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DreamingofRoses posted:Sorry to derail from Dresden chat but I have a dumb question: am I the only one who feels like Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth fill the urban fantasy niche but in a weird way? (Sorry, I just finished them and now they’re stuck in my head). Gideon the Ninth was super-duper frustrating for me, because the first few chapters were great- I was totally down to learn about some weirdo space necromancer adventures. But when it turned out that the bulk of the book was, like, Maze Runner in a haunted house I pretty much lost interest.
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Oct 1, 2020 00:12
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seaborgium posted:Yeah, when he was talking to Gard at the end she straight up says that it's one of "Rules" that no one can mess with, not even Odin. That's part of why she was commiserating with Harry, she lost Hendricks and has no chance to see him again. Assuming she's immortal, Hendricks got all the honor of becoming an Einherjar, but can never, ever return. Even if she's not, she has to die for him to come back. I'd assume that only mortals count, so she will get him back eventually but not for a couple of generations at least. Equally Harry might get Murphy back in a hundred years or so once her legend in the force dies down. Plus over time Harry and Gard's memories will fade, and they'll end up with memories of the memories rather than genuine ones, letting them come back and rekindle things. In terms of the series timescale though, it sounds like they are both D-E-D dead.
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Oct 1, 2020 00:30
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Omi no Kami posted:Gideon the Ninth was super-duper frustrating for me, because the first few chapters were great- I was totally down to learn about some weirdo space necromancer adventures. But when it turned out that the bulk of the book was, like, Maze Runner in a haunted house I pretty much lost interest. If you didn’t finish it, you missed out. It wasn’t the ghosts.
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Oct 1, 2020 00:41
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DreamingofRoses posted:If you didn’t finish it, you missed out. It wasn’t the ghosts. Yeah, I read both books and, like, I don't have any complaints about the core story beats, but I really wish they'd been told in a different way. Especially in Gideon it had this really weird structure where the first and last bit were things, but the majority of the story was that slow, plodding house thing that just didn't engage me.
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Oct 1, 2020 00:54
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Omi no Kami posted:Yeah, I read both books and, like, I don't have any complaints about the core story beats, but I really wish they'd been told in a different way. Especially in Gideon it had this really weird structure where the first and last bit were things, but the majority of the story was that slow, plodding house thing that just didn't engage me. That’s fair! It’s just a difference in tastes then. I love the idea of exploring a 10,000 year old necromancy laboratory on the remains of Earth though
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Oct 1, 2020 01:01
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DreamingofRoses posted:That’s fair! It’s just a difference in tastes then. I love the idea of exploring a 10,000 year old necromancy laboratory on the remains of Earth though Oh yeah for sure- my thing is totally YMMV, and I can totally see how you'd dig it. For me part of what it so weird was that, like, even though they were totally exploring a 10,000-year old necromancy laboratory, tons of the middle of the book didn't feel like it- it felt like a bunch of wizards hanging out in the Big Brother mansion while stuff happened offscreen. At least half of my griping is down to that presentation, so if the story had been, like, them camping in a bombed-out city while making tentative forays into a science bunker it would've gone down a lot easier. The other part of what I had trouble with was straight-up just the way it was presented, with keys and systematic challenges- it felt really YA-like when I don't think it had to, and honestly I feel like they could've cut that conceit entirely and just gone "It's a spooky lab, explore and occasionally you'll trip over dangerous crap," and the same scenes and moments would've gelled much better.
