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Dresden Files (most recent thread is archived) Peace Talks is finished


Ser Scot A Ellison

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14 minutes ago, Gaston de Foix said:
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Did you find Murphy's death justified? And the Lara wedding shenanigans?

I doubt the Grey Council will be able to do anything to reverse Harry's expulsion.  I think the Grey Council will be happy to use Harry -- not so happy to help him.  

 

 

Her death made sense as she kept putting herself in danger without any real way to deal with magical threats.  Eventually, it was going to catch up.  I really disliked having the whole White Council banishment off screen that was just wrong.  I don’t understand Harry’s role in the Grey Council if they just cast him to the wolves.

The book was very monotonous just   Variations on standard Dresden Files slugfest over and over and over again.  It was better done than A Memory of Light but barely so mainly because Butcher is a better writer than Sanderson.

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30 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:
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Her death made sense as she kept putting herself in danger without any real way to deal with magical threats.  Eventually, it was going to catch up.  I really disliked having the whole White Council banishment off screen that was just wrong.  I don’t understand Harry’s role in the Grey Council if they just cast him to the wolves.

The book was very monotonous just   Variations on standard Dresden Files slugfest over and over and over again.  It was better done than A Memory of Light but barely so mainly because Butcher is a better writer than Sanderson.

Spoiler

But she did not die facing a magical threat, she died in a stupid accident. Up until that stupid accident she was actually doing just fine. What happened to her could have easily happened to a lot of character up to and including Harry, the Alphas, Butters, Sanya, Ivy, Carlos and pretty much any wizard.

 

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I’ve enjoyed the DF for going on 20 years.  PT/BG is the first time since Fool Moon that I’ve been disappointed.  The book is not “bad” it’s just so so.  In particular BG.  The most interesting parts were the preparation for the battle.  Then it is one “standard Dresden Files slugfest” after another.  

The division of the book into two is part of the problem but only part.  There weren’t any really good character defining moments for Harry and felt like stuff we’d seen before written “up too eleven”

In some ways it felt like a reversal of Changes.  Putting Harry back where he was before Changes with a slightly supped up version of the things he lost.  I thought the point of this book was that the magical world was going to be thrust in the face of the “real world” in a way that could not be ignored.  Mr. Butcher even tries to walk that back.  

Murphy’s death, while well written and impactful seems lost in the noise.  It didn’t have anything close to the emotional heft and weight of Susan’s death.  Thomas was criminally under used given the hook we saw for almost five years and the revelation about Justine was both “meh” and seems, to me, to clash with the tone set for the renewal of Justine and Thomas’ full relationship at the end of Ghost Story.

The entire thing seems somewhat... under developed given the length of time Mr. Butcher had on the story.  I sincerely hope Mirror Mirror will be more of a return to form.

And by “form” I do not mean “formula”.  Maybe we’re on the downhill slope and Butcher really blew his wad on Changes, we will see.

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So. I forced myself to read chapters 23 to 31

Spoiler

- The battle is a complete slog and just to much. Alhough it is nice to see Mab finally confronting Ethniu properly, having unexpected support arrive twice (first Odin, the Erlking and Winter, then Marcone, Summer and miscellaneous) really dampens the impact

- Harry continues to only think of his fleshy daughters, which I find quite disgusting really considering how important his "pregnancy" was in Skin Game

- Rudolph facing justice, haha. Good joke Sanya. At this point I hope Kincaid gets his hands on Rudolph

- Apparently the WC and everyone else is only after the Eye. Even though I am not suprised, I am still disappointed

And lastly:

FUCK BUTTERS

Not only does he get the bestest sword evah (100% guarenteed to only harm to wicked and even able to make them feel remorse to ensure that Butters can do not wrong), but he is now also officially Murphy's replacement as Harry's partner in battle (Lara will take over as romantic partner I am sure). Good thing Butcher got rid of the unnecessary ballast. Blergh!

And as the cherry on top he gets to stand his ground against Ethniu who pretty much obliterated everybody else. I wonder if Butcher was writing those segments one-handed, it certainly feels like it.

