|
BatteredFeltFedora posted:It's a major cop-out but I always picture Marcone as Andy Garcia straight out of Ocean's Eleven. Middle-aged Malcom Mcdowell with a Chicago accent for me. But yeah, I guess he's actually Italian from the name...
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2014 16:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 10:33 |
|
|
I'm reading Grave Peril again, and I really didn't remember Michael being so drat preachy.
A. Beaverhausen fucked around with this message at 11:15 on Dec 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 03:26
|
|
|
A. Beaverhausen posted:I'm reading Grave Peril again, and I really didn't remember Michael being so drat preachy. He's a paladin. That's what they do.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 03:32
|
|
|
Poopy Palpy posted:He's a paladin. That's what they do. Michael is probably the best depiction of a Paladin I've ever seen, at least
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 05:20
|
|
|
Poopy Palpy posted:He's a paladin. That's what they do. That and smiting the forces of evil in the Lord's grace.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 05:38
|
|
|
Early Michael is a lot more preachy and actively tries to "save" Harry in more ways than one. Later Michael both trusts Harry and realizes the futility of that approach. Instead, he focuses on being the living example of God's grace, forgiveness, and power on earth. He hopes that Harry (and others, it's not all about Harry) will see that example, learn from it, and see the light. And, of course, he gets to be loving awesome while doing it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2014 06:15
|
|
|
Rygar201 posted:Michael is probably the best depiction of a Paladin I've ever seen, at least Deed of Paksenarrion is pretty awesome for that. Michael is a bit more preachy than I'd like, especially since at least from Harry's perspective Michael mostly gets things pretty easy. With the exception of the occasional call to action Michael seems to have a literally charmed life. Which makes it pretty easy for him to talk about how awesome it is to be righteous.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 01:29
|
|
|
Early Preachy Michael is why we have "Holy poo poo. Heckhounds." so I can't really be to mad at him.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 01:50
|
|
|
Velius posted:Deed of Paksenarrion is pretty awesome for that. Michael is a bit more preachy than I'd like, especially since at least from Harry's perspective Michael mostly gets things pretty easy. With the exception of the occasional call to action Michael seems to have a literally charmed life. Which makes it pretty easy for him to talk about how awesome it is to be righteous. Michael gets things 'easy' in that he's constantly called upon to see the worst that humanity has to offer and, by necessity, must try to redeem it. I would say that he has it a lot harder than Harry does, he just doesn't make it obvious.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 01:53
|
|
|
I started listening to Furies of Calderon today, and umm I don't think it's that good. Does it get better? I know it's kind of a subjective thing to ask.
|
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 02:01
|
|
|
Velius posted:Deed of Paksenarrion is pretty awesome for that. Michael is a bit more preachy than I'd like, especially since at least from Harry's perspective Michael mostly gets things pretty easy. With the exception of the occasional call to action Michael seems to have a literally charmed life. Which makes it pretty easy for him to talk about how awesome it is to be righteous. Honestly, I've never really thought of Michael as being preachy, except for maybe his appearance in Grave Peril, and I tend to ignore most of the characterizations and setting details from the first three books or so. Butcher hadn't really hammered all the details, so there's some inconsistencies with those books and the rest of the series. And really, I don't think Michael's life has been that easy. Wife and unborn son are nearly murdered by an insane ghost, oldest child gets kidnapped by fairies and eventually becomes a fairy herself, another of his kids is kidnapped by a former priest, wrapped in detcord, and is nearly blown up just because Harry has two Swords. There's also the whole being riddled with bullets and left crippled thing. Plus whatever he gets up to in his duties as a Knight - it's implied that it's a bit more involved than an occasional call to action.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 02:05
|
|
|
MildShow posted:And really, I don't think Michael's life has been that easy. Wife and unborn son are nearly murdered by an insane ghost, oldest child gets kidnapped by fairies and eventually becomes a fairy herself, another of his kids is kidnapped by a former priest, wrapped in detcord, and is nearly blown up just because Harry has two Swords. There's also the whole being riddled with bullets and left crippled thing. Plus whatever he gets up to in his duties as a Knight - it's implied that it's a bit more involved than an occasional call to action. We also know literally nothing about Michael's past before he became a Knight. Like it's probably reasonable to assume that he didn't have anything like Harry's orphan/supervillain uncle combo, but it's not like superheroes traditionally come from anything but tragedy. (The Dresden Files is totally a superhero series so there.)