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Oct 1, 2020 01:38
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Omi no Kami posted:Oh yeah for sure- my thing is totally YMMV, and I can totally see how you'd dig it. For me part of what it so weird was that, like, even though they were totally exploring a 10,000-year old necromancy laboratory, tons of the middle of the book didn't feel like it- it felt like a bunch of wizards hanging out in the Big Brother mansion while stuff happened offscreen. At least half of my griping is down to that presentation, so if the story had been, like, them camping in a bombed-out city while making tentative forays into a science bunker it would've gone down a lot easier. The puzzles definitely fit into the conceit of the story from my point of view specifically because they were challenges set up by the Emperor and his Lichtors like a Montessori lesson on soul-sucking for the Caviliers and Adepts to specifically guide them to a foregone conclusion (especially so they wouldn't figure out that there's a better way to do it where someone doesn't have to die). Like the challenges for possessing and siphoning from the warriors basically scream at the theme of incomplete lichtorhood in hindsight. It was deliberately trapped for them. Also, it being boring makes sense to me for the first one, Gideon didn't give two shits about the mystery and it was largely boring as hell for her until after the dinner.
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Oct 1, 2020 01:56
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DreamingofRoses posted:The puzzles definitely fit into the conceit of the story from my point of view specifically because they were challenges set up by the Emperor and his Lichtors like a Montessori lesson on soul-sucking for the Caviliers and Adepts to specifically guide them to a foregone conclusion (especially so they wouldn't figure out that there's a better way to do it where someone doesn't have to die). Like the challenges for possessing and siphoning from the warriors basically scream at the theme of incomplete lichtorhood in hindsight. It was deliberately trapped for them. Also, it being boring makes sense to me for the first one, Gideon didn't give two shits about the mystery and it was largely boring as hell for her until after the dinner. Yeah, I think that's why a lot of my criticism is YMMV- I totally can't dunk on any of the core plotting, it makes perfect sense... it just didn't really work for me, and most of the problems were just personal speedbumps with how the story was presented.
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Oct 1, 2020 02:54
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seaborgium posted:Yeah, when he was talking to Gard at the end she straight up says that it's one of "Rules" that no one can mess with, not even Odin. That's part of why she was commiserating with Harry, she lost Hendricks and has no chance to see him again. Assuming she's immortal, Hendricks got all the honor of becoming an Einherjar, but can never, ever return. Even if she's not, she has to die for him to come back. I suspect faded in the immortal term might mean something different compared to mortals. I'm sure like Murphy and Hendricks there were plenty of perspective Einherjar who were known by higher powers before they finally died. I think the issue here is that she left enough of an impression on someone like Dresden who could live for 400 years still carrying the embers of what was. And in Hendricks case while I don't think Gards own feelings count because she's part of the system that governs it, he is known both fondly and with the enmity of plenty of immoral mortals, like Marcone, who will also remember him for hundreds of years. Dresden can't see Valhalla Murphy without going to Valahlla the same way he went to Tartarus, so that's definitely happening. Whether or not that memory timer counts during apocalyptical Ragnarok that's coming at the end is also unknown. So I suspect we'll see her again in the norse halls in a few books, and then again as one of the warrior spirit at the final fights. Which is plenty for the 5 or 6 remaining.
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Oct 1, 2020 04:00
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AppropriateUser posted:The Council kicking Harry out doesn't really make sense from their own perspective. Okay, he's dangerous and unstable and connected to dangerous people. Either keep him in the council to keep an eye on him, kill him, or keep him in the council specifically to pick a convenient moment to kill him. Why kick him out openly and piss him off? It's bad politics from characters who are supposed to be canny super treacherous political operatives with centuries of experience and patience. They still need him to do whatever the starborn poo poo is, so why throw him out of the tent? Because the Merlin is an rear end but not an idiot and knows there is more than one traitor on the council and kicking harry out is both a political win and a keep-our-starborn-godkiller away from a sneak attack from their own.
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Oct 1, 2020 04:32
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I've been thinking about it since Murph dies in BG, and between Michael and Butters, it's fairly obvious that Murph was never going to wield one of the Swords for more than a single task. Michael's embodied Love through and through from the beginning, both for his family and for humanity at large, so it's a core part of him. Butters, likewise, embodies Faith. Sanya embodying Hope is less clear, but... while Murph leaned toward Faith, she lost that affinity over the course of the series and didn't really have Michael's all-encompassing Love. Without Sanya being made to give up Hope, that one is also out.
