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The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher

post #1 of 54
2/19/09 at 10:35am
Thread Starter 
Been a fan of this series for some time.

The first few books (STORM FRONT, FOOL MOON) are kinda shaky. You can tell Butcher was just getting his feel for the series. But by the time the 5th Book DEATH MASKS comes, the metaplot is fully into play.

I like the new System of Magic Butcher introduces here. Nothing terribly original but he treats Magic as a sort of Hermetic science. Manipulating energy.

My favourite Villlians

1) The Denarians- Basically 30 Silver coins inhabited by Demons. Anyone who picks up a Coin gains superpowers and the mileanna of knowledge of a Fallen Angel with it. Each coin has a different Fallen Angel.

Any Dresden File fans here?
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post #2 of 54
2/22/09 at 5:47am
It's a great series. Fun, funny, intelligent, the books have heart. I LIKE the people in them. They're the best Whedon stories that Joss Whedon never did. The only complaint I have is that you need charts and graphs for all the subplots. When he did that big reveal that a character from Storm Front was working for Marcone, my reaction was "Who?". The amount of plots he needs to wrap up would make an X-Men writer blush. Man needs to start wrapping stuff up.

Pity the show sucked, though Blackthorne was a great Harry.
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post #3 of 54
2/22/09 at 10:11am
Have any of you read his Codex Alera series? I'm curious if he can do the epic fantasy thing as well as he does urban fantasy.
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post #4 of 54
2/22/09 at 12:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
Have any of you read his Codex Alera series? I'm curious if he can do the epic fantasy thing as well as he does urban fantasy.
They progress just like the Dresden books. The first couple are kinda iffy, but they get much better. The system of "magic" is pretty neat though.

Love the Dresden files.
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post #5 of 54
2/22/09 at 1:23pm
I was curious about the Codex series as well, looks like I'll pick it up...

I love the Dresden books, as Hughes said, its a great, fun, witty read that takes the element of magic and makes it "serious" You are right about the sub-plots..I feel like I should be reading some of the books over again so I wont forget any of these points while I'm waiting for Turn Coat in April, a book that I will read over the weekend, enjoy the hell out of, and be pissed I have to wait even longer for the next!

Anyone here read the short stories? I'm reading the comic book series just to get my fix.
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post #6 of 54
2/22/09 at 7:00pm
Thread Starter 
I am a little surprised that you guys find the sub-plots too complicated. There're only 2-3 main ones active throughout the series.

By the way, I've found someone who got an advanced copy of Turn Coat. He says that its a dissapointment. Apparently there's a major retcon of a major character from the first Book. No Denarians in this one as well.
http://forums.comicbookresources.com...d.php?t=256615

You can find the preview chapters for Turn Coat here.
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/11/
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post #7 of 54
4/9/09 at 6:24pm
Anyone going to his book signings? a buddy and I are driving to Dayton, Ohio next Wed.
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post #8 of 54
4/9/09 at 8:50pm
With the wife almost 29 weeks preggers I can't make the trip, but I've got a buddy going to get a copy for me.
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post #9 of 54
4/9/09 at 9:14pm
Thread Starter 
Just read Turn Coat. It's one of the lesser Dresdens. Nothing much happens.
A little too wordy and plodding for my taste. I pmuch preferred Small Favours to this.

The new Native American Skinwalker villian was interesting though. Plus the inner look at the White Council.
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post #10 of 54
4/13/09 at 4:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by felix natalya View Post
Just read Turn Coat. It's one of the lesser Dresdens. Nothing much happens.
A little too wordy and plodding for my taste. I pmuch preferred Small Favours to this.

The new Native American Skinwalker villian was interesting though. Plus the inner look at the White Council.
It was not that bad, It was just the darkest book so far. Harry just take a lot of loses in this book, and it not a happy ending. It also set up a lot of things like a new home for harry, and the GC.
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post #11 of 54
4/7/10 at 4:37pm
Changes is pretty good so far, but haven't got to the end yet.

office gone

Car gone

apartment gone

Just started the battle so not sure will survive. Butters getting shot in the back was cold, polka never dies.
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post #12 of 54
4/7/10 at 9:20pm
Thread Starter 
Looking forward to this. I've heard that its a real Game changer and almost every character from the previous books makes an appearance.

Almost everyone I know seems to be raving about it.
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post #13 of 54
4/7/10 at 9:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Hill View Post
Changes is pretty good so far, but haven't got to the end yet.

office gone

Car gone

apartment gone

Just started the battle so not sure will survive. Butters getting shot in the back was cold, polka never dies.
Just started reading today. Next time use that swipe thing for spoilers!!!

:-)
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post #14 of 54
4/7/10 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by felix View Post
Looking forward to this. I've heard that its a real Game changer and almost every character from the previous books makes an appearance.

