|
If the thing from the next book that Harry is supposed to steal is the Golden Fleece, Marcone would want it badly. I don't remember where I heard that. Someone may have mentioned it in this thread.
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 01:42
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 10, 2024 09:10 |
|
|
computer parts posted:If it's something to do with Greek religion and Harry's mantle, the best thing I can think of is Persephone. I like this theory. It would tie into the seasonal theme well.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 04:20
|
|
|
I don't understand how to use spoilers in this thread, because I wouldn't have thought that the pure speculation here would need them, but whatever. The Riddle of Feel posted:If the thing from the next book that Harry is supposed to steal is the Golden Fleece, Marcone would want it badly. I don't remember where I heard that. Someone may have mentioned it in this thread. Why the hell would that person want that thing, let alone want it badly?
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 04:35
|
|
|
AlphaDog posted:I don't understand how to use spoilers in this thread, because I wouldn't have thought that the pure speculation here would need them, but whatever. You don't, some people are just cautious to an absurd level. quote:Why the hell would that person want that thing, let alone want it badly? Some versions of the story hold that the Golden Fleece has healing powers, same as the Shroud of Turin, which Marcone tried to steal for a very specific reason. And even if it has no actual power, it's made of solid gold and is itself a symbol of power, two things that would interest Marcone.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 04:47
|
|
|
I've never read a version of that myth where the Golden Fleece is anything other than a golden fleece. Not even "made of solid gold", let alone "with mystical powers", just "valuable object". I actually always thought the fleece was a metaphor for a trade route with a far away country. Which Marcone would certainly want (especially if "a far away country" is in the nevernever), but he'd be unconcerned with the metaphor. I wouldn't put it past Butcher to use a literal golden fleece or similar macguffin as a key to opening trade between Faerie and Chicago, but I really doubt that's how this book will play out.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 05:23
|
|
|
I think I've read versions of the Fleece myth where it resurrects the dead (specifically, the children who escape on the ram are sacrificed, the ram brings them back to life, then they escape, then they sacrifice the ram. Good kids) but I can't find that version online so yeah it must be fairly esoteric. There are methods of panning for gold that involve letting a fleece hang in a river.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 05:36
|
|
|
The golden fleece of Greek mythology had the power to heal all it touched. Marcone would want it specifically for the purpose of righting the one wrong he regrets.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 14:49
|
|
|
pseudonordic posted:The golden fleece of Greek mythology had the power to heal all it touched. Marcone would want it specifically for the purpose of righting the one wrong he regrets. Which version of the myth is this in? The only references to the golden fleece doing healing that I can find are from Young Hercules, roleplaying games, weird pseudoscientific "healing" sites, and various Yahoo Answers type pages. There's no mention of the healing thing on the wikipedia page or in any of my books on mythology. I'm not saying it's wrong, especially since it seems to be common knowledge, I've just never heard of it. Edit: It'd be a cool ending to a book though. Get fleece, attempt healing, nothing happens. Lea shows up and is all "what the gently caress are you doing". Harry explains. Lea says "where did you get that idea, Young Hercules?" Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 15:03 on May 2, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 15:01
|
|
|
AlphaDog posted:Which version of the myth is this in? The only references to the golden fleece doing healing that I can find are from Young Hercules, roleplaying games, weird pseudoscientific "healing" sites, and various Yahoo Answers type pages. There's no mention of the healing thing on the wikipedia page or in any of my books on mythology. Rick Riordan books 
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 16:23
|
|
pseudonordic posted:Rick Riordan books Those books are great. Edit: Okay not great but really good for who they are aimed for.
|
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 18:17
|
|
|
I heard it from the Ray Harryhausen Jason and the Argonauts movie.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 18:29
|
|
|
Harry pulling an elaborate scheme based off intel from a pop-culture reference seems entirely fitting.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 19:36
|
|
|
AlphaDog posted:I just finished the three Rivers of London books, and they were really good. On par with The Rook, which I'd put about on par with mid-series Dresden. I read the first two Alex Verus books when needing a fix between Dresden Files, and found them relatively similar.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 23:02
|
|
|
AllTerrineVehicle posted:Harry pulling an elaborate scheme based off intel from a pop-culture reference seems entirely fitting. Based off wrong intel. I like this idea except for that I would feel really bad for Marcone. 