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Oct 1, 2020 04:32
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seaborgium posted:Yeah, he kept treating it like it was going to take him over or something. Like not even thinking about it because it would read his thoughts and force him to start killing. It was foreshadowed super hard that it would do something crazy once he started using it, and then it just kind of was. After finishing the book, I think you misread that. quote:It wasn't about the Spear being dangerous to him, it was about it remaining ritually pure, and hidden from the Titan.
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Oct 1, 2020 07:40
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M_Gargantua posted:Because the Merlin is an rear end but not an idiot and knows there is more than one traitor on the council and kicking harry out is both a political win and a keep-our-starborn-godkiller away from a sneak attack from their own. And if they wanted him dead, this would be the absolute worst time to do it. He's the Winter Knight, Warden of Demonreach, and he soloed the Titan(as far as everybody who is not Marcone believes, anyways). Offing him right after the battle would look completely loving awful. There's also the fact that they'd have to get Eb to kill him, because Eb's the Blackstaff and killing Dresden with magic would be a violation of the Laws of Magic. And while Eb's pretty pissed at Dresden right now, I don't think he's "set out with the intention of killing my grandson" pissed with him, especially after his close call with that at the end of Peace Talks, and especially because it means that some day he''ll probably have to talk to Maggie about why he offed her dad. Way easier just to boot him now and kick the can down the road a while. See if somebody else whacks him for you now that he's not under White Council protection. If that doesn't work out for you, it gives you time to talk Eb around to it while you work out the political angles and how to nail him on a Laws of Magic violation. General Battle Ground thoughts: I liked it, overall. Some rough areas, but a lot better than Peace Talks. I think I like how Murphy went out. Not a giant heroic sacrifice for Dresden, not some death to give him determination and resolve, and it's not the point that lets him hold fast against a psychic assault. She doesn't lose her fight, she doesn't take one for the team, she doesn't die because she's overmatched and underpowered. It's just stupid bad luck and lovely trigger discipline, and it's after she successfully saves Dresden's rear end yet again. It works for me. She was always Valhalla-bound, and this is a pretty good way to go. If Eb was 'accidentally murder my grandson' pissed about Thomas being his grandson, he's really not gonna be happy about Harry's upcoming wedding plans. If anything's gonna push Ebenezer into a serious attempt on Dresden's life, it's gonna be that. Listens-to-Wind remains the best, and I suspect he's going to be the reason why Eb doesn't kill Dresden. I liked Michael's cursing at the end of the book. I've always felt like Michael's a bit too good and perfect and that his main role has just been to approve of Dresden and so lend him extra good guy points. So I like these little moments where he slips a bit. I feel like Dresden's going to save Chandler at some point and that the White Council will act lovely enough about it so that Chandler ends up siding with Dresden.
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Oct 1, 2020 08:23
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Khizan posted:And if they wanted him dead, this would be the absolute worst time to do it. He's the Winter Knight, Warden of Demonreach, and he soloed the Titan(as far as everybody who is not Marcone believes, anyways). Offing him right after the battle would look completely loving awful. There's also the fact that they'd have to get Eb to kill him, because Eb's the Blackstaff and killing Dresden with magic would be a violation of the Laws of Magic. And while Eb's pretty pissed at Dresden right now, I don't think he's "set out with the intention of killing my grandson" pissed with him, especially after his close call with that at the end of Peace Talks, and especially because it means that some day he''ll probably have to talk to Maggie about why he offed her dad. Way easier just to boot him now and kick the can down the road a while. See if somebody else whacks him for you now that he's not under White Council protection. If that doesn't work out for you, it gives you time to talk Eb around to it while you work out the political angles and how to nail him on a Laws of Magic violation. I forgot. What exactly was Chandler's beef with Dresden? Was it something specific or just "Dresden doesn't do things the White Council Way" stuff?
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Oct 1, 2020 15:49
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Everyone posted:I forgot. What exactly was Chandler's beef with Dresden? Was it something specific or just "Dresden doesn't do things the White Council Way" stuff? The latter, like pretty much all the other characters post-Changes.
