Donald Maass Literary Agency

Library Journal: Petra Grady continues to develop her bond with the shadow, Pluck, as the first weaver/shadow pair in nearly a millennium. Even with the support of researcher and boyfriend, Benedict Strom, at St. Enoc, there are some who do not welcome the weaver who can use shadow magic. When Petra and Benedict discover another weaver, they find she is chased by Thoth, a shadow who set mages against weavers thousands of years ago and left betrayal in his wake. As Thoth continues his quest to destroy any stability between the two sides, Petra and Pluck find themselves running from both the university and the mage courts. If they cannot find a way to defeat Thoth and reveal the truth and their innocence, then Petra and Pluck could lose everything. While the pacing is a little bumpy, the novel’s worldbuilding is immersive. VERDICT Harrison’s follow-up to Three Kinds of Lucky continues to develop the world of this contemporary fantasy. Fans will find it completely different than the “Hollows” series, but the spirited protagonists and character relationships showcase Harrison’s prose.

Kirkus: This is wizard Harry Dresden’s yearlong mourning period for Karrin Murphy, the woman he loved.

If you keep upping your protagonist’s powers throughout a series, then you must balance the scales by increasing the number and strength of their enemies—as well as seriously messing with their personal life. Over the course of the Dresden Files, Harry Dresden, Chicago PI and now one of the most powerful wizards in the world, thought his first love was dead (she wasn’t), sacrificed his half-vampire girlfriend on an altar to save their child, lost another girlfriend when they learned she’d been mind-controlled into their relationship, bound himself into servitude as the Fae Queen Mab’s Winter Knight, and, for the length of an entire book, thought he himself was dead (he wasn’t). But nothing has hit quite as hard as the death of Karrin Murphy, the former police lieutenant who was his quasi-partner, friend, and, after a slow burn across many books, lover. Chicago is in a terrible state following a battle with Ethniu the Titan and her Fomor army, and Harry is doing his best to confront the monsters, dark magic, and anti-supernatural prejudice running wild amid the slowly rebuilding city. He’s also trying to save his half brother Thomas from two different death sentences, train a new apprentice, and juggle a relationship with Thomas’s half sister Lara, the dangerously seductive vampire Queen Mab is forcing him to marry. But he’s doing all this while nearly crushed by grief that threatens his judgment and disturbs his control over his magical powers. Butcher really makes you feel the dark, depressive state Harry exists in as well as the effect it’s having on his friends. Despite all that happens in it, this book is a pause as well as a setup for the series’ planned conclusion, an epic conflict with the eldritch creatures known as “the Outsiders.” It’s a tough, redemptive pause that could be a real drag, but thankfully, it’s not, because Butcher shows balance, too: Even as the crises pile up, so do the help and goodwill from unexpected sources.

The series’ snarky noir vibe might be dwindling, but there’s something of substance in its place.