The Dresden Files

Guess what arrived in my local liiiiiibrary!

I start reading tomorrow morning on the bus to work.

Yeah, Fool Moon wasn't fantastic, but it did introduce Billy & The Alphas, who I personally think kick all manners of ass. Also, I'm ordering Changes today. Doesn't feel quite right to get the hardcover edition, there's just something about reading about a hard-boiled detective kicking ass in those small paperbacks that just feel... right? I dunno, but I'm not waiting until they release the paperback some time next year, I'm jumpy enough about spoilers already.

Okay, so I finished Changes today.

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...

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Butcher, you stone cold bastard.

That is all.

Bwahahahaha...

I love the Changes reaction posts. Almost as good as the School Days liveblog back on the Penny Arcade forums.

Plot summary:

• Chapter 1: Wait, what?
• Chapter 28 or so: Wait, what?
• The end of the book: Wait, WHAT?!?!?!?

Ok, just re-reed Proven Guilty and would like to point out a few things. I'll just spoiler it all so I don't offend anyone (even if none of it really means much to the plot):

1. Lea says she was imprisoned because "I grew too arrogant with the power I held. I thought I could overcome what stalks us all." It is implied that she became crazy for the same reason.
2. End of the book, Mitchel comments on how the entire point of the book is to give Harry an apprentice so that Harry would become a teacher and grow stronger.
3. Little Chicago should have blown up but someone fixed it. The list of people who could have done it is surprisingly long. Lash, the Almighty (or one of its agents), Lea by proxy (not sure how, but possible), the Gatekeeper, the Little Folk (once again, not likely), and the as-yet-unknown entity come to mind.
4. Early in the book (chap 15) Lash says that Harry's "...ability to comprehend [his] environment is influenced by a number of illusions..." and that the only way to "...perceive and understand some matters..." is too "cease living." Foreshadowing much?

edited 27th May '10 11:33:59 PM by Belian

I just finished reading Summer Knight, and the scene at the end with Toot-toot was one of the most hilarious awesome things I've ever read.

edited 16th Jun '10 7:56:15 PM by LuckyRevenant

Heh. Toot is far more Bad Ass than anyone six inches tall has any right to be

The pictsies may want to have a word with you about that...

I finally got Changes from the library. I'm gonna start reading it tonight.

Related: A few weeks ago a friend wanted to borrow my Dresden Files DV Ds, and threatened to spoil Changes if I didn't let him. So Yeah.

So, I just got around to finishing Changes, and boy howdy what an apropriate title. What with Butchers almost systematic destruction of several parts of Harry's life , possessions and career. What an ending though, I never thought the whole war thing would work out like that in the end. Oh, and just my luck that the only big cliffhanger in the series thus far come when I've just caught up with the released books :/ Another thing, the whole deal with the devil/next best thing should've bothered me more than it did, although I'm equal parts curious and worried about where the series is going from now, which of course makes me pumped for the next book allready. Oh Butcher, you rascal, you.

edited 20th Jun '10 12:29:28 PM by slowzombie

^^ OUCH! That is some threat.

The scarry part is you could have been spoilered for the climax, but the end would still have shocked you. Even if you see it coming. (as I mentioned above, it might have been forshadowed in that comment from Lash)

Changes was epic.

Do you get run over by a train when you die according to this book?

Still, like everyone else I'm desperately wondering what will happen next.

My personal prediction is that he's going to wake up naked on the El tracks, possibly in a woman's body. Why naked and in a woman's body? Eh, it's just that kind of book. And besides, having to try and solve your own murder in someone else' body would be kind of funny to watch.

Well, I just finished reading Changes.... What. The. Hell. Was. That. Ending. Jim Butcher is evil. I can't believe I have to wait until fucking March for the next book. Seriously, just... WHAT!?

EDIT: Holy shit I just had a brilliantly obvious : Kumori will bring Harry back from the dead

edited 23rd Jun '10 5:39:49 PM by LizardBite

Being dead seems like a good way to get out of his obligations to Mab. Harry's death means that the power of the winter knight has reverted to Mab, right? Probably even if he comes back to life.

I mean, I wouldn't have minded seeing Harry being the Winter knight for a while but maybe later.

The voice at the end was probably Harry's Mum. I mean he seemed to be suffering from extreme shock from being shot and didn't realise he had been shot through the chest despite noticing all the relevant details, I could definitely understand if he only found his mother's voice "familiar".

Is it just me or was it ever revealed who hired the first guy to kill Harry in the Church? It doesn't seem to make sense if it was actually Susan, and it doesn't seem very smart whoever it was.

edited 24th Jun '10 12:05:41 AM by the1ultimate

^ I'm pretty sure it was one of the Eebs

Regarding the voice, I saw a neat on the page for them: It's Lash coming back

Oooh, that'd sorta neat. Also, one thing that kind of , which is that the Dresden Files page seems to be convinced that Harry is dead. I mean, yeah, it looks bad, but isn't getting out of awfully close brushes with Grim sorta what Harry does? Oh, and while I'm at it, who d'yall think called the hit on Harry in the end? I'm thinking Red Court sympathizers or possibly White Court.

^Two things: It is that way because Word of God says so and if you want to know what happens next you just have to wait for the short story compilation coming out in November. It will have a new story called "15 minuets later" (or something similar) that will be from Murphy's perspective and take place 15 min after the end of Changes.

Well, bugger. As if I didn't think Butcher was enough of a Magnificent Bastard (I READ HIS BOOK!) to begin with.

^Go read about Tavi instead. That series is done and... well, same author. And Jim Butcher wanted to write Epic Fantasy to begin with. You guess how awesome it is.

Not very, for the first couple of books. It felt very much like Butcher was still getting used to that style of storytelling.

Gets considerably better after that, though.

So, I've been listening to the audibooks, and I must say, James Marsters really works to read these books, he's got a nice snark/badass ratio, although his voice can get a little too soothing at times (I've fallen asleep to the books at least twice now :/)

Also: The Dresden Files RPG looks awesome so far, if I only had someone to play it with

You could join Jim Butcher's official website. They have an entire section dedicated to play-by-post Dresden RPG. (Though it might only be able to be seen by members)

As soon as I get the hang of the spoiler option I'll post my rant.