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 02:10
|
|
|
LoG posted:I started listening to Furies of Calderon today, and umm I don't think it's that good. Does it get better? I know it's kind of a subjective thing to ask. What bothers you about it? The writing gets better, the characters (mostly) develop well, and, frankly, the third book in the series as an ending that rivals zombie T-Rex in terms of fist-pumping gently caress yeah! The third book, overall, is really good. But if you find the overall tropes of the series (orphaned boy with hidden potential/mysterious past, noble savages, the Zerg (complete with eventual Queen of Blades figure), and more) annoying, no, it doesn't get better. My thoughts is that the Alera books peak in the middle, with the latter two being better than the first two. Book three is loving awesome from start to finish. Book 2 has an abysmal first act. Overall, it's more Butcher being Butcher: Decent first book, second book that does all the wrong things from the first, then suddenly the series snaps together and turns into something pretty good! Do check out the second or third post of this thread for the bet that lead to this series's conception, even if you don't read the rest of the books.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 03:11
|
|
|
Yeah, I'd heard about the bet and think it's awesome. Not really sure but it hasn't "grabbed" me like Dresden did, and I loved the first Dresden book faults and all. I'll definitely stick it out. Thanks for the input.
|
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 03:27
|
|
|
LoG posted:I started listening to Furies of Calderon today, and umm I don't think it's that good. Does it get better? I know it's kind of a subjective thing to ask. I found the first book of the series to be the weakest of them all, but was intrigued enough by the world and magic system to stick with it. And I'm glad I did. The military fiction bits of the middle books are far and away the best parts, but the whole series is very much worth your time.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 03:36
|
|
|
LoG posted:Yeah, I'd heard about the bet and think it's awesome. It's not great imo. It's okay, but nothing special. There's much much worse out there. It's a 40-degree day.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 03:37
|
|
|
Looking back, I'm disappointed that Butcher seemingly forgot about (or decided to get rid of) the ambiguity about whether or not Elaine really was enthralled by Justin. I think in Summer Knight, and again in Blood Rites (I think? It was during a discussion of thralls) Bob expresses extreme skepticism about whether Elaine was under DuMorne's spell. It would have been more interesting if there was the possibility that she had joined him willingly (or maybe just been coerced in a fully non-magical way, through threats from a father figure). Instead, when she returns in White Night, Butcher has clearly decided that she was definitely enthralled 100% no doubt about it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 03:45
|
|
|
LoG posted:I started listening to Furies of Calderon today, and umm I don't think it's that good. Does it get better? I know it's kind of a subjective thing to ask. It's readable and has some high points, but overall the Codex Alera series isn't nearly as strong as the Dresden Files. If you enjoy fantasy then I recommend finishing the first book at least and if the ideas and plot hooks intrigue you then go ahead and try the rest.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 12:17
|
|
|
I liked the whole thing. Not nearly as much as Dresden and not enough to be reading it again any time soon, but it was ok and pretty fun. I would say that if you didn't like the first one, it's not worth continuing because it doesn't really change that much (I mean, the story develops and new stuff happens, but the writing and style stays pretty much the same).
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 12:50
|
|
|
LoG posted:I started listening to Furies of Calderon today, and umm I don't think it's that good. Does it get better? I know it's kind of a subjective thing to ask. I thought the series was decent, but I didn't really like the narrator (a woman, can't remember her name) so I bought the paperbacks instead.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 16:00
|
|
|
ConfusedUs posted:What bothers you about it? drat it now I'm trying to talk myself into giving it a second chance, at least until book 3. I found the first book to be extremely lackluster. I found the tropes tired and predictale. I think I enjoyed the climax or maybe only in comparison to the rest of the book.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 19:52
|
|
|
Alera is good, except there are characters I absolutely hate - their chapters go NOWHERE.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 22:18
|
|
|
Finished Foxglove Summer. Enjoyed it more than the previous one but it ends incredibly abruptly - it almost feels like there should be another chapter or two, or an epilogue or something. It's definitely a filler book though in the respect that the plot really hasn't moved very far. A few hints and a bit of info / background. I like that Peter was mostly operating and investigating on his own and was mostly out of Nightingales shadow. I'm curious about Peters midnight d'alliance with Beverly Brook. Really seems like something that he'll come to either regret or come back to bite him in the arse in the future. I expect that there'll be a new child goddess of the rivers in the near future. Curious as to what happened after the ending and irritated by the ending. It's not bad / 10
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 22:41
|
|
|
tithin posted:Peters midnight d'alliance with Beverly Brook. Really seems like something that he'll come to either regret or come back to bite him in the arse in the future. I expect that there'll be a new child goddess of the rivers in the near future. Beverly came out and said that was a reason for it, she even said that she thought it would be a male river.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2014 23:49
|
|
|
immoral_ posted:Beverly came out and said that was a reason for it, she even said that she thought it would be a male river. River, or god river? I remember that conversation but couldn't figure out if she was being metaphorical with assigning the gender or literal.
