Book #10 of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' sees the return of the Denarians, conflict with both Faerie Courts, and a hidden plot for much higher stakes than Harry'd ever suspected. Can Chicago's top wizard wisecrack his way out of this one?

* [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk "Faeries. Why did it have to be faeries?"]]
** Harry later remarks that the Church probably stores captured Blackened Denarii in [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk a big warehouse with a gazillion identical boxes]].
* Thomas's remark, on the subject of Denarians, is a direct quote from [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E8TheDarkAge Angel]]: "I already have one demon inside of me. What's one more?" Harry quickly corrects him.
* The Gruffs inspired the story "Literature/ThreeBillyGoatsGruff" in-universe.
** One of them one-ups the [[Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs Big Bad Wolf]] by smashing through a brick wall.
* Harry calls Thomas's huge, pseudo-military Hummer "''Das Truck''", in a possible oblique reference to ''Film/DasBoot''.
* Riding home in the back of Michael's truck, soaked and freezing, while watching the passengers in the cab getting warmed by the heater, Harry starts feeling like a Creator/CharlesDickens character.
* Re-read the scene in which Harry and Nicodemus are in the boat, then compare it with the final fight between Malcolm and the Operative in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''.
* Harry calls Kincaid [[TheWildWest "Wild Bill"]] when the mercenary nearly gets provoked to violence by Nicodemus.
* Murphy threatens Harry in the style of ''Series/TheHoneymooners'' after he cracks one too many short jokes.
-->'''Murphy:''' Pow, Dresden. Right to the moon.
* Toot-Toot does a full-blown parody of ''Film/FullMetalJacket'': "This is my box-knife. There are many who like it, but this one is mine."
** The original quote comes from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifleman%27s_Creed the Rifleman's Creed]], which apparently was/is a genuine part of [[SemperFi US Marine]] doctrine. Toot-Toot is probably more likely to have seen the movie though, particularly since Harry attributes it to the movie when he hears Toot-Toot say it.
** Toot-Toot's "uniform" includes boots filched from a [[{{Franchise/Barbie}} Ken doll]] or a vintage Franchise/GIJoe.
** In the same scene, Harry hums "[[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} When You Wish Upon a Star]]" while waiting for Toot's return.
* A serious gut wound is [[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2187/was-super-glue-invented-to-seal-battle-wounds-in-vietnam sealed up with superglue]], with the victim mentioning that they saw it [[Film/DogSoldiers in a werewolf movie]].
* Hiding from the Gruffs, Harry recalls a scene from one of the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' movies.
* He also thinks of the Gruffs as Inky, Binky, and Pinky, three of the ghosts from ''VideoGame/PacMan''. (Although it's actually Blinky, not Binky.)
* Talking about how TheMasquerade holds up even in cities, Harry quotes William Randolph Hearst.
* [[spoiler: Uriel]] leaves Harry a copy of ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Two Towers]]'', with a significant phrase underlined.
-->'''Harry:''' "The burned hand teaches best." What the hell is that supposed to mean?
* Thomas refers to the White Council's attitude towards him as 'Leper, outcast, unclean', a reference to ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant''.
* Harry explains that Denarians' Fallen partners are schemers that would make [[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers Cardinal Richelieu]] look like Mother Teresa.
* Mab's snow-sculpture re-creation of the safe house's destruction depicts humans as the size of ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[TheMerch action figures]].
** Harry compares Marcone's safe house to his own warded apartment, saying that his defenses are a little more Myth/{{Merlin}} and a little less [[Film/JamesBond Bond]].
* When Nicodemus finds his operations compromised by his habit of cutting out the tongues of his followers, Harry sighs that he didn't read the EvilOverlordList [[CallBack after all]].
* Harry quotes ''Film/ThePrincessBride'': "You rush a miracle-worker, you get rotten miracles."
** This, after paraphrasing Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman" when he gets the ''idea'' for the miracle in question.
* Faced with opponents whom Michael and Mouse can sense but he can't, Harry complains about not getting to be the [[Franchise/StarWars Jedi]].
** He quotes ''Franchise/StarWars'' again a few paragraphs later, and calls Mouse "Chewie".
* Thinking about the Gruffs' possible maneuvers, Harry guesses that one might jump clear over him [[{{Wuxia}} Kung Fu Theater]] style.
* Charity is like the Series/{{MacGyver|1985}} of the kitchen.
* After a reference to the ''Franchise/{{Predator}}''[[note]]Specifically, that the Predator's glowing blood was made by cracking glowsticks open[[/note]] movies goes unrecognized by a centuries-old demon:
-->'''Harry:''' That's the problem with you nearly immortal types. You couldn't spot a pop culture reference if it [[Franchise/{{Alien}} skittered up and implanted an embryo down your esophagus]].
* Somehow, a collection of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' comic strips got stashed with Harry's books on Nevernever creatures.
* Faced with the largest of the gruffs, Harry gloomily compares his circumstances to a ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoon... except Jerry is ''not'' going to win.
* The dolphins at the Shedd Oceanarium are Pacific white-sided dolphins, not bottlenosed--or, as Harry puts it, not "the attractive ''{{Series/Flipper}}'' kind."
