Dresden Files Catch-All (possible spoilers)

manta173 wrote:
Spoiler:

Just to make everyone think I'm writing more spoilers... lol... spoiler spoiler spoiler. Also, I am 5.

Spoiler:

Re-read the scene with Bob explaining Halloween and the scene with Kringle after the climax, consider the implications

Spoiler:

The next big thing that Dresden is going to have to face is his daughter. So far, the only time she's seen him is when he killed her mother. They both have a lot to deal with, and I want to watch.

Yes there was a comment at the end of Cold Days saying

Spoiler:

Halloween was a day for transferring a mantle. So there is a way out for both Harry and Molly at some point.

So when does the next one come out?

manta173 wrote:

So when does the next one come out?

+1

Tanglebones wrote:
manta173 wrote:

So when does the next one come out?

+1

Falchion wrote:

When's the next one coming out?

+100

I posted my closing thoughts about Cold Days in the reading thread. [link] [My Goodreads review]

I'll just echo the sentiment that Jim Butcher always comes correct. I'm amazed at how he can get away with things that would make a lesser novel seem ridiculous. Just compare how Patrick Rothfuss (a talented writer, if a bit immature) wrote about Qvothe and the crazy-sexy fairy-goddess-queen and how Butcher writes his crazy-sexy Winter Lady. Rothfuss comes off with all the nuance and subtlety of a Heather Thomas poster from when I was in Jr. High.

IMAGE(http://i2.squidoocdn.com/resize/squidoo_images/250/draft_lens3440712module32660422photo_1335156205a__.jpg)

Butcher does something else. Thank the goddesses for Jim Butcher.

Nice review on your blog. You're right about the plot and the work. There are some crazy things in the Dresden universe, but he can get away with it because it keeps a consistency. When I go back and read a book again, I see the clues for piecing together the end. Or when I go back and read older books where a character is introduced and then see where they are now, it makes sense.

I would assume he has a big "story bible" of sorts, that lays out where characters start, go, and end, and a pretty clear path plotted towards the final books. Seems like he's got his stuff together.

Just wish it was a few years from now and I could read them all.

So, if I was designing a Dresden Files deck building game, what card absolutely has to be in there?

This is not quite as non sequitur as it sounds.

Oso wrote:

Butcher does something else. Thank the goddesses for Jim Butcher.

Spoiler:

He really does have a core that's...more honest? More grounded? Something. He mashes all possible vampire mythologies together and you don't even notice. And also, all of his sexy vampires and faeries are deadly dangerous under the mask in decidedly unsexy ways (even in Storm Front, Bianca's true self is shown...and she cries).

I just reread Summer Knight, and Maeve's menace isn't just posturing...she kills a man in front of our eyes before even being properly introduced, and comes within an inch of ensnaring Dresden. And yet the light and life of Summer can be just as deadly.

And his writing skill has improved by leaps and bounds.

Just picked up the first book of this series. I'm gonna have to get them all, aren't I?

mwdowns wrote:

Just picked up the first book of this series. I'm gonna have to get them all, aren't I?

Yes, yes you are....

On a side note -

Spoiler:

once attended a signing with him and he spent an hour answering questions first. He has 21-22 books planned as well as a post apocalyptic trilogy to finish it off.

mwdowns wrote:

Just picked up the first book of this series. I'm gonna have to get them all, aren't I?

Pretty much, and here's the kicker - the first book is one of the weakest in the series. Book 2 is worse while Book 3 is better, but Butcher finally finds the tone and style that gels everything together and the quality actually jumps a level in Book 4. And just keeps getting better with each one after that.

EDIT: Oh and if you like what I've been (badly) doing with my side/twitter fiction writing project. You'll love the Dresden Files. Much of it is modeled after this.

Sold, Falchion. Your twitter side project was one of the things I was thinking about when I decided to give this a try.

Falchion wrote:
mwdowns wrote:

Just picked up the first book of this series. I'm gonna have to get them all, aren't I?

