And if that were the rationale he used for accepting Mab’s offer, I wouldn’t have minded so much. A scene of him soul-searching and realizing he couldn’t do it and then making the (even harder under those circumstances) decision would have worked. I wouldn’t have loved it, but I think I would have had less trouble accepting it. Throwing in the whole “damn, I broke my back falling off a ladder and am now paralyzed” thing just really bothered me.
I would second this. I have read the entire series both ways, and I like the publication order better. Not to mention, in one of the later books, you jump around the timeline so much you can’t read it in chronological order. Parts of it take place between and during other books.
On the subject of this thread, I liked both Changes and Ghost Story. They were a logical progression of the events that have been happening in the entire series, taking a lot of things and tying them together in a way I found very enjoyable. I had figured out how Harry came back, but the journey there in the book was well worth it for me.
I am really looking forward to see what Butcher does next with Harry, and how he deals with being the Winter Knight. Plus I am wondering if he tells everyone he is alive again. On one hand, it will make all of his friends very happy, and relieve a lot of the guilt that Molly is carrying around. OTOH, he may want to avoid getting them mixed up with his new duties to Mab. And there is still the island he is custodian of, just what is it and what does it want from him?
Because Dresden is stubborn. Supernaturally stubborn. He out-stubborned a Fallen angel. Stubborn to a fault. He would never have given in to Mab when he could still act of his own free will. The back injury put him into a situation where he could still think and reason, but not act.
Maybe he could have had his back broken by the Ick. But that was a hostile force and it would have been tricky to make it so the Ick paralyzed Dresden but didn’t actually kill him. IMO that would have been a worse contrivance than an unexpected mundane injury screwing him over.
D**n! I had no idea. Actually traded a couple of emails with Stephen a few years ago. Charming character. Hope this works and he is returned to health.
I was simply making an oblique reference to the complaint concerning Harry breaking his back after falling from a ladder (after being stomped by a monster and dragged through the woods for a Red Court menage a trois). Speaking of mundane, remember the Hellhounds recipe for killing a magician? Kincaid doesn’t miss and I wonder why he didn’t go for the head shot. Jim Butcher you got some ‘splain’ to do. Of course, that would have been a lot harder for Mab, the parasite (Lash) and the Genus Loci to repair. Does anyone have any skinny on the supposed first line of Cold Days, Mab’s unusual methods of physical therapy? If she is sexing Harry, he should recall the fate of Odysseus. Slain by his own son by Circe.
I always wait for the paperbacks, so I only just recently read Ghost Story. I’m very interested to see where all this will go, but I’ll just have to wait.
I’ve lost the link, but another author was selling downloads of one of his works and donating the proceeds to Stephen Brust and Emma Bull to help them with their medical expenses. I never really thought about the fact that regardless of however well their books sell my favorite authors might not have adequate health insurance.
Hmmm. Oversight, or plot point? I wouldn’t be surprised if three books on we discover that it part of somebody’s Master Plan that he be shot in the chest instead of the head…
Wasn’t in Grave Peril where Harry recruited (hired actually) Kincaid to battle Mavra? I distinctly recall Kincaid explaining how to kill a wizard and avoid the death curse. Head shot was definitely part of the recipe.
Citizens of the Dis-United States with the best health care most can’t afford. I’ll have to do some searches on this to see what I can afford to contribute. Thanks, for bringing this up.
I am sorry, but what was the title of that book…Oh right “CHANGES”
And on so many levels, from the characters to the situations, to the writing style and format.
We have all seen Harry almost lose his life and fall to despair. And some story element we all expect comes and rescues him (Being Held by the Denairians, Being Held by Madrigal, Being Held by the three strega and the White King). Going to Mab and excepting her offer was totally out of the blue, and a change. I was totally expecting Uriel to help him, but no, we got Mad instead.