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Oct 1, 2020 16:23
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Omi no Kami posted:I'm about halfway through Battle Ground and weirdly enough, even though it's markedly better than Peace Talks it's leaving me tired and utterly disinterested in reading any more Dresden books in a way that Peace Talks didn't. Like, it's nothing we haven't seen before, but Harry's constant martyr complex, the weird sex poo poo, and the world's constant need to have his friends and allies constantly suspect him have all just gotten to be too exhausting. I get that they're primo levers, but I really wish Butcher took some time to learn some new storytelling skills. Yeah, I basically finished the book feeling like while Butcher can be both vivid and creative, he's not very imaginative if that makes any sense. He's not particularly good at getting out of his own head/context.
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Oct 1, 2020 16:43
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How many times do we need Sword of Hope standing against forces of darkness monologues in the same book? I lost count.
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Oct 1, 2020 16:54
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Hope there's a book after Mirror Mirror called "Finally Talking" where Harry actually communicates openly with everyone.
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Oct 1, 2020 16:58
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Everyone posted:I forgot. What exactly was Chandler's beef with Dresden? Was it something specific or just "Dresden doesn't do things the White Council Way" stuff? He and Chandler didn't really have a specific beef. Chandler was just getting weirded out by him like the rest of the White Council because of how shady Dresden has been
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Oct 1, 2020 16:59
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Yeah, all the other wardens and whatnot don't have the benefit of the reader's POV into Harry's thought process and whatnot. Literally all they see is him allying with Mab, becoming the Winter Knight, claiming Demonreach as sanctum, etc.
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Oct 1, 2020 17:02
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I just got Peace Talks from the library and if Harry doesn't have a TV or an Internet connection, how does he know what a Sharknado is? I hate these stupid books and also I'm three hours into the audiobook already. My partner started reading romance novels recently and hearing her talk about the differences between say, Nora Roberts and Jasmine Guillory is how I'm feeling being in the middle of Rivers of London and Dresden Files.
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Oct 1, 2020 17:04
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I think Molly's super-fancy apartment lets him have a working TV along with other conviencences until the Thomas incident, but I'd have to look it up again. Even so, there's been a few instances where Dresden makes references to things he shouldn't be aware of in the series.
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Oct 1, 2020 17:22
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He has friends that he talks to, and Butcher has previously claimed that he used to go watch close captioned TV through store windows like a contemporary Dickens character
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Oct 1, 2020 17:25
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I mean he did do a weekly tabletop game with a bunch of nerds for years and may have picked it up through osmosis  Like I've never watched Sharknado or even seen a commercial for it, but I have made references to it because I know of it from other people talking about it
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Oct 1, 2020 17:26
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The Paranet alone should keep Dresden adequately familiar with recent memes.
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Oct 1, 2020 17:29
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After reading those spoilers I think I'm out. I haven't been thrilled with the direction the series has been going since Ghost Story anyways. Nothing about Harry the Winter Knight interests me.
