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docbeard posted:My vague memories suggest that his books were operating on the "CW teen drama" level of sex/romance stuff, yeah. If anything, they're a bit tamer than even that. It's for damned sure that nobody gets maimed because they didn't know they could negotiate their own rapes.
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Jul 29, 2020 01:36
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I just finished reading Chris Underwood's Lost Falls books featuring Ozzy Turner, a In Craig Schaefer news he's started a serial Novella, Hungry Ghosts, set in the Ghosts of Gotham universe that he is offering via Patreon as an experiment in serial writing. You can get basic access for $2 a month and he, oddly, publishes the chapters fairly quickly. He has a link posted at http://www.craigschaeferbooks.com/ if anyone is interested.
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Jul 29, 2020 02:12
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I'm two books into Jacqueline Carey's Agent of Hel trilogy and I'm enjoying them a lot. Structurally they're standard urban fantasy murder (#1)/graverobbing (#2) mysteries, but they're well done and it's really refreshing to read UF where there's no masquerade -- everyone knows that vampires/werewolves/ghouls/river spirits/sprites/fairies/etc exist, and in fact the protagonist's hometown is a major tourist destination due to the amount of supernatural poo poo that goes down there (because the tourism board plays up the "cool/spooky stuff" angle and downplays all the very significant risks).
ToxicFrog fucked around with this message at 19:32 on Jul 29, 2020 |
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Jul 29, 2020 19:29
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Ninurta posted:I just finished reading Chris Underwood's Lost Falls books featuring Ozzy Turner, a I liked those books, thanks for the heads up about the prequel.
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Jul 30, 2020 03:34
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Thanks StrixNebulosa for the Anne Bishop rec, I heard about it in this thread and have the first one a go. I liked it! Better than decent writing, I like the power dynamic between people and Others, the main character was not an overpowered jackass or completely useless. Reading book 2 now
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Jul 30, 2020 03:38
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Sloth Life posted:Thanks StrixNebulosa for the Anne Bishop rec, I heard about it in this thread and have the first one a go. I liked it! Better than decent writing, I like the power dynamic between people and Others, the main character was not an overpowered jackass or completely useless. Reading book 2 now Hey awesome! I remember liking the main series enough to blast through it but the last books were weaker. Do NOT read any of the spin-offs Lake Silence was garbage. Basically read until you stop having fun, and enjoy the ride!! e: Found my overall series impression post, if you want. I can sum it up as problematic but interesting and fun https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3636466&pagenumber=295&perpage=40#post500852379 there, fixed link. StrixNebulosa fucked around with this message at 05:07 on Jul 30, 2020 |
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Jul 30, 2020 03:53
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Anne Bishop's other works vary from "dark and traumatic" to "lovecraftian fluffy" depending on which particularly book you read, so don't make assumptions that you're going to get the same experience if you dive out into her wider work. In particular The Black Jewels stuff is not a pretty world.
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Jul 30, 2020 03:59
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Anias posted:Anne Bishop's other works vary from "dark and traumatic" to "lovecraftian fluffy" depending on which particularly book you read, so don't make assumptions that you're going to get the same experience if you dive out into her wider work. In particular The Black Jewels stuff is not a pretty world. Black Jewels 1 features lots of graphic rape and ends in child sex so do not read that one. Please don't let my suffering be in vain.
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Jul 30, 2020 04:13
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There should be a trope name for trauma survivor gains ultimate power and takes revenge on her abusers but even trying to search for what that might be in relation to the black jewels plot probably lands you on a watchlist.
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Jul 30, 2020 04:19
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I will avoid anything else written by Anne Bishop like the plague then. Holeeee shiiit.
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Jul 30, 2020 06:08
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StrixNebulosa posted:Anyways more on topic: what are the best UF books featuring fae? Rosemary and Rue series, War for the Oaks, War of the Flowers... what else? SERRAted Edge, maybe? Speaking of Lackey. Have you read her Diana Tregarde books? They came out four or five years before Anita Blake and I think they may be the earliest examples of the modern Urban Fantasy genre.
