[QuickTidal]

scelestus;304951 said:

I agree. I enjoyed book 1, and book 2 held my attention nicely, but with book 3 things came unglued. What could go wrong would go wrong and did go terribly wrong. It was about a month between my finishing book 2 and going for book 3. As soon as book 3 was done, I was fighting to get my hands on Summer Knight. In fact, I was so sure of the series I got books 4 through 7 in one shot. I'm barely starting Death Masks, but so far Summer Knight is my favorite. The next should impress.

Death Masks takes the "what stuff can go wrong" from Grave Peril, and ups the ante.....and adds a few new things.

As far as interesting characters go, I've got one word for you (and you'll learn it soon enough in Death Masks): The Archive

I've been putting as many friends as I can onto this series. It's amazingly fun to read, and you can't help but love Harry's earnestness to be altruistic, while at the same time being a badass. Loves it.

I'm now two chapters into Blood Rites.......off we go again! Woot!

[Abyss]

Tif the Barber Boy;302991 said:

Okay, so I just finished Blood Rites, and I have to say, this is where Jim Butcher takes it to the next level.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first few books, they were fun and fast-paced. But Blood Rites in my mind is where the series goes from good to great. Its the first time I finished a book in the series and immediately reached for the next one.

Chance;303206 said:

I found Death Masks to be the turning point between entertaining and good and then Dead Beat where there was no longer no doubt what was next to read

The next four are in my opinion significantly stronger then Blood Rites...your in for a treat

QuickTidal;303570 said:

I am 3 quarters through Death Masks, and yeah I can kind of feel this book as a turning point. It seems like Butcher is introducing alot of large overall story plot points, and all the known characters are coming into their own.

Summer Knight was the one where I immediately reached for the next volume (and ordered Death Masks and Blood Rites).

To those just starting. It's only generic-ish to begin with. The first two books are kinda throw away story's (they are good, just not great)....and it's 3rd book Grave Peril where it starts to pick right up.

I love this series now!

scelestus;304951 said:

I agree. I enjoyed book 1, and book 2 held my attention nicely, but with book 3 things came unglued. What could go wrong would go wrong and did go terribly wrong. It was about a month between my finishing book 2 and going for book 3. As soon as book 3 was done, I was fighting to get my hands on Summer Knight. In fact, I was so sure of the series I got books 4 through 7 in one shot. I'm barely starting Death Masks, but so far Summer Knight is my favorite. The next should impress.

QuickTidal;304970 said:

Death Masks takes the "what stuff can go wrong" from Grave Peril, and ups the ante.....and adds a few new things.

As far as interesting characters go, I've got one word for you (and you'll learn it soon enough in Death Masks): The Archive

I've been putting as many friends as I can onto this series. It's amazingly fun to read, and you can't help but love Harry's earnestness to be altruistic, while at the same time being a badass. Loves it.

I'm now two chapters into Blood Rites.......off we go again! Woot!

The above posts totally characterize my own experience with this series. 1 is good, 2 lags but then gets better, 3 nailed me with its finale ["I DON'T BELIEVE IN FAERIES!!!!") and 4, DEATH MASKS, basically guaranteed advance hc purchase status of every book after i mass bought the ones that were out at the time. And DEAD BEAT kicks it up a whole other level.

Am about 1/3 thru SMALL FAVOR and loving it.


Funny thing, but as much as i like the books, Butcher's main fan forum doesn't really draw me. There's a lot of omg harrys teh best but little substance to the discussions.

- Abyss, is elitist about his book faves.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 22 October 2008 - 02:29 PM

[Pig Iron]

Picked up the Dresden books from reading about them here, then binged. Read through all of them, and then had the shivers from withdrawal. Nice! Next one ("Turn coat"?) seems to be a while though

[Abyss]

Have now completed SMALL FAVORS... SPOILERS follow...

SPOILERS SPOILERS MAD CRAZY FAERIE FUCKING DEMON SHAGGING VAMPIRE SPOILERS DRESDEN SPOILERS SPOILERS YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED SPOILERS DO NOT NOT NOT READ SPOILERS THIS SPOILERS IF YOU
DONT WANT TO BE SPOILERS SPOILED RE DRESDEN BOOKS SPOILERS AND SMALL FAVORS SPOILERS YO MAMA SPOILERS SPOILERS YO

Spoiler

Good fun and maintained my expectations for Butcher/Dresden.

