|
Darkrenown posted:Forged Yeah, I'm really disappointed with where the story has gone with regards to the Jinn being the driving force as I mentioned in a previous post. There were so many more interesting possibilities for Richard and the whole world. The Jinn just suck everything interesting out of the whole story. If it had been a minor part of Richard's plan that was resolved this book or last book, that would have been one thing. However, swapping to the Jinn as the major antagonists this far through the series just isn't that interesting.
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2020 07:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 02:59 |
|
|
I'll also admit that the whole Jinn thing is suffering by comparison with Tim Powers's Declarewhich I recently finished.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2020 14:39
|
|
|
Everyone posted:I'll also admit that the whole Jinn thing is suffering by comparison with Tim Powers's Declarewhich I recently finished. Also S.A. Chakraborty's Daevabad trilogy, which isn't exactly urban fantasy since it takes place in the past, but in the timeframe it supposedly happens everything is in contemporary urban environments.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2020 15:13
|
|
|
Honestly upon rereading I think a genuine issue is: Jacka kind of turned Anne into an author pet to the point where it clearly ended up dominating the series more and more as it goes on. He clearly is more interested in writing about her than basically any other character but that means he falls into the author's trap of trying to make the plot ABOUT her. Which always rings a little false because Anne was a part of the gang (and obviously set up as a Verus love interest once he realized making Luna Alex's love interest was actually really not cool) but he kept slapping more and more traits on her to make her Important. So she's a powerful life mage who has a split personality, was secretly trained as an assassin, lived with a rakshasa, is feared by everyone around her but Alex and maybe Luna, and is the perfect heir for the most powerful Djinn of all time. Meanwhile pretty much the rest of the cast is just not that complex and their drama comes almost exclusively from having different objectives and philosophies.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2020 18:22
|
|
|
Fallom posted:I'm finding this new Laundry Files book so hard to read that it's genuinely making me wonder why I liked the series in the first place First one I won't be re-reading. It's as if someone else tried to write a book in that universe. So clumsy and with none of the wit or occasional dead from the other books.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2020 00:31
|
|
|
biracial bear for uncut posted:Also S.A. Chakraborty's Daevabad trilogy, which isn't exactly urban fantasy since it takes place in the past, but in the timeframe it supposedly happens everything is in contemporary urban environments. I'm not familiar with that, though I have heard of City of Brass. That'll probably be one to check out. Meanwhile, Declare is just amazing. One of the "rules" that Powers followed in writing it was that nothing that occurred could specifically contradict recorded history. He managed to pull a really awesome story out of the "spaces between" in history. Plus it's both a well-done dark fantasy and a well-done, historical spy novel with neither aspect getting short shrift.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2020 02:35
|
|
|
ImpAtom posted:Honestly upon rereading I think a genuine issue is: Yeah I was wondering if Luna and Alex where gonna end up as a couple first, felt like he was going that way, though it also felt by then as if it was a feint made on purpose. And yeah Anne just ended up as quite boring a character and the djinn are just even more boring. I don't give two fucks about the djinn (or is it jinn), I wanted to know about Richard, what he had been doing in the other world and how it factored in here. The djinn can go wish themselves out of the story for all I care. Another impression I am getting from the series, is that after a certain point there is no redemption, once you go too far you're not gonna be able to wash all that blood off. Rachel sure wasn't redeemed, and I don't think Anne can be redeemed either after killing so many innocents, split personality or not, and likely not Alex either. I wonder if it's gonna end in a dark way.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2020 10:10
|
|
|
It's definitely djinn. Also I hope the series does end in a dark way, because any sort of happy ending would require some seriously unforseen Deus Ex Machina poo poo to fix what has happened so far.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2020 11:39
|
|
|
Is there still a dedicated Dresden thread or did it get rolled into this? I just started reading the beginning of Battle Ground and had no loving idea what was going on and then found out I somehow missed not one but two books this year? 2020 really has been pretty distracting.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2020 02:56
|
|
|
sharknado slashfic posted:Is there still a dedicated Dresden thread or did it get rolled into this? I just started reading the beginning of Battle Ground and had no loving idea what was going on and then found out I somehow missed not one but two books this year? 2020 really has been pretty distracting. Yeah though from what people say it is a hobbit situation where it is one book stretched over two
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2020 03:06
|
|
|
Yeah, I found Peace Talks to be pretty unsatisfying, because it ends at about the point that a Dresden story gets good. And Battle Ground was just too long. He wanted a big battle, and he stretched it out into an entire book. It was just... I got fatigued reading it. As one story, I think it’s pretty okay. Graded on their individual merits? Blah.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2020 03:46
|
|
|
sharknado slashfic posted:Is there still a dedicated Dresden thread or did it get rolled into this? I just started reading the beginning of Battle Ground and had no loving idea what was going on and then found out I somehow missed not one but two books this year? 2020 really has been pretty distracting. You didn't miss anything worth reading that Dresden doesn't recap in Battle Ground anyway.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2020 10:58
|
|
|
Just finished Battle Ground. Didn't NOT like it, but I have to echo what others have already said in that Peace Talks/Battle Ground is one long sloppy book and it should have been edited into shape before being shoved out into the world.
