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  Book 15, Skin Game will hit stores on May 27th, 2014.http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/skin-game-15 Cover  Click to enlarge The Jim Butcher/Dresden Files Megathread! Previous Thread: The Dresden Files (and more): A chitinous susurrus of good people The Thread Before That: The Dresden Files: Harry Doesn't Wear a Hat! Here we discuss anything and everything Jim Butcher. He's mainly known for the Dresden Files, but he wrote another, now-completed, series called the Codex Alera. Butcher is working on a new series, The Cinder Spires, which has some steampunk influence. There is no release date for the first novel yet. When we're not gushing over Jim Butcher, we talk about Druids of London's Laundry or some poo poo. That's other Urban Fantasy for the rest of you. Dresden Files Homepage Buy the books at Amazon. Wikipedia Article If you're new here... Please post. We're good people. We'll use spoiler tags if you ask, and all we ask in return is for you to post your impressions of the books you've read so far. Crackpot theories are strongly encouraged. It's a tradition. Series Synopsis The Dresden Files are set in a "alternate" Chicago where magic is real, but only a few actually believe in it; it's a first-person tale told by an irascible wizard named Harry Dresden, who regularly gives the magical establishment indigestion — and the police, the same. Take Sam Spade, your Average Joe Underdog Action Star, and toss in some spellcraft, and you get Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Heck of a guy. Harry's Warden Dossier, aka "Why the council is terrified of Dresden" http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php?topic=19774.0 (big spoilers) Why Should You Read The Dresden Files?  Because Mouse said so. Also because the books are fun. Far more fun than they have any right to be. There is also this  The Books There are currently fourteen books in the Dresden Files series, plus one anthology of short stories, called Side Jobs.  The fifteenth book, Skin Game, will be out on May 27th, 2014! Jim Butcher has said that there will be twenty-three volumes in the series. Twenty 'case books' and one final, apocalyptic trilogy. We're getting close, folks! Book Summaries Here's a quick summary of what each book is about!  "Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face." The introductory novel in which you meet Harry, Susan, and Murphy. There's a dark wizard doing bad things in Chicago, but Harry wizards up and brings the house down on his operation. For a first novel, it is excellent, but has nothing--nothing at all--on the later books in the series.  Then I drew in a breath, and my renewed will with it, lifted the rod in my right hand, murmured a phrase in a language I didn't know, and blew the tires off his loving truck. Starring Harry, a bunch of werewolves, and Murphy's Towering Inferiority Complex, Fool Moon is about on par with the first book. On the good side, this one gives you an idea of how well Butcher can write action scenes. On the down side, goddamn do I hate Murphy in this book. At least I can say that she's much better from here on. Fool Moon is universally panned as the worst book in the series. If you were annoyed with Murphy in Storm Front, or found Harry to be too goony, or were just otherwise unsatisfied with Storm Front, skip this one and move onto Grave Peril. The one thing Fool Moon has is excellent action scenes, but any time Harry's not blowing poo poo up, it's pretty flat.  "Holy poo poo. Hellhounds." "Harry, you know I don't like it when you swear." "Oh, sorry. Holy poo poo. Heckhounds." Who you gonna call? Murderous ghosts are popping up all over Chicago, and only Harry and Michael can stop them. Meanwhile, Harry's fairy godmother is back to collect payment for services rendered. And the vampires are throwing a party. This is where Dresden becomes something more than just another crappy Urban Fantasy series. The kinks have been worked out, a driving plot is established, and the new additions to the secondary cast add some much-needed spice. And I still contend that the final set piece at the end of this book is the most important scene in the series. Almost every major plot in the subsequent books can trace their origins back to there. From here, the series runs in high gear...for ever, with a few bumps here and there. Since this thread was first conceived, I've realized that the books I found a bit flat were others' favorites, and some of my favorites weren't so high on those others' lists. So read on!  "FOR THE PIZZA LORD! CHARGE!" Vampires and werewolves got you down? Longing for some shades of grey in your life? Then Summer Knight is perfect for you. When someone upsets the balance of power in Faerie, it's Harry Dresden who gets caught in the middle. The stakes: high. Do you prefer ice ages or rampant global warming?  "Speed of lightning! Roar of thunder! Fighting all who rob or plunder! Underdog!" A powerful religious artifact is stolen, fallen angels are tear-assing around Chicago, and the Knights of the Cross are here to even the odds. Plus, an old flame comes to visit. Can Harry and company stop armageddon while teaching the Fallen the value of a phone call? Of course they can!  "The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault!" Thomas Raith of the White Court needs a favor, and Thomas being what he is, it turns out to be more than Harry bargains for. But our favorite wizard rises to the challenge and fucks things up for everyone. There's loads of interesting character development and foreshadowing in this one.  "Because I'm too stubborn to die. And Thomas is too pretty to die. And you aren't going to die, Butters, because tomorrow is Oktoberfest and polka will never die!" Decades ago, the mighty necromancer Kemmler was finally destroyed by the Wardens, and this time it stuck. But now half a dozen of his disciples have come to Chicago, looking for Kemmler's long-lost knowledge. What's a wizard to do against the most powerful necromancers in the world? Dead Beat has, hands-down, the best climax in the entire series.   "Get away from her, you bitch." Horror movie monsters run amok at convention, news at eleven! Proven Guilty is littered with references to dozens of slasher flicks both real and imagined, but all is not as it seems. Read this one. It's the only way to be sure.  "In my judgment, my buildings are considerable less likely to burn to the ground during one of your visits if you are disoriented from being treated like a sultan." Someone's killing minor wizards in Chicago, and Harry's got to figure out who. Most leads point to his longtime associate Thomas--who just happens to be a vampire of the White Court. And when the Whites are involved, nothing is what it seems...  "Nay, but with sprinkles 'pon it, and frosting of white." A building blows up, a mobster is missing, and Mab, queen of the Winter Court of the Sidhe arrives on the scene. Harry owes her a favor, and she intends to collect. Like most of the books involving the Faeries, this one keeps you guessing until the end.  "Don't plan to bind or banish you, old ghost. Just gonna kick your rear end up between your ears." Harry's longtime antagonist and former wizardly probation officer shows up at Harry's door, asking for help. Seems he's wanted by the White Council of Wizards for a crime Harry knows he wouldn't do. Who's the real traitor in the White Council? Stop here if you are new to the series! "I have this problem with buildings..." The war between the White Council and the Red Court of vampires has gone on too long, so when Duchess Ortega and the Red King do the unthinkable, Harry's gonna lay the smack down. Changes heralds the series midpoint and lives up to its name. There will be a reckoning!  “The mad rarely know that they are mad. It's the rest of the world, I think, that seems insane to them.” Harry's dead, and the world is a darker place without him. Harry, now a ghost, must find a way to save the city and his friends, all of whom are in grave danger without his protection.  “I’d had a key to the marina’s locks at one time, but I’d lost track of it when I got shot, drowned, died, got revived into a coma, haunted my friends for a while, and then woke up in Mab’s bed. My life. Hell’s bells." Kitties and outsiders and Mab's BFF, oh my! Harry's back, and to hell with the consequences. Friend and foe alike must deal with the most dangerous Winter Knight in living memory as he struggles to retain his humanity. ConfusedUs fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Mar 17, 2014 |
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Aug 17, 2012 07:00
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 What do you get when you mix the Roman Empire and Pokemon? The Codex Alera! This is Jim Butcher's other fantasy series. Comprised of six books, Alera is complete. The last book, First Lord's Fury, hit shelves quite some time ago.       The series follows a boy, named Tavi, and his friends in their adventures in a spirited romp through the depths of slavery, war, treachery, and genocide. It also has the most hilarious origin story of any novel, ever. You could read my terrible summary below, but you're better off watching the youtube video from Comic Con 2008. It's told better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylKRYe0ZWHo If you hate youtube, here you go. Jim Butcher got into an internet flamewar. One side argued that a good idea, even terribly written, would sell. Butcher argued that even overused ideas could be twisted into a good, viable story. Idea guy challenged Butcher to write a story based on a terrible idea of idea guy's choice. Butcher said 'no, give me two terrible ideas.' Idea guy picked the lost Roman Legion, and Pokemon. Soon thereafter, Butcher started outlining the story while Big Trouble in Little China played in the background. And thus, Alera was born.
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Aug 17, 2012 07:01
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Book 15, Skin Game will hit stores on May 27th, 2014. http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/skin-game-15 Cover Click to enlarge ConfusedUs fucked around with this message at 21:25 on Jan 29, 2014 |
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Aug 17, 2012 07:01
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What Should I Read After Dresden? Updated Jan 28th 2014 Face it. Most Urban Fantasy is garbage, where the main (sexy!) character fucks her way through the legions of hell. But not all of it is terrible. Here's a list of the most popular recommendations from this thread. I hope you like London. Ben Aaronovitch: Rivers of London: Constable-Wizard apprentice in London. All awesome & Totally British. Unfortunately, the US release date tends to lag far behind the British release date (several months or more). Regarded by this thread as the best-written Urban Fantasy series to date. Charles Stross: Laundry Files: Computer Wizard, Agent & Cthulhu Mythos, with surprising respectful of Lovecraftian Horror. All Awesome & British. First book is a little slow. There are a couple of recent short stories, and the next book should be out sometime in 2014. Paul Cornell: London Falling: Look, another London book. This one is significantly darker than most Urban Fantasy. It's a police drama/procedural into a series of murders that involve a supernatural creature. It gets pretty drat grim. The first two chapters are a total mess of rapidly-shifting PoVs, but it gets much better, very quickly. Daniel O'malley: The Rook: Similar to Laundry Files, but less geeky and far more badass. It's my personal favorite out of all the recommendations here. Reads like "What if the X-Men were a secret branch of the British government?" Mike Carey: The Felix Castor Series: British exorcist fighting ghosts, demons and werewolves. Harry Connolly: Twenty Palaces 1-3 plus Prequel: A L.A. thug gets involved with Lovecraftian horrors. Great concepts. This is an excellent series that will, sadly, probably never be finished. The books were dropped by the publisher after book 3. The author self-published a prequel. Read the prequel first. It's amazing. Book 1 starts in the middle of the main character's story. The series probably would still be going strong if the author had started at the beginning rather than in the middle like he did. ConfusedUs fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jan 29, 2014 |
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Aug 17, 2012 07:05
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drat, and here I was expecting something about the Justice League Chicago for the Ghost Story quote.
