The Dresden Files

[geekywraith]

On the official website in the book section there will probably be some clues and much later a brief story description. Yes it’s exactly like Changes. The sample chapters are usually released in March each week before the release of the new book in April

I trust the author. Indeed no emo crap that would be revolting. I don’t think Molly will be the crying type. She’s a hot head and will want to take action because she cares way too much about Harry. Murphy would put her into her place if she started to be an emotional mess. I picture Murphy finding the skull and thinking nothing of it until Bob makes her jump. I agree Murphy and Bob should have been introduced way back. I think that we might see Kincaid and Ivy in the next book. Perhaps Eb hired Kincaid as a favor to get Dresden out of his current obligations.

I think Harry called it Demonreach. We did see the Island in Small Favor and in Turn Coat. Perhaps we’ll see it again. What surprised me is that in Turn Coat Dresden wizard abilities were growing and he had a sense of deja vu/sees the future in a way and yet that haven’t been explored. The shapeshifter escaped after it was losing the fight with the other wizards that were helping Dresden. That would be interesting seeing Dresden fight this type of villain now. He’s even more powerful now.

[jmoz]

Dang, was hoping he'd release a chapter more evenly spaced. Like maybe one every 4 or 3 months. Ahh, well.

Bob and Murphy first contact, epic. Well I'm hoping that there's that Murphy and Kincaid short story that comes out and gives a good lead off of that into this new book. Like something that Murphy and Kincaid may have done that might help Dresden. It'd be a good two plot thing. Like what Harry is going through. And what everyone else is doing to find and help Harry. Oh wait never mind. All the books are told from Harry's perspective.

I don't know. I just don't like some new things that pop that aren't used later or just forgotten. I thought the Holy swords were gonna be like that but they were used later on. I just don't want that to become a dropped plot convenience. Maybe the swords are called to places of need right? So maybe they go through some quest and find Harry through that. Yea, yea, I know I just like Murphy with a sword but come on, Murphy + Sword = Awesomeness.

[geekywraith]

Sadly it’s like that. We’ll have to wait until March of next year to get the sample chapters… It’s a big cruel teaser… I dislike cliffhangers…

Bob meeting Murphy.

Bob: "Oh my gosh you are so hot! Oooo such soft hands."
Murphy: WTH! A talking skull? Be quiet something bad happen to Dresden.
Bob: "Oh that’s no surprise… Your legs look hot"


In the compilation of the short stories “Side Jobs” to be released in November there will be a short story about Murphy and Kincaid’s vacation in Hawaii during Dead Beat. There will be new materiel but I don’t think it will be anything post Changes. I do hope that Murphy and Kincaid team up at some point. Indeed the books are from Dresden perspective but Murphy’s vacation in Hawaii won’t be.

The things that pop… Like new characters that come out of nowhere like Micheal… Sanya is the only Knight of the holy swords in service. Shiro and Micheal are out of service. In Death Mask Shiro was already dying and sacrificed himself to save Dresden. In Small Favor Micheal got critically injured… Sanya is the only active knight. Dresden has the 2 unused swords hidden on the boat. Dresden has the task of finding two people worthy of them. Murphy already refused because the sword was controlling her like a puppet in Changes and she didn’t like that. The author brings things up for a reason and I don’t think he really forgets about them…Yes I agree Murphy + sword = amazing… Dresden vision of Murphy through his wizard sight in Grave Peril was cool.

[jmoz]

lol, think Bob might cause Murphy to use the F word and the "sexual harassment word".

I hope there's an exploration of some of the more mysterious characters. As much as I hate to say it, but I hope there's like some type of goal for Bob. Like he could get back his former life and powers if he does something valiant or some prospects for him. I'd definitely like to see McNally get explored and maybe the history of the White Council, like how history played out really in their part of the world.

