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 lara raith is a weeb im dyin
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Jul 14, 2020 12:34
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Expecting the opening line of Battle Ground to be the city was on fire and it wasn't my fault
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Jul 14, 2020 13:16
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Book was pretty good! There was some good action, some good character stuff, overall enjoyable. Biggest flaw, again, is that it feels short, but i think editing it down reduced the weight of Butcherisms a bit. Hardly anything is feline or serpentine at all!
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Jul 14, 2020 13:51
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Yeah, this is half a book. Seems to be setting up another long-term arc, akin to Grave Peril. And this is where I need to leave this thread and try not to read the above spoilers until I actually get the book sometime today.
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Jul 14, 2020 13:56
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Ramadu posted:
Of course she is. So I've read the preview chapters and have little intention of picking up the book, but I'm pretty sure what Lara did during Changes to assist everybody at Chichen Itza was probably when she bargained with Mab/the Leanansidhe for at least one of the favors and if that wasn't it then it was probably something really lame/dumb in comparison. The fact that Harry seems to have forgotten all of that in the preview chapters is pretty dumb.
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Jul 14, 2020 14:30
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Finished it. Yea that was really good, if a bit short. Did feel very much like an interlude before the main event which looks like it will be truly epic in every sense of the world. I’m hype for September.
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Jul 14, 2020 14:41
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Also, Mab never owed Dresden any favors, that was the loving Summer Court. Eldest Gruff is Summer, not Winter. The favors between Mab and Dresden were favors Dresden owed Mab. Christ it's like nobody pays any attention any more.
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Jul 14, 2020 14:46
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 same im from buenos aieres and i say kill em all
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Jul 14, 2020 14:56
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Also, Mab never owed Dresden any favors, that was the loving Summer Court. Eldest Gruff is Summer, not Winter. The favors between Mab and Dresden were favors Dresden owed Mab. Christ it's like nobody pays any attention any more. Harry never says he was owed a favor from Mab, he is just referencing the scale required to earn a single favor from Summer was to infiltrate and release Summer Fire against the heart of Winter at Arctis Tor. To extrapolate that to what would be required to earn three favors is the point he is getting at. However, Mab's words in that quote have a double meaning. Harry struck a blow against Winter, that's the kind of thing that has to be repaid as well.
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Jul 14, 2020 15:05
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Mab pretty much confirmed to have been Morgana le fay, right?
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Jul 14, 2020 15:19
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Avalerion posted:Mab pretty much confirmed to have been Morgana le fay, right? That or Nimue
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Jul 14, 2020 15:34
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Avalerion posted:Mab pretty much confirmed to have been Morgana le fay, right? That would be kind of weird given Dresden's Mom was named "Margaret LeFey" and invoked that reference earlier in the series already.
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Jul 14, 2020 15:38
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Also the athame that infected Lea was called hers wasn’t it... dunno what if any significance that might have.biracial bear for uncut posted:That would be kind of weird given Dresden's Mom was named "Margaret LeFey" and invoked that reference earlier in the series already. That was explicitly a nickname not her real name.
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Jul 14, 2020 15:53
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It was explicitly a Name in the context of the series. EDIT: Let's see if I can predict things based on how the last couple books have gone. Harry is going to summon Molly the way he usually summoned Toot Toot (because what's power creep without escalation?), except with something other than pizza. Outsiders are going to show up at some point but not really be a big deal to banish or whatever. Harry's going to have inappropriate male gaze about one of the even younger Carpenter kids. Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Jul 14, 2020 |
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Jul 14, 2020 15:56
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The first party ended incredibly abruptly, which is a shame because I liked those scenes more than anything else.
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Jul 14, 2020 17:42
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biracial bear for uncut posted:It was explicitly a Name in the context of the series. I dunno if you actually read the book already but if not that's 3 out of 3 I guess. Congrats
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Jul 14, 2020 18:12
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I do like how it seems Harry finally learned how to be be diplomatic and not let his mouth run like an rear end. Was surprised how the plan in this one... or at least the prison break part of it more or less went off without a hitch, too. Prediction for the next book and the new villains plan Anyone else think the attack chicago thing is just a distraction and whatshername's actuall plan is to stage a prison break on demonsreach - where the other titans might be locked up? Either way I do wonder how much this will shake up the setting going forward.
