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NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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I picked up Descended from Dragons: Moonlight Dragon Book 1, a book a goon wrote and pimped in the thread. It's in the same neighborhood as Dresden, but with some degree of romance. Not as much as you'd think. Some decent characters, couple memorable scenes, dialogue went fast.

I wish it had more plot meat on the bones, but it doesn't feel it's length and read pretty quick. The MC does burn down a building with magic, though. 3/5 Dresdens, not bad urban fantasy.

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NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Avalerion posted:

Eh, I think people who complain about the mantle not being more powerful should remember that the last knight died falling down some stairs..

To be fair, the mantles also give the knights a significant physical boost. Slate was a strong, nasty man without the mantle. Ambushing the ( aged ) Summer Knight with some Winter ice magic and launching him down a flight of stairs like a rocket luge would hurt even if he wasn't caught off guard.

Mr Scumbag posted:

In this case we have a wizard who is in the top 50 most powerful in the world who has barely gained a thing from his new position, despite talking it up for around 10 novels or so.

In the end, I'm over him getting beat to poo poo constantly. It's just old now, there's no suspense to it, nothing new or exciting, and there's other ways of making someone seem like a vulnerable underdog.

Well, he did just get the power. It took the new Summer Knight a long time to grow into his mantle, and he wasn't fighting against the nature of it every step of the way.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mab was screwing with him, much like the last time Harry was tempted by supernatural power. "Here's a taste. Now imagine how much easier things would be if you took just a little bit more." Mab has all the time in the world to win him over by degrees, and the game entertains her.

Kind of agree on the last thing, but, eh. Harry goes through a supernatural Royal Rumble in every book. It is kind of inevitable he ends up looking like the wizarding equivalent of Mick Foley. I worry the series would drift into Jack Reacher territory if Harry wasn't getting knocked around a lot.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Mr Scumbag posted:

Yeah, I'm not asking for no rear end kickings, just less. And more examples of how powerful he is. I'd love to see him go up against some things that he previously had his rear end handed to him by and completely smoke them. I think readers should be reminded of the changes he's undergone in ways other than paragraphs of monologue.

There are a couple examples that come to mind. Cold Days opens with him straight up flash-freezing, then shattering a faerie noble just to make a point. That probably would have been out of his reach a few books previous.

White Night shows off the ways in which he's gotten better at making his magical gear, and establishes Harry getting better at finer magic. He also creates a pretty nifty escape route in the same book.

The start of Changes also comes to mind. For the longest time, Harry dreads the thought of fighting a single vampire. In the opening chapters, he comes up against a squad of Red Court mooks at close range. They realize he's caught them, panic, and he wipes them out.

As for the changes to Harry himself, eh. I feel there's a shift. For lack of a better term, Harry "grows up". The way he perceives Morgan and Merlin, for instance. There's a lot less "no wizard dads, you shut the gently caress up" and more rational thought about authority.

In Proven Guilty, he makes a political play against Merlin for Molly's life, and he almost succeeds. Even Morgan was listening to him and expressing doubt. Ten years ago he probably would have attempted something less subtle, screaming about The Man all the while.

quote:

Also, I feel like the series is slowly falling into the problem a lot of fiction does as it gains more and more volumes and lore: There's less levity and examples of everyday life to remind you of exactly WHAT the protagonists are fighting for. A lot of books and TV shows do that. Walking Dead is a great example. Pretty soon everything is maximum stakes and doom and gloom and you just stop caring cause you forget what "normal" is like.

Changes is probably one of the better books because of this. It gives Harry some very personal stakes, and it shows in the tone. I liked that. Unfortunately, Changes is followed by Ghost Story and Skin Game. Both of those books ended up feeling like they were about other people.

Harry is mostly ineffectual and sidelined throughout Ghost Story. It's about Harry's friends, the world, Chicago, what Harry's done- but not Harry himself. I got the feeling from Ghost Story that Jim had an idea he loved, and he couldn't let it go.

In Skin Game, Harry's teammates and allies kind of steal the spotlight from him.

Cold Days is better than either of them.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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A. Beaverhausen posted:

I kind of enjoyed Ghost Story for that reason. Showing the vacuum that was created with Harry's absence was cool, and I love a Molly story.

