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Logan 5
Jan 29, 2007

Bash -> To the Cop
Just breezed through Blood Rites since it followed Death Masks. Not a lot of denarian stuff in it obviously but I did notice that a few times before the Hellfire even shows up on his staff Harry loses, or near-loses, his temper and the energy/magic he builds up is described as "crimson". Which I thought was pretty interesting considering the last time he had and used magic described in such terms is after gaining back his power and more from Kravos in Death Masks. I'm not entirely sure if this is just to show that the source of his power at the moment is tainted or that Harry himself can be the source of that kind of angry, murderous magic. Probably both though, Butcher has always written it as if Harry is constantly walking a line of temptation and power. Perhaps even one his mother didnt thread so well.

Speaking of which, I hope we get a little more tidbits at least from Skin Game on that front. The links to The Merlin and the Arthurian legend there just tease at me, from her last name being so close to le Fay (sometimes considered The Merlin's biggest nemesis), Mab's particular interest in Harry, hell even her middle name (Gwendolyn) is used early in its etymology as a name for the wife of Merlinus, the proto-Merlin basically. And lest we forget that it seems like the infection that the adversary uses seems to have originated from the athame of Morgan Le Fay. How this all might connect to Harry being the Warden of the Merlin's prison, and his mysterious starborn birth stuff, is just to fun a web of mystery not to speculate about.

And it just occurred to me that although we know Ebenezer is Harry's grandfather, we know absolutely nothing about his grandmother. I mean, it could be completely insignificant and just be normal person that Ebenezer has simply far outlived, but considering that he's still around and its never mentioned once nor has Harry gotten more details about his family that he must know existed, it just suddenly seemed to me as a subtle but suspicious omission.

Ok, I'm going to stop now. Is it the 27th yet?

e: should I spoiler any of this? I really wouldnt want someone new to the series to read it :ohdear:

Logan 5 fucked around with this message at 12:36 on May 26, 2014

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Skippy McPants
Mar 19, 2009

Logan 5 posted:

e: should I spoiler any of this? I really wouldnt want someone new to the series to read it :ohdear:

Someone new to this series should have the common sense to avoid threads like this, and if they don't, it's their own drat fault.

Only spoiler stuff related to new releases.

fordan
Mar 9, 2009

Clue: Zero

Wittgen posted:

I decided to reread Death Masks in anticipation of Skin Game. It's been a long time since I read an early book, and it's really interesting looking back. For example, I had forgotten how hostile Charity was to Dresden early on. It's cool how much Harry saving Molly multiple times really changed her attitude.

I'm assuming once Harry tells Michael & Charity about what happens at the end of Cold Days it'll be just like old times! :allears:

Oroborus
Jul 6, 2004
Here we go again

Logan 5 posted:

Merlin stuff

Wasn't Merlin born of a mortal woman and an incubus?

Logan 5
Jan 29, 2007

Bash -> To the Cop

Skippy McPants posted:

Someone new to this series should have the common sense to avoid threads like this, and if they don't, it's their own drat fault.

Only spoiler stuff related to new releases.

Okey dokie.

Oroborus posted:

Wasn't Merlin born of a mortal woman and an incubus?

Yes I believe so. Although my knowledge of the Arthurian legend is mostly hodgepodge media over the years and what I read online (aka wikipedia). I'd love to hear what anybody with any bit studied background in it thinks.

Skimming through Dead Beat now. Noticed that when Harry's in Bock's book shop and "Shiela" helps him find the Die Lied der Erlking he notes that the book had been compiled out of old wizard writings by the "Wizard Peabody early last century".

Foreshadowing :allears:

Angry Lobster
May 16, 2011

Served with honor
and some clarified butter.

Logan 5 posted:

Skimming through Dead Beat now. Noticed that when Harry's in Bock's book shop and "Shiela" helps him find the Die Lied der Erlking he notes that the book had been compiled out of old wizard writings by the "Wizard Peabody early last century".

Foreshadowing :allears:

Yup, noticed that in my recent reread but then I asked myself: Why did Cowl needed that copy from Dresden when he could have asked Peabody for a copy of the poem if it's true that both of them were Black Council?

tithin
Nov 14, 2003


[Grandmaster Tactician]



Angry Lobster posted:

Yup, noticed that in my recent reread but then I asked myself: Why did Cowl needed that copy from Dresden when he could have asked Peabody for a copy of the poem if it's true that both of them were Black Council?

Presumably because he had written it a century prior and didn't have idetic memory?

why oh WHY
Apr 25, 2012

So like I said, not my fault. Nobody can judge me for it.
But, yeah...
Okay.
I admit it.
Human teenager Rainbow Dash was hot!

Sir Rabia Tirnova posted:

Presumably because he had written it a century prior and didn't have idetic memory?

Yeah, but Angry Lobster was saying that Cowl could have just gotten a copy from Peabody. He compiled the book so presumably he would have a copy of the book.

Edit: God dammit I really need to change my profile picture It creeps me out everytime I see it.