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Aug 17, 2012 07:13
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404GoonNotFound posted:drat, and here I was expecting something about the Justice League Chicago for the Ghost Story quote. Get me the quote and I'll consider changing it. I'm in California on business and my books are 1800 miles away.
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Aug 17, 2012 07:15
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ConfusedUs posted:Get me the quote and I'll consider changing it. And I am, sadly, lazy as hell. Seriously though, two Sanderson books in the next four months, and then new Dresden? It's a non-denominational holiday miracle 
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Aug 17, 2012 07:18
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New book is coming out on my birthday. Awesome. Of course I can't tell anyone I know I like the series or I'll end up with 10 copies of it.
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Aug 17, 2012 07:18
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qbert posted:New book is coming out on my birthday. Awesome. Sign the extras "Notjim Butcher" and give them away to the top ten posters in this thread for Christmas. 
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Aug 17, 2012 07:19
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I am really glad that I got into this series, and I am really happy that we are getting the new book in the next few months. This is one of the better series of books that I've read in my life, and I'm happy that there's a new thread too.
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Aug 17, 2012 07:32
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ConfusedUs posted:Toot-toot is the poo poo, and you will respect his game, but his game is too goddamned long. gently caress. Oh hot drat! New thread, and I am giddy as gently caress over new dresden. I already know I'm going to get Cold Days, read it in one sitting like a fat kid with a cake, and then be sad there isn't more. This happens every time. 
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Aug 17, 2012 07:40
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Error 404 posted:Oh hot drat! New thread, and I am giddy as gently caress over new dresden. This is exactly why I'm saving the Bigfoot Stories for later. Well, that and I'm hoping for a Side Jobs 2 sooner rather than later.
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Aug 17, 2012 08:30
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I am confused about the plot point about Harry's soul. Pretty sure we established that is not an issue last book.
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Aug 17, 2012 09:50
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Snipee posted:I am confused about the plot point about Harry's soul. Pretty sure we established that is not an issue last book. It could just be marketing. Soul could used metaphorically to represent him changing his values or something like that.
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Aug 17, 2012 10:03
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I think Mab is unlikely to accept defeat, and could continuously present him with Lady-and-the-Tiger type scenarios to try to grind him down morally. Theoretically his soul could eventually be in danger, but yeah I think it's more "soul" as euphemism.
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Aug 17, 2012 10:11
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I'm really hoping the gun he's holding on the cover is actually in the story. Actually I could see Harry using it as his new "Blasting Wand". Especially since people understand that having a gun pointed at you is a bad thing, what difference does it make if it shoots fire or bullets.
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Aug 17, 2012 10:48
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I vote for shells loaded with rock salt, moly, the occasional iron shavings. Your general anti-Fae weaponry.
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Aug 17, 2012 10:49
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Has the preview chapters been posted online anywhere yet?
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Aug 17, 2012 11:02
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wheatpuppy posted:I vote for shells loaded with rock salt, moly, the occasional iron shavings. Your general anti-Fae weaponry. This is a slippery slope you're looking at here. You start with a rock salt shotgun, maybe a new leather jacket, and soon Harry's gonna have a black Impala, a box full of heavy metal tapes, and a sizable mountain of slashfic.
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Aug 17, 2012 11:12
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What's the over-under on either there being a mention of a George Thorogood song or a line by Lucas McCain if that gun is part of Dresden's ensemble now?
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Aug 17, 2012 12:27
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http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,33582.msg1543750.html#msg1543750 In answering a question about whats next that was posted on his forums: Jim Butcher posted:This is a very fine problem for an author to have. A little maddening, especially when I'm not done revising /this/ book yet, but all the same, an excellent problem. Somebody that knows Jim, ask him to sneak a Johnny Fiveaces cameo in there somewhere.
