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Oroborus posted:My kindle is like 4 years old and the warranty is well past due. They did offer me a discount on a new one but it wasn't a big one. I guess I will just use my phone to read on Tuesday. Remember you can also download the kindle for PC app and just read it on your computer (presuming you have access to a computer since you're here).
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May 24, 2014 18:33
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Ok, that was silly-awesome. I'm glad this one got back to just being a straight up single-volume rolling story with a few nice high points and a clean win at the end. Feels like one of the best volumes in the series to date, and exactly what the series needed right now, a nice clean excellent return to episodic form.
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May 27, 2014 11:13
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ImpAtom posted:The feeling I get from it is basically a quiet retcon of its abilities to justify Dresden giving it up without significant power loss in the near future. It really doesn't mesh with everything that was described up until now. Well, for most normal humans, suddenly being able to do really powerful and finely-controlled frost magic would be a major, major power boost. And they might get wizard-style healing from the mantle, too. This could be a case where a wizard getting a mantle is kinda like putting fudge topping on a fudge brownie, if that makes sense.
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May 27, 2014 20:40
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Please remember to use spoiler tags, folks. I know it seems crazy that anyone reading this thread right now hasn't read the new book but someone might come info the thread to ask if it's out yet or something.
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May 28, 2014 12:47
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The problem with Murphy is Butcher has kinda written himself into a corner with her. The more powerful everything gets the less able Murphy is to keep up. Her character arc kinda peaked in the post-Changes short story and there aren't many places for her to go from here; giving her a Sword was too obvious and almost anything else would involve her going evil given the strictures of Butcher's world. .
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May 28, 2014 13:03
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Silento posted:
The spear that pierced Christ's side during the Crucifixion -- essentially, the weapon that actually dealt Christ's death blow. In the Grail Legend, the Fisher King was wounded by the Holy Lance, and hence could only be healed by drinking from the Grail.. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 19:53 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 19:51
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Hoping this pans out so I can say I predicted something at least one time.
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Xtanstic posted:My guess is he met him in a short story that hasn't yet been collected into a compilation There's a series of three Harry Dresden stories about Bigfoot. quote:“I Was A Teenage Bigfoot” — from Blood Lite 3: Aftertaste, edited by Kevin J. Anderson.
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May 29, 2014 01:25
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Tornhelm posted:I doubt he'll go this way, but also: Probably be easier to just go House of David.
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May 29, 2014 05:06
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There's some good evidence for the Cowl-as-Fomor theory but I can't remember all of it off the top of my head. It would explain the cowl, for one thing, without it being a cheap gimmick along the lines of "cowl is Justin" or "Cowl is Future Harry"; he's not wearing the cowl because Harry would recognize him, but because everyone would see his gills. Also he uses some Fae speech formulations like "thrice I ask and done," and some of his magic has a mildewy signature or something like that.
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May 29, 2014 16:12
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docbeard posted:
And while juggling a baby in his left (broken) hand.
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May 29, 2014 16:33
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I'm so ready for Harry to pull a "The Boys are Back in Town" on the Fomor.
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May 30, 2014 14:31
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Getting back to general urban fantasy, there's a Charles Stross Laundry Files short up on Tor.com : http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/09/equoid
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May 30, 2014 17:25
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Fried Chicken posted:Since September, yes. Tor is nice about leaving those up there for years. Also no DRM Heh, sorry then :P I saw it as part of a new post about tor.com's original fiction hugo finalists being free: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/05/get-torcoms-original-fiction-hugo-finalists-for-free
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May 30, 2014 17:38
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I'm waiting for Harry's reaction to Bob asking Lil Lash out on a date. Or to "swap information.".
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Jun 4, 2014 21:45
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ZorajitZorajit posted:
The impression I get is that "reality" is somewhat flexible in the Dresdenverse once you get far enough up the power scale -- i.e., the God of Abraham might be both just following the rules laid out for all the other small-g gods, and also the One True God of Creation.