I wouldnt mind reading about Harry kicking some old ghost Nazis' butt. Wow, two swords just collecting rust, not they collect rust. Weird that he's been holding on to them for so long. There needs to be someone that comes by and gets one of them at least.

[geekywraith]

Indeed Murphy will probably say it if she meets Bob.

The author isn’t shy about using the F work in his books and I’m fine with that. It’s funny how Dresden swears especially when a baddie is chasing him or a in a bad situation. In Changes Bob was underused and disappeared for most of the book. But near the end he got to help Dresden in battle.

Bob getting back his former life? That would be interesting and new. He’s a spirit of intellect and has a lot of knowledge and perhaps power. He’s served wizards since the Middle Ages and is from the Nevernever. Beyond that we don’t know who he is and why he has his obsessions. Perhaps he was a Fae a long long time ago.

McNally is a mysterious person. He has some knowledge about magic. He’s very quiet but in Changes he surprised Dresden by speaking instead of grunting. I agree that it would be interesting in to know more about him and the history of the White Council.

Dresden hasn’t found anyone yet for the swords. Murphy already refused one. Yes it’s strange that it’s taking so long. They could be in use to do good instead of accumulating dust somewhere. Ghost Dresden kicking some baddies is always interesting.

[jmoz]

lol, Mouse cursing was great.

Wouldn't mind seeing Bob's former existence and the events leading to his current subservient existence. Of course, there's all those new characters introduced, like Gard and that V god guy. I don't like things getting too epic, becomes a little too out there. Eh, I have respect for the author to be optimistic that he'll do a good job though.

With White Council, like what happened in WWII. Maybe bad wizards went on rampage causing the war in the first place. I sorta wanna see alternate history story telling I guess.

Weird that Christian supernatural world is mostly confined to the swords and angels. I hope we see other aspects of other religion, like maybe dragons or yetis or chupacabra or something, lol.

[geekywraith]

Indeed Mouse was great in Changes. *Restore them of I’ll rip your bleep off* to Mab.

Well with Ghost Story we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out. I agree that if it’s too out there it can be hard to get into. Apparently a short story called “Aftermath” (in November) will deal out a little info too. I don’t know if it’s part of the book Side Jobs short stories single anthology. I read this info on JB forum about the ending of Changes. Many fans are unhappy about the ending. The author says that its not a cliffhanger. But it is right? Like who shot Dresden and why? Not being a cliffhanger means that Dresden is dead (temporarily)...

That could be interesting. The black council could be responsible such crimes. Wizards like the grey council like Eb could have had work to track down and eliminate the corrupt wizards.

I think that it was explored just a bit with the Native American Wizard Joe (forgot his full name) in Turn Coat and that shape shifter creature is part of his people’s beliefs. There's the Jade court they’ve never been really explored. It would make sense to have other aspects of other religions as well with the angels.

[jmoz]

Wow, "Aftermath." That sounds like a setup for the continuation. I really hope he doesn't deal with the cliffhanger in that one short story. I hope it's a setup.

I think he wanted the attention the ending it'd get. You have to admit, such an unfavorable ending probably garnered more fan reaction than the alternate way. But yea, I do agree that it's kinda a bad cliffhanger, a forced contrived marketing ploy.

You just know Hitler probably had some ubber baddie pulling his strings, maybe the Fae or something. But what I'd really like to see explored in Dresdenverse history would be Merlin and the author's take on it. Like if he had any major rivals. How old is the oldest wizard in the White Council? Were they around when the first Merlin was?

It'd be great to read something of that nature, maybe even tie it in to Harry somehow. Like someone tries to assassinate the current Merlin and Harry is chosen to investigate. He ends up digging into the past and finds that other Merlins were assassinated before and they didn't die of natural causes.

Ahh, yea Injun Joe. Would be nice to see the other mythologies explored.

[geekywraith]

I do hope that there will be some clues about the ending of Changes and not some set up. I really don’t want to read about weeping characters and a messed up Murphy. I do hope that Dresden’s body won’t be floating in the lake and that it was taken to be healed in the Nevernever by a foe or some strange ally.