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Aug 17, 2012 12:32
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So excited for the next book, i know we've all said it more or less but i just want to see everyone (white and grey council included) for their reaction on seeing him alive and kicking rear end.
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Aug 17, 2012 12:44
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Jim Butcher posted:'The Aeronaut's Windlass' That is perhaps the most stereotypical steampunk title ever. I'm... honestly not sure what to think.
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Aug 17, 2012 13:02
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404GoonNotFound posted:That is perhaps the most stereotypical steampunk title ever. I'm... honestly not sure what to think. The Space Cowboy Marshals wasn't exactly the most original thing ever, either.
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Aug 17, 2012 13:06
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Butcher really should find a way to integrate the Zombie Riding Dinosaur poster in somewhere like a back cover. That's pure artistic gold.
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Aug 17, 2012 13:37
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Jim looks a lot like David Mitchell.
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Aug 17, 2012 15:47
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Virigoth posted:Butcher really should find a way to integrate the Zombie Riding Dinosaur poster in somewhere like a back cover. That's pure artistic gold. Ah, ye of little faith. About six years ago, the Science Fiction Book Club re-published most of the Dresden Files books in a two-books-in-one volume. The Zombie Dinosaur was the cover image of Wizard at Large, which contains Blood Rites and Dead Beat. http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Large-The-Dresden-Files/dp/0739476580/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&qid=1345215372&sr=8-34&keywords=dresden+files
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Aug 17, 2012 15:58
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ConfusedUs posted:Ah, ye of little faith. About six years ago, the Science Fiction Book Club re-published most of the Dresden Files books in a two-books-in-one volume. Oh my goodness. Hello Christmas Gift list.
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Aug 17, 2012 16:00
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Cartoon Man posted:
Jim Butcher is so goony, but I was really hoping for his take on Men In Black In Space before the steampunk thing.
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Aug 17, 2012 16:00
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Might want to spoiler-tag information about about Changes and Ghost Story in the first post.
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Aug 17, 2012 16:41
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ConfusedUs posted:Jim Butcher is so goony, but I was really hoping for his take on Men In Black In Space before the steampunk thing. I think he did as well but changed his mind after getting responses from test readers who read a sample he wrote for the steam punk setting.
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Aug 17, 2012 16:57
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Might want to spoiler-tag information about about Changes and Ghost Story in the first post. Meh, Changes has been out almost 2 and a half years, and Ghost Story has been out over a year.
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Aug 17, 2012 16:59
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Subparr posted:Meh, Changes has been out almost 2 and a half years, and Ghost Story has been out over a year. That's kind of my thought. I put in a warning (twice!). That doesn't mean we shouldn't use spoiler tags as a courtesy if we get new people in who aren't quite caught up. But anyone who's going to read past two warnings, one of which has sirens, is probably going to mouseover the spoiler tags too.
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Aug 17, 2012 17:09
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Subparr posted:Meh, Changes has been out almost 2 and a half years, and Ghost Story has been out over a year. Yeah, it's still a big shift in the series though, and new people are still coming into the thread. Seems like if it's worth the sirens and so forth, it might as well have spoiler tags to boot. Not a huge deal but thought it was worth mentioning.
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Aug 17, 2012 17:18
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Yeah, it's still a big shift in the series though, and new people are still coming into the thread. Seems like if it's worth the sirens and so forth, it might as well have spoiler tags to boot. Not a huge deal but thought it was worth mentioning. I discovered this thread after reading Storm Front, but I totally refrained from looking at the thread until I was completely finished with the series (except for the part about how Fool Moon is skippable, a warning I didn't heed). So there  It was really hard not to go back and look at spoilers dammit
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Aug 17, 2012 23:10
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 HARRY DOESN'T WEAR A GOD DAMNED HAT! He can't use a rifle either! TOO MANY MOVING PARTS! TECHNOLOGY! BAH! HUMBUG! IT'S WHY HE USES REVOLVERS! LESS PARTS! SON OF A BITCH! There, now all the bitching about the cover has been stated, and we don't have to go through it again. (Thank god this finally got a release date)
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Aug 18, 2012 02:59
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:
Didn't Murphy logic him down to he just uses revolvers because he is afraid of change?
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Aug 18, 2012 03:34
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Oroborus posted:Didn't Murphy logic him down to he just uses revolvers because he is afraid of change? I thought it was laziness.
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Aug 18, 2012 03:39
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It's an old cowboy rifle, it probably works just fine. The only things Harry's ever jammed were semi-automatics. I think he uses a revolver because it matches his duster. Everyone always tells him he looks like he wandered off the set of El Dorado. 
mistaya fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Aug 18, 2012 |
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Aug 18, 2012 04:37
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I sort of like the hat on the cover.
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Aug 18, 2012 06:15
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