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2013 13:49
|
|
|
London Falling was excellent. I hope it turns into a series. It's lots darker than the Rivers Of London series, but doesn't look like it's going to be until about half way through. It's more "some coppers chase a supernatural villain who, to their surprise, turns out to actually be supernatural" than "protagonist is a wizard", and I really liked that a lot. The "twist" bit, which I only kinda saw coming Quill is a dad, I thought it'd be Ross or Costain who had the kid was gut-wrenching, and the ending I definitely saw coming but it didn't make less cool to find out that there used to be supernatural law enforcement in London (DCI Lofthouse and the library at the end), but it's been "forgotten" or potentially "not remembered" which means a different thing here... Reading Libriomancer next. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 17:14 on May 5, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 5, 2013 17:07
|
|
|
I've just finished reading Proven Guilty, and I'm not quite sure what to say about it beyond "I loved it". It's definitely my favorite book in the series so far, and I can only hope that White Night is just as good.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2013 06:51
|
|
sirtommygunn posted:I've just finished reading Proven Guilty, and I'm not quite sure what to say about it beyond "I loved it". It's definitely my favorite book in the series so far, and I can only hope that White Night is just as good. You can hope but sometimes hope is futile. But it is still really good.
|
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2013 13:28
|
|
|
http://torforge.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/genre-identity-crisis/ This is a nice comment on urban fantasy from the Author of London Falling. An interesting read, with his thoughts on what exactly defines the genre. Definitely worth the time to read in full, which is why I'm not copying choice bits into the thread. In Dresden specific content: I'm curious if the books deal with the RPG's supposition about other courts of faery. (Ie Autumn/Spring) I know we talk about some of them in the books with the erlking, but I can't recall if there's mention of a mother/queen/lady structure or not. Anyone with a more recent readthrough remember?
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2013 16:27
|
|
|
Anias posted:http://torforge.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/genre-identity-crisis/ Hahah, nice article. I'm glad that he and Aaronovitch have a positive relationship, that could've gotten really nasty. Anias posted:http://torforge.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/genre-identity-crisis/ I think the Autmn/Spring courts in the RPG books are suppositional only -- things you could create for your campaign but that don't "exist" within the actual Dresdenverse as far as we know.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2013 21:14
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:I think the Autmn/Spring courts in the RPG books are suppositional only -- things you could create for your campaign but that don't "exist" within the actual Dresdenverse as far as we know. That's the idea. With an RPG where all the players are already familiar with the universe it's nice to have a wrench or two to throw into the works, especially if they're meta-gaming. The RPG also has another book coming out late summer and I would expect it to have a short story in it. As much insight as the last one gave into how Harry would work as a Knight I'll definitely check it out. Who knows it might even have a Winter Lady template.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2013 22:53
|
|
|
Dr. MonkeyThunder posted:That's the idea. With an RPG where all the players are already familiar with the universe it's nice to have a wrench or two to throw into the works, especially if they're meta-gaming. I think Evil Hat said that Paranet Papers is only going to have content up through Changes, with maybe a bit of Ghost Story. Most of their content was locked before Cold Days ever came out.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 00:48
|
|
|
So here's an interesting Butcher interview with some more stuff about Skin Game and his other projects. He freely admits to being goony enough that both his local Burger King stores know him by name.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2013 22:38
|
|
|
So I just picked up the boxset of the Newsflesh Trilogy on a whim on my way home. Dammit thread, you are the worst enablers.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 00:06
|
|
|
Illuyankas posted:So here's an interesting Butcher interview with some more stuff about Skin Game and his other projects. This is a really good interview. Also, I'm glad to know that Jim likes Dead Beat as much as I do: quote:J: Specific favourite book is going to be a toss-up between Dead Beat and Cursor‘s Fury. Cursor’s Fury was a lot of fun for me to write, and it was where the Alera books finally took off for me, in terms of “Oh! This is all happening easily in my imagination.” Also, this is the first time I've really heard anything concrete about his Steampunk books. The first one is apparently going to be called The Cinder Spires. Here's the relevant section. quote:J: The Cinder Spires has gotten a better response from my readers than anything that I’ve done recently, just in terms of them thinking it’s something cool. These are my beta readers, from the beta asylum, which I call the asylum because you have to be a bit crazy to be there, because I’m just a bear for cliffhanging chapters, and sometimes they’ll have to wait a couple of weeks between them. So, there’s something wrong with those people, but there they are. Evil cat mafi, crazy wizards, and a Firefly inspired crew? This is gonna be goddamned awesome.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 00:16