EDIT:And to chapter 35

Spoiler

- I repeat myself: FUCK BUTTERS. Now the sword can banish mental influence by hitting the person. Blergh! At least he was taken out eventually and before the ultimate climax and Sanya was actually allowed to wound Ethniu

- Molly becoming more and more fey. That is not a good sign

- The fighting itself left me pretty numb. It was better than MoL to be sure, but at this point it is just sensory overload

- Poor Hendricks though he still went out better than Murphy

- Marcone being a Denarian and more profficient than Harry. Fuck that shit. The characters appeal was precisely that he was a mortal man managing to establish himself amongs supernatural power. Yet another character Butcher ruined for me. At the least his accomplishments prior to getting the coin remain remain

- Bob helping Harry at the binding only further highlights the complete absence of Bonnie from the story

- And to make it even more insulting, Harry again only thinks of Maggie

- Apparently everyone of Harry's friend except the wardens (and because Drakul was just incredibly random their deaths/disappearance also feels incredibly shallow) and Murphy survived as if to further pour salt into the wound.

- And lastly: Justine being possesed by a walker apparently for years now. That is the third shark Butcher jumped this book for me

Now only the epilogue to go. I will probably read it tonight.

BG and PT really killed to series for me for the forseeable future. PT was felt incredibly rushed and needed at least another round of rewrites and reediting. It was an allaround disappointment that (except for one thing revealed in BG) was completely and utterly pointless. I never expected that BG would save PT, but I never imagined that it would be even worse.

The 300 pages of battle are just exhausting and, while not badly written in and of itself, the book does not provide enough quiet time and relief between the action. Honestly it appears that, after the split was decided, Butcher just decided to stretch out his two halfs just so that he had enough pages for two novels without concern what that would do for structure and pacing. Both books needed more than that even if that would have delayed the release further.

EDIT2:

So I read the epilogue and if Butcher thought that this will save the books then he was completely wrong as my personal opinion is concerned.

Spoiler

Quite frankly at this point Rudolph might have just shown up and danced a merry little jig on Murphy's grave:

- First we get a lecture with Gard talking out of her ass about how Murphy totally did not die in a stupid accident. but as a warrior. Died fighting a Jotun my ass

- Then we find that Murphy does not even get to chose her afterlife and she probably will not even be reunited with Harry in death. Even coming while he still lives is pretty much impossible now unless Harry gets his memories erased in a few hundred years when every other mortal is dead

- Then we get the bit with Michael and fuck Michael. Apparently wishing for Murphy to be save in a fight that would have likely killed (we will never know) now constitutes giving up on her

- And then lastly there is the engagement which conveniently gives Harry enough time to get over Murphy and , if not outright fall in love with Lara, to at least get comfortable enough with the idea of marrying her. Even if that does not work out he can still get together with Molly, the other side of this new shitty love-triangle.

For other stuff:

- Harry still does not mention Bonnie and I do not know why I care at this point. It is clear that Butcher does not

- Fuck Butters. Not only does he explicitely get to stand at Harry's side at the funeral (which should have been Michael's job), he also now gets to be revered as a hero by Chicago's populace

- Fuck the White Council and fuck you Carlos in particular. Fuck you and your selfrighteous spiel about "trust" and fuck you for implying that Harry was somehow at fault for all the deaths

- I really hope that Harry at least told Butters and Sanya about Marcone's new partner, but with you it has been going, I would not be suprised if he did not.

- And lastly Butcher manages to completely destroy any suspension of disbelief I had about the Dresden Files world's masquerade. 60 000 people are dead. I wonder which Middle-eastern country will get invaded this time. Maybe it is going to be North Korea?

Overall this book was a shitfest. I think the only stuff I really liked about it was to pancakes scene back in Peace Talks and the stuff with Murphy prior to her death (and even that irrevocably tainted now). Unless I get confirmation that Murphy miraculously shows up at the wedding, kicks Lara's and Mab's teeth in and marries Harry instead of Lara, I am not going to buy any other Dresden Files books. At least there is still fanfiction.

 

 

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In any case, incredible book.

Mirror Mirror spoiler

I admit, I am irritated Murphy is going to be in the next one, though. Alternate Universe Murphy or not. We need some time to mourn her.

I do think that anyone who thinks Harry and Lara are going to be a willing pair also miss that this is not remotely their choice.

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Spoiler

Regarding Harry and Lara: They have an entire year where they will be interacting on a regular basis to get close to eachother. At this point and with how (comparatively) cuddly Lara was in PT I am fully suspecting that this is what Butcher has planned. It will almost certainly feel forced and contrived but  my confidence in Butcher is nonexistent at this point.