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Oct 1, 2020 17:42
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My general thoughts after finishing Battle Ground: Definitely better than the mess of poorly-edited exposition of Peace Talks (enough so that I think the two combined and actually edited a little would probably make a top-third-of-the-series novel). I suspect it will not stand up to much poking with sticks, but there's more I liked than disliked. The general theme of Plans Not Working Out was probably the most interesting thing about the book. I don't see, for example, the Placard not being that significant since Murph and company didn't stay indoors to be a problem, I found it to be nicely thematic. (Besides which, I don't think literally everyone who was taking refuge at Mac's left, just the people who didn't feel right hiding indoors.) Likewise the Spear of Destiny, Harry's ace in the hole to actually draw her blood, proving largely insignificant because Harry just plain couldn't get the drop on her at the end felt more interesting than his Big Plan actually going off without a hitch. (Similar to how the foreshadowing about how Fidelacchius was no longer a material weapon AND could theoretically penetrate her plot armor because of Angel Backup just didn't work out because Butters plain wasn't a skilled enough fighter to get to her.) Even Murphy dying to Rudolph panicking, while I expected to hate it after I found out it was happening (because sometimes I read spoiler text, sue me), I thought it fit with the general theme of things just going wrong in spite of the best laid plans. (And honestly if anything drifted over from Butcher's personal life, I suspect it's that after everything he dealt with concerning his house.) Also there's no way Butcher would throw in a "she can't come back ever ever ever" clause in if he didn't intend it to be broken nine ways from Sunday. On the whole, I think it could have been scaled back, a lot of the fight scenes felt very samey and padded, though some were quite fun. (I loved Harry and the Jotun exchanging their Lists Of Mighty Deeds before battle, for example.) We needed the Mavra/Drakul fight for whatever it's setting up (and I'm a bit surprised that Harry giving her the Word of Kemmler back in the day didn't come up), and we needed some of Harry Defending Chicago because that's important to who he is (but we probably didn't need quite as much of that as we got, because it all kind of blurred together). Justine being possessed by Nemesis/He Who Walks Beside felt like an afterthought, literally like Butcher got to the end of the book and went "oh yeah gotta check this box". (Though, uh, here's hoping it can't possess Alfred.) Do we think Demonreach can imprison Outsiders? Not sure how I feel about Marcone being a Denarian, though I'm like 99% sure it's an arrangement similar to Nicodemus where the fallen angel works for him and not the other way around. (At least for now). Harry getting kicked out of the White Council I think should have been handled a bit differently, though I'm not sure how. Ramirez no longer trusting him made sense, but I can't buy for a second that McCoy getting ordered to execute Harry at this point (even with Ramirez all IF HE DOESN'T DO IT HE'D BE BRANDED A TRAITOR) wouldn't involve the phrase "and the horse you rode in on". Harry's arranged marriage with Lara Raith, eh, we'll see. Finally, having grown up in a devout religious family, Michael losing his temper and swearing up a storm felt very real to me, because it does happen, trust me. (It would have felt weirder if he'd blasphemed; there is a definite perceived difference between dropping an f-bomb and actually taking the Lord's name in vain.)
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Oct 1, 2020 17:58
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Gnoman posted:I think Molly's super-fancy apartment lets him have a working TV along with other conviencences until the Thomas incident, but I'd have to look it up again. He says he should ask the Svartalf to give him a TV and an Internet connection-thingy since they can give him heat and AC. I'm just poking fun at it, though, I'm still listening! It's just one of those things! docbeard posted:My general thoughts after finishing Battle Ground: Definitely better than the mess of poorly-edited exposition of Peace Talks (enough so that I think the two combined and actually edited a little would probably make a top-third-of-the-series novel). I suspect it will not stand up to much poking with sticks, but there's more I liked than disliked. Now, calm down, Neddly-diddily-diddily-diddily-doodily. They did their best shodaiddily-iddily-iddily-diddily-diddily. Gotta be nice, hostidididildilidilly, AW, HELL-DIDDLY-DING-DONG-CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN'T YOU MORONS DO ANYTHING RIGHT??!?!?!?!?!
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Oct 1, 2020 18:22
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Finished the book yesterday, now working on a listen of the audiobook. In general, I found it enjoyable, but it felt like Changes, but padded out; both with "bigger" characters (who I didn't know as well or care about as much as Susan, Lea, and the rest of the crew), and with more, more, more badguys, (who I once again didn't know as well or care about as much as I wanted to see those greasy red bastards burn). I found it very odd that Cristos was part of this whole defense, and I suspect that that was a case of 'keep your friends close, but your enemies closer', and I agree with the sentiment that Harry being kicked out of the White Council is a long play. I've just re-checked the passage, and it says that the vote was done with McCoy and Listens in hospital, but was unanimous. There is NO WAY that the Gatekeeper votes to boot Harry without it being part of a plan (unless this is sloppy writing and he was still away Gatekeeping). Anyone else interested by the Librarians that Butcher just casually introduced at the end? Like the Government X-Files guys would be something that Harry wouldn't know about, and would have to be told about by Laura? I'm interested, but call shenanigans. Also, where was Godmother? She is mentioned a few times, but that merry psycho makes me laugh. I wanted to see her. .