I liked how there was some pay off to some minor points... Harry always seems to get the crap kicked out of him, and this book was especially full of breaks, hits and aches and pains... so the bit towards the end where he used Lash's pain technique and fooled Rosanna was great. In the same vein, the bit where Harry fools Nicodamus by pretending Lash has taken him out was brilliant, and then, acknowledging that he can take a LOT of pain (which he has been the entire book), he proceeds to choke the fucker. GREAT set-up and payoff there.

We finally got some progress on the Murphy/Fidelasword front, and kudos to Butcher for having her not do the obvious.

Kincaid was great in this one. I liked Luccio (tho i remain suspicious or her but hey, at least Harry's finally getting laid again). Mab's mindfncking was spot on. Michael was spot on brilliant this time and while i always expected something bad to happen to him, i was relieved it wasn't the worse case.
(tho that said, the whole 'Oh Noes, Gard is looking at him funny!' thing was... i dunno... too contrived maybe....?).

The Gruffs were good fun, and the way the confrontations played out with the last two (big mofo and big mojo) were perfect.

I was dissappointed with the Denarians. In DEATH MASK these were nasty, effective, lethal baddies that were hard to overcome. This time there were more of them, which initially seems like it amps up the story, except that then Harry proceeds to smack them down,. Kincaid brainshoots them, Thomas guts one practically offscreen... the point is made that Tessa's Denarians are less impressive than the ones Nic had with him last time, but even so, i liked them better when they couldn't be taken out en masse.

Uriel... let me get this straight... you need at least contact with a coin to host a Fallen, but real Angels can just walk into you whenever they feel like it??? Anyrate, i'm not buying it - i think Uriel is Black Council.

Good development on bits of the Black Council plot - Nic didn't know, Thorny is in on it and Mab is pissed at them. Interesting stuff.

I love that even Morgan is supporting Harry behind the scenes now. Only the Merlin still hates his guts.

Overall, doesn't rank in my top three Dresden books, but a solid entry in the series.

- Abyss, does want one of those fireball loaded shotgun thingies...

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 22 October 2008 - 02:30 PM

[Obdigore]

Abby:

Spoiler

I don't think Uriel just 'walked into him', I think he just charged up that White hand-majagger and gave Harry power over it. It is like the angel showed him HOW to use that power, without expecting anything in return...

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 22 October 2008 - 02:30 PM

[Pig Iron]

Not the best in the series, but still great fun. Sets up alot of things to come it seems.

Spoiler

The eldest Gruff (and his entrance) was great, as well as the creative use of a bagel. What's happening with Mab? She seemed to be weakened in her powers, and called in one of the favours to get Harry on the Denarians. Was the Black Council behind the attack on Winter then? And two swords - Murphy and Michael's wife?

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 22 October 2008 - 02:30 PM

[polishgenius]

Abyss;308502 said:

Spoiler

Uriel... let me get this straight... you need at least contact with a coin to host a Fallen, but real Angels can just walk into you whenever they feel like it??? Anyrate, i'm not buying it - i think Uriel is Black Council.

Spoiler

I always got the sense that the Fallen were trapped in the coins - hence why destroying them would get rid of the Fallen.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 22 October 2008 - 02:30 PM

[Obdigore]

@polish, here is a thought
Spoiler through Small Favor

Spoiler

The fallen are 'banished' to the coins, right? What if, like the swords, one can only be destroyed by a 'good' person, and destroying them releases the banishment of the fallen to that coin? Would that explain why the church has to 'store' them all, and some are smuggled out and returned (as mentioned in the one wiht the shroud of turin)? I think its an interesting idea, at least. I wonder if Uriel, assuming he is black council, gave Harry the godly power-up knowledge, and is waiting for him to destroy one of the coins with it, freeing the trapped forsaken? Weee!

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 22 October 2008 - 02:30 PM

[QuickTidal]

Okay, so I finished Blood Rites, and damn that was one tasty read. I have an order in for a shipment containing Dead Beat and Proven Guilty. BLoody hell I am rampaging through this series like wildfire. I am only taking a small break to read Armageddon's Children, and then it is back to Butcher (as at that point the next two books ought to be on my doorstep!). I find I like to read them in two's.

