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Here's my take on Alera Book 1: Imaginative and fun. Great intro to the setting. Book 2: A horrible boring slog with some good parts. Introduces the Canim, who are rad. Book 3: The best book in the series. By a long shot. Love the military focus. Book 4-6: I enjoyed each one a bit less than the one before. This isn't to say they're bad--they're all nearly the same quality as the first. But still something of a letdown after Book 3, which was awesome. In order of preference: 3 > 1 > 4 > 5 > 6 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2
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Oct 27, 2012 15:22
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jivjov posted:As far as we know, it's done. Butcher could always revisit the setting, but the 6th book was the last in the series. He did mention wanting to return eventually and maybe write a book or two about a new class of Cursors (complete with Canim & Marat students), with Ehren being the new head of the program.
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Oct 27, 2012 19:45
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404GoonNotFound posted:He did mention wanting to return eventually and maybe write a book or two about a new class of Cursors (complete with Canim & Marat students), with Ehren being the new head of the program. I would enjoy a continuation in this series, but I would be pissed if he decided to do this over more Dresden.
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Oct 29, 2012 17:28
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The problem with the Alera stuff is that it's a case where raising the stakes lowers them. I care about the characters, and if they're in danger I feel something. I don't care about the world, and if a city is in danger then whoopdy loving doo. Jim's also better at writing at a more human level, when he tries to do epic stuff I think a lot of his weaknesses come out and his ability to create fun, relatable characters gets pushed to the background.
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Oct 29, 2012 19:33
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NovemberMike posted:The problem with the Alera stuff is that it's a case where raising the stakes lowers them. I care about the characters, and if they're in danger I feel something. I don't care about the world, and if a city is in danger then whoopdy loving doo. Jim's also better at writing at a more human level, when he tries to do epic stuff I think a lot of his weaknesses come out and his ability to create fun, relatable characters gets pushed to the background. I hadn't really thought about it but I guess you're right. I don't even remember the names of any of the towns or cities but I do remember the names of a good portion of the characters despite not having read the series for quite awhile.
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Oct 29, 2012 23:01
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why oh WHY posted:I hadn't really thought about it but I guess you're right. I don't even remember the names of any of the towns or cities but I do remember the names of a good portion of the characters despite not having read the series for quite awhile. I'd say the characterization in Codex Alera is pretty bad, honestly. I made a post about it a while back.
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Oct 30, 2012 04:14
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So Changes 
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Oct 30, 2012 14:38
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Len posted:So Changes Yeah, pretty much.
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Oct 30, 2012 14:54
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Silver2195 posted:I'd say the characterization in Codex Alera is pretty bad, honestly. I made a post about it a while back. It's not his best work but it's not terrible either, at least in the beginning. I really think that his problems came from splitting the characters up too much, which kept them from really interacting.
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Oct 30, 2012 17:03
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I've been driving around town today checking out used book stores and came up with nothing for the Dresden files. When I read them for the first time, I checked all of them out from the library, then bought Changes and Ghost Story as they came out. Picked up Small Favor and Turn Coat in hardback on clearance randomly in the last year, but didn't own the first 9 books, so I've been trying to find some copies to reread. Finally looked on eBay and noticed a bunch of sets of 4 books with names I didn't recognize. Sure enough, they are two-in-one or three-in-one books from the Science Fiction Book Club, who I had a membership with like 10 years ago. Just picked up the first 9 books in the series and Justin Cronin's The Twelve for $27 shipped. 
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Oct 30, 2012 22:55
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Close to the end of the Twenty Palaces series and I can kinda see why it got canned. The protagonist really just complains a lot. It's well-done and appropriate at times, but really just annoying at others. "Oh no, I don't want to kill! I won't kill this guy who's trying to kill me, even though he's going to die in a day anyway and there's no possible way to prevent that from happening. And if I don't kill this guy, he's going to unleash some world-ending eldritch horror. I still don't want to kill him, though. Waaaah." Other than that, it's pretty decent. Minor spoilers: It's interesting that he never actually introduces the society much other than the basic interrogator + peer + wooden man system and from the members he's met, they usually stop at absolutely nothing to keep the predators contained. I am sorta disappointed that we won't get a chance to really see what the Twenty Palace Society is like on the inside, though.