* Bob's been talking like a pirate ever since Harry took him to see [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean a certain movie]].
** Fleeing the island in a leaking boat, Harry starts singing "Blow the Man Down" on Bob's behalf.
* Thomas, armed with sword and pistol, hums "Froggy Went A-Courting". Discussing the Denarians' abilities, he points out that the one he fought wasn't Franchise/{{Superman}}.
* Sanya quotes from the 1981 film ''Film/{{Excalibur}}'', and Harry remarks that Merlin and [[Creator/PatrickStewart Captain Picard]] were the only good things about it besides that line.
-->'''Sanya:''' The king and his land are one.
* [[Film/ArmyOfDarkness Hail to the King, baby.]]
* The clay model Harry gives Thomas to disguise him looks a bit like WesternAnimation/{{Gumby}}.
* When Murphy objects to a plan on the grounds that it steps too far outside the law, Harry asks her to impersonate Creator/SylvesterStallone's ''Film/JudgeDredd'' role.
-->'''Harry:''' Do me a favor. Hold your nose shut, put on a Philadephia accent, and say "I ''am'' the law."
* Michael says that Shiro knew swordplay like Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart knew music.
* Harry gets annoyed that Michael isn't able to step in and solve the crisis in one go, like Franchise/{{Superman}} would.
** Later, Harry tells Michael that because of his WalkingTechbane effect, he doesn't ride planes. Michael responds that "[[Film/SupermanTheMovie statistically speaking, flying is still the safest way to travel.]]"
* Gard misses both Harry's Music/MCHammer reference and his ''[[Creator/DrSeuss Yertle the Turtle]]'' joke.
* The super-elaborate circle used by the Denarians to hold Ivy captive is similar to the {{Magitek}} pentacles used by ''Literature/CarnackiTheGhostFinder'', which also incorporated colored light, sound, and the like.
* Harry remarks that Butters, if called in to tend the injured Kincaid, will do a [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries McCoy]] impression:
-->'''Harry:''' "Dammit, Murphy. I'm a medical examiner, not a pasta chef."
* Once again, the Archive is compared to Bill Mumy's character Anthony Fremont from ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959''’s adaptation of "Literature/ItsAGoodLife".
* Subverted when Harry wants to quote Literature/TheBible to scold Molly, but admits he can't remember the exact words.
** He does recognize where Nicodemus's surname of "Archleone" came from, however.
** Later, he compares what he and the Knights are doing to the biblical [[Literature/BookOfDaniel Daniel]] entering the lion's den.
* Harry points out that in mid-fall, a Denarian is no more immune to gravity than anyone else in the hands of [[MotherNature Mother Earth]] and UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton.
* As the trouble piles on, Harry is tempted to just stay in bed and RipVanWinkle his way past the crisis.
* Faced with the obviously contrived tableau of Nicodemus posed with his followers, Harry undercuts their pretensions by asking if they're auditioning for ''Series/FamilyFeud''.
** Playing the Righteously-Angry Wizard role as he approaches them, Harry tells himself: ''Eat your heart out, [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Sir Ian]].''
** His insults to "[[Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension Monkeyboy]]" Magog--references to Film/KingKong, WesternAnimation/MagillaGorilla, and [[WesternAnimation/TheGreatGrapeApe Grape Ape]]--are a lot more lowbrow.
* Gard has excellent timing when it comes to blaring "Music/RideOfTheValkyries" as she arrives.
* Discussing soulfire with Bob, Harry paraphrases ''Film/SwampThing''.
* Yet again, the ''Water Beetle'' is compared to Quint's boat from ''Film/{{Jaws}}''.
* The Senior Council, according to Harry, couldn't find its heart with a copy of ''Literature/GraysAnatomy'' (no, not [[Series/GreysAnatomy that one]]), X-ray vision, and a stethoscope.
* Murphy quotes the same [[Creator/WilliamButlerYeats Yeats]] poem which Harry'd quoted back at the end of ''Literature/{{Storm Front|DresdenFiles}}''.
* Bandaged up after the battle at Shedd Aquarium, Kincaid looks like ''[[Film/TheMummyTrilogy The Mummy]]'''s stunt double.
* The projected soulfire-hand Harry uses to beat the crap out of Thorned Namshiel is strongly reminiscent of the ''Bigby's Hand'' spells from early editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''.
* After Michael reveals that it’s not Kincaid's time yet, Harry [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries 'Spocks']] an [[FascinatingEyebrow eyebrow]] and gives him a look.
* There's a subtle reference to ''Film/JurassicPark'' when Harry describes a Denarian's clawed footprint as "like a turkey's, only larger."[[note]]A kid at the beginning of the film calls the ''Velociraptor'' skeleton a "six-foot turkey" before Dr. Grant informs him just how dangerous they were.[[/note]] A bit later, what's likely the same Denarian stalks Ivy through some faux foliage and leaps out at her, raptor-like--only to be instantly vaporized by the Archive.
* Eldest Gruff's approach at the abandoned cannery plays out a lot like the first on-screen appearance of a shrieker in ''Film/Tremors2Aftershocks''.
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