After that I may give the Codex Alera series a go, as I am now a dyed in the wool Butcher fan!

[Abyss]

Opinions vary on the ALARA series. I'm waiting for Butcher to finish it, but will likely then pick upthe whole thing in one fell swoop.

SMALL FAVOR spoilers...

Spoiler

Note we've never seen discussion about destroying the coins. The hosts can be killed, and the Church can take custody of the coins, but no one has ever mentioned physically destroying the little piece of metal.

Black council or not, the involvement of Uriel and Grmalkin/Mab's little speach about anegls at the end represents an amping up of the game - along with the conflicts between Fae courts and between the Wizards and Vampire Courts (and all the internal conflicts in those groups), AND people like Cowl with their own agendas, we now have overt conflict between Heaven and Hell.

And based on Michael and Nic's reactions, Harry is the first person, EVER, to deny a coin and purge a Denarian shadow (Sanya hosted Magog for years before he ditched his coin). Which may make Harry a fairly important player in the Angels/Devils conflict.

Notice also all the 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' elements - both Mab and Nic were pretty pissed at the Black Council.

- Abyss, likes where Butcher is taking this.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 22 October 2008 - 02:30 PM

[Pig Iron]

"- Abyss, likes where Butcher is taking this."

From Butcher's website:

"Jim has stated on several occasions that he is planning to write a total of about 20 Dresden Files "case books" like those we've read so far, then cap off the series with an Apocalyptic Trilogy."

Spoiler

Apocalyptic trilogy fits nicely with an emerging war with Hell. He writes in a light style, but that story is becoming complex fast.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 22 October 2008 - 02:30 PM

[QuickTidal]

Okay, I'm getting sad now. What with how good these books are, and how much I unabashedly love them I'm starting to worry.

They keep getting better and better, and I've got Dead Beat on my shelf waiting to be read......

So WHY am I starting to get upset? Cause I only have 4 more books (including Dead Beat) and then I am out of Dresden Files....and then I will be amongst the rest of you folks patiently awaiting Turn Coat next year.

Sigh. This series is so good that I am sad at the thought of running out of books!

The good news is that Butcher himself is coming to Polaris '08 in Toronto this July, so I plan to get him to sign Hardcover "Small Favors", and I'll get to meet the man, so that is good news.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 22 October 2008 - 02:30 PM

[The_Khan]

QuickTidal my friend, you can always check out the Graphic Novels

[QuickTidal]

The_Khan;320550 said:

QuickTidal my friend, you can always check out the Graphic Novels

Haha, this is very true, thanks Khan!

[Abyss]

QuickTidal;320548 said:

...They keep getting better and better, and I've got Dead Beat on my shelf waiting to be read......
...

Go read DEAD BEAT now.

Go read it RIGHT NOW.

RIGHT.


NOW.


Go. GO NOW.


READ IT!!!!!


- Abyss, you can thank me later.

[Mentalist]

What Abyss said...

[Dr Trouble]

I just finished White Night thinking it was the last book released until Turncoat. I had been putting it off because I wanted to have a Dresden book I hadn't read ready for a time when I was hungry.

Then I find out the there is a book called Small Favours? Gimme gimme gimme!

Also, White Night was mediocre? Anyone else agree? (I don't want to track through your whole discussion sorry, no time!)

[QuickTidal]

Abyss;320950 said:

Go read DEAD BEAT now.

Go read it RIGHT NOW.

RIGHT.


NOW.


Go. GO NOW.


READ IT!!!!!


- Abyss, you can thank me later.

I'm just finishing "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow, and then it's on to Dead Beat (as luck would have it that means I am like to start it tonight if all goes according to plan)....as I doubt I could last waiting to read it as I keep hearing from some Abyss guy how it's good.

- QuickTidal, heeding advice of Abyss

[The_Khan]

You're welcome

[QuickTidal]

Dead Beat was brilliant! Once again, Butcher knocks it up a few notches. Man, do I love this series! What I loved about this one is that Harry gets involved in the hairy situation(s) that he has to deal with, but on top of that we get all these side running things that he touched on in a few of the earlier books (The Denarius coin/Lasciel, The Wardens and the council) added onto that coming together in longer series-length plot threads. A solid read all the way through!

Up next: Proven Guilty!