I can’t say I like that microfiction about Morgan. I thought he was just fine as the strict, by-the-books cop with a bad attitude. Making his whole life revolve around the main character, and giving him a schoolboy crush on his commanding officer, are both just cheesy.
I’m rereading Storm Front. Butcher’s hamhandedly trying to retrofit a Snape where there is none. In this story, he’s just trying to kill Dresden.
Storm Front spoilers:
[spoiler]He tries to take custody of Harry and bring him in front of the Council to be tried, and executed by his hand. Further, Harry would have been killed during the next storm by Victor Sells if he had gone with Morgan. I can’t read, “tough love” into this.
The retrofit is not necessary: Morgan’s behavior is adequately explained by the “burnt-out-cop” he’s shown to be in Turn Coat.[/spoiler]
I’m disappointed by the microfiction. Butcher must be overly attached to Harry Potter (a series I never did like) to be trying to make Morgan into something he isn’t.
The crush on Luccio has been there since Turn Coat though, shown to be similar to Molly and Harry’s relationship. I wont’ say it’s a good plot point (I really have no opinion one way or another), but it’s not new.
In the micro, Morgan claims Dresden disappeared when he went into the foster care system. Nothing before points to this. He went in with his own name: surely with the connections and abilities of the White Council, it is not possible to hide a child in an orphanage/foster care, in America, under his own name. This micro is weak. I will choose to ignore it.
About that disciple…
I’m not convinced Cowl is really a disciple of Kemmler, I think he’s Black Council through and through. I’m guessing that the Kemmler storyline ultimately died with Corpsetaker.
Book 3 has been an improvement so far, but I think it will be my last one until September(I’m a teacher). With this quarantine situation, I have actually read less than I do during the school year. Opposite of what one might expect, but my read of Dresden has been kind of inconsistent.
I’ll probably throw a discworld book in the mix next.
Omniscient, the two possibilities you mention are not mutually inconsistent, especially since the latter is just a placeholder name for an unknown entity or entities.
They could end up being synonymous but I really don’t think that’s the way this is headed. I think we already know what the overarching “big bad” is and it stirred up both the disciples and the…
black council in the same way it twisted Maeve.
Each however is it’s own gambit.
Re-read Storm Front and partway through Fool Moon again - hard to believe I first read them 20 years ago. Interesting that in the first two books Dresden was summoning demons, but he stopped that. Compared to what you know later down the line, the younger Dresden really was more reckless and clueless than he was later on. Also, more narrow-minded and less flexible. Quite a bit about how black magic is addictive and how Harry, having once killed with magic (even if in self-defense) has to struggle against the temptation to use it. Not that that goes away entirely.
I think some of the early Harry-struggles-against-temptation sets him up later for being able to resist the temptations of Lash. He’d already decided to be choosy where he gets his power from early on, and had lots of experience struggling against temptation before he ever picked up the Evil Coin.
Over the course of the series there actually is a lot of character development.
Also referenced in Changes, where
He needs to gain a lot of power, fast, for important reasons, and of the multiple methods available to him (off the top of my head, it was at least three), Mab was the least evil.
I do miss some of the silliness in the early books, like summoning the whiskey-swilling demon into a Cabbage Patch doll. Some of the short stories recapture some of that (like the story about the Billy Goat Curse).
Dresden silliness: donut, with sprinkles.
(If you’ve read that far in the series you’ll know exactly what I mean. If you haven’t read that far it won’t be a spoiler for you.)
Yes, there was silliness, but there was also a purpose behind the silliness, which also makes it awesome.
Dresden plays the asshole like few others…
The best of the silliness to date (from memory so please forgive and correct any mistakes):
- Attending a costume ball thrown by vampires while wearing a cheesy fake vampire costume complete with cheap powder blue tux, plastic fangs and fake blood.
- Attending a high level council meeting while wearing an old, stained, plaid bathrobe because his cat used his good robe as a litter box.
- Parkour!
Please add your own…
Oh, yes. “This is a costume ball, no? The idea is to dress as something one is not?”
I’ve been skipping this thread because I didn’t want to be spoiled and DEFINITELY now because spoiler tags aren’t working yet (?) but I just have to say I just finished 12-Changes and I’m FREAKING OUT. I had had the thing that was said on the first page spoiled for me so I anticipated some of the Changes that would occur in Changes, but holy fuck I was underprepared by a factor of about a million.
Changes is when I really started to fall in love with the series.
I think it marks the point where Harry runs out of fucks to give and finally starts to act like a proper badass.
Presumably it’s already been mentioned in this thread that the next two books (Peace Talks and Battle Ground) are supposed to be out this summer…
Yep. Peace Talks comes out July 14, and Battle Ground comes out September 29.
Gah! I’m doing terribly with my re-read. I’m only halfway through Grave Peril! I think I’m gonna need to jump ahead to Changes after this, or I won’t be anywhere near ready when Peace Talks comes out. Oh well.
Based on this thread and the books starting up again I’ve spent the last three week working my way back through the series. I’m up to Turn Coat now and for me Dead Beat is where my enjoyment of the series really turned on. It’ll be close if I make it through Skin Game before my copy of Peace Talks shows up.
Sue has one of the coolest endings of the entire series. I also enjoy the books with the Denarians the most I think Michael makes a great foil to Harry and Nicholas is just a sick bastard.
Battle Ground has been out for days now. Has anyone else read it?
There’s an open spoilers thread for it already.