The problem with Ghost Story is that all the stuff it hinted at having happened would have been a lot more interesting to see from the perspective of the characters going through it. So you get to hear about all this cool stuff that happened to your favorite characters while you weren't looking, which sucks, during a book where Harry doesn't do a great deal. It doesn't really read like the usual Dresden book, either, which just makes it kind of awkward and ho-hum.

It wasn't like I hated it, I was just frustrated that it wasn't done better.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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The weird thing about Dresden is that I know exactly how super powered he is, how capable he is, and how dangerous he is, but I never think of him as being 'overpowered'.

I don't know if it has something to do with his voice, or the slow build up from the beginning or what, but he still feels less powerful than Superlative Shifter #445 or a Green Beret SEAL Sniper Demolitions Expert that so commonly end up playing the hero in pulpy books.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Anias posted:

It's because butcher writes the ending of action scenes well enough that you get past "wait he just broke fundamental physics over his knee" and instead spend your time wondering "well that didn't go as planned, what's next". It's probably butcher's greatest gift as a writer, he pulls you through action sequences and keeps pulling once they end.

Definitely part of it. Most of the books have the urgency of a ticking time bomb in a pressure cooker, and Butcher does a good job with finales. I'm in the last few chapters of Turn Coat at the moment and man, it is one of my favorite build ups.

I think the other part of it is the characters that Harry surrounds himself with. Murphy, Mouse, Michael, Butters, Bob, etc. They aren't just tools for Harry, they're characters with their own goals and motivations that can potentially die or get hurt. It raises the stakes when they step out with him, because they often aren't as pyrotechnic.

It seems like an obvious thing to say, but man, it sure does suck when you're reading a book and you realize everyone helping the protagonist exists only to help him or die in service of the plot.

WarLocke posted:

I'm still 40 pages behind in the other one, but I hope you got the hell out of that job, NerdyMcNerdNerd.

I won't spoil it. Keep reading. It'll give you something to do while we wait for Peace Talks. :shobon:

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Only read the first Kate Daniels so far. Would recommend at least that one.

Juuuuuust finished polishing off Ghost Story. It was more enjoyable than I remembered it, but it is easy to see why people might not like it. The book goes through an awful lot of trouble to set up a lot of stuff that won't pay off for years to come.

This time around, I caught a few things I didn't catch before.

About Mort: We learn that he's quite a potent little wizard. He's said to be in Harry's ballpark- but he lives in a modern house. He drives a very modern car. He 'replaces his cellphone every so often'. That draws comparison to the way Harry's aura plays merry hell with technology, but it also points to Mort being a significant character in the next few books.

Lea talks about how if Harry hadn't killed Bianca, Lea herself would have taken her pound of flesh from the vampire. Stuff for Mirror Mirror, maybe?

With He-Who-Walks-Behind, it points out how Harry hadn't actually defeated him. Their encounter was merely a nudge that sent Harry on the path down to fighting fire with fire, maybe for He-Who's motivations, something Lea comments on somewhat specifically. It could be something that Lea herself ( or someone else ) might have had a hand in.

There's some other stuff, too, like establishing that beings of sufficient strength can shut a wizard's sight. The book also talks about how most wizards don't tend to take illusions very seriously because of their sight, so... maybe something.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Khizan posted:

Mort isn't a wizard. Mort is an ectomancer. He does ghost and only ghosts. This is why he has to borrow Ghost Harry to shield himself instead of doing it himself.

Eh. Mort might not be a White Council wizard, but I think it's a bit much to put him in the same weight class as Binder. Binder only summons, and Binder only summons that one particular thing.

Mortimer says he's an Ectomancer, but I always assumed that to be a professional title of sorts, in the same way a fire specialist might call themselves a Pyromancer. Either way, he's got some serious magical chops judging by what's said and shown in Ghost Story.

Building on the "Why didn't Mort throw a shield" thing, well. Harry has repeatedly said that evocation is a hard thing to do, especially without props. Someone like Mortimer might not have ever really practiced it, as reserved as he is. He isn't the type to wade in and start swinging.

Given that Sir Stuart admitted he purposefully waited to see what Harry would do, it's hard to believe Mort was ever really in that much trouble. He likely wouldn't have even needed the shield in that situation if Harry hadn't hounded him into his ghost proof room. As soon as the door is opened and Mort has half a second to call his ghost buds to him, he destroys the mook.

