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The scene where Hannah Ascher reveals her Lasciel form is a lot more entertaining to me if you assume that Harry's Denarian form if he'd accepted the coin fully would have looked exactly the same. Posing, nudity and strategically placed pink smoke tendrils included
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Jun 3, 2014 14:08
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I'm just looking forward to harry's next quiet interaction with marcone.
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Jun 3, 2014 14:12
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Illuyankas posted:The scene where Hannah Ascher reveals her Lasciel form is a lot more entertaining to me if you assume that Harry's Denarian form if he'd accepted the coin fully would have looked exactly the same. Posing, nudity and strategically placed pink smoke tendrils included I had the very same thought. Althought Harry's proven before that he has few reservations about going into battle naked and fully engorged.
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Jun 3, 2014 16:18
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I am a bit surprised that given Harry went to Hades that no mention of the Titans was made, its another connection between Harry and Hades in that they both keep imprisoned ancient evils as wardens of a prison I hope I got the spoiler tags right!
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Jun 3, 2014 16:25
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Hailfire posted:I am a bit surprised that given Harry went to Hades that no mention of the Titans was made, its another connection between Harry and Hades in that they both keep imprisoned ancient evils as wardens of a prison I hope I got the spoiler tags right! That reminds me, when I heard the plot for this book, my guess was that Harry was going to have to open a Way from somewhere in Hades and be dreading what place could be awful enough to be the real world equivalent... And come out under Demonreach. I still wouldn't be surprised if that happened at some point, though.
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Jun 3, 2014 16:31
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Am I the only one who would like to see a playdate between Mouse and Spot? I bet they would be the best of friends!
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Jun 3, 2014 16:44
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Dravs posted:Am I the only one who would like to see a playdate between Mouse and Spot? I bet they would be the best of friends! Spot could be a girl! and they could make super puppies!
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Jun 3, 2014 17:19
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thespaceinvader posted:Yeah, because nickelheads never come back. I'm assuming Nick kept the coin. Who cares if her coin comes back? Deidre was one of the "partner" Denarians, we know basically nothing about her demon - Deidre was the one driving and if the coin is given to someone else it'll be a completely new character with no affection to or from Nick. Deidre is not coming back, and if her coin does it isn't important. Slightly surprised you don't remember Binder, he's one of the people hunting Morgan in Turncoat, he summons an army of demons to find Morgan and Molly as they hide in Harry's storage safe house and again towards the end of the book on Deamonreach. Avalerion posted:I don't think the mantles were all that powerful to begin with, the last summer knight died falling down stairs after all. He was old and broke his neck. On the other hand, Lloyd Slate survived a rather large lightning blast from Harry in the same book. Darkrenown fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Jun 3, 2014 |
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Jun 3, 2014 21:10
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Darkrenown posted:Who cares if her coin comes back? Deidre was one of the "partner" Denarians, we know basically nothing about her demon - Deidre was the one driving and if the coin is given to someone else it'll be a completely new character with no affection to or from Nick. Deidre is not coming back, and if her coin does it isn't important. Also he had the Summer Lady there doing something so Slate could do it.
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Jun 3, 2014 21:23
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FINALLY. There was a problem with my order and I didn't end up getting Skin Game until yesterday evening. I really liked this one a lot. I know some people felt that it didn't measure up to some of the earlier books, but I found it a welcome break from the darker turn the story took beginning with Turncoat. I also think it did a lot of setting up for future novels. A few thoughts. 1) The coins have already been retrieved, if not by Marcone then by one of his minions. Count on it. 2) While I can appreciate the viewpoint of those who complained about Hannah Ascher's over-obvious attempts at seduction and her rape backstory, I find myself wondering if perhaps something more subtle was being shown here. There was a time when those tactics would have had Harry unable to think straight, and landed him in a world of trouble instead of simply being a minor distraction. It seemed to me that Lasciel was basing her strategy on the Harry who picked up the coin and had no idea how much he had changed. It also seemed that it was showing that Lasciel relied too much on her charms and wasn't all that bright, being as she is apparently more or less accustomed to shaking her host's booty and seeing her target rush to do her bidding. I think that it was showing us that Lasciel learned nothing of what Lash knew, and it was showing us that Harry is getting smarter--the Harry who originally picked up the coin would have been put almost automatically into white-knight mode with the information about Ascher's past, whereas this time, although he felt sorry, he wasn't led around in circles with it. I also note that to burn three men to death for attempted rape is just a bit over the top and went along with the faults in Ascher's character that Harry noted a bit earlier. He didn't automatically see Asher as the blameless victim. 3) Is Gentleman Johnny going to attempt to use the real shroud to heal Demeter's daughter? 4) Butters. Holy CRAP. Butters. I really loved that part, not the geeky Star Wars part but the act of faith that had him determined to buy whatever time he could. Truly amazing. I will reread it once the better half gets through with it.
