# I love the Dresden novels, but...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-dresden-novels-but/503639>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 20, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-dresden-novels-but/503639 "2009-07-20T16:11:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-dresden-novels-but/503639/1 "2009-07-20T16:11:09Z")

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…they are **incredibly** dense reading. A typical story has six or seven different factions in multiple conflict, and there are double or even triple red herrings. I have to read a chapter at a time and then digest what I’ve read before I can read more.

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**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-dresden-novels-but/503639/2 "2009-07-20T16:38:03Z")

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You think so? Doesn’t seem _that_ dense to me. Usually confusing stuff gets explained in due time, too.

But then, I’ve had practice trying to understand Wheel of Time. 😃

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**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-dresden-novels-but/503639/3 "2009-07-20T18:28:54Z")

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My strategy for these kinds of things is to jst enjoy the ride, because everything will be explained once it’s relevant. You know, like when the bad guy you can’t quite remember the name of gets outed as the Mastermind of the Conspiracy, there’s always some exposition about how he was with the Fluffy Bunny Liberation Front, and his sister used to be the head honcho, and he was peripherally involved with the Internation Jellybean Cartel… that sort of thing.

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**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-dresden-novels-but/503639/4 "2009-07-20T20:09:28Z")

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The world it’s in is based… in a conceptual way… on the politics of the Amber novels. I played with Mr. Butcher on a game based on the series, long ago, and the derivation of his style of plot comes through fairly distinctly.

As I see it, this can only be a good thing.