I have no idea what Mort's going to do in the next couple of books, but it's probably something important given how much of a spotlight he and ghost stuff gets.

One thing that I thought was interesting was just how fast he ditches Harry after the shield is over with. Despite claiming complete control over spirits, he ejects Harry before the fight is even over.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Sab669 posted:

I see in the OP that it's suggested to basically just read the first and then skip to book 3.

...

But yea; I want to like these books but wanting to like something isn't very good motivation. And that motivational poster of the guy riding the dinosaur is even less motivating.

The first two books weren't the best. The characters were pretty stilted, Harry was kind of grating, and Jim was still finding his stride. I felt pretty much the same when during the first few books, but moments like, "then I blew the tires off his loving truck" kept me reading.

It isn't just a veneer of story spread over non-stop action; it's more the other way around. During that scene with the dinosaur, there's a neat confrontation, and then Harry has a fairly important revelation and grows as a character because of it. Most of the biggest action scenes have something like that going on in the background, something that tells your important stuff about the plot or the characters, and it is wayyyyy more satisfying than books where action exists to fill pages.

Most of the characters in the series have a compelling arc. They develop. They do things. I like that Harry has a lot of conflict with his friends, that they aren't always just there to help him out, but it seldom feels like manufactured drama. They're people with their own goals and all that jazz.

It is a series about a sarcastic, wise-cracking wizard detective with a chip on his shoulder and a penchant for brazen acts of heroic stupidity. Pick up book 3 and read the first few chapters- you won't miss anything. If you don't like it after that, you are not going to get anything out of the series.

Up Circle posted:

you could just skip to book 3, or even book four and miss almost nothing.

Book four would be a stretch, but yeah. You can pretty much start with any book. Butcher deliberately writes things as he does so you can do just that.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Drifter posted:

The iron Druid series has a fifteen hundred year old main character who is essentially:



So, I finished off the audio version of Cold Days last night and decided to finally start The Iron Druid. Having listened to the first eight chapters of the book, I would say that comparison is uncharitable. To Poochie.

What drives Atticus? What is his primary motivation? Survival? It isn't really reflected in his personality. He's trying to stay hidden, but he owns a shop that sells magical goods and services. He says he lives in fear of the fae and a number of other things, but he goes off into the wilds to hunt and stuff on the reg. He's a fifteen-hundred year old being with Godlike power, just riding around on his mountain bike and clucking his tongue at stoners.

Like in the first five minutes of the book he chumps a bunch of supernatural beings, makes a deal with death to be even more immortal, and sleeps with a Goddess, but he can't make a body disappear? Or do anything about DNA left on a corpse? What?

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Drifter posted:

It's not abotu what magic CAN do, it's what it can't that makes the story interesting!!!

Also, you poor bastard. At least tell me you're going to not read them anymore. :ohdear:

The whole thing was frustrating to parse.

My first thought was, "Well, he's an ancient druid or something that has a weird relationship with Death. Maybe make it so he can't destroy the body ( and the evidence ) because tampering with the dead would be seen by Morrigan as stepping on her territory, or maybe he swore some kind of geis or whatever. Hey, I bet that would make it kind of interesting if he ever had to fight some vampires or something."

But no, he just can't magic away the problem because...? And the God can't, because...? And then the cops make it out onto the harsh terrain in like five minutes and they're worried about being caught even though the God can literally turn them invisible. I am willing to bet that before the book is over he uses his magical charm necklace to do something that could have easily disposed of that body.

And yet, that Huntress God he was chilling with was kind of neat, as was Morrigan. And there's a viking lawyer who is also a vampire, and thinks Thor is a dick ( because he is ). When the camera starts to drift away from Atticus, I start kind of getting interested in the book.

But then he puts down his hacky sack, strolls out into the street and casually smites a God with Scooby Doo

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Wade Wilson posted:

Oberon gets a pass because he's a stupid dog.

Oberon is weird because his tone ( much like the tone of the story itself ) shifts more than a few times in strange ways that made me go "Huh?" If his dialogue had been trimmed a bit, he probably would have been a better character.