Almost everyone I know seems to be raving about it.
A buddy of mine got his copy on Saturday, he finished it this morning.. Told me it was pretty good but the ending is a real WTF. Guess I'll just have to find out on my own.
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post #15 of 54
4/8/10 at 4:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoonBaseNick View Post
A buddy of mine got his copy on Saturday, he finished it this morning.. Told me it was pretty good but the ending is a real WTF. Guess I'll just have to find out on my own.
it a cliff hanger. spoilers











Harry and Murphy have a date.



end spoilers
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post #16 of 54
4/8/10 at 6:38pm
Just noticed this thread (due to it being on top of the book forum and all). I love this series. I believe someone on here recommended it to me years ago after I had expressed dissatisfaction with the Anita Blake series. The Dresden Files is one of the few urban fantasy series that I would say is actually well written. It drags on every now and then, but Butcher said he had ideas for 20 regular books from the beginning, and he's certainly done a better job than George Lucas convincing me of that. I have yet to read this newest one, we'll see if that holds up.

The Codex Alera is good, but not as good. It feels a bit too TV series/Whedonesque sometimes. But it was a fun read.

I haven't read many of the short stories, mostly because there are a ton of them, and they're usually the only story in those collections I have any desire to read. I had heard that all the Dresden short stories were being collected in a single book soon, but haven't heard too much more about that.
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post #17 of 54
4/8/10 at 6:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anakin's Dad View Post
They progress just like the Dresden books. The first couple are kinda iffy, but they get much better. The system of "magic" is pretty neat though.
I still love the story for how he came up with this series. Truthful or not, supposedly Butcher was having a conversation (online or in real life, I'm not sure). He was claiming that there are no bad ideas, only bad writers, and that a good writer can turn any idea into a decent-if-not-good book. He told the person he was talking to that if they came up with a bad idea, he'd try to write a good book about it, and the person said "Pokeman".
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post #18 of 54
4/8/10 at 6:43pm
Thread Starter 
The Short stories anthology is called Side Jobs. It'll be out in Sept and it also includes 1 new story called "Aftermath" that details what happened after the events in "Changes".

For the short stories, you have to read "The Warrior". It shows the final outcome of Dresden's friend Michael.
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post #19 of 54
4/8/10 at 7:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wydren View Post
I still love the story for how he came up with this series. Truthful or not, supposedly Butcher was having a conversation (online or in real life, I'm not sure). He was claiming that there are no bad ideas, only bad writers, and that a good writer can turn any idea into a decent-if-not-good book. He told the person he was talking to that if they came up with a bad idea, he'd try to write a good book about it, and the person said "Pokeman".
I saw that too, except I heard it as The Lost Roman Legion plus Pokemon.
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post #20 of 54
4/8/10 at 7:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by felix View Post
The Short stories anthology is called Side Jobs. It'll be out in Sept and it also includes 1 new story called "Aftermath" that details what happened after the events in "Changes".

For the short stories, you have to read "The Warrior". It shows the final outcome of Dresden's friend Michael.
There we go. I'll have to check that out. Though it does kind of bug me that he wraps up some of these subplots in side stories.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Teitr Styrr View Post
I saw that too, except I heard it as The Lost Roman Legion plus Pokemon.
Well, that's basically what The Codex Alera is. Sometimes it's too "cute", but overall it's good.
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post #21 of 54
4/10/10 at 8:37am
Picked this up late yesterday. Am on the road but will definitely finish it by the weekend.

Also finished the Codex Alera this week. I know that Butcher spent time role-playing online (friend of a friend) so that conversation about how the series started doesn't surprise me in the least.
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post #22 of 54
4/10/10 at 10:16am
I recommend going to one of his book signings, it's an intresting experence. But a good time.
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post #23 of 54
4/10/10 at 2:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoonBaseNick View Post
I recommend going to one of his book signings, it's an intresting experence. But a good time.
I went to one last night. 157 people. So happy I'm not a big fantasy nerd. Whole lot of fat smelly people, some in costume. And I heard how the book ends in the crowd, the very end, as in the last page. I don't care, I like the journey, the characters. At least I didn't hear any other twists
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post #24 of 54
4/10/10 at 3:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Hughes View Post
I went to one last night. 157 people. So happy I'm not a big fantasy nerd. Whole lot of fat smelly people, some in costume. And I heard how the book ends in the crowd, the very end, as in the last page. I don't care, I like the journey, the characters. At least I didn't hear any other twists
but if you don't read the book you wont know why it ends that way.

