[Gwynn ap Nudd]

As I think I had posted that I planned on doing elsewhere (the 2010 thread in other lit) I went and powered through the series from Storm Front through Turncoat during the last two weeks of December. Overall, it was a great light read and I can't wait for the Changes.

But, I found much of the last couple books to be far too heavy on the foreshadowing and/or predictable in some ways. (Similar to one of the problems I had with Toll the Hounds

Spoiler

eg. Murillio was dead as soon as he said the word retire, and I realised Cutter was going to kill Chalice's husband as soon as I remembered who Chalice was (I think it was her second POV) though the reason was not as obvious.

)

Cases in point:

A new character is introduced who has no prior relationship with any of the main characters and is in a position to receive the information the traitor leaks. Guess who the traitor is?
Dresden is informed that old wizards cannot have their minds tampered with easily. Guess which not so old anymore wizard has had their mind tampered with?

Earlier in the series it was possible to put the pieces together if you put some thought into it, but in the later books it seems reading a few key sentences early in the book gives away much of the story. Not sure if this is a case of Butcher becoming more obvious as the series goes on or if it is a matter of growing accustomed to the way he writes. Has anyone else noticed this?

[HoosierDaddy]

I picked out the traitor the first time I saw him. However, I didn't pick out what repercussions that would have as it turned out. Thus, the book was still very good and surprising to me in that way.

[Use Of Weapons]

We had encountered Peabody previously though (he wrote the book Harry used to summon the Erlking in Dead Beat). I remember thinking the German was wrong when I read Dead Beat, and I wonder if that clarification in Turn Coat was intentional in order to give Harry a reason to provoke Peabody, or Butcher's response to having the mistake pointed out by countless pedantic fans.In any case, part of the fun of the series is often not working out _who_ dunnit, but finding out _how_ they dunnit. Which is much more labyrinthine.

[Abyss]

Go all the way back to FOOL MOON and it's not exactly a surprise that 'mysterious woman' is a wolfwere. The fun twist was her training college students to be werewolves, and them becoming regular supporting cast members.

Yeah peabody screamed 'traitor'. The twist was in how it all played out with Morgan more than who the real traitor was.

Similarly, Luccio... i agree, there were some hints all was not right... but i was expecting her to try and stab Harry in the head mid coitus or blast him in the back or something. That the manipulation was to make her love him was icky.

These books don't go out of their was to be uber-clever. It's more in the execution and at times the sheer over-the-top audacity of the action, than the actual revelation. That's why they are, imnsho, the bestest urban fantasy 'fun' series out there, rather than the epic fantasy that SE writes or say, Mike Carey's slow burn Castor series which is more of a 'wtf?!?' than a 'holy fnck!' series.



- Abyss, ...as opposed to LKHamilton's Anita Blake series which became 'let's all fnck!'...

[Morgoth]

I have to agree a little. As I grow older (or more widely read perhaps) I find that books - especially fantasy books - often get too predictable. Foreshadowing is often glaringly obvious because there's no other reason for whatever information is used to be added at that point. Turn Coat, as I've mentioned in other threads was a bit of a disappointment because I was never the least bit surprised.

[Mentalist]

hmm, I've just finished Turn Coat, after taking a long break from Dresden, and I now have one recurring thought stuck in my head.

it's an uber-crazy theory, but I suspects that at some point Harry will confront the Black Council, and the person in charge will be his mother. the scene b/w Harry and Luccio where she describes his mother really leads me to think that.

Also, I didn't see Peabody. but then again, I wasn't looking. I was just enjoying the ride.

[Abyss]

I still think Harry's mom isn't dead, or if she is, she made plans to 'get better'.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 24 January 2011 - 03:14 PM, said:

I still think Harry's mom isn't dead, or if she is, she made plans to 'get better'.

I agree, and I have feelings that ride the lines of...thinking either she's a clever evil manipulator (visions in both her sons heads to unite them) who does a bunch of good stuff just to throw us all off her scent...but to me that makes her stink more of BC....or she really is good. I dunno.

Anyone else think that Justin DuMorne may not be the big bad we all are led to believe, and that he has turned to good and has therefore spent his time (since his supposed death at Harry's hands) in hiding and protecting Harry? I get a Sirius Black vibe from mentions of him is all..and I think it would make for a really nice twist....

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 24 January 2011 - 03:29 PM