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Jun 4, 2014 01:51
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I think you're spot on with point 2 especially because of the way he reacts to Murphy getting a smackdown - he knows she went in with free will and it was her choice to get involved. Her injuries annoy him but only in the friend sense rather than white knighting a woman sense. I would also add to point 2 that perhaps Harry sympathised with Ascher because he himself was hunted Edit: Perhaps this is a watershed move as a precursor to Harry having to deal with Mab WastedJoker fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Jun 4, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 02:20
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I think that Lasciels total lack of subtly, was her being really, really mad at harry's refusal and changing of her imprint. Shes pissed at harry.
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Jun 4, 2014 02:24
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But how can she be mad at Harry if he only had an imprint of her in his head? I find it hard to believe the imprint had even one way feedback to the original.
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Jun 4, 2014 02:31
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Zola posted:A few thoughts. 1) It would be really awesome if Marcone has had one all along and it was part of the reason for his ascension to power. 2) Emotion is really powerful magic fuel and fire doesn't really have a stun setting. 3) I thought Harry might try and use this to bribe Marcone. 4) Holy crap. Disliked the Star Wars references, they felt forced since I figure Butters would be too terrified to actually say anything like that, but holy crap, yes.
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Jun 4, 2014 02:35
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Yeah, Marcone is, despite being utterly human, probably going to end up as Harry's ultimate enemy or saviour I'm erring towards saviour considering the back story and the fact Harry is learning that grey areas are a fact of reality
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Jun 4, 2014 02:44
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Mab and Marcone are besties so Harry will probably end up doing more jobs for Marcone whether he knows it or not.
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Jun 4, 2014 04:57
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Khizan posted:
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Jun 4, 2014 04:59
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WastedJoker posted:But how can she be mad at Harry if he only had an imprint of her in his head? This is true, but still She's well aware Harry never took up the coin, and buried her in his basement before eventually giving it back to the church. So even if she's unaware of what happened with the imprint, Lasciel is well aware that he refused her coin. And since that's supposed to be her whole, like, thing, I can buy she might be angry. Never mind that he basically got her pregnant and has no intention of sharing custody.
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Jun 4, 2014 06:35
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SpookyLizard posted:Never mind that he basically got her pregnant and has no intention of sharing custody. Other way around on this one.
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Jun 4, 2014 06:38
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Update: One week since I first read Skin Game, and I still can't stop giggling at "Who's a good dog? Spot is. Yes, he is."
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Jun 4, 2014 11:01
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Khizan posted:Other way around on this one. Casting Lasciel with Lifetime Movie Villain characteristics is flying over a lot of heads.
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Jun 4, 2014 11:59
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Wade Wilson posted:Casting Lasciel with Lifetime Movie Villain characteristics is flying over a lot of heads. Now I'm imagining Dresden on an episode of I Didn't Know I was Pregnant!
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Jun 4, 2014 13:20
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So, on the topic of Lil' Lash... I guess, we don't really have a name for her. I'm really waiting for Bob's reaction because I can almost guarantee it's going to be "Sweet! Hot roomate!"