Having finished the first book, I'm not running off to get the second. I'd grab it during a sale, or on KU, but eh. I'm kind of interested in the world and what's going on and all that stuff, just not so much Atticus. That's kind of a shame, because I love reading about myths and folklore and Gods kind of being dicks. Maybe the next books get better as the author finds his feet. Jim did. :shrug:

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Ornamented Death posted:

The second book is worse than the first book, and the third book is loving horrible. After that, things start picking up, but by then Hearne has dug a pretty deep hole.

How? I'm genuinely curious. Is it the prose? Cringey character moments, or what?

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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I can not think of a single urban fantasy or fantasy book where I wasn't left cringing and desperately wishing that the author hadn't gone down that particular path.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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ImpAtom posted:

Honestly it would be helped a lot if urban fantasy writers could do equality better rather than "We want to make this total badass confident super-woman who is emotionally vulnerable enough to fall in love with a man with the emotional maturity of a 7 year old."

The blurred lines between Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance probably cause more of this than anything else. Thinking up reasons for people to conflict and bond in spite of it is hard. Just have them meet and instantly realize they're fated to be together. Throw in a love triangle and/or a villainous cock blocker and you've got your book.

I blame Anita Blake and Twilight for a little of both.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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mistaya posted:

I may be an outlier in this thread since I like reading schlocky romance here and there and I like having relationship arcs in my books. If it gets in the way of the plot that's bad but I want my protagonists to have a love interest, it's more fun.

I don't mind it, and can even enjoy it, so long as it makes sense. It is just annoying when two people are in love for no reason other than the fact that they're the main characters of a story. I could pick at the relationships in Dresden, but they're miles ahead of the crap I normally gloss over in genre fiction.

I hope Brief Cases has a side story where Charity and Michael smite something together.

Slanderer posted:

We're on GRRM time now, so maybe...a while

That made me look up when Skin Games came out and now I am sad.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Pretty much. I'll probably all caught up on all the thread recommendations ( Rivers of London, etc ), by the time Peace Talks comes out. :sigh:

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Got Skin Games with my Audible credit. Enjoying it, even if it isn't my favorite Dresden. There's a part where Murphy mentions that Mister always runs from the room whenever Andi shows up. Kind of makes me wonder if she's infected. Guess we'll find out in another year.

Scorchy posted:

So the thread was recommending Mercy Thompson/Patricia Briggs. I'm like 120 pages into the first book.

The prose is fine, but so far it's been wall-to-wall alpha dominant werewolf werewolf alpha werewolf dominant alpha alpha. Please tell me it gets better.

I haven't read the series yet, but I'm always hungry for good werewolf stuff. What about it don't you like? Does it fall into the typical "Alpha is Alpha ( it is always capitalized ) because Alpha is the strongest!", along with a whole lotta dick swinging?

It's always hard for me to get into books with power struggles like that where the power doesn't actually seem to mean anything. They just want it because it's there. The guy in charge ( or his rival, depending on who's the hero ) is either a conniving ( but stupid ) villain, or a thuggish bully.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Sounds interesting. Gonna have to look into it, even if the first book seems a little... something.

Audible's current sale has both Midnight Riot ( Rivers of London, book 1 ), and the first Alex Verus book. They're five bones a pop, and I grabbed both. Good as time as any to jump in if anyone's thinking of checking them out.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Wade Wilson posted:

The bar set by the narrator of Rivers of London books is going to ruin most of the other urban fantasy narrators for you.

James Marsters already did that. :v:

About Mister, I didn't think it was that because Mister has interacted with supernatural critters without flipping out before. In Ghost Story, he runs into the room when Will and Georgia are right there. It just struck me as odd because it was mentioned about the same time Butters tells Harry that Will and Georgia were nearly killed.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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I know Jim's talked a bit more about what Mirror Mirror's going to have in it, but I can't remember any of the new information, and it's hard to tell what's genuine. Still, you can see he's already set up a series of things that will probably come into play. Going back through the novels and speculating about what-ifs and what might be coming up next is half the fun.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Mortanis posted:

Which is also why I'm pretty sure Harry himself kicks off the apocalypse - it's thematically appropriate that Harry, acting for his own interests, causes massive ramifications. He gets out of the mantle of the Winter Knight, which destabilizes Winter, which allows the Outer Gates to be breached and poo poo goes south all because Harry wanted to get out of his obligation.