|
|
|
404GoonNotFound posted:So I just picked up the boxset of the Newsflesh Trilogy on a whim on my way home.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 01:53
|
|
|
I think my original theory about Lash returning from last fall is going to happen, especially since we're along the lines of that ancient greek theme for the next book. I mean Harry's descending into the underworld/Hades as it is, so while this may sound wierd at first bear with me, Lash is the parasite (duh) and is an allegory for Athena, thus she's going to be reborn by bursting from Harry's head while he's in the underworld. It makes sense considering: 1) Demonreach told Harry that the parasite would burst from his head if left alone (in addition to the crippling migranes). 2) Lash always depicted herself in the grecco-roman toga, described as looking like a godess. 3) Lash was a source of knowledge/insight for Harry 4) In the Athena myth Zues had massive headaches (just like Harry) up until the point that Athena burst forth from Zues' forehead as the Goddess of Intellect. Given that Harry will be in the underworld (a place of spirit, not flesh) it's plausible that the parasite bursting from his head would not in fact kill him. I don't expect Butcher to take the allegory any farther than that but it is a cool spin on a classic myth. It does make some measure of sense given the hints Butcher has dropped and the locale of the next book does allow for it without killing Harry in the process. (oh how Butcher likes to beat Harry viciously) DrFrankenStrudel fucked around with this message at 02:41 on May 11, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 02:00
|
|
|
That's not a bad theory at all.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 03:31
|
|
|
I love this theory so much. It works perfectly for every hint given and fits really well with Butcher's overall style.
|
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 14:24
|
|
|
Given people were talking about how dying and coming back opens up new doors and such as well.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2013 22:34
|
|
|
Ornamented Death posted:I just finished Libriomancer based on all the gushing earlier in the thread, and it was pretty good. I'd probably put it on par with the first Iron Druid book; there are at least some major similarities both between the two books and with how both authors play off of Butcher's style but still bring something unique to the table. Hopefully Hines can keep his poo poo together and not go down the same road Hearne has taken. Did you read the Jig the Goblin or Princess series? They are both really cool, but not urban fantasy. Smudge the spider actually comes from the Jig the Goblin series. Jim C Hines is also a really nice guy (I know, there are many authors out there that are really nice but suck at writing.) I don't think we have to worry about it going down the tubes. I do worry about some of the pop culture references a little, but I think that there's enough references to earlier works and fictional works (like, he made them up) that it should hold up over time. Also, I think someone mentioned the Alex Verus series way back in the thread, but at the time, it wasn't available in the US. It now is. I randomly discovered the Bloodhound Files while desperately trying to find urban fantasy that wasn't romance. It is really good in my opinion. And discounted on the Kindle, ridiculously cheap with prime at $2.80 in paperback. Bored fucked around with this message at 09:28 on May 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2013 09:25
|
|
|
Just finished Libriomancer, it was pretty good. I didn't enjoy it as much as Rivers of London or London Falling, but it was still good.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2013 13:19
|
|
|
Baen are calling it "urban fiction" so I suppose it fits in here - Just read the beginning of "Eight Million Gods" by Wen Spencer. It's out next month and it's abominable. It's entirely possible for a foreigner to write a book about a foreigner in Japan without being an old hand (like Barry Eisler with his John Rain books) but as far as I managed to make it in, it's full of detailed research about Japan which sadly is almost entirely wrong - as if it were written by the absolute worst sort of weeaboo (which perhaps explains why it is so highly rated on GoodReads?) If this warns one person away I'll feel like it was a post worth making.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2013 15:13
|
|
One thing that Libriomancer surprised me on was the handling of Lena's character. When the first thing she wants to do on the initial road trip is jump Isaac's bones and be his new love slave, I was ready to pitch it with a hearty  , I mean it's Tor books here, but Isaac's principled abstaining (at least for the time) was enjoyably Dresden-esque. The issue got kinda soured again at the end with the "I LOVE YOU BOTH!" comedy love triangle ending, but I felt like the author at least propped up the premise with enough logical world building, even if he's on terribly shaky ground, it's a valiant effort haha.