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2014 08:06
|
|
|
Well, it was already a river, so I pretty much just assumed she was referring to it getting a persona.
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2014 13:35
|
|
|
tithin posted:
Oooh, I have a pet theory there. Notice a few things: 1) When she gave him the scrumpy, they didn't do the "without obligation" dance; 2) at no point do they mention using protection 3) If Beverly ends up mundanely pregnant between now and the next book, the kid would pop out either in the last or second to last book, given the "year left" timeline and the average 3 month clock for each book.
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2014 14:59
|
|
|
tithin posted:Finished Foxglove Summer. The Waterstones special edition has a short story set right after the last chapter. About driving home to london with the elf child
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2014 01:20
|
|
|
cultureulterior posted:The Waterstones special edition has a short story set right after the last chapter. About driving home to london with the elf child aaarg, this is infinitely annoying. There's absolutely no way to get that in America, right? edit: to be clear I've already purchased the special edition with the green border from Anderida Books. It doesn't have the short story. This google image search does have the first page of it! https://www.google.com/search?q=%22...ml%3B1000%3B750 Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 12:28 on Dec 12, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2014 01:24
|
|
|
Ugggh, I really want to like the Peter Grant books but Foxglove Summer really didn't help. The world in the books feels so... small and disjointed. There's all this poo poo going on that nobody has any clue about for decades until suddenly it all pops up. There's no sense of a greater whole or that they're part of a bigger world, every book just sort of jams a new supernatural community/cult in. I don't know, the series just feels jarring.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2014 01:49
|
|
|
Slanderer posted:Looking back, I'm disappointed that Butcher seemingly forgot about (or decided to get rid of) the ambiguity about whether or not Elaine really was enthralled by Justin. I think in Summer Knight, and again in Blood Rites (I think? It was during a discussion of thralls) Bob expresses extreme skepticism about whether Elaine was under DuMorne's spell. It would have been more interesting if there was the possibility that she had joined him willingly (or maybe just been coerced in a fully non-magical way, through threats from a father figure). Instead, when she returns in White Night, Butcher has clearly decided that she was definitely enthralled 100% no doubt about it. I came late to the series and thus power read straight through Cold Days. I had the same confusion once Elaine re-entered the story. I actually did not trust the character at first and was waiting for the proverbial "shoe to drop" moment to occur.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2014 04:49
|
|
|
1554 posted:I came late to the series and thus power read straight through Cold Days. I had the same confusion once Elaine re-entered the story. I actually did not trust the character at first and was waiting for the proverbial "shoe to drop" moment to occur. Remember that the series is told from Harry's PoV. It's easily possible that he's convinced himself that she was enthralled, without a doubt, and thus no longer suspects her. The shoe could still drop.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2014 04:59
|
|
|
cultureulterior posted:The Waterstones special edition has a short story set right after the last chapter. There's a Waterstones special edition? I loving bought it from Waterstones at their special event even, and all of the copies were "normal" (I went through the pile, checking). Bastards.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2014 12:24
|
|
|
Out of anything the future Dresden Files have to offer, I'm probably looking forward to the fate of Marcone the most.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2014 13:31
|
|
|
cultureulterior posted:The Waterstones special edition has a short story set right after the last chapter. About driving home to london with the elf child That really pisses me off. I don't mind when waterstones do that, have their own special edition or whatever, if it's a nice cover, or a bigger author bio, or a bonus short story that's related but not essential - but putting in what amounts (from the description) to the actual ending of the book is just bad form.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2014 01:24
|
|
|
The first volume of the Dresden Files comic is currently free on https://www.humblebundle.com/books if anyone is interested.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2014 03:32
|
|
|
thespaceinvader posted:That really pisses me off. I don't mind when waterstones do that, have their own special edition or whatever, if it's a nice cover, or a bigger author bio, or a bonus short story that's related but not essential - but putting in what amounts (from the description) to the actual ending of the book is just bad form. The book starts when he leaves London and ends when he decides to go back, so it's a natural frame and stopping point. But I'm still annoyed that even ordering *a* special edition from England isn't enough to get the story because i didn't think to order the *right* special edition. Aarg.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2014 07:32
|
|
|
Yeah, I got the Audiobook from Audible. How the gently caress am I meant to get that story short of piracy? :\
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2014 07:38
|
|
|
cultureulterior posted:The Waterstones special edition has a short story set right after the last chapter. About driving home to london with the elf child I haven't read the story, but isn't he going back with the human Nicole who was abducted way back when? In the book, the mother wanted to exchange the human child for the elf she raised.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2014 11:32
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 10:33 |
|
|
According to Aaronvitch's blog it looks like they'll be compiling and releasing all short stories as soon as they have enough for an anthology. So expect it in three years or more. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2014 14:07
|
|