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Jun 8, 2014 23:46
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Going through my re-read. We still don't have confirmation of who was behind the Hexenwolf belts in Fool Moon, correct? Apart from a general indication that it may have been Lord Raith, since 1) Raith was probably behind the events of Storm Front, 2) the Hexenwolves were told Harry was dangerous (thus aiming them at him somewhat indirectly), 3) the White Court operates indirectly, and 4) there seems to have been a Nemesis connection? Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Jun 9, 2014 |
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Jun 9, 2014 00:05
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Screen Door Slams posted:Wait, where're you getting the Raith-Storm Front connection? I never picked up on that. It's subtly hinted in a few different ways. The biggest hint is that Victor Sell's previous employer was "SilverCo". Plus it fits the same MO as in Blood Rites, Sells uses lust to power his magic, the first two targets are direct competitors, etc. electricsugar posted:
Every other aspect of the series gets significantly better! Real answer: he gets slightly better about it but this is probably the area where he's shown the least improvement overall. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 12:54 on Jun 9, 2014 |
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Jun 9, 2014 12:45
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Roger Tangerines posted:To be fair, objectifying descriptions of women are a staple of the detective novels that inspired Dresden. After the first couple of books Butcher shifts away from Harry being horribly fedora-in-the-2010s goony about women and brings him more into line with fedora-in-the-30s PIs, and from there on it's not so noticable. Yeah the problem is that in Skin Game and Cold Days he just sortof went off the deep end with the objectification. Nothing in Skin Game was as unnecessary as the "vajazzling."
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Jun 10, 2014 02:12
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mbottoms posted:I thought the vajazzling was totally in character for maeve. It was, but . . still.
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Jun 10, 2014 04:07
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treeboy posted:
When Harry is pierced by iron in Skin Game, he doesn't become paralyzed, whereas when he said "gently caress Winter Law" in Cold Days, he did. My guess is that saying "gently caress winter law" broke his bargain with Mab in some way and actually undid the prior healing (temporarily). Either way it seems like it's probably an important distinction.
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Jun 10, 2014 15:01
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New personal pet theory as I work my way through the re-read: Ivy's mother is in a persistent vegetative state. Nicodemus has the Grail.
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Jun 12, 2014 19:16
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Xtanstic posted:Wait how is this possible? I thought Ivy's mom is dead, or else Ivy wouldn't be The Archive. It's in Death Masks. The Archive mantle passed to Ivy when her mother went into the persistent vegetative state.
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Jun 12, 2014 19:21
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Xtanstic posted:So are you assuming The Grail has restorative properties, ala The Last Crusade? Would that fit in-universe when we already have The Shroud of Turin? Well, it's a traditional power: the whole point of the Grail in Arthurian Mythology (shameless plug!) is that drinking from it cures incurable wounds. That's why they're all questing for it -- to heal the Fisher King.
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Jun 12, 2014 19:32
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TenaciousJ posted:Flaws make characters relatable, and Dresden himself does a pretty good job of letting us know it's not acceptable to act on those thoughts. I just wish Dresden was making a little more progress as a character in this area instead of backsliding so badly. The high point on his character arc in this regard was probably when he told Molly that sex with his apprentice was never, ever going to happen because that would be morally wrong. Since that time . . . well, the past few books have been verging into John Ringo -esque "I hate rapists because I'm a rapist at heart myself but don't act on it" voyeur-porn. It's a known character flaw, it's explained in the plot and there are story reasons for it, just. . yeurgh. It's not like Winter is mating season.
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Jun 13, 2014 16:05
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Wachepti posted:No, I understand that's the prevailing view around here but I don't think it makes much sense. I'm inclined to agree with you that "The Adversary" was a reference to the White God in that context. I do partly wonder if "Nemesis" in the Dresdenverse is another name for Lucifer -- it doesn't seem likely but it does seem possible.
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Jun 13, 2014 16:17
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Scintilla posted:One interesting thing I picked up from re-reading Cold Days was Sarissa mentioning to Harry that her sister (Whom we later find out is Maeve) has a form of congenital dementia. Which explains a lot. My reading of that is that she's referring to her sister being Fae.
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Jun 13, 2014 23:41
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Tunicate posted:'Eldest' is apparently one of the more powerful mantles. Which makes sense, given the long-term popularity of the Three Billy Goats Gruff story.