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Jun 4, 2014 16:30
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ZorajitZorajit posted:So, on the topic of Lil' Lash... I guess, we don't really have a name for her. I'm really waiting for Bob's reaction because I can almost guarantee it's going to be "Sweet! Hot roomate!" Butcher is going to turn this on its head with Harry warning him off in some over-protective father schtick, and Bob will act disgusted about taking advantage of the helpless or some such.
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Jun 4, 2014 16:50
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Bob will actually be Completely disinterested, because she's another spirit of intellect, and not a human/physical being.
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Jun 4, 2014 18:26
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ZorajitZorajit posted:So, on the topic of Lil' Lash... I guess, we don't really have a name for her. I'm really waiting for Bob's reaction because I can almost guarantee it's going to be "Sweet! Hot roomate!" I just had this mental image of Maggie playing out a romance with dolls and the dolls are possessed by Bob and Lil' Lash. Though given the family, it would probably be more of a magical soap opera than a romance. Mouse will occasionally intervene to keep Bob from doing age-inappropriate things, and Maggie's narrative will just take it in stride.
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Jun 4, 2014 20:56
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I'm waiting for Harry's reaction to Bob asking Lil Lash out on a date. Or to "swap information.".
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Jun 4, 2014 21:45
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Here's a question that may or may not be important later: Given that we now know where baby Spirits of Intellect come from... who were Bob's parents? And will the immortal parent ever come calling?
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Jun 4, 2014 22:16
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Merlin Bobulus posted:Here's a question that may or may not be important later: Merlin and Harrys Brain Daughter. It involves time travel. Dont ask.
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Jun 4, 2014 22:41
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Bobulus posted:Here's a question that may or may not be important later: You assume that's how they're all created. We have no evidence for or against that.
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Jun 4, 2014 23:03
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Given that 'Choice' and 'Family' are the two big things in Harry's life... it seems inevitable that those themes will be explored as much as possible.
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Jun 4, 2014 23:06
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Someone needs to ask Jim Butcher "How is Bobby formed?"
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Jun 4, 2014 23:10
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Just finished my copy over two days of heavy reading. I enjoyed the ride, there were some great backdrops such as the Underworld gates and hoard, and I thought the heist plot was a nice change of pace from the standard Dresden romp all over Chicago. I was pretty disappointed by the twists and some of the plotting in this one, though. The big revelation of Harry's secret plan was telegraphed from a mile away, as was another twist that Butcher may as well have drawn a neon light towards. Dresden's double all but says Ascher's name when he tells Dresden to look back at his own dream. It was one of the more obvious twists and I spent half the book knowing that Ascher was a bad-guy. Then it was pretty easy to figure out Goodman Grey was Dresden's ace in the hole. Seems like a lot of people here weren't as impressed with Nicodemus this time around. My take is that he's been set up as the Big Bad of the whole series. He and the Denarians show up every fifth book (Death Masks, Small Favor, and now Skin Game) and I'd bet money on him showing up in #20, the book which precedes a trilogy featuring apocalyptic events. (The same is true for every third book for the Red Court, until they're finished off in Changes.) Considering Nicodemus' position at the end of Skin Game, he's been utterly routed, humiliated by Dresden for a third time, lost one of his greatest assets in Diedre for very little gain, and had his reputation utterly destroyed. Remember that this was presumably his big opportunity to get Dresden in a place where he could be hosed over, too. Nicodemus is going to come back with a real vengeance in #20 to set up the series endgame, imo). I think it's a huge blue-balls that we never get to see a real conversation between Harry and the spirit of intellect by the end of the book. We were told about this huge plot development halfway through the book but never really got to see it materialize. I would have rather seen this than any of the pre-Underworld action scenes. I'm hoping that, now that Harry is set with a wizard's keep and a new spirit of intellect, we get to see some new capabilities come out of Dresden. Going forward I hope Book 16 takes a look at what the White Court and the Fomor have been up to offscreen for the last few books. I'm also still hoping for a return of Cowl and/or Mavra so we can find out more about what they've been doing.