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Oct 31, 2012 01:25
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http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/cold-days-14/cold-days-ch-1 Sample Chapter is up!
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Oct 31, 2012 16:28
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pseudonordic posted:http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/cold-days-14/cold-days-ch-1 drat! What a tease.
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Oct 31, 2012 16:38
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pseudonordic posted:http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/cold-days-14/cold-days-ch-1 This is old material, it's part of the preview in paperback Ghost Story
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Oct 31, 2012 16:40
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Danhenge posted:This is old material, it's part of the preview in paperback Ghost Story It's new for people who A) bought the hardcover & B) didn't poke around the greyer areas of the interwebs for rips of said previews. Anyway, “I have no use for weakness, wizard.” She shivered in a kind of slow, alien ecstasy. “Rest. Heal. Sleep. I shall most likely kill you on the morrow" It's nice to know that Mab's a Morgenstern fan. EDIT: Obligatory fantasy nerd  time: If Harry died back in the fall of 2010, woke up in ~April 2011, and spent the next 2 months & change in Mab's Physical Therapy Killapalooza, he never would have heard "Walk" in the first place. Besides, My Hero or Learn To Fly are better montage songs anyway. 404GoonNotFound fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Oct 31, 2012 |
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Oct 31, 2012 16:47
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Danhenge posted:This is old material, it's part of the preview in paperback Ghost Story Yes it was released in the paperback. No, I didn't buy the paperback when I had a hardcover copy. No, I didn't camp out in a Barnes-a-million and read the sample chapters without buying the book. This just kicks off the slow release of more sample chapters before the Nov 27th release. 
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Oct 31, 2012 17:04
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Chapter 2 on Election Day, eh? Damnit, this book can't come out fast enough.
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Oct 31, 2012 17:07
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To be clear, I wasn't complaining, just giving a heads up to other folks who'd seen it! Personally I totally made a trip to B&N just to read the sample chapters :P
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Oct 31, 2012 17:42
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Danhenge posted:Personally I totally made a trip to B&N just to read the sample chapters :P Same here. It's nice to reread the preview chapters though.
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Oct 31, 2012 19:45
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Harry Connolly's giving away free copies of the Twenty Palaces prequel. Today only: http://www.harryjconnolly.com/blog/index.php/for-halloween-only-im-giving-away-free-copies-of-twenty-palaces/ It's pretty great.
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Oct 31, 2012 20:42
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Megazver posted:Harry Connolly's giving away free copies of the Twenty Palaces prequel. Today only: Grabbed! I've been wanting this for a while but I never actually bought it.
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Oct 31, 2012 20:54
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ConfusedUs posted:Grabbed! I bought it a while back. It's good.
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Oct 31, 2012 20:56
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Megazver posted:Harry Connolly's giving away free copies of the Twenty Palaces prequel. Today only: Excellent. I'm getting tired of reading Repairman Jack while I wait on the new Dresden and this will be the perfect break I hope. I had it on my "to read" list.
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Oct 31, 2012 21:07
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Megazver posted:Harry Connolly's giving away free copies of the Twenty Palaces prequel. Today only: I bought this back when he first released it, because the Twenty Palaces series is really the best urban fantasy series out there. It's a testament to the idiocy of the people that fill this genre's readership that he had to stop writing them. The magic system and the Twenty Palaces Society itself is just so interesting. The Dresden Files would be so much more awesome if Murphy were to be replaced with Annalise.
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Oct 31, 2012 21:46
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Wow, just finished Changes. I am very glad I can dive straight into Ghost Story, can't imagine having had to wait.
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Nov 1, 2012 00:17
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Beastie posted:Wow, just finished Changes. I am very glad I can dive straight into Ghost Story, can't imagine having had to wait. Changes was great. I'm about halfway through Ghost Story and it's not quite as good in my opinion. I understand why though because it's gotta explain and start setting up the new status quo while dealing with the fallout from Changes. And man was Changes a good way to wrap up a story. It had drat near everything.
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Nov 1, 2012 00:57
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Len posted:Changes was great. I'm about halfway through Ghost Story and it's not quite as good in my opinion. I understand why though because it's gotta explain and start setting up the new status quo while dealing with the fallout from Changes. And man was Changes a good way to wrap up a story. It had drat near everything. Not sure if this is your first read through or not but I didn't love Ghost Story the first time through, it was good but not great. When you go back and reread it though it really was much much better for me at least.