spoilers
next book is Ghost stories
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post #25 of 54
4/11/10 at 7:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoonBaseNick View Post
I recommend going to one of his book signings, it's an intresting experence. But a good time.
He actually came to my local library around the time that Dead Beat came out. Yeah, a lot of weird nerds there. I managed to get the book signed, so that was cool (and get some inside info about the upcoming-at-the-time show), but yeah, weird people go to his book signings.
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post #26 of 54
4/11/10 at 7:33pm
Finished Changes this morning. I like that, as the series has progressed, it's gone from a single book being one-neat-idea-centric to really delving into the world he's built and handling the consequences of everyone's actions. Not sure if it's my favorite of the series - that falls to White Night - but it's up there.
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post #27 of 54
4/11/10 at 7:39pm
Thread Starter 
Apparently the next installment in the Dresden series will be called Ghost Stories. Considering how Changes ended, I suspect that it'll be a "Take a breather and Reflect" book before they get the megaplot started again.
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post #28 of 54
4/12/10 at 3:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by felix View Post
Apparently the next installment in the Dresden series will be called Ghost Stories. Considering how Changes ended, I suspect that it'll be a "Take a breather and Reflect" book before they get the megaplot started again.
I would say the story start right were Changes ended. It going to be the first real sequel in the series. Spoilers Harry is Dead or mostly dead at this point. so the next one is Uriel or someone bring him back to life, to do something. with all the Princess Bride quotes in Changes it pretty obvious with going to happen next.

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post #29 of 54
4/18/10 at 1:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Hughes View Post
I went to one last night. 157 people. So happy I'm not a big fantasy nerd. Whole lot of fat smelly people, some in costume. And I heard how the book ends in the crowd, the very end, as in the last page. I don't care, I like the journey, the characters. At least I didn't hear any other twists
Did you get a lot of people asking him far too many questions regarding sex and his charectors. Had far too many of those, but I had a hell of a time meeting him and getting all my books signed. It's funny on how short he is! When I went last year there was about 150 as well, great turn out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Hill View Post
I would say the story start right were Changes ended. It going to be the first real sequel in the series. Spoilers Harry is Dead or mostly dead at this point. so the next one is Uriel or someone bring him back to life, to do something. with all the Princess Bride quotes in Changes it pretty obvious with going to happen next.
So you think he might be brought back "in disguise" I wonder if that is how he gets out of being the Winter Knight.

Over all, I enjoyed this book. You learn so much more about Mouse and Ebenezar, and you just know that sooner or later Murphy is going to pick up one of the swords for good. With Molly doing he stunning light show and Thomas dancing to it during the fight was a funny touch. This is one of the few book series that I've read when I'll laugh out loud at certain points.

Cool points that I just learned
"Harry's story will continue in Aftermath, told from Karrin Murphy's point of view and running from roughly half an hour after the end of Changes. The story will be released as part of Side Jobs, a collection of Dresden shorts due for release in late summer or early autumn of 2010."

"Confirmed that Changes marks the midpoint of Harry's story and there will be at least 7 more books, possibly 10, to finish Harry's story."
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post #30 of 54
4/18/10 at 6:44pm
I'm so excited. I started reading the first Harry Dresden book last year, lost it, was unable to find another copy, and promptly forgot about it.

I just downloaded the entire series and will start reading it next week. Also, the Codex of Alera.
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post #31 of 54
4/18/10 at 9:45pm
Am I the only one that wished You Know Who had died when he was shot? It would have worked a lot like Wash's death in Serenity. Nobody Is Safe.

I hope now that Harry works for Mab, we'll see more of the Summer Court. We already know a lot about Winter, but Summer is still ambiguous.
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post #32 of 54
4/18/10 at 10:08pm
Thread Starter 
It's not as well described as the Winter Court. But I think a fair bit of the Summer Court was shown in Summer Knight.

Interesting to know that there are 2 Elder Fairie Queens more powerful than Mab in that one. They must be Archangel level powerful there.
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post #33 of 54
4/18/10 at 10:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Hughes View Post
Am I the only one that wished You Know Who had died when he was shot? It would have worked a lot like Wash's death in Serenity. Nobody Is Safe.

