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Ghost Story is pretty mediocre. Cold Days was good (for a Jim Butcher novel) but large parts of Skin Game were just embarrassingly lovely.
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Aug 4, 2015 19:44
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Mars4523 posted:As is Magic Shifts and Dark Ascension, the next Kate Daniels and Generation V novels respectively. Thanks for this reminder, I just finished the last Kate Daniels book last week. I also get one word titles mixed up, and you guys can add Kate Daniels series to the list since they're all "Magic ____s." If they aren't labeled as #_ on amazon and audible I'd never be able to keep them straight. Ghost Story is a strange book. It's a very big change of pace for Harry and I think that's reflected in the writing. Harry doesn't have nearly as much power as he does in even the earliest books so he gets to be the sidekick to Morty. I think how much you like the book hinges on how much you can stand Morty and his family of ghosts.
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Aug 4, 2015 19:58
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Megazver posted:Also His Father's Eyes, the second Justis Fearsson book. (Has anyone read the first?)
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Aug 4, 2015 20:27
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anilEhilated posted:Is that seriously the name of a character in a non-selfpublished book? Yep. He's also a ~weremyste~. He has a second urban fantasy series, the Thieftaker, set in the American Revolution times, which looks pretty cool tbh. Megazver fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 20:30
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Mars4523 posted:Ghost Story is pretty mediocre. Cold Days was good (for a Jim Butcher novel) but large parts of Skin Game were just embarrassingly lovely. Boo this man. Ghost Story was awesome because of how we get to see everyone deal with the fallout of the Red Court dying and how much of a shadow Harry cast over Chicago. Also, the setup for the spell "Be." was pretty good, as was Bob vs. Evil Bob and Mort's moment of vengeance against Corpsetaker and also Uriel's moment of anger at Dresden for calling him "Uri".
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Aug 4, 2015 20:49
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Wade Wilson posted:Ghost Story was awesome because of how we get to see everyone deal with the fallout of the Red Court dying and how much of a shadow Harry cast over Chicago. I feel like more should be made of that, because the last chapter of Changes has Harry sort of off-handedly mention that the Red Court had so thoroughly infiltrated South American society that when they all died, everything south of Mexico is in a state of collapse. Of course, that's a bit outside Harry's immediate frame of reference, and it'd be pretty messy to explore in any detail. I didn't have strong feelings about Ghost Story, but I liked Cold Days up until Harry goes into Molly's head and it's the bridge of the Starship Enterprise - some people love that but I though it was a bit much, to be honest.
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Aug 4, 2015 20:55
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Wheat Loaf posted:I feel like more should be made of that, because the last chapter of Changes has Harry sort of off-handedly mention that the Red Court had so thoroughly infiltrated South American society that when they all died, everything south of Mexico is in a state of collapse. Of course, that's a bit outside Harry's immediate frame of reference, and it'd be pretty messy to explore in any detail. That was all still Ghost Story. Cold Days is the Outsider Assault on Demonreach, where Harry leads the Wild Hunt and gets the best presents from Santa Claus. Also, Maeve dies and Molly becomes the Winter Lady. I figured the Starship Enterprise bridge was just the metaphor command center Molly threw together because of how screwed up her head was before the fight with Corpsetaker. I mean, come on, it wouldn't have been the Deathstar control bridge, then the Corpsetaker would have had an easy weak point to attack. Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 20:57
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Mars4523 posted:Ghost Story is pretty mediocre. Cold Days was good (for a Jim Butcher novel) but large parts of Skin Game were just embarrassingly lovely. It's amazing how wrong someone can be. All three were great. Ghost Story was def. a different kind of book, but one we'd been needing for a while. Cold Days was a ramp-up to this new "half" of the series, and a return to form for Harry; Skin Game was awesome. One of my favorite parts of Cold Days is Harry's training montage with Mab. Holy poo poo is that some dark slapstick. The only thing I didn't like in Skin Game was how hard Butcher side-lined Murphy. But given some of the things we've heard for the next book, I think I can accept why. Blasphemeral fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Aug 4, 2015 |
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Aug 4, 2015 21:06
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thrawn527 posted:
Why did you start them on storm front instead of summer knight? You are a mean person.
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Aug 4, 2015 21:18
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Anias posted:Why did you start them on storm front instead of summer knight? You are a mean person. Because Storm Front is the first book and a decent story? As much as people poo poo on it, it did get most of us into the series. Yeah, it's not as good as any book after it (sans Fool Moon, of course), but that doesn't make it bad. Fool Moon, however, should just have a Crib Notes version because drat is it awful. It's the only book in the series I would call "bad".
