied down to a husband.  This is clearly seen as a mistake by Jones as he, along with Paul Cornell and Justin Richards when bringing up Jason in previous books, shows Benny still longing for Jason.  She drops everything once she hears that he has gotten himself into trouble and is ready to save his life.  He becomes her motivation for doing everything, but Benny also finds caring and tries to do the right thing.  She understands the importance of preserving culture and teaching history through archeology.  Once she meets the person who is built up as the big bad villain, her own skepticism is confirmed when Dr. Kitzinger is revealed to being a woman who is just trying to help.  Kitzinger may not be the best person, but she is trying her best and that’s really all anyone can ask for.  Her interludes are excellent, Jones giving us several pieces of ambiguity building up the mystery of the Blooms, the Sunless, and the Eight.  The first third or so sets up the two major supporting characters, Emile Mars-Smith and Tameka Vito.

 

Tameka is an interesting look at a teenage girl: choosing archeology because she finds it interesting, but finding herself out of her own depth and disliking the process of learning.  She believes in the uselessness of being taught to discover knowledge, even if that knowledge is already known by the greater scientific community.  It allows the childishness to be brought out while still making her a realistic university student.  Emile, on the other hand, doesn’t have a formed identity at the start of the book, which isn’t a bad thing, as he is the son of a higher up in one of the corporations and is taking archeology for similar reasons.  He is also deep in the closet, and Beyond the Sun chronicles him as he discovers his sexuality.  There is denial throughout most of the book, before he finally sees the love between the Eight, especially Scott and Leon.  This is a familial love, but as it is an untraditional form of love and not the traditional sort, it gives Emile the strength and first steps to understanding himself.  The Eight, with Scott in particular, are never stated to be pansexual, but that is what Jones is getting at and are comfortable enough to use sex as a connection.  The sex itself is also not actually included in any gratuitous manner, it is simply described in terms of the emotions the characters are feeling which is an introspective viewpoint to take.  There are a few points where the fear becomes Jones creating a love triangle, however, that really doesn’t come to pass.  Scott, Leon, Michael, and Iranda are the members of the particular Eight that Beyond the Sun is following and they each have their own characterization with their own goals.  This Eight is technically a Ten, though the other six members aren’t ever shown, but are named as being important.

 

Overall, Beyond the Sun is actually a beautiful little tale which examines what Benny and Jason’s relationship actually means, how it feels to come to terms with oneself and one’s place, and how to adapt to change without losing sight of one’s principles.  Sure there is one large reference to the earlier VNAs but really it continues a streak showing just how well Benny works without the Doctor.  9/10.

An Introduction to Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

 

The Wheel of Time is a fourteen book fantasy series from Robert Jordan which began publishing in 1990 with the release of The Eye of the World.  Jordan had already published throughout the 1980s with installments in Conan the Barbarian, as well as novelizing Conan the Destroyer and proposed The Wheel of Time in 1984 to Tor Books and attained a six-book contract.  Jordan took six years to complete the first installment and by the time the first release was published the second was nearly complete.  This speed would continue until the seventh installment, A Crown of Swords, where the pace slowed to every two years.  After Crossroads of Twilight, the tenth book in the series, Jordan took a break to pen a prequel, the first of a planned trilogy to be completed after the final two installments: Knife of Dreams and A Memory of Light.  Knife of Dreams would be published in 2005 and shortly after Jordan would be diagnosed with primary amyloidosis in December 2005.  Jordan fought the disease for two years, passing away on September 16, 2007, leaving the series unfinished.  While fans were devastated with the death of the series creator, Jordan’s widow and editor, Harriet McDougal, hand-picked from several options Brandon Sanderson to complete the series from Jordan’s extensive notes, fragments, and progress.  A Memory of Light was saved, but not in the format Jordan intended.  The scope of the final novel and numerous plot threads which needed closure, the book would be split into three, published in 2009, 2010, and 2013, bringing the series to a close with an epilogue from Jordan himself.

