Death Masks
The fifth book in The Dresden Files turns its eye to Christian mythology. And in doing so, it brings some mere mortals back into play in some cool ways.
Dresden is tasked with finding the Shroud of Turin, which has been stolen from Italy and brought to Chicago. But a group of Fallen Angels are looking to recover it first, and they're a lot stronger than anything Harry's faced before. Luckily he also has some Knights of the Cross on his side to even things out.
Butcher does an interesting thing in this series. Thanks to he Knights of the Cross, and particularly Michael Carpenter, the Christian God seems to be a fact in this universe. But Butcher still allows for other religions. One of the knights even identifies as an atheist, claiming he simply wants to do good however he can. And he's allowed to maintain that atheism through the story, which is actually pretty refreshing.
See in this world, it's faith that gives power. Not necessarily whatever the characters have faith in. Michael's rock-solid belief in his God shields him against a lot, and means that he can use almost cross-shaped thing to repel vampires and other foes. Dresden has faith in an ordered system - crosses do nothing to protect him against vampires, but other symbols work. Still, is faith is shakier than Michael's, meaning that it ultimately offers him less protection and power. I really like this way of dealing with things. It supports Michael's faith, but still plays into the idea that God was created by man instead of the other way around. The presence of angels and devils may refute that, but there's also room in this world for a plethora of religious-based beasties. Butcher makes room for everything.
At the end of the book, the bad guys are defeated but not destroyed. And Harry's left dealing with the temptation of the power they have tapped. I'm really excited to see how this all plays out in future books, and to see the Fallen make another appearance.
In the meantime, I'm hoping the next book focuses more on the Vampire War. It's been playing out in the background for the last two books, and I'm ready to spend some more time with the vampires and see this war resolved. The next book is called Blood Rites, so I think there's a good chance that it will deal with this.
Dresden is tasked with finding the Shroud of Turin, which has been stolen from Italy and brought to Chicago. But a group of Fallen Angels are looking to recover it first, and they're a lot stronger than anything Harry's faced before. Luckily he also has some Knights of the Cross on his side to even things out.
Butcher does an interesting thing in this series. Thanks to he Knights of the Cross, and particularly Michael Carpenter, the Christian God seems to be a fact in this universe. But Butcher still allows for other religions. One of the knights even identifies as an atheist, claiming he simply wants to do good however he can. And he's allowed to maintain that atheism through the story, which is actually pretty refreshing.
See in this world, it's faith that gives power. Not necessarily whatever the characters have faith in. Michael's rock-solid belief in his God shields him against a lot, and means that he can use almost cross-shaped thing to repel vampires and other foes. Dresden has faith in an ordered system - crosses do nothing to protect him against vampires, but other symbols work. Still, is faith is shakier than Michael's, meaning that it ultimately offers him less protection and power. I really like this way of dealing with things. It supports Michael's faith, but still plays into the idea that God was created by man instead of the other way around. The presence of angels and devils may refute that, but there's also room in this world for a plethora of religious-based beasties. Butcher makes room for everything.
At the end of the book, the bad guys are defeated but not destroyed. And Harry's left dealing with the temptation of the power they have tapped. I'm really excited to see how this all plays out in future books, and to see the Fallen make another appearance.
In the meantime, I'm hoping the next book focuses more on the Vampire War. It's been playing out in the background for the last two books, and I'm ready to spend some more time with the vampires and see this war resolved. The next book is called Blood Rites, so I think there's a good chance that it will deal with this.
Comments
Post a Comment