Pretty much, and here's the kicker - the first book is one of the weakest in the series. Book 2 is worse while Book 3 is better, but Butcher finally finds the tone and style that gels everything together and the quality actually jumps a level in Book 4. And just keeps getting better with each one after that.

The first three books were already written when he found a publisher (which apparently helped sell it to the publisher), so they're the most uneven. The first six books or so are our introductions to the different major factions in the setting, yet he also manages to kick off major events and ongoing plot threads. Short version: if you like the first one, you're probably going to really like the 15th one.

EDIT: Oh and if you like what I've been (badly) doing with my side/twitter fiction writing project. You'll love the Dresden Files. Much of it is modeled after this.

Speaking of which, I'm still stuck with those problems with our dungeon master...

Falchion wrote:

EDIT: Oh and if you like what I've been (badly) doing with my side/twitter fiction writing project. You'll love the Dresden Files. Much of it is modeled after this.

Sounds interesting. Are the details of this posted elsewhere or just on your twitter?

Yeah my friend bought me the Book 1-3 pack for my birthday in 2010. I ended up using Amazon gift card money to buy the other 9 books that were available a few weeks later.

manta173 wrote:
Falchion wrote:

EDIT: Oh and if you like what I've been (badly) doing with my side/twitter fiction writing project. You'll love the Dresden Files. Much of it is modeled after this.

Sounds interesting. Are the details of this posted elsewhere or just on your twitter?

Check out https://twitter.com/Con_FES.

mwdowns wrote:
manta173 wrote:
Falchion wrote:

EDIT: Oh and if you like what I've been (badly) doing with my side/twitter fiction writing project. You'll love the Dresden Files. Much of it is modeled after this.

Sounds interesting. Are the details of this posted elsewhere or just on your twitter?

Check out https://twitter.com/Con_FES.

Thanks for that, also Manta you can refer to the original thread where it started here: Con-FES: Contact Falchion Eldrich Services

Gremlin wrote:

Speaking of which, I'm still stuck with those problems with our dungeon master...

Good point. Really need to get back to the long form reports. It's been quite restrictive working in just twitter but that's part of how I'm trying to improve my storytelling.

Back to topic, I actually like the really low level magics as used in Book 1 of the Dresden Files. Even as a full Wizard, the magics that Dresden calls up requires alot of prep time and focus. As the series goes on the power levels increase, naturally, and while exciting I do sometimes wish that we could have seen more of the "blue-collar" level of magic workings that have now been pushed off-camera, like how Harry works less and less in his lab.

It's that blue-collar, "everyday mess with magic tech support guy" feel that I'm trying to capture back.
On that note, I've been meaning to pick up "The Laundry Files" series by Charles Stross as I hear it's somewhat similar to "The Dresden Files" and what I'm doing.

I do really feel sad that Dresden's no longer noir in the least. It's very much becoming about a superhero who just happens to be named Dresden, fighting more and more world-shattering events. I still enjoy that, mind you, but it makes me miss the smaller stories where it was just about some PI in Chicago who happened to have some powers.

Though if you're interested in that I must say Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus Series seems to be following that line much more solidly than Jim Butcher has in either of his series; Alex Verus doesn't really gain any new powers over the course of the three books so far, he just manages to survive based upon what he has on him and his few allies. I really like that kind of world, where everyone is just straight-up-and-down more powerful than the main character.

bnpederson wrote:

I do really feel sad that Dresden's no longer noir in the least. It's very much becoming about a superhero who just happens to be named Dresden, fighting more and more world-shattering events. I still enjoy that, mind you, but it makes me miss the smaller stories where it was just about some PI in Chicago who happened to have some powers.

I was going to write something to this effect in the thread earlier, but decided against it since I still absolutely love the series, and I don't like complaining about change if the result is still great.

...buuut I do sometimes miss the smaller scale of the older books. I miss the whole wizard-in-the-phone book and his office with his pamphlets and all that jazz. I hope we get a bit more of that in the next few books, I can't help but feel that he's going to suffer from power creep if he keeps upping the ante. But he's done an amazing job keeping things plausible so far, so I guess I shouldn't doubt him.