 

This is a series which has touched people worldwide and provided a gateway and framework for much of the modern fantasy genre, taking its roots in Tolkien and growing beyond that with the same depth and characters, though presented in a way that modern readers can truly grasp it.  It’s a series of which I have read once, falling in love when a friend recommended the first book.  It’s a story that has something for everybody, making several choices along the way to build on different themes and ideas while the characters grow and fulfill their role in the world.  It’s also one of those great epics which doesn’t end the story when the final book is over, the characters still have their lives which are implied to continue.  The goal of this series is meant to split things into portions that are safe for first time readers while also showing insight from someone who knows what is coming, though when spoilers will arise they will be properly divided, going in depth on each book and themes.  As Jordan said when asked to summarize “Cultures clash, worlds change; cope”, something he said specifically about being long winded and giving us that framework to work from as well as looking into what changed things at the time from the original vision and eventually what Brandon Sanderson completed.  This will also look at each episode of the Amazon adaptation once it is released and compared to how it adapts things and where Jordan and showrunner Rafe Judkins’ visions differ, so let the Wheel of Time turn, let ages come and pass.

Dragon's Wrath by: Justin Richards

 

While the Virgin New Adventures went on past The Dying Days with Bernice Summerfield, it no longer felt like the same range simply because of the protagonist change and the inaugural book in the range, Oh No It Isn’t!, while brilliant, felt incredibly stand alone which made it feel less like the start to a new series and story arc and more like just a special release to see if people would actually continue reading.  The second installment, Dragon’s Wrath, while also standalone actually feels more like some character progression is happening and features the return of one character to actually build a character relationship which sets up a lot of what’s going to be happening in future books.  Justin Richards pens a tale fully embracing the archeologist nature of Bernice Summerfield as a character, as she is tasked with finding the Gamalian Dragon, a statue from a conqueror of many galaxies.  One small problem, the Gamalian Dragon seems to be in Benny’s bag already.  And there’s been a murder at St. Oscar’s, of a man who had a rare appointment with one Irving Braxiatel.  Setting the book up like this means that Richards can take control of where the range is going and reintroduce audiences to Braxiatel and his chess playing ways.  Interestingly, in the audio adaptation from Big Finish Productions, Irving Braxiatel is written out, which makes the adaptation make no sense and barely resemble the book.

 

The audio adaptation seems to be more readily available as it has been in print for over twenty years and just recently been made available on download, but those who have listened to it perhaps doesn’t have an understanding of what Dragon’s Wrath is.  It’s the starting point for the rest of the series: Benny goes on an adventure and gets swept up in a conspiracy to unravel historical truths.  Richards’ writes a story where the whole point is examining a period of history and revealing it for the actual truth.  The highlight of this book is the interplay between Benny and Braxiatel, a character Richards created for Theatre of War and grew to be one of the more popular Doctor Who spin-off characters after this book.  In the Doctor Who books, outside of his introduction, Braxiatel only appeared in The Empire of Glass and Happy Endings prior to this.  As with Theatre of War, Braxiatel was responsible for much of the plot occurring and resolving: throughout this book he’s the one nudging Benny in the correct direction based on his own suspicions.  Brax is a character who is always one step ahead, but importantly he is charming and keeps bringing Benny closer.  Benny, on the other hand, is wrapped up in unraveling the mystery around her.  She’s still trying to get over her divorce to Jason and has a slight crush on Nicholas Clyde, a professor of history who accompanies her to see and examine the Dragon.  Benny as detective is also an excellent angle to take her character, as the book makes it feel like she is using this expedition as a distraction from everything else going on in her life which allows Richards to really explore her psyche.

 

This isn’t to say that Dragon’s Wrath isn’t without its problems: it drags quite a bit throughout the middle section and there are points which could be trimmed down here and there, but overall it’s a book which really sets the Benny series in motion.  The villain, Romolo Nusek, is an interesting character, but there is a character shift that wasn’t quite there right at the beginning where he is introduced as trying to uncover his family history.  There could have been more done to make him either an effective twist villain or an outright villain from the start, as Richards doesn’t really decide if it’s supposed to be a twist.  The murder mystery plot also feels just a bit half baked overall, as it almost is just a starting point to get Benny and Braxiatel to have that first conversation which of course is great, but it doesn’t quite connect.  The ending, however, is perfect and there is this sense of doom that there will be repercussions to what Brax has done here.  7/10.