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Jul 30, 2020 11:51
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Sloth Life posted:I will avoid anything else written by Anne Bishop like the plague then. Funnily enough those specific Anne Bishop and LKH were really the first adult ‘romance’ series I got into as a tween. Now that I think I about it, it explains a lot. DreamingofRoses fucked around with this message at 12:18 on Jul 30, 2020 |
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Jul 30, 2020 12:14
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DreamingofRoses posted:Ooooh, which one did you get into ? I've read Written in Red but the posts above about black jewels series ... Click that spoiler link and cringe
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Jul 30, 2020 12:17
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StrixNebulosa posted:Black Jewels 1 features lots of graphic rape and ends in child sex so do not read that one. Please don't let my suffering be in vain. I will not read. That's horrifying
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Jul 30, 2020 12:18
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Sloth Life posted:I've read Written in Red but the posts above about black jewels series ... Click that spoiler link and cringe Yeah, I edited my original post because I caught up on the conversation.
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Jul 30, 2020 12:19
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Drakhoran posted:Speaking of Lackey. Have you read her Diana Tregarde books? They came out four or five years before Anita Blake and I think they may be the earliest examples of the modern Urban Fantasy genre. A series that ended, interestingly, half because they didn't sell and half because Mercedes Lackey got besieged by neo-pagan nutjobs, a mix of Wiccans furious that she was misrepresenting them, and Wiccans convinced that Guardians were real and also maybe she was a Guardian or they were a Guardian or or or She ended up writing a super-angry essay to the effect of "I write fantasy, the books aren't real, you people are loving lunatics, leave me alone."
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Jul 30, 2020 13:43
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I haven't read Lackey! Well, I read her Black Gryphon trilogy, which for a long time was my favorite book series ever (I was a teenager). Pure fantasy, great gryphons, and I loved rooting for those characters so much.StonecutterJoe posted:A series that ended, interestingly, half because they didn't sell and half because Mercedes Lackey got besieged by neo-pagan nutjobs, a mix of Wiccans furious that she was misrepresenting them, and Wiccans convinced that Guardians were real and also maybe she was a Guardian or they were a Guardian or or or I have got to find this essay, whoa. Fans continue to be awful/the best.
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Jul 30, 2020 14:07
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StrixNebulosa posted:I haven't read Lackey! Well, I read her Black Gryphon trilogy, which for a long time was my favorite book series ever (I was a teenager). Pure fantasy, great gryphons, and I loved rooting for those characters so much. https://www.cs.csustan.edu/~mthomas/abml/laststraw.html
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Jul 30, 2020 16:23
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StrixNebulosa posted:I haven't read Lackey! Well, I read her Black Gryphon trilogy, which for a long time was my favorite book series ever (I was a teenager). Pure fantasy, great gryphons, and I loved rooting for those characters so much. I like her stuff pretty. I remember that I liked her Diana Tregarde quite a bit. It had a vampire in it, too. But that vamp was a pretty decent person who preferred to date full grown women like Diana instead of high school students. Lackey is also the co-writer of the Heirs of Alexandria series along with Dave Flint and Dave Freer. It's a decent "urbanish" historical fantasy. Well, Alternate historical, anyway. It has the Founder of the Jesuits as a Christian sorcerer and one of the main good guys in the first book, The Shadow of the Lion. So, depending on how you feel about that, there's something for everybody to feel offended about.
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Jul 30, 2020 18:09
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I picked up The Last Sun by KD Edwards and liked it enough that I read the sequel when it came out recently. I'm thinking it might fit in here? Basically there are Atlanteans who are explicitly magical and were discovered by the rest of the world only about sixty years ago. The survivors of a brief war reign over an island off the northeast coast which they've turned into a citystate by magically grabbing buildings from all over the world. They have courts themed after the Arcana and frequently war with each other. The main character is the last survivor of the House of the Sun, who's trying to figure out who betrayed his house and take revenge while working side jobs for powerful patrons to make ends meet. It's mostly a fun read although there's some sexual assault that happened to the main character which he's still processing. It's basically 'small fish destined for big things learns more magic.'
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Jul 31, 2020 04:14
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I'm posted the following on Butcher's Twitter in the Favorite bits from the books:quote:Dresden showing up with the T-Rex in Dead Beat is mine. I'm hoping for a bit in Battle Ground which reveals that one reason we don't see anything from Chicago's South Side is that some terrifyingly potent ghost/demon/god rules there. Fomor going there get eaten by the Candyman. I doubt I'll get a response from "The Man Himself" but if it gives him a slight nudge toward remembering that the South Side and Black People as a whole exist in Chicago it'll be worth it.