Tornhelm
Jul 26, 2008

Logan 5 posted:

e: should I spoiler any of this? I really wouldnt want someone new to the series to read it :ohdear:

Only really need to spoiler new stuff, or if someone comes into the thread and says they've started reading the series. Then we get all spoilery so that they can keep on coming in and posting their reactions which is :allears: and simultaneously annoy the people who start crying whenever we spoiler stuff from the older books.

Nihilarian
Oct 2, 2013


why oh WHY posted:

Edit: God dammit I really need to change my profile picture It creeps me out everytime I see it.
Who'd you piss off to get it in the first place?

Angry Lobster posted:

Yup, noticed that in my recent reread but then I asked myself: Why did Cowl needed that copy from Dresden when he could have asked Peabody for a copy of the poem if it's true that both of them were Black Council?
I never even thought of that. That's a very good question.

Korgan
Feb 14, 2012


It's been the 27th for like half an hour now, hurry up and release already. :(

Bloody American timezone-centric release dates.

AllTerrineVehicle
Jan 8, 2010

I'm great at boats!

Angry Lobster posted:

Yup, noticed that in my recent reread but then I asked myself: Why did Cowl needed that copy from Dresden when he could have asked Peabody for a copy of the poem if it's true that both of them were Black Council?

I can come up with two possibilities. The first, is that much like the Grey Council, the Black Council is organized into cells. It's entirely possible Cowl et al simply didn't know that Peabody was Black Council.

The second option, and one I find more interesting, is that they may not have even been on the same side at all. Given what Kumori said about necromancy etc being able to be used for good, I think it's entirely possible that there is a Black Council operating that is not working as an agent of Nemesis, but in fact is opposing the Outsider forces. If you think about it, turning yourself into a demigod (via darkhallow) would be a pretty drat good way to arm yourself for defending reality.

I'm probably missing a bunch of things that poke holes in this but I pretty much have the shakes waiting for Skin Game to be in my hands.

docbeard
Jul 19, 2011

The other, simpler possibility is that Cowl didn't want to secure the Lied for himself as much as he wanted to keep it out of the hands of his rivals. Even if he already had it (or didn't need it), locking down the other copies in Chicago could have delayed the other Kemmlerites (and Harry) enough so they couldn't stop him.

Clinton1011
Jul 11, 2007

docbeard posted:

The other, simpler possibility is that Cowl didn't want to secure the Lied for himself as much as he wanted to keep it out of the hands of his rivals. Even if he already had it (or didn't need it), locking down the other copies in Chicago could have delayed the other Kemmlerites (and Harry) enough so they couldn't stop him.

This is the case, Kumori even tells him he doesn't need to hand it over just destroy it & they would be happy. Happens outside of Bock's Books.

why oh WHY
Apr 25, 2012

So like I said, not my fault. Nobody can judge me for it.
But, yeah...
Okay.
I admit it.
Human teenager Rainbow Dash was hot!

Nihilarian posted:

Who'd you piss off to get it in the first place?

Pretty sure it was ConfusedUs. I joked about wishing I had given him his retarded Dresden/Pony crossover fanfiction picture and like a day later there I was with one of my own.

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





why oh WHY posted:

Pretty sure it was ConfusedUs. I joked about wishing I had given him his retarded Dresden/Pony crossover fanfiction picture and like a day later there I was with one of my own.

Nope. Someone gave me one too

why oh WHY
Apr 25, 2012

So like I said, not my fault. Nobody can judge me for it.
But, yeah...
Okay.
I admit it.
Human teenager Rainbow Dash was hot!

ConfusedUs posted:

Nope. Someone gave me one too

drat oh well. Yours is way less creepy at least.

Lord Hydronium
Sep 25, 2007

Non, je ne regrette rien


AllTerrineVehicle posted:

The second option, and one I find more interesting, is that they may not have even been on the same side at all. Given what Kumori said about necromancy etc being able to be used for good, I think it's entirely possible that there is a Black Council operating that is not working as an agent of Nemesis, but in fact is opposing the Outsider forces. If you think about it, turning yourself into a demigod (via darkhallow) would be a pretty drat good way to arm yourself for defending reality.
Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, Cowl was working with Outsiders in White Night.

e: So I'm rereading Cold Days in preparation, and noticed something. Harry's headaches are caused by "the parasite", which people have been assuming is Lash. When Lily first talks about Nemesis to Harry, she describes it as "A disease. A parasite. A poison." Might just be a coincidence, but I thought it was an interesting word choice.

Lord Hydronium fucked around with this message at 16:40 on May 26, 2014

Subvisual Haze
Nov 22, 2003

The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault.
I got the impression that Cowl was playing the role of well intentioned extremist when we first met him. He was willing to use the power of the Darkhollow/necromancy to accumulate enough power to accomplish whatever his real goal was (presumably opposing the outsiders).

By White Knight though he's acting like a completely different character, so I think we can assume Nemesis has taken him over. He would have been an easy target after getting blowed up by his own ritual.