Narratively speaking, I think power creep is mostly a problem when the opposition doesn't scale up with the character. Dresden's problems have not been getting smaller, especially in Changes and Cold Days. Not to mention his internal conflicts, which, while he hasn't been angsting over them much, are not getting any fewer in number.

I'm only up to his reunion with Karin so far. Is it just me or does Dresden get his ass handed to him more and more this novel? Here he is, the badass (spoilered for those catching up)

Spoiler:

Winter Knight

that heaven and hell fear, but he's beaten into putty by a

Spoiler:

dude with a baseball bat and some tiny fairies.

Nevin73 wrote:

I'm only up to his reunion with Karin so far. Is it just me or does Dresden get his ass handed to him more and more this novel? Here he is, the badass (spoilered for those catching up)

Spoiler:

Winter Knight

that heaven and hell fear, but he's beaten into putty by a

Spoiler:

dude with a baseball bat and some tiny fairies.

This is what I love about these books... and the whole time it's happening he keeps thinking how ridiculous it is. No one can't be taken on by good planning and some organization.

Unfortunately Dresden normally doesn't get that great of a chance to do either most of the time... which makes for lots of "lets just wing it" fun.

Gremlin wrote:

Narratively speaking, I think power creep is mostly a problem when the opposition doesn't scale up with the character. Dresden's problems have not been getting smaller, especially in Changes and Cold Days. Not to mention his internal conflicts, which, while he hasn't been angsting over them much, are not getting any fewer in number.

This. Exactly.

Dresden's relative power compared to the competition is still the same: they can kick his ass. I've read Butcher describe the original idea for Dresden as being equal parts John McClain (Bruce Willis in Die Hard) and angry Gandalf with some Chandler shamus thrown in for spice.

I'd be happy with the occasional short story that goes back to when Dresden was a detective in his own office or w/ Ragged Angel Investigations, but I think Butcher meant it when he blew up Harry's office and apartment in Changes.

Oso wrote:

I'd be happy with the occasional short story that goes back to when Dresden was a detective in his own office or w/ Ragged Angel Investigations, but I think Butcher meant it when he blew up Harry's office and apartment in Changes.

If you haven't read the short stories, most of them, so far, are pre-Changes and are more or less in this vein. It depends on if he continues the trend with the recent Bigfoot short stories, or if he continues to stick close to the chronology, as most of the past short stories have:
IMAGE(http://isaackarth.com/files/public/pubchronchart.png)

That is the stupidest graph I have ever seen.

A book timeline should just be a flat line of stories in chronological order. And if you want to put the publication date in () after the titles, that's fine. Colors for short story, novel, graphic novel is nice.

But the way it's laid out in that chart is confusing as hell, too small to read, and not really helpful in the least.

Where can I pay to get the bigfoot stories as they are the only ones I haven't read? (I think)

Stele wrote:

That is the stupidest graph I have ever seen.

A book timeline should just be a flat line of stories in chronological order. And if you want to put the publication date in () after the titles, that's fine. Colors for short story, novel, graphic novel is nice.

But the way it's laid out in that chart is confusing as hell, too small to read, and not really helpful in the least.

It wasn't meant to be a timeline; it's more of a tongue-in-cheek comparison of publication date vs internal chronology.

manta173 wrote:

Where can I pay to get the bigfoot stories as they are the only ones I haven't read? (I think)

The page for Side Jobs lists the short stories that are missing, and the anthologies where they can be found. In addition to the Bigfoot stories, there's one in the RPG, ones involving the curse on the Cubs, one from Marcone's point-of-view, and an upcoming one from Molly's point-of-view.

manta173 wrote:

Where can I pay to get the bigfoot stories as they are the only ones I haven't read? (I think)

Your question led me to look for the Dresdenverse stories that aren't collected in Side Jobs. Here's the list I've made:

Blah. Just got Side Jobs finally and now to see that there's enough stories for a Side Jobs 2 that aren't in it...

Thanks!

I want to read them all in order on my next read through of the series since last time I was going through the books I didn't get to Side Jobs until later.