Now my other comment is about the hate on people have for Ghost Story. We all saw what the “CHANGES” did to Harry, now we needed to see what it did to everyone else. I hate to break the news to all the "Harry Dresden " fans out there, but, “The Dresden Files” is now an ensemble piece. What happens to the Carpenters, and The Wriaths, and Sansa, and Butters, and Mouse and Mister (and Mab and Leah and Marcone - do you really think we are done with the girl in the coma yet?) are all important parts of the story.
Brust can afford health insurance. :rolleyes: But indeed, some non-HMO plans only cover 80 or 90%, thus a really huge medical disaster can be expensive.
I re-read it recently, and at the critical moment, Harry’s foot slipped. It was deliberately written that he slipped just before he was shot, so I’m sure that will come into play later. That slip would not have been included if it weren’t intended to play a part in that moment.
Oh C’mon. It wasn’t that bad. Hell, I actually LIKED it!
So did I.
The only problem I had with Ghost Story and Changes was how fast I went through them and how long it took for the next one to come out lol.
What I’m really interested in is how Harry’s new powers will affect his relationship with the council. Also how Molly will react to Harry’s resurrection.
My take on Harry breaking his back is that he was dithering on making some hard choices and it was The Powers That Be arranging something to force him to make a decision.
I’ve been re-reading Changes and it’s quite clear that Harry is the fulcrum for all sorts of events and forces, and it’s up to him to decide where things go. He can’t win, though, without entering into some permanent alliances. He refuses to do this despite mounting pressure (and an audience with a god (Odin) at one point). So TPTB arranges for him to have an accident, just like Sanya “coincidentally” arrives to save the day for those in Harry’s boarding house. It is long established that the Knights of the Cross live a life of happy coincidence and circumstance. Harry isn’t a Knight, but he holds two of the Swords. Is it that odd to think TPTB would also tweak Harry’s life, especially when he’s being a stubborn goof?
When Harry breaks his back he has to either give up or forge a permanent alliance with a powerful ally, in this case Mab. He has to. It’s a small thing that forces the issue which is very much how TPTB function in the Dresdenverse.
Likewise, Harry engineers his own demise, using Kincaid who is as close to a certain assassination as you’re going to get, TPTB, not wanting Harry to be actually fully dead, are forced to intervene again, and as usual do it in a very small and subtle way - by making Harry slip at a key moment. Again, totally consistent with the small coincidence that has huge effect manner in which TPTB operate.
Now, I can understand where some people won’t like that mechanic, which reeks of deus ex machina. However, it’s a mechanism established very early in the series that we’ve seen operating for the Knights so it’s not Butcher pulling something out of his hindregions.
It doesn’t just reek of deus ex machina - it IS deus ex machina. If you believe that all the slips and falls and “coincidences” are really TPTB making slight changes to keep things on the “right path” (which I do), then under a strict interpretation “God appeared and made things happen” so that the plot would go a certain way. That’s pretty much the classical example of deus ex machina.
Except that this time we didn’t have a meeting with Uriel or with Odin, but you can’t always have the physical incarnation there to chat with. What’s interesting to me is that the characters are beginning to become aware that deus ex machina is a real thing inside that world - it isn’t just thrown in for the reading audience, or used as a get out of jail free mechanism to let Butcher off the hook with no in-story repercussions.
I’m also fairly certain the White God in specific isn’t interested in making things end in a manner that is good and settled to the benefit of anyone BUT that particular entity (and presumably it’s devotees). I’m very interested to see how everything related to that is going to turn out, because I would bet that it’s not anywhere near what people are expecting.
I’m still dithering over whether Mab’s hidden plans are aligned with or opposed to the good of humans. The Black Council’s too, for that matter. So far Butcher’s left it vague enough that the mighty powers in the world (with the probable exception of Heaven) could all be completely unlike what they are hinted as being.
Just found this, enjoy…
After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard.
He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill.
Guess which Mab wants first?
Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.
Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own…
His soul.
The shooter isn’t a mystery. We know it’s
Kincaid. Who shot Harry at Harry’s request.
For anyone who’s wondering, what elbeas posted above is the blurb that’s going on the back of the book. (Source)