I hope now that Harry works for Mab, we'll see more of the Summer Court. We already know a lot about Winter, but Summer is still ambiguous.
Well, i already get that feeling with out someone having to die. Plus killing him off would have just been annoying. The man has already lost his house, office and car. Give him a break! Haha. I'm more then curious what's going to happen to his daughter. I hope we don't have to wait another year for the next book, but that is more likely the case
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post #34 of 54
4/19/10 at 12:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoonBaseNick View Post
Well, i already get that feeling with out someone having to die. Plus killing him off would have just been annoying. The man has already lost his house, office and car. Give him a break! Haha. I'm more then curious what's going to happen to his daughter. I hope we don't have to wait another year for the next book, but that is more likely the case
Imagine how powerful that kid is. Daughter of a half-vampire and a wizard and her grandfather is the most feared assassin on The White Council.
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post #35 of 54
4/19/10 at 12:25am
I know right, I'm just curious on what Father Forthill is going to do with her.
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post #36 of 54
4/19/10 at 8:45am
I've managed to skip the spoilers so far--including from my wife, who has already finished the book. I'm listening to the audio book (narrated by James Marsters!), and I'm about 75% done with it. I'll reserve judgement until I'm completely finished, but so far I feel like the story is a bit bloated. It seems like we can't go 4 pages without another "boss battle". But, Butcher has a habit of having these things that seem superfluous in the story, but they end up meaning something at some point.
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post #37 of 54
4/19/10 at 1:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martianman View Post
I've managed to skip the spoilers so far--including from my wife, who has already finished the book. I'm listening to the audio book (narrated by James Marsters!), and I'm about 75% done with it. I'll reserve judgement until I'm completely finished, but so far I feel like the story is a bit bloated. It seems like we can't go 4 pages without another "boss battle". But, Butcher has a habit of having these things that seem superfluous in the story, but they end up meaning something at some point.
Like all fantasy writers, Butcher doesn't know the meaning of economy. He generally uses the bloat well though.
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post #38 of 54
4/21/10 at 3:57pm
Finished the audiobook today. I'm pissed (well, not really) at the ending, but it was a good book overall. I realized I feel this way about the Dresden books in general--about half way through, I say, "Oh dear lord, another plotline?" and by the end, I'm like, "Wow, that was great!"
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post #39 of 54
4/21/10 at 9:29pm
Thread Starter 
Just finished this. Not bad at all. Harry assembling his "A-Team" to assult the Red Court HQ in the end. With cameo appearances by almost every member of the Dresden cast.

Odin was the one who mentored the first Merlin. Cool. I want to learn more about that.
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post #40 of 54
4/26/10 at 10:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by felix View Post
Just finished this. Not bad at all. Harry assembling his "A-Team" to assult the Red Court HQ in the end. With cameo appearances by almost every member of the Dresden cast.

Odin was the one who mentored the first Merlin. Cool. I want to learn more about that.
My wife thinks that they're setting this up for Dresden to become the next Merlin of the White Council.

Also forgot to mention, Jim Butcher will be at Dragon*Con this year, so I'll definitely be making a point to stop by and get an autograph.
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post #41 of 54
5/6/10 at 1:00pm

Jim Butcher on Changes

New interview of Jim Butcher done while on his book tour for Changes. Enjoy. : http://blog.buzzymultimedia.com/jim-...es-in-changes/
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post #42 of 54
6/27/10 at 1:38am
Thread Starter 
Read Changes again. Really impressed by how truly powerful a Knight of the Sword can be. Especially how Murphy can storm past a Vampire army and several demigods.

Whoever's backing her up is either the Big G or some major Archangel.

I am going to get Side Jobs for the new Murphy "Aftermath" story.
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post #43 of 54
6/27/10 at 2:06am
Side Jobs? Is that one of the short stories?
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post #44 of 54
6/27/10 at 2:26am
Thread Starter 
Its an Anthology of Dresden short stories, a new one "Aftermath" takes place 20mins after the events of Changes and is told from Murphy's perspective.
http://jim-butcher.com/news/
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post #45 of 54
6/27/10 at 2:30am
Oh yes! Sorry. Looking forward to it.
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post #46 of 54
9/10/10 at 6:35pm
So I've burned through these books the past couple of months, just finishing CHANGES last night. These things are the cheeseburgers of fantasy lit, and that's a compliment. Thoroughly enjoyable and fun, and well conceived. Dresden is a kickass hero, but my favorite character's probably Michael Carpenter. I hope he gets back into action someday.

I love the Denarians too, my favorite villains of the series. CHANGES ends things pretty radically, but I'm looking forward to GHOST STORY next year.
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post #47 of 54
9/10/10 at 6:42pm
So guys, my local library has all of these except the 1st book. Can I manage without it? I'm interested, but I'm a bit anal about series, but I could skip it if it's not that important.
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post #48 of 54
9/10/10 at 6:42pm
No, you need it. It sets up the world. As far as the main plot arc of the series goes, it's not much but it introduces most of the important characters.
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post #49 of 54
9/10/10 at 6:49pm
Crap. I think they have it in French. I'll make an exception and read it then... I hate translations...
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post #50 of 54
9/10/10 at 7:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan "Nordling" Cerny View Post
I love the Denarians too, my favorite villains of the series. CHANGES ends things pretty radically, but I'm looking forward to GHOST STORY next year.
Don't forget to get SIDE JOBS next month. It's a collection of Dresden Short Stories. One of them "Aftermath" takes place after CHANGES.

A little surprised that Butcher described the Erl King as Mab's "peer". I always thought they were on the same power level.
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