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Wittgen posted:I just finished Peace Talks the other day and am maybe 100 pages into Battle Ground. They seem kinda bad. Like some of the fun popcorn paperback stuff is present, but the bad is really distracting. Both books desperately needed a better editor. I thought Butcher did comparatively better on the sexual appraisal stuff. At least this time it was more of a "wow has time flown" instead of "This is Molly. These are Molly's super awesome tits. Aren't Molly's super awesome tits just super awesome?" I will say that Battle Ground gets better over time. Or at least the action comes so fast and furious that you don't notice the bad stuff as much.
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Apr 29, 2022 20:59
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I was thinking back over Peace Talks/Battle Ground and one thing that stood out to me initially and then I kinda forgot, was Harry's reaction to hearing that Thomas went on a murder spree. There was no, are you sure/that doesn't sound like him/he's actually a good person underneath I swear, just straight to yep, sure, it was only a matter of time. Which feels like either odd characterization for Harry (who normally sees the good in those he cares for) or downright horrifying characterization, in that he saw the potential for evil and did literally nothing to ward against it.
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Apr 30, 2022 00:26
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Remember his ex-wife he divorced? Turns out she was his editor and was heavily involved in the previous books, and IMO it's pretty obvious his writing is greatly missing her oversight.
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Apr 30, 2022 00:34
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It was always gonna be hard to hit the same highs as books 10-12 (though even those are tainted with too much tits talk). I enjoyed both Peace Talks and Battle Ground, though I can't really disagree with any of the criticisms. Is Mirror Mirror the next book? I wonder if he is pushing the next Denarian book to 21 instead of 20 because of the book split or not.
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Apr 30, 2022 00:57
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mastajake posted:It was always gonna be hard to hit the same highs as books 10-12 (though even those are tainted with too much tits talk). I enjoyed both Peace Talks and Battle Ground, though I can't really disagree with any of the criticisms. According to his site Mirror Mirror will be book 19 and book 18 will be Twelve Months. Anybody's guess when it comes out, though.
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Apr 30, 2022 03:06
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Everyone posted:According to his site Mirror Mirror will be book 19 and book 18 will be Twelve Months. Anybody's guess when it comes out, though. He still hasn’t put out the next Cinder Spires book that he has been working on for 3 years. His website hasn’t been updated since September and that was just a publicist updating about a convention. Butcher’s last update was in the 2020. The likelihood of him finishing Dresden Files is pretty slim at this point unless he drastically changes his pace. He has like 5-6 case files to finish and his big trilogy. At his current pace, that’s 20-30 years.
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May 1, 2022 00:45
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Yeah, we will literally be in the throes of spiraling climate change disasters by then.
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May 2, 2022 01:02
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The next Schaefer work on Patreon is going to be a sequel to the Hungry Dreaming. However, Heather will be doing a lot of historical research on it so I'm not sure when it will start popping up.
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May 5, 2022 06:50
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Yeah, we will literally be in the throes of spiraling climate change disasters by then. The world will end before his big trilogy about the world ending.
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May 5, 2022 06:56
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Jim Butcher has a new life now. I think his books came from an unhappy place & now he's happier and doesn't care about / need to express via his work so much. I hope his ex wife's editing efforts were appreciated.
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May 5, 2022 07:04
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"The girl who can move poo poo with her mind" series is a fun read. There are 3 out so far. The first one is kinda rough but I like the setting and it doesn't shy away from consequences when poo poo goes bad. The writing in 2 and 3 is more polished and it goes some interesting places.
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May 5, 2022 07:07
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Ninurta posted:The next Schaefer work on Patreon is going to be a sequel to the Hungry Dreaming. However, Heather will be doing a lot of historical research on it so I'm not sure when it will start popping up. I read that they were going to keep using their dead name as their pen name, so now I'm wondering where the appropriate line is for name referencing on forums like this? Like, unless you're their personal friend or someone they otherwise have a relationship with that isn't "I read their books", using their chosen name almost feels like being rude in a "you're acting too familiar about someone who doesn't even know you" way? Like using a doctor's first name instead of "Dr. Lastname" when they haven't explicitly said "call me by my first name"? Not the best metaphor but the point is avoiding disrespecting a stranger. Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 18:36 on May 5, 2022 |
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May 5, 2022 15:21
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It's an interesting question in the era of parasocial relationships. The dead name is effectively the corporate entity separate from the person. This has been effectively true for a while as an 'author' byline in publishing is as much the amalgamated entity including the editing, marketing, and other publishing persons as much as the author themselves. Now we have Twitter and people feel an attachment to the individual behind the cover, so you have to split off the author from the Author.
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May 5, 2022 15:38
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I posted this in the KU thread, and hopefully its ok to post here too. I've just self-published my urban fantasy Unit 13: Only Ghouls and Horses. https://viewbook.at/OnlyGhoulsAndHorses If you like jokes about office bureaucracy then this book is for you. Also, it has some magic, hunting witches, trying to exorcise ghosts and stuff like that to pad out the jokes about bureaucracy.