The Dresden Files: Proven Guilty by: Jim Butcher

 

If Dead Beat dragged The Dresden Files to a quality series, Proven Guilty is the book which solidifies the series as doing something excellent.  Previous reviews have highlighted the pulpy urban fantasy nature of the series, which is still present here, but this is the book where things genuinely get dark and stay dark.  The book opens with the White Council executing a teenage warlock for breaking one of the Laws of Magic, and that inciting incident sets the tone for the rest of the book.  Obviously with a title like Proven Guilty, this opening trial sequence becomes paramount for the success of the book, as well as Harry’s unvoluntary complacency in allowing this death to happen.  As a Warder he can only watch as essentially an outsider as a state sanctioned murder takes place, and that becomes parallel for the climax of this book.  Jim Butcher makes the decision to make the climax of this book not be around an action sequence like the previous seven books, but essentially a trial.  Sure there is a big action sequence that comes right before the mystery is revealed as the plot goes right into Faerie and the Winter Court which makes it an excellent parallel of Summer Knight, though pulling itself through much better than Summer Knight.  The trial itself is essentially the resolution to several character conflicts which have been simmering from as far back as Grave Peril, showing really that that was the real point where everything started for The Dresden Files and the first two books were prologue.  Harry’s not necessarily a character always associated with cleverness, but that’s something he’s always really had and he knows just how to bring together chess pieces to at least survive the situation even if it doesn’t end with him getting the best outcome.

 

Butcher seems to have mastered the character interactions and makes the important decision to put the war with the Red Court Vampires into the background actually works.  The war plays a large part in the motivations of the White Council and the inevitable resolution to the book, adding some nice little endings.  Now the climax does bring in a few tropes which make it fall  apart ever so slightly, but it is an important one for the characters.  There is this simmering tension that is slowly coming to a head as the war, which to this point has been essentially a non-entity.  Entering the Winter Court’s domain before the climax essentially helps the war effort, however unintentionally, possibly tipping the scales and forcing Dresden to actually take part.  Proven Guilty really starts like any other book of The Dresden Files, with an investigation, this time into murders occurring at a horror film convention.  This setting actually is interesting as Butcher doesn’t ever seem to look down on fans of horror or those that go to conventions, but clearly admires what they do.  There is this celebration of fan culture here and there is this brilliant red herring as who is actually behind the murders doesn’t ever actually get discovered here.  There is a White Court Vampire here, another of the Raith family, who feeds on fear which is of course excellent for a horror film convention, as even the quick bursts from a jump scare can provide a morsel of food.  This is also the one where movie monsters come to life, and although none of them are from actual horror films that a reader would know, Butcher does play on several tropes and horror figures that are in the public consciousness.

 

The first half of the book actually does feel very much like a different book as the main character conflict is between Harry and Thomas as Thomas finds himself back on his feet and earning money in a way possible to not be fired.  There is still this idea of brotherly love and Harry actually feels emotional as Thomas says goodbye, though Butcher makes it clear that this is not going to be an ending for the character.  This is revealed early enough in the book that Thomas plays an important part through the rest of this book and is clearly still going to be a major player throughout the rest of the series.  He’s also one of those interesting characters as he is one of Harry’s flirts with the dark: Harry is technically working with the enemy even if the White and Red Courts are not on good terms.  More importantly, this book deals with Molly Carpenter in a very human storyline, mostly taken away from the magic.  Molly has grown into a 17-year-old rebel, running away from home and making friends with people who makes her good Christian mother weep and despair.  Molly has also been dabbling in magic and has this weird obsession with Harry, one of which he resists even if she is insistent in setting up awkward situations.  These parts of the book in particular are a bit odd as Butcher is unsure of what tone to use really because of the genuine ick that this gives off: Harry is a grown man, and while he isn’t ever tempted the fact that he isn’t outwardly grossed out it doesn’t always work.  The play in the second half when Molly is damseled and Charity Carpenter, who until this point has essentially despised Harry, comes to her rescue and those relationships are worked out is a highlight of the book.  The familial theme here is essentially that children will listen, they may not obey, but they will listen and an examination of the cyclical personalities from parent to child.  Charity secretly practiced magic and dabbled in the dark just like her daughter.  Charity is also a certifiable badass who fights with a hammer and honestly that’s just the best note to end on.

 

Overall, Proven Guilty may not be the perfect installment of The Dresden Files, but it is one that continues the quality of Dead Beat in exploring the characters and actually moving the series forward leaps and bounds.  Butcher continues to provide us with a good time and that is all that readers really can hope for.  8/10.