StonecutterJoe fucked around with this message at 14:12 on Dec 16, 2020 |
|
#
?
Dec 16, 2020 07:23
|
|
|
sharknado slashfic posted:Is there still a dedicated Dresden thread or did it get rolled into this? I just started reading the beginning of Battle Ground and had no loving idea what was going on and then found out I somehow missed not one but two books this year? 2020 really has been pretty distracting. Also, so much of Peace Talks falls flat if you don't read the 2nd short story anthology that collects a bunch of Butcher's things in between the long gap between Skin Game and Peace Talks/Battle Grounds. I enjoyed it but yeah the writing is pretty eh. Fun but dumb. I also finally finished Forged. I agree with basically everyone's posts in the past two pages. Give No Fucks Alex is fun and I find that the Fateweaver powerup was an actual better implementation than Cold Knight Dresden. I enjoyed the entire book and tying up the many hanging threads even if I was also kinda disappointed about how Deleo plot was basically handled.. Someone mentioned a Cinder spinoff and boy would I read the poo poo outta that. I am so... whelmed by the setup for the final book.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 23:35
|
|
|
One of the things that really annoys me about Forged is how shockingly little the prior books matter. So many of the pivotal moments are Verus + Fateweaver powering through some crap that honestly I think it could've been book 2 or 3- none of his friendships, links to society, mage politics, or any of that crap matters- after books of floundering around in a zillion different directions it just came down to grabbing a really good artifact and going to town.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2020 15:25
|
|
|
That's literally what Arachne said he'd have to do, though.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2020 20:43
|
|
|
Omi no Kami posted:One of the things that really annoys me about Forged is how shockingly little the prior books matter. So many of the pivotal moments are Verus + Fateweaver powering through some crap that honestly I think it could've been book 2 or 3- none of his friendships, links to society, mage politics, or any of that crap matters- after books of floundering around in a zillion different directions it just came down to grabbing a really good artifact and going to town. I know I'm probably going to poke biracial bear for uncut with a stick with this, but in some ways Harry Dresden and Alex Verus are almost inverses of each other. Dresden has gobs of power and influence (with more being offered/shoved at him in each book) when you get right down it. He just doesn't really know how to use it - at least in ways that are congruent with whatever his current level of "moral courage" happens to be at any given time. Verus pretty well knows what needs to be done (or thinks he does) and his the will/moral courage to do it, but mostly didn't have the power/influence to do it and most of the series was Verus trying to get it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2020 01:24
|
|
|
Molly-POV Christmas Eve microfic, concurrent with Dresden's Christmas Eve short story and assumes you've read Battle Ground.
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2020 01:37
|
|
|
Everyone posted:I know I'm probably going to poke biracial bear for uncut with a stick with this, but in some ways Harry Dresden and Alex Verus are almost inverses of each other. Dresden has gobs of power and influence (with more being offered/shoved at him in each book) when you get right down it. He just doesn't really know how to use it - at least in ways that are congruent with whatever his current level of "moral courage" happens to be at any given time. Verus pretty well knows what needs to be done (or thinks he does) and his the will/moral courage to do it, but mostly didn't have the power/influence to do it and most of the series was Verus trying to get it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2020 01:39
|
|
|
Aerdan posted:Molly-POV Christmas Eve microfic, concurrent with Dresden's Christmas Eve short story and assumes you've read Battle Ground. Yeah, when Butcher is good, he's really, really good. Sappy and glorious.
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2020 02:58
|
|
|
Everyone posted:Yeah, when Butcher is good, he's really, really good. Sappy and glorious. It was good but the Bruce Lee reference irked me
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2020 19:33
|
|
|
Aerdan posted:Molly-POV Christmas Eve microfic, concurrent with Dresden's Christmas Eve short story and assumes you've read Battle Ground. That was really good. Butcher can hit the emotional notes like few others and he should embrace that aspect more. Sometimes the plot can feel diluted by too many side characters and the pop culture references almost feel like a joyless obligation, but the man can still do the feels really well.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2020 00:41
|
|
|
Benedict Jacka mentioned on his blog a few days ago that he's pretty much finished the last Verus novel, titled Risen. I have thoughts about that title and Verus' final disposition.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2020 23:11
|
|
|
Drone Jett posted:Benedict Jacka mentioned on his blog a few days ago that he's pretty much finished the last Verus novel, titled Risen. I have thoughts about that title and Verus' final disposition. Wait, last or latest? I thought there was going to be a bunch more. E: Yikes, I was very wrong! quote:Just started the last confrontation in what’ll be the last chapter of the last Alex Verus book. Word count is at 94,000 out of my original estimate of 90,000.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2020 23:34
|
|
|
Aerdan posted:Molly-POV Christmas Eve microfic, concurrent with Dresden's Christmas Eve short story and assumes you've read Battle Ground. This part interests me. quote:“Go!” I shouted to the Unicorn, conveying my Will in the word, and the beast leapt toward the area of greatest density of deliveries still in progress. The only time I remember "Sword" as a proper capitalized noun is with the three Swords of The Cross. Is there another use I'm forgetting?