Point is Harry Dresden is kind of a dick.

I think it's been confirmed that the Mirror Mirror decision was from book 3, and for that reason, I think the decision is that Harry tells Susan he loves her, or even proposes to her.

And I think this shakes out in such a way that the Red Court doesn't go to war with The White Council, not until they're good and ready to spring the trap.

Harry has shown that he's more afraid of losing his humanity than his life. That's why he's always played hardball with the supernatural things that came offering him power- and we also saw how quickly that went out the window when the right motive presented itself.

I think that the Red Court smears the White Council, and that Harry is forced to take up his coin to save Susan and/or himself. This brings him into conflict with the Knights, his friends, and the Fae ( Mab does not like Nic, and Tessa moved against Arctis Tor, after all ). Harry has a bad time.

As for the Winter Knight thing, I don't think so. Harry was willing to die in Dead Beat just so that Morgan would have a shot at stopping Cowl. I don't think he'd flush the world down the toilet like that.

But I do think it will be changing hands. At the end of Cold Days, Thunder Klaus tells Harry that Halloween is a time where masks and mantles can change hands... but I don't think Harry will let the power go unless he's sure it is going to the right person, especially not with Molly being The Winter Lady.

I would be willing to bet that one of Harry's allies becomes the next Winter Knight sometime soonish.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Vicissitude posted:

Murphy, you think?

She's the first one that comes to mind. The big thing is that Mab doesn't have time to train someone else to take hold of the power, so whoever it is, they've got to be someone who can throw down. Someone who's in the know. Someone that isn't an idiot.

And if that someone is someone that Harry knows, then Mab still has her hooks in Harry

I think there are three choices for Winter Knight: Murphy, Thomas, and Michael.

Thomas is probably out for obvious reasons.

A few years ago, Michael never would have done it... but now, most of his kids are grown and out of the house. Would Michael become the Winter Knight for Molly's sake? He seems to think Harry can use the power without being corrupted. Why not him?

That leaves... Murphy. Becoming a Fae Knight would give her a bump in power. And it would mean that getting older would no longer be a problem for her, not for a long time. She could fight the good fight. She could pursue a relationship with Harry. I think her personality would suit Winter just fine.

Of course, there is one other person who knows how to fight and is well-motivated to protect Molly. Charity could become the Winter Knight, or take up Michael's sword. She would do anything for Molly.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Just as Harry picks up the Blackstaff.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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seaborgium posted:

While I love the other possibilities, this one is actually flat out stated as a possibility by Mab as a backup if Harry hadn't taken it or had died. It would have taken some work on her end, but I don't think too much.

I am looking forward to more from the White Council though, goddamn. I want to see what the Merlin can really do when he cuts loose.

Yeah, that's why he makes the cut. But with his current motivations and goals, I don't think Thomas would pick up the mantle. And I don't think Mab would want to do it, because she knows it would bring her into conflict with Harry, who is a useful tool to her. And Thomas doesn't need the power boost to remain relevant.

But I do think Thomas becomes the Winter Knight in Mirror Mirror land.


No White Council interaction was my biggest disappointment with Skin Game. Just imagine the roller coaster of emotions going through the Merlin regarding Harry Dresden, from book 10 to present. Imagine what it is going to be like when Harry shows up for a chat.

"I'm the new Winter Knight, besties with Mab."

"What?"

"And I killed the entire Red Court."

"What?"

"Yeah, all of them. Then I died, but I got better."

"What?"

"And I've become the Warden of a God prison."

"What?"

"And my former Warlock apprentice is the new Winter Lady."


Whereupon Merlin's head roars off of his shoulders like a Coke and Mentos bottle rocket powered by blood. :kheldragar:

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Blasphemeral posted:

Nonsense. Murphy is going to become a Valkyrie, like Sigrun Gard.
Didn't everyone else pick up on this?

I dunno. They seem kinda wizard-y and Murphy doesn't seem to have any talent. Can you even apply for that job?

One reason I think she'd end up taking over the mantle is because it doesn't require any magic know how. Wizards in that position are an anomaly.

Also, Mister becomes the new Cat Sith. Here kitty kitty. :v:

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Up Circle posted:

Murphy will become progressively more crippled book by book, until she legally changes her name to barbara in the last book and provides communications and logistics support from the literal bat-cave.