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Nov 1, 2012 02:08
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reflir posted:I bought this back when he first released it, because the Twenty Palaces series is really the best urban fantasy series out there. It's a testament to the idiocy of the people that fill this genre's readership that he had to stop writing them. The magic system and the Twenty Palaces Society itself is just so interesting. I can't agree they're the best urban fantasy out there (that goes to Rivers of London), but this prompted me to look up Connolly's cancellation post and goddrat. He's right, the first one does start slow but get past that and they really are fantastic.
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Nov 1, 2012 02:53
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pseudonordic posted:http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/cold-days-14/cold-days-ch-1 So wait, is this not all of Chapter 1, or did the end of book preview have 2 chapters, or are we seeing the effects of editing between then and now?
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Nov 1, 2012 03:34
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Fried Chicken posted:So wait, is this not all of Chapter 1, or did the end of book preview have 2 chapters, or are we seeing the effects of editing between then and now? End of book preview had 2 chapters. quote:The schedule for the next sample chapters is as follows:
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Nov 1, 2012 03:50
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Oroborus posted:Not sure if this is your first read through or not but I didn't love Ghost Story the first time through, it was good but not great. When you go back and reread it though it really was much much better for me at least. Agreed, and Changes lost some of it's shine after the 3rd read through.
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Nov 1, 2012 04:42
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Len posted:Changes was great. I'm about halfway through Ghost Story and it's not quite as good in my opinion. Yeah, I was expecting that. Changes was basically the poo poo HITS THE FAN book (similar to A Storm of Swords in the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice And Fire series); I knew after that Butcher would probably do a book or two where things cooled down and were less intense. Also, did anyone else find the image of Mab using a drum shotgun as one of her tests very odd? You'd think the Queen of Air and Darkness wouldn't need to resort to mortal weaponry to test her new Knight.
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Nov 1, 2012 10:25
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Cornwind Evil posted:Yeah, I was expecting that. Changes was basically the poo poo HITS THE FAN book (similar to A Storm of Swords in the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice And Fire series); I knew after that Butcher would probably do a book or two where things cooled down and were less intense. Not really, because she's trying to get him ready to handle things he'll face in the mortal world again. Only question I had was along the lines of why she was wielding weaponry that scattered Steel/Iron all over the place when used.
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Nov 1, 2012 12:20
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Its not the first time a fae used a gun. The Gruffs had tommy guns or something similar. As long as the metal is an alloy it's all good. Like when Harry threw nails on that bridge when Lea was chasing him through the NeverNever in book 3. She stopped thinking it was cold iron but it was just some alloy and he was using it as a faint.
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Nov 1, 2012 14:56
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It's the first time a fae used a gun in the Nevernever, though.
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Nov 1, 2012 15:12
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Clinton1011 posted:Its not the first time a fae used a gun. The Gruffs had tommy guns or something similar. No, those were aluminum IIRC. And steel is an alloy and does just fine against faeries, so it's not just "any alloy is okay."
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Nov 1, 2012 15:20
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Wade Wilson posted:Not really, because she's trying to get him ready to handle things he'll face in the mortal world again. Only question I had was along the lines of why she was wielding weaponry that scattered Steel/Iron all over the place when used. The pellets in shotgun shells are almost always lead. There are shells for waterfowl that use steel though.
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Nov 1, 2012 15:40
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What about the fact that Mab is the queen of air and darkness and it is completely possible that she could do what Lea did in Changes with manipulating matter using magic so that it wasn't actually any "real" metal involved.
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Nov 1, 2012 19:10
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I spoke way too soon about my thoughts on Ghost Story. Everything since the Big Trouble in Little China reference has been great.
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Nov 1, 2012 20:11
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Dr. MonkeyThunder posted:The pellets in shotgun shells are almost always lead. There are shells for waterfowl that use steel though. There are also those weird ones that have an edible meltable plastic, herbs and salt so you can just pluck the game and bung it in the oven without digging for shot. Maybe if her new Knight disappointed performance-wise he could still serve as a passable meal.
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Nov 1, 2012 20:35
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