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Jun 5, 2014 04:14
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The Ninth Layer posted:Seems like a lot of people here weren't as impressed with Nicodemus this time around. My take is that he's been set up as the Big Bad of the whole series. He and the Denarians show up every fifth book (Death Masks, Small Favor, and now Skin Game) and I'd bet money on him showing up in #20, the book which precedes a trilogy featuring apocalyptic events. (The same is true for every third book for the Red Court, until they're finished off in Changes.) This gave me an interesting idea. Vampires every third book, faeries every fourth, denarians every fifth. Red court was knocked out of play in the 12th book, the fourth third. I wonder if faeries will get knocked out of the series (at least in a prominent role) in the 16th book, the fourth fourth, and denarians will get knocked out in the 20th, the fourth fifth.
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Jun 5, 2014 07:18
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It seems remarkably unlikely we're going to be done with Mab and Molly before the actual Apocolypse trilogy.
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Jun 5, 2014 07:52
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Taratang posted:I thought it was quite clear he was a scion. Dresden accuses him of being a Naagloshii and his response is: That makes sense, it was one of those things that bugged me a lot about this book yet another bad guy depowered I thought when I read the naglooshi reveal. And Nicodemus the supposedly invincible badguy got injured by harry lobbing some ice blocks at him or whatever it was, when in an other book shooting him with an AK or tossing him like ragdoll only gave him moments pause. This time he's injured and hurting for what hours? Also I severely disliked the winter mantle explanation by butters, if this is some attempt to make it fit some dumbass RPG as someone said, grrr...
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Jun 5, 2014 08:42
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His Divine Shadow posted:That makes sense, it was one of those things that bugged me a lot about this book yet another bad guy depowered I thought when I read the naglooshi reveal. And Nicodemus the supposedly invincible badguy got injured by harry lobbing some ice blocks at him or whatever it was, when in an other book shooting him with an AK or tossing him like ragdoll only gave him moments pause. This time he's injured and hurting for what hours? Also I severely disliked the winter mantle explanation by butters, if this is some attempt to make it fit some dumbass RPG as someone said, grrr... The naagloshi in this book is not the one Dresden fought before. It also isn't even a full-blooded Naagloshi, as Gray explains with the "we don't get to choose our parents, and don't give me any poo poo about it, I know who your mother was and she was pretty loving evil" stuff. Dresden is also playing at a much higher power level now, and I'm fairly sure smacking Nicodemus with the power of Winter itself would put a bigger hurt on him than mere bullets, especially when he's also fighting a Knight of the Mother-loving Cross at the same time and having his demon partner's powers suppressed by the sword. He was healed right up at the final confrontation, after all. And Butters is wrong about the Winter Mantle. Or at best, partly wrong. Harry only draws on it when he has to and spends the rest of the time suppressing it, so it's not going to do that much for him.
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Jun 5, 2014 12:32
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His Divine Shadow posted:That makes sense, it was one of those things that bugged me a lot about this book Also I severely disliked the winter mantle explanation by butters, if this is some attempt to make it fit some dumbass RPG as someone said, grrr... It didn't bother me. It's one character's explanation, not word from on high. I think the earlier theory is more likely, that the mantle gives over more power the more often you do what it wants. Since Harry fights it, all he gets is the effect Butters describes there.
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Jun 5, 2014 12:36
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Wade Wilson posted:The naagloshi in this book is not the one Dresden fought before. It also isn't even a full-blooded Naagloshi, as Gray explains with the "we don't get to choose our parents, and don't give me any poo poo about it, I know who your mother was and she was pretty loving evil" stuff. Also, naagloshi get more powerful by eating wizards/magic users (remember, this is why the one Harry fought followed Morgan - a powerful, yet wounded, wizard passed by and the naagloshi wanted a meal). Presumably if Grey is trying to be a nice guy he doesn't murder many people to eat their magic. Not to mention he's likely younger, and less powerful for that reason too.
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Jun 5, 2014 15:26
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Harry figures that Grey is using ectoplasm to bolster his mass when he converts into a horse - is that how Shagnasty worked? I don't recall the mechanics of him.
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Jun 5, 2014 15:34
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