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Aug 4, 2015 21:26
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Storm Front is not a great book but it was good enough to get me stuck on the series, my mother stuck on the series, and probably most of you as well? I mean, I let them know it's not the best book, that it started as a class project, and that the others get better, but I don't think it's so bad that I should throw them into Summer Knight without reading it.
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Aug 4, 2015 21:55
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I started on Summer Knight because somebody in here said that was a good idea. It's not a good idea, it's dumb. Don't do that.
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Aug 4, 2015 22:38
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Blasphemeral posted:Because Storm Front is the first book and a decent story? As much as people poo poo on it, it did get most of us into the series. Yeah, it's not as good as any book after it (sans Fool Moon, of course), but that doesn't make it bad. Storm front is a decidedly mediocre standalone, fool moon is weird fan fiction with straight up contradictory characterization, and then summer knight happens and the series has a meta plot worth reading.
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Aug 4, 2015 23:08
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Storm Front into Grave Peril, skip Full Moon. Go back and read it if you're really really curious about the origin of the werewolf friends. Starting right at Summer Knight is awful because it skips over introducing Morgan and such, and it also skips over the whole part where Harry starts the war with the Red Council(spoiler: this war is a pretty big deal).
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Aug 4, 2015 23:27
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Is it time for the semiannual Murphy Was Completely Justified In Fool Moon rant again?
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Aug 4, 2015 23:31
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docbeard posted:Is it time for the semiannual Murphy Was Completely Justified In Fool Moon rant again? Doesn't matter, Butcher hosed up by unfolding the story that way in the first place.
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Aug 4, 2015 23:35
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Murphy was justified in Fool Moon; that doesn't mean that the book wasn't a mess in spite of that.
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Aug 4, 2015 23:36
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I gave Generation V a shot and I have to say I'm decidedly unimpressed. It isn't as 'lol, tits' as Dresden but it's really not very good. The protagonist is genuinely not very likable and far outstripped by his inevitably-going-to-be-his-love-interest kitsune friend who of course isn't the protagonist because she might be too dangerously interesting. It's the same problem I had with Rivers of London except Peter Grant is several thousand times a better character.
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Aug 4, 2015 23:41
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docbeard posted:Is it time for the semiannual Murphy Was Completely Justified In Fool Moon rant again? Not until we have the "The Dresden Files Demean Women" vs. "Harry is Intentionally Goony" argument again. Re: Skipping the first books, I think the op says it best quote:Read book 1. If you liked it without reservation, read book 2. If you had issues with book 1, skip book 2 and move straight to book 3.
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Aug 4, 2015 23:46
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Fool Moon was fine. Not great, and had some serious issues with women, but a semi enjoyable story with some good characters, like the wolf friends. It also doesn't take long to read, so I don't see any reason to skip it. It only seems so bad with the gift of hindsight for how good the rest of the books are.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:20
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ImpAtom posted:I gave Generation V a shot and I have to say I'm decidedly unimpressed. It isn't as 'lol, tits' as Dresden but it's really not very good. The protagonist is genuinely not very likable and far outstripped by his inevitably-going-to-be-his-love-interest kitsune friend who of course isn't the protagonist because she might be too dangerously interesting. It's the same problem I had with Rivers of London except Peter Grant is several thousand times a better character. Part of my problem with gen v was a protagonist that you really can't root for other than the fact he's technically the good guy. He mopes. gently caress, who wants to follow someone who mopes. The cheese in the series could be gotten past, but as you say, he shouldn't even be the protagonist. As for p. Grant, I like him because he's flawed in a believable way, and grows in a believable way.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:33
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Read through Generation V a little while back, read through Book 4 today. It's very different. Books 1 and 2 are case files, sure, but the case is really just an excuse to set up a complicated political situation for later. Book 3 sidelines the case file and makes it a low priority in favor of more politics, while Book 4 brings back every single political issue previously introduced and makes them all problematic. It's just very nice to have a story that's less Urban Fantasy and more Urban Planning Fantasy. It's a story where the literal fights get smaller and lower-stakes as the series goes on, and this makes the books more interesting, not less! I like that.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:41