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May 5, 2022 16:54
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Sloth Life posted:Jim Butcher has a new life now. I think his books came from an unhappy place & now he's happier and doesn't care about / need to express via his work so much. After reading book 16 I know I appreciated her efforts in hindsight on the previous 15 books.
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May 5, 2022 17:21
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Ninurta posted:The next Schaefer work on Patreon is going to be a sequel to the Hungry Dreaming. However, Heather will be doing a lot of historical research on it so I'm not sure when it will start popping up. Did they do the sci fi story that was announced or was that put on the back burner?
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May 5, 2022 18:24
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M_Gargantua posted:It's an interesting question in the era of parasocial relationships. The dead name is effectively the corporate entity separate from the person. This has been effectively true for a while as an 'author' byline in publishing is as much the amalgamated entity including the editing, marketing, and other publishing persons as much as the author themselves. If you look at their current Twitter bio that says their pen name is Heather Schaefer. I guess the article I read the other day about this was wrong? Edit: I took a shot and sent a DM since speculation about someone should always takes a backseat to the actual person's preference.  There we go. Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 19:37 on May 5, 2022 |
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May 5, 2022 18:46
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Speaking of Schaefer, the new one (Any Minor World) was a lot of fun, a story with new characters and a big chunk of it set in the dystopian superhero parallel universe from that one chapter in the Locust Job. Felt like an affectionate tribute to vintage pulps (the Shadow, in particular) and comic books, while looking at what would happen to people living in an even more hosed up version of Gotham City. (The setting's one and only hero is a traumatized drunk and one of the villains, a cannibalistic psycho, is completely aware that she's a fictional character and loves it, because she knows she's a main character and therefore will never face any consequences for anything she does.) Also it's got a steampunk sledgehammer robot in a gimp suit, and a sand snake.
StonecutterJoe fucked around with this message at 21:10 on May 5, 2022 |
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May 5, 2022 19:39
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Junkenstein posted:Did they do the sci fi story that was announced or was that put on the back burner? The Sci-Fi story was wrapped up and Heather Schaefer had put up a vote for the next book to work on. The Hungry Dreaming sequel won out, but I was holding out hope for another dark fantasy. The Sci-Fi book is good, btw. It's sort of a fusion of Hungry Dreaming, Ghosts of Gotham, the future sequence from Faust and Titans thrown in for good measure. Ninurta fucked around with this message at 08:51 on May 6, 2022 |
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May 6, 2022 08:49
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Ninurta posted:The Sci-Fi story was wrapped up and Heather Schaefer had put up a vote for the next book to work on. The Hungry Dreaming sequel won out, but I was holding out hope for another dark fantasy. Is it the book that got released the other day, or is that a completely new book out of nowhere?
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May 6, 2022 10:28
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Junkenstein posted:Is it the book that got released the other day, or is that a completely new book out of nowhere? It is not Any Minor World, that is a separate book that was the previous Patreon serial. The Sci-Fi book is the Dead and Sleeping Stars, which could honestly serve as a sequel to any of the previous novels. There are witches, the Greek Pantheon and some cybernetics to boot as well as sleeping Titans best left in their depths. It has an Aliens-Shadowrun esthetic with a dash of Firefly/SF about a crew of misfits of your choice. If you are really interested in getting it early(AMM was finished in August 2021 so there's about an 8 month lag time but I believe the earlier books were quicker.) You can do a 1 month sub for $2 and get access to the whole thing, however in chapter by chapter format which can be a bit unwieldy. Edit: not sure why quote was cut off with my first post, fixed. Ninurta fucked around with this message at 07:48 on May 7, 2022 |
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May 7, 2022 07:46
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Finished the new Rivers of London book. It's more of the same; if you like the previous books in the series and want more of that, this is that. Ninurta posted:So, I recently finished up both Amongst Our Enemies (Rivers of London) and Suicide Kings (Eric Carter.) I found both enjoyable, but felt that the latter did a good job of expanding it's universe, showing off more hosed up Mage politics, and generally just having a bit more fun. I'm looking forward to the next books in both series, as well as the next Daniel Faust when it's released. Finally finished the new Rivers of London book. What a fun "run of the mill" series book after series ending Verus and the continuing chaos that is Dresden. I like how there's all this background meta development that is just a thing now (mainly the foxes and various cameos of characters I definitely barely remember from past books). Am I the only one that gets a mid series Stargate-ish vibe? Peter is no longer plucky guy out of his depth and his slow accumulation of things is starting to come together. Anyway, I could keep listening to a bunch more of these chill books before I get bored of the lack of high stakes big bad I think.