Loving Life Partner fucked around with this message at 15:54 on May 16, 2013 |
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2013 15:51
|
|
|
Loving Life Partner posted:One thing that Libriomancer surprised me on was the handling of Lena's character. When the first thing she wants to do on the initial road trip is jump Isaac's bones and be his new love slave, I was ready to pitch it with a hearty Agreed. This was absolutely the low point of the books. The rest was fun and imaginative and really awesome.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2013 18:05
|
|
|
Loving Life Partner posted:One thing that Libriomancer surprised me on was the handling of Lena's character. When the first thing she wants to do on the initial road trip is jump Isaac's bones and be his new love slave, I was ready to pitch it with a hearty He actually explains the Lena background in a short story compilation. I don't know if spoiler tags are necessary for this, but I'm gonna spoiler it anyway. Sisters of the Hedge & Other Stories posted:I don't know what it is about this character, but I keep coming back to her. Years ago I wrote a novel called Hamadryad, a modern-day fantasy about a dryad named Lena Greenwood. It was never published, and likely never will be, but the idea stayed with me. [i](I'm skipping a few sentences here.){/i] I'm guessing he's read some of the novels in the gor genre, which I never would have heard of if not for SA, and was disturbed by them. He's kind of a giant feminist (obviously not the man-hating type). I think he really likes the challenge of trying to figure out how to give a character whose only characterization is that they become their lover's fantasy a choice in their life. It's a bit more clarified in the "Heart of Ash" short story, which I read after finishing Libriomancer. And it looks like he's going to be focusing even more on the character in the next book. I kind of see the main character from Libriomancer as almost Hines' Mary Sue. It's a giant love note to books. And it allows him to analyze/sperg-out about various genres while still managing to entertain. If you have any questions for him, he's very responsive to the public on facebook. And I'm sure he would love the chance to sperg-out some more about how gender and sexuality are presented in modern fiction.  edit: Although I also sort of rolled my eyes when I got to that part. Then I read the Sister of the Hedge compilation and it made more sense, since the character had been rolling around in his head for a very long time. Edit 2: Here's a blog post by the author of "Monster in my Closet" and "Pooka in My Pantry" venting her irritation that a lot of "fantasy romance" is mis-labeled "urban fantasy". Since I've gotten kind of frustrated looking for new urban fantasy because Amazon keeps trying to force me to read romance books with vampires and werewolves. R.L. Naquin, for the record, writes "urban fantasy". It's pretty light and, so far, uncomplex, so I don't know if you guys would love it, but the first book might be borrow-able through prime. Also, there's a short story up for free download in the Monster Haven series. I didn't like that one quite as much as the full books, but it's free and the satyrs are pretty funny, for the most part. Bored fucked around with this message at 19:24 on May 17, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2013 18:24
|
|
|
Just dropping by to say that I loved London Falling; it took me about a week to get into it, but once I got past the first few chapters I couldn't put it down. Also, it took me until halfway through the book to realize that the football club was actually playing soccer  .
Ghetto Prince fucked around with this message at 20:51 on May 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2013 20:49
|
|
|
Hello all. I reread a few of the Dresden Files books recently and I'm in the market for more urban fantasy. I have taken ideas from this thread before on books to read: The Rook, the Rivers of London books (all of them) and The Iron Druid books (all of them). Are there any other suggestions for solid urban fantasy titles?
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2013 07:04
|
|
|
Just going to quote my recommendation.SystemLogoff posted:For those of you with the Dresden Itch, I've just finished four good Urban Fantasy novels. The first Bloodhound book I read was not too bad as well.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2013 09:12
|
|
|
Ice Phisherman posted:Hello all. I reread a few of the Dresden Files books recently and I'm in the market for more urban fantasy. I have taken ideas from this thread before on books to read: The Rook, the Rivers of London books (all of them) and The Iron Druid books (all of them). Are there any other suggestions for solid urban fantasy titles? London Falling is excellent, but it's got more leanings towards horror than stuff like Rivers Of London, which is closer to the Dresden books. Libriomancer is pretty good, not my favorite but a good story.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2013 10:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 10, 2024 09:10 |
|
|
Ice Phisherman posted:Hello all. I reread a few of the Dresden Files books recently and I'm in the market for more urban fantasy. I have taken ideas from this thread before on books to read: The Rook, the Rivers of London books (all of them) and The Iron Druid books (all of them). Are there any other suggestions for solid urban fantasy titles? Seanan McGuire October days and in cryptic series are both good but deal with different themes. Michelle sagara cast in shadow is a fantasy police procedural that might also appeal. London falling is horror but excellent.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2013 14:55
|
|