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012
Anyone else finished The Severed Streets yet? Because whoo, what a ride.

Ika
Dec 30, 2004
Pure insanity

Darth Walrus posted:

Anyone else finished The Severed Streets yet? Because whoo, what a ride.

Just got an email saying release has been pushed back to 2015, it was listed as beginning of june when I ordered :(

Ornamented Death
Jan 25, 2006

Pew pew!

Ika posted:

Just got an email saying release has been pushed back to 2015, it was listed as beginning of june when I ordered :(

Where do you live? Because I've gotten three copes from Amazon so far (they kept sending me damaged copies), so it's definitely out in the US and UK.

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012
Yeah, I'm from the UK and it came out on the 22nd over here, no problems on my end.

Ika
Dec 30, 2004
Pure insanity

I think the hardcover is out here as well, but I ordered the paperback since the release date was a week later and it was less than half the price. Guess someone mixed the dates up in the database. Guess I'll pick it up next time I'm in the UK cause there is no way I'm paying 20 euros for it.

Ika fucked around with this message at 18:50 on May 26, 2014

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





I'm about 25% through severed streets. It's good so far. But now I won't get it done before skin game. I'll have to pick it up after and I hope it doesn't taint my enjoyment.

apostateCourier
Oct 9, 2012


Skippy McPants posted:

It always kinda struck me as funny that Harry's healing factor, which is able to perfectly rehabilitate bone calluses and even regrow Axons after the Myelin has been char broiled, is somehow unable to deal with a little bit of fibrosis.

Oh well, 'rule of cool,' I suppose.

Remember that magic takes intent and the subconscious into effect. Harry's really attached to who he is and his memories. It'd make sense for him to be subconsciously suppressing his healing factor when it comes to his more memorable scars.

Hawkperson
Jun 20, 2003

Logan 5 posted:

Skimming through Dead Beat now. Noticed that when Harry's in Bock's book shop and "Shiela" helps him find the Die Lied der Erlking he notes that the book had been compiled out of old wizard writings by the "Wizard Peabody early last century".

Foreshadowing :allears:

In Turn Coat Harry even makes fun of Peabody for his lovely German in his book. It's before he reveals himself as a bad guy so it was much more entertaining to read the second time through.

404GoonNotFound
Aug 6, 2006

The McRib is back!?!?
And Peabody's response is to call German "a messy and imprecise language" :jerkbag:

SolTerrasa
Sep 2, 2011

404GoonNotFound posted:

And Peabody's response is to call German "a messy and imprecise language" :jerkbag:

"German is ... untidy". Amazing.

colbamf
Jan 10, 2011
I was lucky enough for Amazon to deliver my copy of Skin Game today. After reading it cover to cover, I can only say one thing; holy loving poo poo that was good.

colbamf fucked around with this message at 23:29 on May 26, 2014

Mygna
Sep 12, 2011
It's after midnight in Central European Time and Skin Game just showed up on my kindle. Time to disappear for a few hours.

Zore
Sep 21, 2010
willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d’etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

Hawkgirl posted:

In Turn Coat Harry even makes fun of Peabody for his lovely German in his book. It's before he reveals himself as a bad guy so it was much more entertaining to read the second time through.

Mostly a pisstake because so many people told Jim he hosed up the German after the fact.

It works so well as a character building scene though. :allears:

Illuyankas
Oct 22, 2010

It's on my kindle now so later thread (in the UK btw), time to read me some wizard

e: argh that was good but now I have to wait again argh

Illuyankas fucked around with this message at 04:18 on May 27, 2014

Ghetto Prince
Sep 11, 2010

got to be mellow, y'all
I got an early delivery email, but I guess it never showed up because it's memorial day.

:argh:

StoneOfShame
Jul 28, 2013

This is the best kitchen ever.
Skin Game is on my Kindle but I have to get up for work in five hours, no sleep tonight I guess.

effervescible
Jun 29, 2012

i will eat your soul
Counting another person who Amazon tried to deliver to a day early here.

I had my copy sent to the office.

Son of a bitch.

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





Still not unlocked for me here in the states, but man, I'm jonsing hard.

I might be up late tonight (I've got heartburn fierce after some lovely Mexican food), and if I'm still up when it unlocks...yeah, no sleep.

why oh WHY
Apr 25, 2012

So like I said, not my fault. Nobody can judge me for it.
But, yeah...
Okay.
I admit it.
Human teenager Rainbow Dash was hot!
I had mine delivered to work because I knew it would be delivered while I was there and now I'm wishing I'd taken my chances and had it delivered to my house so I could actually read it now instead of tomorrow. gently caress this waiting I'm about to break into Barnes and Noble to steal a copy.

tithin
Nov 14, 2003


[Grandmaster Tactician]



What the gently caress happened to the avatars of the people itt?

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William Bear
Oct 26, 2012

"That's what they all say!"
When can we begin to discuss Skin Game (in spoiler tags, of course)? I want to make a joke about a thing about a fourth of the way through.

I don't want to be the first one, though. It would be awkward.

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