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Jul 31, 2020 15:06
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Everyone posted:I'm posted the following on Butcher's Twitter in the Favorite bits from the books: Not if he fucks it up and uses it as an excuse to make Sanya a literal Magical Negro to help save the day. Because that's the kind of ham-handed writer we're dealing with.
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Jul 31, 2020 15:26
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https://twitter.com/Ben_Aaronovitch/status/1289189849589641216?s=20
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Jul 31, 2020 15:30
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Not if he fucks it up and uses it as an excuse to make Sanya a literal Magical Negro to help save the day. Maybe he'll reward Sanya with inclusion in Butters' polycule.
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Jul 31, 2020 21:57
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Well, I certainly know what I'm spending tomorrow reading! I haven't read any of the Rivers shorts yet.
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Jul 31, 2020 23:49
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I’m waiting for the physical copy to come out, although they’ve not announced any date for that yet.
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Aug 1, 2020 09:47
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I just finished Peace Talks. I agree with the consensus that it feels like half of a book. Hopefully, with Battle Ground, the books will feel more whole and satisfying. A few thoughts. It's weird that, after all the fuss that was made about her birth last book, Bonea barely makes an appearance. Similarly, while it's clear that the in-depth description of how Butters' lightsaber works is foreshadowing for something, I'm unclear what to make of the fact that Marcone kept Harry's old basement lab recognizable, and why he kept Thomas there. And it seems so odd that Marcone would keep just a single guard on Thomas. His rescue was so easy, if it doesn't turn out that Marcone allowed Thomas to escape, that's lovely writing. But why? More than anything else in Battle Ground, I want a satisfactory answer on this.
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Aug 3, 2020 23:08
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William Bear posted:I just finished Peace Talks. I agree with the consensus that it feels like half of a book. Hopefully, with Battle Ground, the books will feel more whole and satisfying. A few thoughts. WRT the basement, I think Marcone basically saw a useful hole in the ground and figured it was already set up just right to use as a holding cell. Harry just has a really hard time letting things go, and he spent enough time in there that since Marcone didn't bother to renovate other than to strip out the shelving, he had a self-indulgent nostalgia/pity party trip. It's been something Harry has mentioned a couple times, that he really hasn't had a place to call home since he "died." He's just been crashing in one place after the other, but nowhere has really been "his" since the apartment.
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Aug 3, 2020 23:16
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William Bear posted:I just finished Peace Talks. I agree with the consensus that it feels like half of a book. Hopefully, with Battle Ground, the books will feel more whole and satisfying. A few thoughts. Regarding Bonea, presumably she wasn't important to the plot of this (half a) book. As the_Steve noted, Harry place is a hole in the ground and a useful place to dump a prisoner when oe wasn't doesn't really have a proper holding cell set up. As for keeping it recognizable, why not? What would be the point of spending thousands of dollars to erase every trace of Dresden's habitation there when it was highly unlikely the man himself would ever return? Who knows, perhaps Marcone kept the place mostly as was with the idea of offering to Harry later at some point. As for the single, male guard. As I said upthread, it wouldn't surprise if that was deliberate because he thought it highly like that Lara Raith would make a play toward freeing her brother and he wanted to ensure that she had non-lethal options to do that so he wouldn't get in a war with her because she killed somebody.
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Aug 4, 2020 12:18
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Been re-reading the Dresden files and about Murphy, she is 100% becoming Valkyrie or similar. Just for starters When Dresden looks at her with his third eye in the summer/winter book he sees a warrior with golden Viking hair / helmet / sword and in grave peril dresdens internal monologue refers to her as a monster-hunting Valkyrie repeatedly.
