Dresden Files

[Gaston de Foix]

I think the "Grey Councik" may be the "black council" and Eb may be behind both.

Unlikely in Dresdenverse IMHO. Eb is one of the "grey" characters, but not as grey as all that.

One of the things I have come to dislike in the book in the books is Dresden's underlying lack of agency. It's quite clear that various supernatural beings are guiding Harry, whether it is Uriel by gifting him soulfire, Odin by advising Dresen on ritual curses, and Mab by making him the winter knight.

For a series that repeatedly emphasises the importance of free will, the ease with which Harry Dresden becomes a trusting catspaw is somewhat troubling no? He's a catspaw for Lara Raith to bring down the White King, and then for her to clean house of the Skavis and Malvora. He's used by Mab to kill her daughter and hamper Nicodemus' plans. He's used by Mab to protect the Archive from the Denarians.

At the end of the day, circumstances contrive for it to seem like Harry Dresden is willingly being used as a catspaw to achieve some umambigously good but chooses to do so in ignorance. He has been set on a path from birth, moulded by Justin and Lea, even Eb to do, something. However, the artificiality of the situation is evident from the fact that Harry's is apparently ignorant of terms like "star born" or the circumstances of his mother's decisions or his father's death. It isn't decision making under uncertainty or being a piece on the board that is unrealistic- that seems exactly like magic should be. It's Harry's decision to be ignorant of such big topics.

On an unrelated note, is the next book, Peace Talks, likely to involve face to face talks between the Sidhe and the Fomor?

We haven't seen nearly enough of the Fomor in the main books, though Aftermath, Even Hand and Bombshells set them up well. On the other hand "Auntie Lea" says that the Fomor are ever betrayers so wouldn't peace talks be somewhat pointless? If it's a game of backstabbing etc it'll be a little too similar to Skin Game. I dunno. It could be multilateral negotiations with the involvement of the White Council (and figures like Ancient Mai and the Merlin), White Court etc.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Gaston,

I'd be delighted if the great betrayer of Dresden was his Grandfather and if his Mother was a perfect product of Eb's flawed moral perspective .

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

Unlikely in Dresdenverse IMHO. Eb is one of the "grey" characters, but not as grey as all that.

One of the things I have come to dislike in the book in the books is Dresden's underlying lack of agency. It's quite clear that various supernatural beings are guiding Harry, whether it is Uriel by gifting him soulfire, Odin by advising Dresen on ritual curses, and Mab by making him the winter knight.

For a series that repeatedly emphasises the importance of free will, the ease with which Harry Dresden becomes a trusting catspaw is somewhat troubling no? He's a catspaw for Lara Raith to bring down the White King, and then for her to clean house of the Skavis and Malvora. He's used by Mab to kill her daughter and hamper Nicodemus' plans. He's used by Mab to protect the Archive from the Denarians.

At the end of the day, circumstances contrive for it to seem like Harry Dresden is willingly being used as a catspaw to achieve some umambigously good but chooses to do so in ignorance. He has been set on a path from birth, moulded by Justin and Lea, even Eb to do, something. However, the artificiality of the situation is evident from the fact that Harry's is apparently ignorant of terms like "star born" or the circumstances of his mother's decisions or his father's death. It isn't decision making under uncertainty or being a piece on the board that is unrealistic- that seems exactly like magic should be. It's Harry's decision to be ignorant of such big topics.

On an unrelated note, is the next book, Peace Talks, likely to involve face to face talks between the Sidhe and the Fomor?

We haven't seen nearly enough of the Fomor in the main books, though Aftermath, Even Hand and Bombshells set them up well. On the other hand "Auntie Lea" says that the Fomor are ever betrayers so wouldn't peace talks be somewhat pointless? If it's a game of backstabbing etc it'll be a little too similar to Skin Game. I dunno. It could be multilateral negotiations with the involvement of the White Council (and figures like Ancient Mai and the Merlin), White Court etc.

I always saw it as Harry being incredibly easy to manipulate by others, be it via his friends, family and chivalry. In terms of wizard years he's still only a pup and lets be honest here, he's hot-headed and not the wisest as of yet, making him a perfect pawn. Although I'm sure eventually the pendulum will swing.

[Gaston de Foix]

So I recently (re)read the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher and I wanted to summarise the insights it offers for Dresdenverse.

1. Like the Senior Council, the High Lords of Alera are a force apart in terms of furycrafting skill and power. My (tentative) prediction is that like the High Lords of Alera, the Senior Council will get dismantled, lose members while fighting the Black Council/Nemesis thus allowing Harry Dresden to come to further prominence.

2. The similarities between the Vord and Nemesis are considerable: both of them use treachery as a matter of course, can infect someone without others realising it and fequently use catspaws to do their dirty work. Also they adapt ruthlessly to changed circumstances.

3. The main protagonists, Tavi and Dresden are interestingly very different characters, with Dresden a muscular figure of power from the outset, while Tavi has to do more with far less. Similarities include out of the box thinking and a lack of sleep, as well as ruthless grandfather figures. Also both start out as orphans.

4. The main antagonists in Codex Alera are Marat and the Aquitaines (external), the Canim & Kalarus Brencis (internal) and Senator Arno with the Icemen, Shuar and Invidia Aquitaine playing roles as well. Similarly in the Dresden files we have the following

1. Red Court (overt enemy) = covert supporters - the Fomor (attack on Congo hospital), the Black Council (co-ordination in Dead Beat),

2. Denarians (overt enemy) = covert supporters - Thorned Namshiel (Black Council/Nemesis).

One major similarity between the two books is that the tracks and alliances between the adversaries appear to be slowly revealed as time goes on and appear deeper than we thought: Bianca's ball gathered many of Dresden's adversaries and strengthened all of them

One major difference between the books: Dresden is hit on the head repeatedly with the obluquy that comes with having started the war with the Red Court and the responsibility for the loss and suffering that ensued. Tavi escapes any kind of blame for unleashing the Vord. Go figure....

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

So, it's been a year since Skin Game was released, whens the next one out?

[AverageGuy]

So, it's been a year since Skin Game was released, whens the next one out?

The past couple books have been coming out up to a year and a half between each other, plus book one of Butcher's new series is coming out first, in September. The tail end of 2015 would be the earliest, but the first half of 2016 seems more likely.