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Oct 1, 2020 19:39
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gerg_861 posted:Anyone else interested by the Librarians that Butcher just casually introduced at the end? Like the Government X-Files guys would be something that Harry wouldn't know about, and would have to be told about by Laura? I'm interested, but call shenanigans. They made a whole TV show about them! But for real, it’s totally believable that there’s a governmental organization that is clued in that Harry doesn’t know about - he barely takes an interest in White Council politics, so why would he know what’s going on with a mortal government? Overall, I enjoyed the book - one part in particular that stuck out to me was when Nemesis said that Apocalypse was not an event, but a state of mind, which is exactly what Nicodemus said in Death Masks. I have to believe that was intentional.
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Oct 1, 2020 19:58
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quote:I think it is (lots of extra spacing in this spoiler) going to end up being Justine. CALLED IT Mr. Bad Guy fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Oct 1, 2020 |
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Oct 1, 2020 20:57
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Just finished the latest. Like most everyone else, I enjoyed it far more than Peace Talks. Honestly, with Butcher End Game-esque tactic of pulling everyone out of woodwork for the final battle I was somewhat disappointed Ferrovax got reduced to a few lines of exposition. I guess Butcher is saving him for something bigger. I liked the Drakul appearance and honestly looking forward to that book more than another huge epic battle of will versus will. I think my one huge complaint was that the book seemed to wear me down at the end. For me, Butcher's action sequences started to lose some of the kinetic energy they had at the beginning and while I appreciated the goofy rear end denouement at the end I was more interested in rushing through dense lines of my will and getting to the actual bits that move the story forward. Have we seen all of the NeverNever? I figure the Chandler hook will be used to explore some heretofore mentioned but never shown creepy crawly part of that realm? Also, it's mostly stated that Mab was Morgana in Peace Talks right, and then hinted again here? Contrary Opinion: I find Lara more interesting that Murphy and will be disappointed when Butcher gets back around to doing the predictable and given fans what they want. Spit Balling: Dresden will do something bad that garners the eyes of the White Council and they set Ebenezer after him. Ultimately, dude will realized he's been played, stop an execution, and then get offed by the real traitor. This book more than the others in my recent memory, just screams at times "please loving buy some film rights."
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Oct 1, 2020 21:39
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hatelull posted:Just finished the latest. Like most everyone else, I enjoyed it far more than Peace Talks. Honestly, with Butcher End Game-esque tactic of pulling everyone out of woodwork for the final battle I was somewhat disappointed Ferrovax got reduced to a few lines of exposition. I guess Butcher is saving him for something bigger. I liked the Drakul appearance and honestly looking forward to that book more than another huge epic battle of will versus will. I think my one huge complaint was that the book seemed to wear me down at the end. For me, Butcher's action sequences started to lose some of the kinetic energy they had at the beginning and while I appreciated the goofy rear end denouement at the end I was more interested in rushing through dense lines of my will and getting to the actual bits that move the story forward. I believe we learned that Mab was formerly Nimue, not Morgana though they get merged or swapped around in a lot of Arthurian legends.
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Oct 1, 2020 21:44
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Zore posted:I believe we learned that Mab was formerly Nimue, not Morgana though they get merged or swapped around in a lot of Arthurian legends. Oh. I thought she's hinted that she was once mortal and had the implication that she played around with magic, hosed up in a bad away and was saddled with queen of the faeries.