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Aug 4, 2020 21:45
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I'm also re-reading Dresden, and compared to Peace talks even the first two seem good. I wonder how much is foreshadowing vs just callbacks latter, but I noticed in Summer Knight Harry twice mentions almost breaking his back while fighting faeries, and Murphy suffers a knee injury while fighting a monster. Harry also talks about wanting to wipe out the Red Court. I'm also wondering exactly when Lea and Maev get Nemesised - it apparently gets them via the knife the vamps give Lea, but Lea saves and/or helps Harry several times after this when Harry already seems to be in the Outsiders' sights, and Maev has a small part in helping Harry and foiling Auroa's (Nemesis') plan at the end of SK which implies either they are not yet infected, not fully controlled, or are playing 12d chess. I also wonder how much of the total Dresden files word count is copy pasted character intros and repeat explanations of things  Finally, do we ever find out why the Denarians attack Arctis Tor? I haven't got to that point again yet but I don't think it's ever revealed, and if nothing else Skin Game would have been a good time to mention it.
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Aug 4, 2020 23:16
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Saros posted:Been re-reading the Dresden files and about Murphy, she is 100% becoming Valkyrie or similar. Just for starters When Dresden looks at her with his third eye in the summer/winter book he sees a warrior with golden Viking hair / helmet / sword and in grave peril dresdens internal monologue refers to her as a monster-hunting Valkyrie repeatedly. My theory is that since she and Dresden are Officially in love, she will soon adopt Amoracchius, the sword of love.
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Aug 4, 2020 23:27
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Beachcomber posted:My theory is that since she and Dresden are Officially in love, she will soon adopt Amoracchius, the sword of love. I doubt that. Between her injuries and the fact that Butcher already teased the whole "Will she be a Knight?" thing before, I don't see him going to that well again.
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Aug 4, 2020 23:42
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the_steve posted:I doubt that. Between her injuries and the fact that Butcher already teased the whole "Will she be a Knight?" thing before, I don't see him going to that well again. Yeah, he's definitely not known for going to the same well over and over again...
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Aug 4, 2020 23:45
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Daric posted:Yeah, he's definitely not known for going to the same well over and over again... In this particular instance? No, I don't think so.
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Aug 5, 2020 01:19
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the_steve posted:In this particular instance? No, I don't think so. Looking at the people who bear/wield the Swords, they seem... unbalanced isn't really the term I want to use. Maybe... committed. The Swords go for people to whom Faith, Hope and Love are bone-deep elemental aspect of themselves. Butters and Faith of believing things can get better and trying to make them so. Sanya, who took up a coin and finally threw it away in the Hope for redemption. Murphy loves Dresden, but she loves him in a normal, reasonable way. If it came down to a choice between letting Dresden die and letting Chicago burn, she'd let Dresden die. She'd hate it, but she'd do it. The person I think likeliest to bear the Sword of Love is Thomas. Thomas is clearly Ride or Die all the way with Justine. If it came to a choice between letting Justine die and letting Chicago burn, Chicago best have some drat good fire insurance because Thomas will be saving Justine.
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Aug 5, 2020 02:58
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Everyone posted:Looking at the people who bear/wield the Swords, they seem... unbalanced isn't really the term I want to use. Maybe... committed. The Swords go for people to whom Faith, Hope and Love are bone-deep elemental aspect of themselves. Butters and Faith of believing things can get better and trying to make them so. Sanya, who took up a coin and finally threw it away in the Hope for redemption. Murphy loves Dresden, but she loves him in a normal, reasonable way. If it came down to a choice between letting Dresden die and letting Chicago burn, she'd let Dresden die. She'd hate it, but she'd do it. The person I think likeliest to bear the Sword of Love is Thomas. Thomas is clearly Ride or Die all the way with Justine. If it came to a choice between letting Justine die and letting Chicago burn, Chicago best have some drat good fire insurance because Thomas will be saving Justine. It's not going to be Thomas, because Thomas's love is for a single individual. Look at Michael, whose love encompasses humanity. The next bearer will need to approach that level in order for it to be more than temporary. This is, of course, assuming that Butcher doesn't engage in shenanigans (which he can, does, and probably will).
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Aug 5, 2020 04:55
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Would Thomas even be able to wield any of the swords, considering they're items of True Faith?
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Aug 5, 2020 11:11
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the_steve posted:Would Thomas even be able to wield any of the swords, considering they're items of True Faith? Considering the current wielders are an atheist and a jew, having it be wielded by a literal demon-possessed guy would be right in line
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Aug 5, 2020 13:07
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the_steve posted:Would Thomas even be able to wield any of the swords, considering they're items of True Faith? Susan was able to.
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