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Jul 14, 2020 18:18
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Some issues/questions that will probably be resolved in Battle Ground (or later) plus some Baseless Speculation ™ peace talk spoilers, obviously McCoy and Ramirez have conflicting stories about Dresden's role in the peace talks. Ramirez says McCoy sent him to tell Dresden about everything, but in like the next chapter McCoy doesn't know Dresden is on the security detail? Dresden doesn't know about Ramirez and Molly. Ramirez's general behavior makes me think he's working against Dresden now. More than eve the "trust but verify" scene with the sex detecting magic would suggest (which, really?) Who raised the idea of kicking Dresden out of the Council (again)? McCoy and Ramirez both mention it, but never say who started it. Langtry, Cristos, and the Black Council generally are mentioned, but who knows? Why did Thomas try to kill Etri? Is that really what happened? Dresden never even examines Austri, we don't get any details other than what the svartalves tell Dresden and Lara. Was Thomas actually trying to say "Justine" through his broken teeth? That's a perfectly reasonable thing to believe, which is why I'm sure it isn't true, and will come back to bite everyone in the rear end in a book or two. Who summoned the corner hounds? Random cultists? Cowl? Why did they pick the moment after Dresden had spoken to Justine and was squaring off with McCoy instead of literally any other time? We learn enough about the starborn thing to not really learn much about the starborn thing. Will someone just tell Dresden about the starborn poo poo already? is Justine herself or has she been replaced or mind controlled by nemesis or something? Conjuritis is loving stupid, it feels like an intrusion from a different book series. that's not a question, I just hate it. Who sent Rudy and New Generic Cop Guy after Murphy and Dresden? Is Rudy actually wrapped up in anything or is New Generic Cop Guy the double secret reverse mole? How is the Genoskwa still alive and how did he get out of Hades? more poo poo as i think of it
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Jul 14, 2020 18:45
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AppropriateUser posted:Some issues/questions that will probably be resolved in Battle Ground (or later) plus some Baseless Speculation ™ Good grief all of those spoilers sound like terrible writing (or at least terribly frenetic/poorly covered plot beats). Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Jul 14, 2020 |
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Jul 14, 2020 18:53
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I feel very comfortable saying I still do not give a drat about the Fomor and they're utterly lifeless antagonists.
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Jul 14, 2020 19:12
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Good grief all of those spoilers sound like terrible writing (or at least terribly frenetic/poorly covered plot beats). lol, you're trying too hard.
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Jul 14, 2020 19:34
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AppropriateUser posted:Some issues/questions that will probably be resolved in Battle Ground (or later) plus some Baseless Speculation ™ As far as this goes, Ramirez tells Dresden that he was allowed to pick his own team. I could see him not telling anybody that he was going to choose Dresden to avoid any push back until it was too late to change anything. Not that anybody says anything specifically to that affect so far (I only just read the first couple chapters last night), but it makes sense to me.
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Jul 14, 2020 20:11
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pretty fun read though butters having a threesome with werewolves was strange, also the creepin on hope and ivy was very butcher and i'm excited to read the angry rants for months about them till the next half of a book
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Jul 14, 2020 23:10
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Yeah it doesn't take much to just not write about Ivy's hips. Don't know why he keeps doing it. Overall, I enjoyed it. It definitely felt like the lead-in to another book and not so much something that will stand on its own but that's why we're getting Battle Ground in September. I can see how, if he were to have left the entire thing combined, an 800+ page book might not have flown with his publisher. I liked that we got to see more uses of other magic in this one. Showing the difference in power level between Dresden and McCoy was great. And relying on trickery when you can't just outright beat someone is another good concept they used. I'm interested to see where they go with this new big bad. They've obviously had Odin and Angels/Demons in the other books but this is the first time he's really touching on Greek and Roman deities so I'm curious to see who else gets brought in. I also just read the first 10 Percy Jackson books right before reading this so that's been top of mind.