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2020 23:41
|
|
|
smertrioslol posted:It was good but the Bruce Lee reference irked me Yeah, that yanked me out a bit. I mean died in Hong Kong, buried in Seattle but hanging around in Chicago for Mort? Should have been just "martial artist's ghost" or even skipped altogether. Butters wrapped in ribbon was funny enough. Gnoman posted:The only time I remember "Sword" as a proper capitalized noun is with the three Swords of The Cross. Is there another use I'm forgetting? I'm thinking it's just an important instrument of her office. Plus, I'm sure there's plenty of named swords out in the world besides the Swords of the Cross. Proteus Jones fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Dec 29, 2020 |
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2020 23:41
|
|
|
Plus she can probably just conjure one out of thin air with fae magic. It's not efficient to do, it's legit less hassle to just get a real sword, but seeing as how she was just doing Winter stuff, it was probably more form than function, especially since she was in full Winter mode and I doubt MP was an issue for her.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2020 04:34
|
|
|
"Not really a sword, per se, long story" is a pretty clear indicator it has nothing to do with swords like you're thinking. Probably a symbol of her mantle.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2020 11:53
|
|
|
On the other hand, I don't recall Maev ever having a sword so it might be something Molly found or made. Or Maev was too poo poo at her job to use it. Or Jim made it up for this story.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2020 15:45
|
|
|
Darkrenown posted:On the other hand, I don't recall Maev ever having a sword so it might be something Molly found or made. Or Maev was too poo poo at her job to use it. Or Jim made it up for this story. Nah, Maeve had a sword in Summer Knight. Dresden just didn't give a poo poo because he had his own problems. Also Jim is throwing poo poo at the wall right now, so that last bit is also probably true.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2020 15:57
|
|
|
It would hardly be unheard of for a fae to have a sword, that is, a bit of sharp metal used for stabbing people. I think this is the first time I've heard any of them refer to having a Sword, which suggests a badge of office, yeah. I liked the story and I don't usually like Butcher's non-Harry-POV Dresden stories that much, because he's not usually very good at making his narrators sound like not-Harry. He wasn't here either, but it was a fun enough story that I didn't care.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2020 21:48
|
|
|
docbeard posted:It would hardly be unheard of for a fae to have a sword, that is, a bit of sharp metal used for stabbing people. I think this is the first time I've heard any of them refer to having a Sword, which suggests a badge of office, yeah. The Fae, generally the Sidhe, have used swords in previous books. They just don't use iron or steel swords.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2020 21:55
|
|
|
It was the proper noun that threw me. She has a Sword, not simply a sword that isn't exactly a sword.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2020 22:45
|
|
|
It's pronounced sword.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2020 22:54
|
|
|
It's actually S Words, Mr. Connery
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2020 23:24
|
|
|
docbeard posted:It's actually S Words, Mr. Connery "Feck you, yeh bag of rotten haggis. I'll talk like a Scot while using my katana or I'll punch the lot of yeh in the cunts. You cunts." is something Sean Connery probably said on the set of Highlander.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2020 02:57
|
|
|
A sword that is not a sword?
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2020 04:30
|
|
|
I actually enjoyed Forged an awful lot, warts and all. If nothing else it's the book where we got the most Cinder/Verus time, which is cool and good. There are things I don't like, but the most obvious one is Anne- which is something that drags down a couple of books, really. And I'm not entirely sure what it is about her that prevents her from being a satisfying character, but I feel like if she was, it would have elevated the series as a whole and made a number of the books hit so much harder. Also I recently finished the Wisdom's Grave trilogy and I loved it sooooo verrrrrry muuuuuuch. The books are good on their own, but the way they weave in jokes and elements from the rest of the series is priceless.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2021 23:14
|
|
|
Was just randomly googling what Daniel O'Malley was up to (The Rook, Stiletto) and saw there's a new Checquy book coming out in March(?), yay!
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 22:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 02:59 |
|
|
Scorchy posted:Was just randomly googling what Daniel O'Malley was up to (The Rook, Stiletto) and saw there's a new Checquy book coming out in March(?), yay! Yay! Any mention on the POV? I'm still smarting over the non-Mifanwy POV in Stiletto but I'm sure it'll be better on a re-read with calibrated expectations.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 05:22
|
|