Murphy's got to juice up because drat, everyone is aching to see it happen. Murphy fading into the background now would be incredibly disappointing, especially if she's fridged. Wanna see her suplex a ghoul out of a window.

She might have actually been OK with dying sometime before Changes, but after the past few years, I can't see her going gently into that good night. She's too pissed off.

I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up getting hurt or faltering in a fight, and making a bargain or accepting a power right then or soon after. Harry will sulk about it, she'll yell at him for being a hypocrite, and then he'll brood about it some more.

Zore posted:

I liked it back before White Night when the big theory was that Cowl and Kumori were future Harry and Molly. Or that the Gatekeeper was future-Harry. Or the Merlin was future-Harry. Or Mac was future-Harry. They had a thing for basically everyone being future-Harry time travelling. It was kinda fun.

I kind of think that the first one could be true, or that Cowl/Kumori could be Mirror Mirror Harry and Molly. There are some little things that just stick out at me which make it seem plausible.

Mars4523 posted:

Gard extended her an offer back in Aftermath. Also, she was apparently just some random Geat lady prior to becoming a Valkyrie, so I'm guessing that vanilla human Murphy would also be able to do the job.

Well, hell. If she goes that route, maybe someone will do something crazy like give her an old hammer he happens to have laying around.

NerdyMcNerdNerd fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Sep 22, 2016

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Thomas annoys me, because creepy poo poo aside, his interactions with Harry and stuff are fun. I just wish that the White Court fed on anything else, like anticipation, or people's love of tiny outfits for dogs, or something.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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Should have been more specific. I meant the Raiths. The emotional feeding thing is neat, and I like it. The stuff House Raith brings to the table... not so much.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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I don't think Thomas is killing anymore, not since Justine threw out all his Linkin Park CDs. I don't know how much she's telling the people Thomas chews on, but the White Court has found willing food in the past. :shrug:

I really hated the skin walker thing because Thomas being a hair dresser let me throw a sheet on his creepiness and forget it. Then it got dragged out into the light and I sighed a mighty sigh.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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It stuck out at me a little much for that. Before that, you already have Michael going heart to heart with Harry. You know he's a good guy. You know he's been a fighter in the past, and you know Harry holds him in high esteem. Wouldn't be at all surprised if the hammer showed up, since we've got Odin and Valkyries and some vikings around.

Or maybe it is just a bottle opener. :shrug:

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


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I bet Evil Harry looks like his subconscious, and Evil Harry's subconscious looks like him. Oh, and Evil Harry wears a hat.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


Lol.i halbve already saod i inferno circstances wanttpgback
I can't think of a scenario where any form of critter would want their child anywhere near Harry Dresden, or his kid. Can you imagine how many fire drills they'd have every year? I hope Jim's next Dresden universe book series isn't some YA stuff, or White Court, or something like that.

Finished up Skin Game. One thing that kind of made me wonder was when Michael commented that a Hecate statue had a face that looked like Molly's. Did it always look like her, or did it change when she did? It is a shame that the book didn't have a better payoff on the heist elements or the finale, because it had a fair share of fun moments and dialogue.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


Lol.i halbve already saod i inferno circstances wanttpgback

Mortanis posted:

I trust Butcher but that doesn't sound at all appealing to me.

I'm kind of hoping it is something about the Knights of the Cross. I would be interested in seeing how Michael became Michael, or even some unfamiliar knights doing knightly stuff. A book about Fae stuff could also be pretty fun. A book about the Black Cat Squad would also float my boat.

Vicissitude posted:

Maggie Dresden and the Goblet was On Fire and it Wasn't My Fault

Maggie Dresden and the Darkly Hallows.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


Lol.i halbve already saod i inferno circstances wanttpgback
I was thinking about The Adversary. In Cold Days, Maeve is infected, but seems to be herself, acting on her own goals. Just nuttier. On the other hand, Cat Sith is taken over a bit more blatantly. Can it seep into people and make them act nutty without taking them over completely?