I prefer self contained books rather than the ending Changes gave us. It had humor and it was shocking at the same time. But it was probably made to get fans talkative about the ending and yes I agree a marketing ploy… Indeed it’s a bad cliffhanger. It kind of makes me unhappy about having to wait a whole year to have pt2 of the story since it’s clearly an unending…

That’s interesting. Uber baddies in RL having dark forces influencing them. I could totally see the Winter Court behind some of the worst aspects of human behavior. The actual Merlin is really old and the oldest wizard but he’s not the original. It would indeed be interesting to have some background history on them. I think that Dresden makes Merlin nervous because he’s powerful and is influential amongst the younger wizards. Dresden dares to think and is not afraid of the White Council. The Red Court tried to end the White Council with some disease. Perhaps it was a failed attempt to eliminate Merlin and all the wizards. I agree that it would be interesting to have a story about Dresden having to protect Merlin and discovering dark aspects about it.

[jmoz]

Well, someone will probably discover that Harry was shot with the blood and bullet hole and all on the boat when someone decides to visit. The ending was so weird. It wraps up all the events from Mexico and rushes to Harry going home. And BAM all of a sudden he gets shot. That just came out of nowhere. I mean what happened in between the epic battle and to him going to the boat. Don't understand why he couldn't go to Murphy's place and stay there for a while. She has like that house protection thing because of the strong family magic thingie. And the boat definitely doesn't because it's not a home!

Indeed, I like self contained stories as well. I think the author probably won't do this again, maybe. I prefer the longer cliffhangers/plot arcs that aren't as immediate as Harry suddenly getting shot, the end. The longer cliffhangers would be the whole Black Council plot arc.

Merlin was around the Middle Age which is about 700-1000 years ago? So, I mean, forget her name, the chick in charge of the Wardens was pretty old herself, like 300? And Morgan too. How old is Ed? Just would be an interesting angle to read though. I mean there's going to be more books so maybe one of them will be at that angle. We'll see.

[geekywraith]

Murphy was supposed to come back and pick up Dresden. She’ll probably be the first one on
the scene. I agree that the ending was weird. Epic battle and then he’s on a boat…It did feel a bit rushed. It’s Thomas’s boat. I hope that it wasn’t an enemy of Thomas who did it. The ending was a complete surprise and it came out of no where. The very last page of the book… That’s true. Murphy should’ve offered Dresden a safe place to stay since her mom has magical knowledge like we saw in Grave Peril with the wards in the park. The boat didn’t have any protective spells on it. I agree that a boat really isn’t a home. I can’t really picture Dresden living on one for long. It's not wizardry...

I wouldn’t mind having a Black Council plot arc rather than some Fae arc.

Yeah. Merlin is probably between 700 and 1000 years old. That’s Luccio, the one who's in charge of the Wardens. I think she’s 300 years old or more. It was mentioned in Dead Beat or in Small Favor. She was Morgan’s mentor. I have no idea how old is Eb since he’s the Councils executioner. He’s probably as old as Luccio. It would be interesting to know more about the White Councils members and their history.

[jmoz]

Contrived rushed ending. Anyways, I heard there's this other series that is similar to the Dresden files so I started reading and it's pretty much exactly like Dresden. It's the Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston. He just copied the Dresden style and changed him into a vampire, oh my bad vampyre. It's another one of those books that jumped the bandwagon with all the recent vampire craze.

I'll finish the first one and see how it is though. So far, it's just Dresden but he is more "bad." Let's face it, Dresden's a goodie two shoes. Huston's character, Joe Pitt, is a over the top cliche "cool guy" bad boy. I'll see how it goes though.