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May 8, 2022 05:28
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There's a Butcher book coming in October!...from his son. https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Mans-Ha...ps%2C115&sr=8-1
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May 10, 2022 08:20
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Ninurta posted:There's a Butcher book coming in October!...from his son. The summary reads like Dresden files in Boston. Edit: It would be really funny if his mom edits it and it turns out to be better than the recent Dresden files. Calidus fucked around with this message at 13:35 on May 10, 2022 |
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May 10, 2022 12:43
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Xtanstic posted:Finally finished the new Rivers of London book. What a fun "run of the mill" series book after series ending Verus and the continuing chaos that is Dresden. I like how there's all this background meta development that is just a thing now (mainly the foxes and various cameos of characters I definitely barely remember from past books). Am I the only one that gets a mid series Stargate-ish vibe? Peter is no longer plucky guy out of his depth and his slow accumulation of things is starting to come together. Anyway, I could keep listening to a bunch more of these chill books before I get bored of the lack of high stakes big bad I think. The foxes made me laugh several times, so intent on their spycraft
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May 10, 2022 14:06
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ClydeFrog posted:The foxes made me laugh several times, so intent on their spycraft I love the foxes for being spies who can be compromised by cheese pastries and lap cuddles. I admit that I really missed Abigail Kamara in this book.
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May 10, 2022 17:22
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Everyone posted:I love the foxes for being spies who can be compromised by cheese pastries and lap cuddles. I admit that I really missed Abigail Kamara in this book. same, the fox trying to explain spycraft via cats, nazis, and cheese puffs is gold
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May 10, 2022 18:17
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Calidus posted:The summary reads like Dresden files in Boston. Here's hoping Pengiun assigned a better editor at any rate. They're publishing it but under the Ace Books imprint I guess to not dilute the Dresden Files brand? Speaking of, looks like there is a Toot-Toot short story released last week as part of an anthology, and James Marsters is narrating it on Audible. https://www.amazon.com/Heroic-Heart...ps%2C141&sr=8-2  Sorry for the Toot-sized image, that's all that is floating around on Amazon/Goodreads.
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May 11, 2022 03:49
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Ninurta posted:There's a Butcher book coming in October!...from his son. Welp, add "My son is humiliating me by writing better books" to Jim Butcher's reasons for never finishing the Dresden Files.
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May 15, 2022 02:04
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Better than Changes or better than Battle Ground? Because the former is hella impressive and the latter is regularly accomplished by the folks at Kelloggs designing cereal box copy.
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May 15, 2022 03:51
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Welp, add "My son is humiliating me by writing better books" to Jim Butcher's reasons for never finishing the Dresden Files. Is it actually any good?
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May 15, 2022 05:45
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ImpAtom posted:Is it actually any good? It doesn't need to be good, just needs to not be bad.
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May 15, 2022 06:00
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ImpAtom posted:Is it actually any good? It's not out yet - unless BBFU has an advance copy they're just speculating.
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May 15, 2022 11:42
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I meanimmoral_ posted:It doesn't need to be good, just needs to not be bad.
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May 15, 2022 13:01
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Everyone posted:I love the foxes for being spies who can be compromised by cheese pastries and lap cuddles. I admit that I really missed Abigail Kamara in this book. Yeah I was pretty ambivalent on any standalone Abigail story, but if it involves foxes in any shape I may have to rethink my position Ninurta posted:
Oh it's a short story collection. I definitely thought Butcher was now 'lending' his name to ghost-writters to further the series ala all the MilFic airport books. I guess if his son is now writing, maybe we'll eventually see Dresden finish even if Jim can't finish the job. Echo'ing the hope that he has a better editor than the most recent Dresden books though.
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May 15, 2022 19:22
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awesmoe posted:i feel like im the only person who reads those books because i like the character of peter grant I like Peter well enough, but one thing I've realized as I've worked my way through the series is that I have zero emotional investment in him.
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May 16, 2022 00:38
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Fighting Trousers posted:I like Peter well enough, but one thing I've realized as I've worked my way through the series is that I have zero emotional investment in him. Rivers of London suffers from the same "the world and its past is infinitely more interesting than the main character" syndrome as the Iron Druid books, except Peter is far less irritating a person than Atticus. Give me a God damned Folly/Nightingale/WWII series of novels.
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May 16, 2022 01:31
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Xtanstic posted:Yeah I was pretty ambivalent on any standalone Abigail story, but if it involves foxes in any shape I may have to rethink my position What Abigail Did That Summer involved many, many adorable foxes.
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May 16, 2022 03:11
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Rivers of London suffers from the same "the world and its past is infinitely more interesting than the main character" syndrome as the Iron Druid books, except Peter is far less irritating a person than Atticus. He really should just move on from Peter as the POV character for every book. I don't think the Laundry Files did a great job moving on from Bob so don't make that mistake but more of a shared would like Schaefer would be nice. I'd probably enjoy Peter more as a character if he he was only every third released book or something.
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May 16, 2022 06:33
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awesmoe posted:i feel like im the only person who reads those books because i like the character of peter grant No, I do too. The entire series is populated by fantastic characters, but I think Peter is interesting because he has a presence in so many different overlapping worlds.
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May 16, 2022 11:55
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