Dresden Files Reread - Storm Front Chapter 6

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Mister is mentioned again at the beginning of this chapter, but still gets no discussion or description. We haven't even been told he's a cat. So I guess this is an early version of "Tell us something your cat does but say 'My roommate...'"? Dresden only stops home long enough to collect some supplies, and then it's off to the Sells's lake house. On the way, we are introduced to the Blue Beetle in all its mismatched glory. 

We get another one of these intensely detailed descriptions of Lake Shore Drive and the house itself. I will never know for sure why it matters how big the driveway of this house is, but I do know. I'm being picky here - this kind of detail is a great way to show that Dresden is casting about, not sure what he's looking for, and technically this is the first indication we get of the possibility that there could be large gatherings happening here, but it's a lot of detail and it takes kind of a long time. This is also where we get the film canister, which Dresden nominally picks up because they're useful for holding spell ingredients, but he neither notices by feel that there's film inside nor thinks to check. 

As much as Dresden is here to have a look around, he's also here to summon fairy assistance. This is where we get the introduction on how True Names work. It's also where to get introduced to "magic circle theory". Putting it that way makes it sound as thought there is a whole field of magical study on the construction and application of magic circles. Which, now that I think about it, is actually backed up by the variety of materials and activation techniques we see throughout the series, and the number of different ways we see them used. Dresden talks in various books about the importance a of neat, geometric circle, the use of plain circles versus other shapes, and the significance of which way you draw a pentagram. Hell, in the next book we get introduced to Greater Circles, and the specialized materials they require. We've got circles for protection, containment, summoning, rituals, and all but the most simple (and thus potentially least powerful) require items or materials specific to their purpose. Magic circles are a whole thing. 

Oh, we also get the like, 98 level on thresholds, but not details yet on how human practitioners, or anything but vampires, interact with them, although we are given a general impression that they aren't great for human wizards. 

Dresden summons Toot Toot, a dewdrop fairy who makes a lot of threats, including to tell the Queen, before agreeing to ask around whether any of the local small fae have seen anyone at the house. I have two things here. First of all, we're introduced to the way that the fae can be bound by a promise made thrice. Also though, to which Queen is Toot referring? There are six, and while Dresden isn't yet aware of that, Toot Toot certainly is. He's also a wildfae, with no stable allegiance to either Court. Given which solstices we're between, and the fact that all the other options would be way too dangerous, my money's on Aurora, but the unspecificity is weird. 

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Dresden has to wait around for a while, but when Toot Toot returns, he reports that mortals were recently "sporting" (having sex) in the lake house, and needed pizza to regain their strength. Dresden guesses, not unreasonably, that Victor Sells is there with a mistress and not doing anything spoopy after all, but worries, also reasonably, that telling Monica this will upset her, and that she might not believe him. His sympathy with Victor's possible boredom with a "timid, domestic wife" is kinda misogynistic, and it bugs me a little because by wording the same idea only a little differently, this could have been presented as Dresden understanding human nature well enough to know where Victor is likely coming from but not thinking his actions were valid. This is where we find out that fairies like pizza, and Dresden dismisses Toot Toot after agreeing to try to get pizza sent to the local little folk. 

And then Warden Morgan shows up. He's already got his sword out, and he's all ready to kill Dresden on the spot for violating the fourth law of magic. The book doesn't actually tell us what the Fourth Law is, so let's review. The Fourth Law of Magic says "Thou Shall Not Enthrall Another". In practical terms, it forbids any mind control of humans (except sleep spells), and the binding to your will of creatures from the Nevernever. It does not forbid using a nonhuman creature's true name to get its attention, or even forcibly summoning it, nor does it preclude using basically any means of coercion to get a human or a supernatural being to do what you want, as long as you don't directly mind control them. This feels important because Morgan asserts that Dresden's defense that a) he did not bind Toot Toot to his will and b) the broader application of the fourth law that would forbid using his true name to "suggest" he walk into Dresden's trap only applies to humans is a "technicality", and Dresden pretty much accepts that (while asserting his willingness to hide behind those technicalities). But... it's kind of not. Dresden is pretty unambiguously in the clear here, and either doesn't know it or would rather be antagonistic to the heavily armed magic cop than point it out. (Protip: "I just leaned on him a little" does not sound like the argument of an innocent man). Morgan clearly does know it, he was just using the summoning as an pretext to harass Dresden because he thinks Dresden is the one killing people with magic. He stops Dresden from leaving. Dresden punches him in the face. Morgan expresses his suspicions, which Dresden thinks must be coming from someone higher up in the Council. Then he punches Dresden in the face, and the chapter pretty much ends there. 

Food: As part of the fairy trap, Dresden brings milk, fresh baked bread, and honey in a squeeze bear. The bread does not contain any preservatives, but we are not given similar information on the quality or origins of the milk and honey. I do not think Toot Toot would accept honey that was partly corn syrup, but who knows. The entire meal is served on a hand-carved teak dining set sized for a person six inches tall. There is some discussion of the usual production process for bread, milk, and honey, and why the fae do not typically make these things themselves. And of course there is discussion of pizza. Pizza pizza pizza! 

We're closing in on the end of the 2019-2020 blog year here at Mint and Brambles. That should mean an increase in output as I try to get closer to hitting my annual goals, but I'm also trying to move, which may limit my reading and writing time. Whichever way the rest of this month goes, remember to be gay, do crimes, and read All The Things!