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I'm re-listening to the series right now. I started on Summer Night, and skipped the porno vampire book. I kinda regretted that decision since even though the main story is dumb, pretty much all of the side stories are cool and important.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:41
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Skin Games was pretty bad. It sidelined Murphy pretty badly, it had Butters acting like a total dick and getting rewarded for it, and it introduced the character of Hannah Ascher. After Storm Front and Fool Moon I'd skip Grave Peril entirely. It's so mediocre that there's not much there to make a good first impression, and you can always go back to it later.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:46
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Mars4523 posted:After Storm Front and Fool Moon I'd skip Grave Peril entirely. It's so mediocre that there's not much there to make a good first impression, and you can always go back to it later. Ahahaha what the gently caress. If you're going to troll, you need to be more subtle about it.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:50
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Mars4523 posted:Skin Games was pretty bad. It sidelined Murphy pretty badly, it had Butters acting like a total dick and getting rewarded for it, and it introduced the character of Hannah Ascher. Butters didn't act like a dick at all though? He legitimately called Harry out on the way he was acting and what he was doing and he had absolutely no reason to not think Harry was acting the way he was. Unless you think Butters should trust Harry just because he's the protagonist. I mean the book is fairly explicit about the fact that Harry doesn't realize just how hosed up he looks from the outside. Harry doesn't even realize that Demonreach is a horrifying nightmare island to everyone who isn't him.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:51
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Einander posted:Read through Generation V a little while back, read through Book 4 today. You're right, pretty much every book up until that one was just introducing more political factions to lead up to what happened in book 4. I wonder if it'll continue on the same trend, when I started reading I was sure that he'd have to kill or at least make an enemy of Prudence to forestall disaster, but there's no way in hell she'll just wait a couple decades for it to backfire like she said, that'd take too long I wouldn't be surprised if other territories start butting in after what probably looks like quite a show of weakness.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:54
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Not trolling. ImpAtom posted:Butters didn't act like a dick at all though? He legitimately called Harry out on the way he was acting and what he was doing and he had absolutely no reason to not think Harry was acting the way he was. Unless you think Butters should trust Harry just because he's the protagonist.
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Aug 5, 2015 02:12
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Mars4523 posted:Not trolling. Yeah, there's no way a wizard who is out of control could possibly enthrall someone. Butters certainly hasn't literally seen that happen. Your argument is literally "Butters should trust Harry no matter what because Harry said so." Butters even fully explained that he trusted Harry with his life and then Harry became the Winter Knight, vanished off the face of the Earth and when he returned he took Molly away with him, and Harry didn't explain jack poo poo about that. Butters isn't pissy about not being included in the secret plan. He literally has no idea if he can trust Harry. None of this is even subtext, Butters literally explains it to Harry. He even points out that Harry is acting more Faelike and Harry has no response for it because Harry himself isn't sure how accurate Butter's claim is. ImpAtom fucked around with this message at 02:43 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 02:39
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Mars4523 posted:As is Magic Shifts and Dark Ascension, the next Kate Daniels and Generation V novels respectively. Well, RIP my free time.
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Aug 5, 2015 02:45
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Not that anyone here would wear nerd shirts in public, but:Jim Butcher posted:The Dresden Files Fan Page on Facebook has been using my material without permission and now is selling designs meant for charity. Please don't give them your business. We'll find another way to get fun fan shirts made.
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Aug 5, 2015 02:47
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Skin Game: There is nothing about the 'present-day' Murphy that would lead me to believe that she would be on the side of the angels if the side of the angels found itself opposed to Team Dresden... and Team Dresden was a pretty shady side even before he became the Winter Knight. Gave Kemmler's Word to Mavra, leased out a corner of his mind to the shadow of one of the Fallen. Gave into the Dark Side more than once. His apprentice was a loving mindbender. Then he comes back from the dead, starts one massive fight, and sits out on his Spooky Island all by himself for a year? Yeah, I'm not gonna bust Butters' balls if he doesn't have absolute faith in him.
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Aug 5, 2015 03:34
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JohnnyCanuck posted:Not that anyone here would wear nerd shirts in public, but: I've been watching this drama unfold for the last few days. It came to a head, but the signs were there for a few days now.
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Aug 5, 2015 04:07
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Anyone got any info on if this series is any good? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throne_of_Glass Worth an audible credit?