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Jul 14, 2020 23:21
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AppropriateUser posted:Some issues/questions that will probably be resolved in Battle Ground (or later) plus some Baseless Speculation ™ I agree with the folks who thought this felt like half a book, but I also like needing to take a break to figure out what is going on. To that end; the above are all good points, especially the bit about the Conjuritis. Derp. . I don't have answers to any of those, but I'd certainly also second the point around Thomas not saying "Justine." I wonder if her aura could have been different when Dresden visited not because she was pregnant, but because she'd been replaced. . Some further thoughts from me: Where is Lea? Virtually every significant supernatural player has been rounded up for the talks. This puts them all in one place to oppose the Fomor, which they'd have no chance of individually. Mab clearly arranged this, so where is her number two? It has been explicitly stated that Lea is more powerful than the Winter Lady, so what does Mab have her doing? Mab went to the trouble of curing her because she explicitly also required her strength in the coming battle. Well, battles' her now. So where is Lea? Gut feeling that this will be important. Also, understanding this book massively requires that you've read all of the short stories, much, much more so than any previous book. Given that, I feel like Thomas' attack on the Svartelves will also be some kind of set up against the Fomor in revenge for their attempt to blow up the Svartelf embassy. I can't reason out how that works yet, but I feel like Harry was manipulated into taking Thomas to Demonreach. The extraction was just too easy, and where Harry would take him was too obvious. Someone wanted him to go to Demonreach, presumably so that he'd come to the conclusion that he did. Why did that want that is the real question: Maybe it was so that he'd bring the weapons and the chance to bind the Last titan. Alternatively, it could be an attempt to draw him away from the island and put the weapons at risk at a crucial moment, and if so, then I wonder if Alfred is complicit - the Butters short story makes very clear that "you are what you eat." and Alfred has been consuming evil for thousands of years. Also, will Michael find out about Molly at a crucial moment, which causes him to withold help, or strike out against Mab? Seems likely. Finally, Harry mentions that there is one being in the prison who is given a more lenient sentence than the rest. I assume that this foreshadows needing to let him out for help. Who will it be? My guess would be Merlin.
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Jul 14, 2020 23:29
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gerg_861 posted:I agree with the folks who thought this felt like half a book, but I also like needing to take a break to figure out what is going on. To that end; the above are all good points, especially the bit about the Conjuritis. Derp. . I don't have answers to any of those, but I'd certainly also second the point around Thomas not saying "Justine." I wonder if her aura could have been different when Dresden visited not because she was pregnant, but because she'd been replaced. . Some further thoughts from me: I think Mab answers the Lea issue when she said that the gates are being attacked more heavily right now. I would assume Lea is there fighting.
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Jul 14, 2020 23:32
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gerg_861 posted:I agree with the folks who thought this felt like half a book, but I also like needing to take a break to figure out what is going on. To that end; the above are all good points, especially the bit about the Conjuritis. Derp. . I don't have answers to any of those, but I'd certainly also second the point around Thomas not saying "Justine." I wonder if her aura could have been different when Dresden visited not because she was pregnant, but because she'd been replaced. . Some further thoughts from me: This is exactly a 0 percent chance that Thomas does not interact in some way with the other prisoner in stasis. Here's the exact quote: “Contemplation,” I responded quietly. “He is to be shielded from any communication with other prisoners not enduring the same protocol. Give me the crystal.” I'd call it foreshadowing but you get hit over the head with it so maybe it's too obvious to be true.
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Jul 14, 2020 23:42
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It was nice to have some new Dresden finally but definitely itching for September. The big thing that's bothering me now is why did Harry choose THAT moment to tell McCoy about Thomas? McCoy spent literally every single interaction he had with Harry the entire novel bitching about vampires, and Harry seemed completely set on not revealing his relationship to Thomas, but he can tell him after McCoy thinks he's killed Harry? What changed that made it okay for him to know now? I also find it hard to believe that after a year, Harry and Karrin's sex life has not evolved past him being afraid of hurting her and her convincing him that *gasp* a woman wants the sex! I don't know why I would expect any better from Butcher, but there are any number of ways to make that dynamic more interesting. Otherwise, really liked the svartalves and Harry's really ridiculous new car and wish we'd gotten more of Harry's two daughters, especially the freakin mini-Bob birthed from his skull. That thing was so central to the last book its weird to have it just glossed over. Avalerion posted:Prediction for the next book and the new villains plan Anyone else think the attack chicago thing is just a distraction and whatshername's actuall plan is to stage a prison break on demonsreach - where the other titans might be locked up? Either way I do wonder how much this will shake up the setting going forward. This is absolutely going to happen. Don't forget that the remaining artifacts are on Demonsreach as well, so they can be captured by the enemy for some more escalation
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Jul 14, 2020 23:45
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I'm 100% sure that Justine will be the unexpected knife in the back. There's something seriously wrong there. I'm pretty certain she's not in danger, she is the danger.