Another author I think you may really like if you give it a chance is Brandon Sanderson. He does fantasy but the politics aren't as bad and plentiful as in other fantasies. I'd try Warbreaker first to get a sense of his writing style and see how you like it. Think you can download the book from his site. I enjoyed it and started his other acclaimed series.

I just hope Jim doesn't make Harry enter the political fray in the White Council or the fae courts. Their politics are just such downers and ridiculous. And the vampire courts' ones too.

[geekywraith]

Never heard of the Joe Pitt series… I'm definitely not going to read it. I’m allergic to the vampire bandwagon craze. I hope that fad will pass soon… It’s been around for quite some time. There have been many TV series with vampires as main characters. Plus with the all the books with vampires and crap. So Joe Pitt is a bad vampire *sigh* that is just so boring and unoriginal… Cliche is just bad writing…


Dresden is indeed a goodie two shoes. I liked the darker side of him in White Night with Lasciel in his head… He always has to fight the bad guys mostly alone, almost always looks like he’s facing impossible odds, gets uber whumped and wins in the end.

I don’t know the Brandon Sanderson’s books. With the fantasy genre it’s delicate because there are many things that would just bore or annoy me. I might like his style. I’ll have a look when I have the time and if I can download his book on his site.

With Harry becoming the Winter Knight he might be it for a few books. Like you I do hope that it won’t involve much Fae business and politics or the vampire courts.

[jmoz]

Not a bad vampire just one of those over the top "cool guys" and over the top "bad boy" persona. Yea, it's pretty ridiculous. Then he has like the societies which keeps track of this and that who are against him. Dude just copied Dresden Files, ridiculous. I stopped reading to read something else.

Warbreaker by Sanderson was good, but I read his other trilogy. Mistborn. It spent like 50% of the book explaining his new magic system, which is clever but too long to explain and such. I liked Warbreaker though. Eh, maybe give that one a try. Or if you want to read maybe just quirky slightly funny books, I'd recommend Roald Dahl. He's one of my favorites for his clever books. It's mostly children's stories but very clever and good fun reads.

Dresden dark side is cool but prefer his comedian side. With the powers he has now, it'll be like: Harry- "I shot fire at him and the bad guy exploded." Not very climatic. Or the bad guy just shrugs off the flames or something. I want some of that earlier vulnerability or some of that earlier magic in the earlier books. Sue was fantastic.

Politics are such a bore. I tried reading other fantasies but the time spent on silly and petty politics is just a snore. I pretty much stopped reading fantasies because they are such a bore with their cliched politics plus they are too long. Every fantasy is like 3 or 10 books in the series. And the writers drag on unimportant plots and characters. Ridiculous. Hopefully not much politics in the future books

[geekywraith]

So Charlie Huston ripped off The Dresden Files with his Joe Pitt series. I wonder if JB noticed that such
a series exists… I really dislike over the top “cool guys” because an author who does this tries to hard. I prefer underdogs. An over the top villain can be hilarious if it’s well written and of course right before he’s beaten in a battle.

I’ll give Warbreaker a try when I have some free time. Found the website for the book. I’ll keep in mind your reading suggestions. Never heard of Roald Dahl. I might give it a try. I like humor. It’s difficult to find another series that isn’t cliche or that has dull unnecessary explanations or politics.

Harry- "I shot fire at him and the bad guy exploded."

I agree Dresden’s dark side is cool but the funny side is important. I really like the hilarious one liners that Dresden has. It's what I like best about the series. I can totally picture Dresden saying that.

Well with Susan gone and so many changes in his life he might feel vulnerable. Perhaps he’ll be that way. The early magic was great. He’s much more powerful now and simpler magic is less seen. I really liked Dead Beat when he flipped a car on Cowl and of course Sue. It’s perhaps the best book in the series so far.

Politics are boring. I don’t dare venture in another fantasy series. Like you said they tend to have many books and drag on. I tried to read JB other series Codex Alera and gave up. Let’s just hope that book 13 Ghost Story won’t involve much or any Fae politics.