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Aug 5, 2015 05:02
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tithin posted:Anyone got any info on if this series is any good? Mars4523 fucked around with this message at 05:37 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 05:11
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ConfusedUs posted:Veiled, the next Alex Verus novel, is out now. gently caress yeah, hope it doesnt suck
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Aug 5, 2015 05:55
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Just finished the new Gen V. I thought it was overall a pretty boring book, more of a setup for the next one than anything. Big events happen, and yet at the same time, nothing really happens. Fort goes around undermining his family's authority the whole book, which could have dangerous consequences in a world where monsters are real, and then starts completely acting on his own, which would more likely than not end with his sister doing the same and just going on a massacre. The end, where he leads his coup, he's basically telling the other races that if they want to, they could rise up and go French Revolution on the Scotts, which would end badly for everyone since something worse would move in and take over the territory. Doing the right thing the wrong way can get everyone killed, and I just found the book frustrating and Fort naive as gently caress. He's a mafia vampire, and he's constantly going around trying to make everyone happy, which is just going to have people take advantage of him to the detriment of everyone. If he wants to make progressive changes, great, but that's the kind of thing that he should be doing slowly. He also needs to be willing to give a little; he's a late twenty year old with a useless degree and lovely work and world experience and isn't willing to even listen to his siblings who have tens of decades of experience on him. Also, at no point did it occur to the Scotts to compromise? "I'll let you do X your way if you let me do Y my way," kind of thing. They'd have to be able to get some things done that way. I guess I was just hoping Fort would become more of a realist as the series progressed instead of his naive idealism. He's a monster in a world of monsters, it's frustrating that he acts like the 18 year old that's never left his home town and still thinks he knows everything about the world. Not that his beliefs are bad, it's just not going to work out like he wants in a feudal monster world.
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Aug 5, 2015 06:53
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Still chugging through Half-Resurrection Blues. I haven't really had much time to sit down and read lately, so I'm mostly getting in snippets while I'm on the train into work and on the way home. Probably not the best way to read it. I'm sort of mixed on it. It's difficult to sum up how I feel, really.
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Aug 5, 2015 08:42
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OneTwentySix posted:Just finished the new Gen V. I thought it was overall a pretty boring book, more of a setup for the next one than anything. Big events happen, and yet at the same time, nothing really happens. Fort goes around undermining his family's authority the whole book, which could have dangerous consequences in a world where monsters are real, and then starts completely acting on his own, which would more likely than not end with his sister doing the same and just going on a massacre. The end, where he leads his coup, he's basically telling the other races that if they want to, they could rise up and go French Revolution on the Scotts, which would end badly for everyone since something worse would move in and take over the territory. Doing the right thing the wrong way can get everyone killed, and I just found the book frustrating and Fort naive as gently caress. He's a mafia vampire, and he's constantly going around trying to make everyone happy, which is just going to have people take advantage of him to the detriment of everyone. If he wants to make progressive changes, great, but that's the kind of thing that he should be doing slowly. He also needs to be willing to give a little; he's a late twenty year old with a useless degree and lovely work and world experience and isn't willing to even listen to his siblings who have tens of decades of experience on him. I have a feeling that just like you think a lot of it's going to backfire in his face, and the deal with the Neighbors is just the beginning of that, especially if he loses the ability to use Prudence as a threat. There's a feeling that they're definitely living on a house of cards there, though - he can't please everyone forever. He seems to have real slow character growth over the books, though, but I have a feeling reality's going to punch him in the gut soon, there's a lot of little disaster dominos being lined up. Dan's boyfriend, Keiko's husband, the Neighbors still being alive, as well as the unhappy changelings, the kobolds, the skinwalkers, plus the old friend of his adoptive family that was investigating his family that I can't remember the name of because he wasn't mentioned in this book (which makes me even more suspicious). At the same time though his siblings having centuries of experiences didn't necessarily make them much smarter to the reality of their situation due to the complete overconfidence in their families total superiority and that they could just run things as they always have without any changes. Chivalry was honestly completely uninterested in anything other than his new wife and getting Prudence and Fort to work out their differences, and Prudence is mostly irrationally, unnecessarily violent, in ways that would just make enemies when none were needed. Having all your political power rely entirely on the fact that you can beat anyone in a one on one, (or one on ten) fight seems incredibly dangerous, especially as organizing and communicating with larger groups of people is considerably easier (and considerably larger amounts of firepower is available) than when his family grew up. There's a good chance that a coup might have eventually happened anyway if Prudence had been given free reign, one that would have outed or killed the Scotts altogether, or someone or thing will invade that they can't beat in a fight by themselves. The ending was a bit abrupt, but I still found it at least interesting for what might happen because of it Wolpertinger fucked around with this message at 10:53 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 10:41
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You know, I have a lot of issues with Skin Game, but Butters isn't it. He's acting exactly as you'd expect him to after the events of Ghost Story and Cold Days. Hannah, on the other hand, should go die in a fire.
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Aug 5, 2015 11:24
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