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Oct 1, 2020 21:57
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My own thoughts. In general I liked it better than PeaceTalks. I really wish there'd been a way to blend the two book together a little better instead of "all-setup" then "all-payoff." Specifics: Murphy's death hurt, but I appreciated how much it wasn't a "fridging" or "heroic last stand" anything else designed "give Dresden what he needed to win." She died because a fuckwit couldn't handle his gun. And instead of empowering Dresden it almost corrupted and destroyed him Harry becoming "Mr. Lara Raith" is interesting because of the type of story space it opens. Harry's determined to do something like Marcone and build some kind of power structure - possibly something that's an alternative to the White Council for wizards and sorcerers. To do that, he'll need to play politics. And being with Lara will be a master class lesson in politics. Toot-toot ends up becoming some kind of Fae God, doesn't he? And his Holy Food is pizza Marcone becoming a Denarian but still clearly being Marcone was pretty cool. It was also cool that the "gopher wood" exchange seemed to establish that the boss in the Marcone/Fallen Angel relationship was very much Marcone. Chandler being teleported away instead of killed seems hinky to me. I wonder if he's secretly some kind of agent in Drakul's service. I do wonder how far the knowledge that Justine is possessed by an Outsider has/will spread. Obviously Lara and Mab know. I wonder if Harry will tell Ebenezer, Listens-to-Wind or the Gatekeeper. Speaking of the Gatekeeper, I'm remembering that bit from Turn Coat when Gatekeeper strongly objected to Dresden's actions because "it is not time for you to fight the Council yet." Could be Gatekeeper voted to kick Dresden out because that's whant set up his fight with the Council - which Gatekeeper deems as necessary.
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Oct 1, 2020 22:14
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I actually quite liked the bit with Ferrovax. Having him forced to fight entirely from the NeverNever side because he's so powerful he'd destroy the world just by existing was fairly clever.
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Oct 1, 2020 22:26
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hatelull posted:
Oh gently caress no, we've barely scratched the surface. Harry sticks to poo poo he knows, as does the rest of the White Council, and during the White Council/Red Court war even the Red Court had trouble moving since they didn't have free passage from Mab. It's dangerous in the NeverNever even for the immortals. Harry's mom was considered somewhat crazy for trying to chart out new Ways considering how dangerous it was. It's a huge chunk of reality that I doubt will ever get covered beyond specific locations that someone has to go to.
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Oct 1, 2020 23:23
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I will say that as much as the circumstances sucked for him personally, I find myself somewhat glad that these books were delayed the way they were.I can tell that the #MeToo movement had at least some influence on Butcher's writing. Note that two things we never learn about the Last Titan are the size of her breasts or the shape of her rear end. As much as some people here objected to hips I think we'd have gotten considerably more (and considerably more uncomfortable) detail from that scene and others. As for Murphy, I don't think the Butcher of five years ago could have written her death that way. She would have been "fridged" or at least died heroically and her death would have given Harry what he needed to Save the Day. Dying because a fuckwit lacked trigger discipline right after saving Harry's life by one-shoting a Jotun with a rocket launcher? That showed... I don't know. Insight? Maturity? Restraint? Whatever it was, it was good and I think it would have been something the Butcher of five years ago lacked.
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Oct 2, 2020 01:45
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I doubt the second part. Murphy's death at Rudolph's hands is the culmination of a long-running story arc. Maybe it could have been a "fridging" with Murphy dying to keep him from Harry, but that would have been at odds with Rudolph's core characterization - he's a gently caress-up who's only skill is kissing rear end, and killing her with a negligent discharge is the perfect followup. I suspect this was planned for a long time.
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Oct 2, 2020 02:42
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Gnoman posted:I doubt the second part. I suppose I can see that. Still, figure that Rudolph will probably end up getting away with it under the law (no body, no bullet, Harry was the only witness) - but only under the law. I think Freydis survived so I wouldn't put it past her to crush Rudy like a bug. Hell, even Marcone respected Murphy. I think Rudolph is in for a bad time. It wouldn't surprise me if Rudolph woke up in a hospital to find Marcone and Gard there in a Butcherverse version of this awesome scene from Person of Interest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yvhMyr_7fY Everyone fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Oct 2, 2020 |
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Oct 2, 2020 03:30
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