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


Lol.i halbve already saod i inferno circstances wanttpgback

flosofl posted:

My take is it sinks its hooks in and digs deeper and deeper, influencing behavior in small ways at first, until finally it just cores the victim out and wears them like a suit. The more powerful take more time. I think that's what was going on when Leah was in Mab's garden. She was obviously fighting for supremacy of her mind and Mab placed her there. I don't know if the ice has curative powers for the Winter Court, if Leah just needed some "me" time to fight it off, or a combination of both. I also think that's when Mab first became aware of the infiltration of Nemesis, and in retrospect, I think she was suspecting her daughter was falling under its influence. Remember the next time we see her, Cat Sith is her mouth piece because she was so furious her voice would literally destroy someone if she spoke aloud.

I was just thinking about it because I was wondering if Harry or Nicodemus might be infected without realizing it. If Harry was touched, it might explain why He-Who-Walks nudged him down the path to begin with. Harry keeps doing highly unusual things for a wizard, he throws himself into situations for reasons that aren't always clear to even himself, etc. He keeps doing "the right thing", but he keeps making the world a very different and unstable place in the process.

I don't think it's likely, but it's a fun idea I couldn't dismiss out of hand.

Pretty certain that some of the Fallen are infected. There are around ten-ish coins we haven't seen, and it would explain the mess at Arctis Tor. I figure that's the one that whispered in Harry's ear, and it is why they were able to bend the rules to do so.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


Lol.i halbve already saod i inferno circstances wanttpgback
Dresden keeping the coins all to himself is a bad idea, especially as he probably couldn't do it. But Alfred could. Alfred would probably kick up his heels and titter with joy at the very prospect.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


Lol.i halbve already saod i inferno circstances wanttpgback

Wade Wilson posted:

Alfred would probably pick up a coin since Dresden has hosed up and Named him, giving him agency.

Probably a good thing that he didn't get to name his daughter. :v:

Blasphemeral posted:

I tend to think that, until the Jailbreak at Demonreach that will kick-off or be a big part of the BAT, Demonreach's dungeon is the safest place for the coins. No one can get in except for Harry, and Alfred isn't an entity so much as a nature spirit with a strict purpose so I don't think he counts for angelic posession--it's gotta be a mortal of some kind; someone with a soul.

Speaking of jailbreaks at Demonreach, I was thinking about something at the start of Skin Game. Remember the British guy who tells Dresden he's "Someone that has to be there"? The one everyone thinks is Merlin? I'd wager he's someone that was willingly placed there, so that if anyone ever let loose the prisoners, he'd also get loose as consequence. So long as he's in stasis, he'll live as long as Demonreach will.

Everyone seems to think the guy is Merlin, but I bet it is King Arthur for a couple of reasons.

NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


Lol.i halbve already saod i inferno circstances wanttpgback

flosofl posted:

I like that. Or a remorseful Modred doing penance for destroying Camelot?

I guess Arthur because it would fit the "king under the island mountain" myth to a t, and Merlin built the thing. Then there's the fact that Harry is holding Excalibur, and it has been said the next true wielder of the sword will likely come out at the end of the world. I imagine you'll be able to see the light of the sword from space when he picks it up.

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NerdyMcNerdNerd
Aug 3, 2004


Lol.i halbve already saod i inferno circstances wanttpgback
I don't think the throne is empty. I just think that God is far removed from earth. If he actually created the universe in Dresden-land, that is a lot of power. You know how Mab was once so angry that she couldn't speak because it would kill everyone around her? Imagine what would happen if capital-G God spoke on the mortal plane. I can't imagine he's happy. I imagine he doesn't interact with the world for similar reasons. If we're talking universe-creating levels of power, then doing anything on earth would be like The Hulk trying to build a ship in a bottle. While wearing oven mitts.

There are other gods kicking around and doing stuff, but I'm not surprised that it is mostly Western myths and mythology. It is what his audience is most familiar with, the series is set in America, etc. We'll probably get more Eastern myths before the day is done, but he can only cover so many Gods and such before it gets kind of muddled.

I'm kind of interested to see if God is actually THE God. Dresden-world seems to imply that gods draw a significant amount of their power from the people that believe in them, but I don't think it has ever addressed whether or not they're created by belief to begin with. Maybe God-God has merely assumed the mantle, or put on a new mask when Christianity rose to power. Maybe he was Zeus before that, Osiris before that, etc, etc. The Fallen say they've been around since the beginning of time, but they never said they've always been angels.

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