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Jun 18, 2014 15:25
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There's "mortal" and there's "human." "Human" seems to mean "still has free will," i.e., capable of making choices and not purely an instrument or agent of Power. The more power you have, generally, the less choice you have -- vampires are in thrall to their vampire nature, the Fae are bound by Summer and Winter and their word and promises and so forth, Angels and Archangels have very very strict boundaries they can act within, etc. I don't know if "mortal" is synonymous with "human" in the Dresden lexicon but it seems to be pretty close in meaning.
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Jun 18, 2014 20:35
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Lord Twisted posted:I confess I skipped a page or two of this thread but I thought the Gate of Blood was explainable! I think it probably needed a willing shade that would actually open the gate after death.
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Jun 19, 2014 16:31
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Fried Chicken posted:I figure ultimately he will do the "consume your magical power" thing of the dark hallow to the prisoners in demo reach. He's far away so no one else will die and he destroys a bunch if evil things to boost himself/replenish the areas energy That might be how he goes out at the very, very end of the series.
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Jun 19, 2014 18:55
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Taratang posted:Frankly Dresden is very lucky to have regained the Winter mantle after breaking Winter Law. I'm not sure Dresden ever actually did break Winter Law. He just declared an intention to break Winter Law, and he is still mortal (that being the whole point of the Knights) so still does technically have choice.
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Jun 19, 2014 22:05
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-Fish- posted:New question for the thread: Do the Ghostbusters count as urban fantasy? Ghostbusters is sci-fi.
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Jun 21, 2014 20:09
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computer parts posted:if it was set 400 years earlier but with the same premise it wouldn't be. But it's set in the present and ultimately, they're scientists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEbSABWJiJc
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Jun 22, 2014 00:42
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Deptfordx posted:Isn't Binders whole Schtick "Always professional", which means never mixing business with pleasure. I have a sneaking suspicion that Binder was one of Jim's secondary City of Heroes characters (a summoner).
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Jun 27, 2014 18:32
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Illuyankas posted:Black Mages is copyrighted. Also, let's face it, racist. (with a hat tip to the PC Grant / Rivers of London series for pointing that out in hilarious fashion)
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Jun 29, 2014 04:18
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Renegret posted:That's good.  There you go. That's all you need to know. Jim's a geek but he's the best kind of friendly, self-aware, non-disturbing geek.
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Jun 29, 2014 15:22
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SolTerrasa posted:Halting State is by far my favorite Stross book, too. Do we have a Stross thread around here? It's nothing at all like the Dresden Files so there's not a ton to say in this thread, but it's amazing and I want to talk about it. Now would be a great time for someone to start a Stross thread since the new Laundry Files book is out, but please put all Rhesus related content in spoilers, if only because I'm like actively reading the book right now but still have to read the reports when people report things for being spoilers. Thanks!
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Jul 1, 2014 21:12
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https://twitter.com/longshotauthor/status/489256627812315136/photo/1
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Jul 16, 2014 05:40
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awesmoe posted:Just to give another view on The Rook, I thought it was amateur-hour babby's-first-novel NaNoWriMo bullshit. I thought it was written terribly, not actually edited at all, and everything else about it was pretty bad too. It's like that kindle favourite 'the many lives of tao' in that I wasn't sure the book I was reading was the same one people recommended. Did you check? There are actually like three different novels with that title. It is definitely a first novel but I thought it was at least as good as, say, the first Dresden book. If nothing else, it's got a female protagonist who's self-directed and not just chasing a man.
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Aug 2, 2014 22:27
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ImpAtom posted:I never understood why people got upset at Murphy in Fool Moon considering basically the only thing she is doing wrong is not assuming Harry Dresden's plotcock is so gigantic he should be allowed to get away with lying and obstructing a murder investigation. ImpAtom posted:That's demonstrably false though. SI has been handling supernatural threats for some time. It's their entire reason for existing. They have trouble with super-high level major dangers but even in that case it is literally their job to do whatever they can to handle it. Yeah, I get why people are annoyed by parts of Fool Moon but it's a critical book for Harry's and Murphy's character development and it has one of the best set-piece action sequences in the early series (Loup-Garou in the prison).
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Aug 15, 2014 17:28
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