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Jul 15, 2020 00:56
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Masonity posted:I'm 100% sure that Justine will be the unexpected knife in the back. There's something seriously wrong there. I'm pretty certain she's not in danger, she is the danger. Yeah given that Thomas explicitly states they were "careful" and white vampires are "all but infertile", she probably has some kind of tentacle baby from Outside or something
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Jul 15, 2020 01:07
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Proteus Jones posted:lol, you're trying too hard. Pulling a random Big Bad out of nowhere when you already have the Fomor and Outsiders is pretty lovely writing and sounds like Dresden Files is going to rapidly hit the same plot beats as post-magic-death-laser Alera. Someone on another forum said the big bad made Ferrovax a chump and jobbed Mab like she was nothing, and given what we've seen about him in the series and "Word of Jim" stuff that means there is no way anybody else is going to do anything short of some lame poo poo like provoking it to attack Micheal Carpenter's house and having the Archangels throw down
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Jul 15, 2020 01:10
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Yeah Harry being overprotective of women is going to come back to bite him in the rear end hard there. I feel like it’s definitely Justine. Also, really annoyed at how obstinate he was with Ebeneezer and their whole vampire argument. “I’m doing what I think is right but i won’t tell you why or even try to talk around it, just accept that” over and over again until finally he does when it’s too late. Harry’s dumb and the only reason he hasn’t actually gotten killed yet is because he’s essentially a gnat in the eyes of the actual players.
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Jul 15, 2020 01:11
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Of course she is. We get it, you don't like the series. The thing is that ImpAtom got it spot on - Dresden Files is basically a superhero comic done in prose. It's Wizard Spider Man. If there's a lot of "male gaze" stuff, part of that is because figure most of the people that gaze at superhero comics are males. See this? https://www.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/2280x1280_hero/public/wire/legacy/PowerGirlLead.jpg That's Power Girl, a semi-mainline DC super heroine. And yeah, on a planet with any kind of normal physics, her breasts would absolutely be popping out to say "Hi." to everyone. Dresden's world has the same kind of "physics" to it, because, again, it's still basically a superhero comic. Maybe a gritty superhero comic, but still a superhero comic. And if you were expected/hoping/demanding that it was going to be any different from other superhero comics like the one featuring Power Boobs up there, you were destined for disappointment.
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Jul 15, 2020 02:01
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Actually, nevermind. Doesn't contribute to the discussion so edited out.
Ornamented Death fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Jul 15, 2020 |
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Jul 15, 2020 02:09
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Since conjuritis is a disease that mostly affects children, I think the implication is that he caught it from a certain child he's been spending time with. Still out of nowhere though.
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Jul 15, 2020 02:11
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UntitledGuy posted:Since conjuritis is a disease that mostly affects children, I think the implication is that he caught it from a certain child he's been spending time with. I mean, its a pen and paper rpg affliction for conjurers/wizards so its not out of nowhere, it's just lame.
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Jul 15, 2020 02:49
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Good grief all of those spoilers sound like terrible writing (or at least terribly frenetic/poorly covered plot beats). As usual most of the problems are artificially created by people not talking to each other. Dresden being the main culprit
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Jul 15, 2020 03:12
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The Empire Strikes Back
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Jul 15, 2020 04:56
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It was a pretty good half a story. I feel like moving forward the series would really benefit from killing off a lot of its side characters. So many cameos.
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Jul 15, 2020 05:11
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It did feel short, but we're getting another one in a few months and it seems that one will jump into action pretty quickly.
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Jul 15, 2020 05:28
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