As for Mirror Mirror: Yeah that will just be great (sarcasm)

 

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16 minutes ago, C.T. Phipps said:

In any case, incredible book.

Mirror Mirror spoiler

 

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I admit, I am irritated Murphy is going to be in the next one, though. Alternate Universe Murphy or not. We need some time to mourn her.

I do think that anyone who thinks Harry and Lara are going to be a willing pair also miss that this is not remotely their choice.

 

I don’t think Harry/Lara makes any sense.  He’ll burn her unless he has sex with someone he doesn’t love in the interrum.  Further, Harry knows Lara is a monster who sees humans as herd animals.

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45 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

 

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I don’t think Harry/Lara makes any sense.  He’ll burn her unless he has sex with someone he doesn’t love in the interrum.  Further, Harry knows Lara is a monster who sees humans as herd animals.

 

 

It's a blink and you'll miss it moment but Harry and Lara don't burn each other anymore:

"Shake on it, wizard?"

I nodded and traded grips with her. “Agreed.”

And a flickering something went between us. It wasn’t White Court mojo, I didn’t think. Just . . . a shivering note of energy. A harmony. It was a promise both of us had put a measure of will behind. It was a promise both of us meant to keep. We both had the same feelings about family.

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Just now, Gaston de Foix said:

 

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Incidentally, what do we make of the fact that Harry and Murphy have never soulgazed each other? It's a weird fact given Harry and Molly have, and Harry and Susan did.  

 

I think it established that Harry always believed he was a monster with Murphy and never wanted her to see the real him.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I just finished Battleground. It took me about two weeks to slog through it which is a long time for me.

The whole book long battle thing was just kind of tedious and I'm not that interested in Dresden repeatedly fighting cut and paste monsters. The Murphy stuff was annoying. Also the books have never felt particularly well grounded in Chicago as an actual place but using it as a setting for the battle Butcher was describing really didn't work at all for me.

In general splitting the Peace Talks/Battleground story into two books seems to have made both halves of the story worse and it's just a bit irritating that I'm being gouged for twice the money. Overall it's been a bit of a disappointing return for Butcher. 

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1 hour ago, ljkeane said:

I just finished Battleground. It took me about two weeks to slog through it which is a long time for me.

The whole book long battle thing was just kind of tedious and I'm not that interested in Dresden repeatedly fighting cut and paste monsters. The Murphy stuff was annoying. Also the books have never felt particularly well grounded in Chicago as an actual place but using it as a setting for the battle Butcher was describing really didn't work at all for me.

In general splitting the Peace Talks/Battleground story into two books seems to have made both halves of the story worse and it's just a bit irritating that I'm being gouged for twice the money. Overall it's been a bit of a disappointing return for Butcher. 

Pretty much agree. 

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On 10/24/2020 at 10:07 AM, ljkeane said:

The whole book long battle thing was just kind of tedious and I'm not that interested in Dresden repeatedly fighting cut and paste monsters.

Interesting...this was my fear for the book, that Harry would spend a lot of time fighting octokongs and other grunts (like with A Memory of Light).  But I actually thought there was quite little of this.  I did not think that the action got repetitive, and I was overall very happy with the book.

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  • 2 months later...
On 10/26/2020 at 2:17 PM, End of Disc One said:

Interesting...this was my fear for the book, that Harry would spend a lot of time fighting octokongs and other grunts (like with A Memory of Light).  But I actually thought there was quite little of this.  I did not think that the action got repetitive, and I was overall very happy with the book.

Heh, pretty much agree. 

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  • 11 months later...
20 hours ago, C.T. Phipps said:

FYI - I fully expect never to see or hear from Harry's other daughter again

Maybe if we ever do a Maggie series, she'll be his version of Bob but she seems like an idea that Jim has no interest in exploring.

I wonder, as with other things, if that might be becaue Butcher lost his flow during the (comparitively) long pause after the release of Skin Game. The Pancake scene was something that Butcher imagined happening long before PT came out, if I recall correctly, and is probably a relic from an earlier draft.

I suspect that pause is also responsible for the absence of actual peace talks in Peace Talks, the general roughness of the last two books and THAT THING I am still mad about.

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