The Latest Harry Dresden, Which Had Me Begging For The Next Book Already

[redbrunja]

Which I finished at 2 am latest night and left me in a state of omfg. So, my very disjointed list of thoughts is behind the cut:

–so, in this book Harry lost: his office, his house, his laboratory, his car, Murphy's job, and Susan (which totally took me for surprise, I thought we were in for another round of final girl roulette).

–I was sad that Butters and (I know I'm going to burn in hell for this) Mister made it through the book alive.

–Also, Susan, please do not be encouraging Harry to have sex with his jailbait apprentice who he doesn't love, m'kay?

–I found the middle section of this book dull. The pacing actually reminded me a lot of Deadbeat, in the sense that the opening and closing were epic and the middle kind of dragged.

–The end left me going omfg over and over again (but can we PLEASE stop having the same author's note after every single book? I want you to explain why Harry is between life and death right now, not shill for a series that is a.) over and b.) annoyed me!)

–Saya had the best. entrance. ever.

–omfg MURPHY. Wielding the Sword of Faith and having Bob the skull as her halo because Karrin Murphey IS A MOTHERFUCKING WARRIOR ANGEL PEOPLE. WARRIOR ANGEL.

–And then she turned down a rebound job for god! But was perfectly willing to jump Harry's bones after she watched him kill Susan! And I was like 'noooo! this should mean something!' and then Harry got shot to cock!block the Harry/Murphy sex because, IDEK, I guess them making out is going to be the finale of all thirteen books or whatever.

–I really wish we had a greater sense of Maggie (Harry's kid) then we did. Because at in this book, she was a plot point and not a personality, and while that's understandable, it's beneath Butcher's caliber.

In summation, I can haz the next book nao plz?

Comments

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

What you heard about the Big Apocalyptic Trilogy as a series capper is very true, but he's also said that there are going to be a total of 20 "case files". "Changes" is book 12, so we still have about 8 case books left before he ends the series. And that is straight from the horse's mouth.

Do you happen to have a link? It's not that I disbelieve you at all, it's just that 99% of the information I get is from friends telling me what Butcher said, and I am quite aware of that that is not first-source reporting, if that makes sense.

Hell hath no fury indeed.

Stars, that would be an awesome showdown. I mean, that makes sense. Your probably right in that it isn't in his interests right now (and the fact that he was with Ivy strongly reinforces the idea that he's not working for anybody else right now). But the "who" is going to bother me.

I really want someone to write that fic. So much.

On a completely different note, I found Harry's description of Kincaid as Ivy's bodyguard and all-around "teddy bear" very squeeworthy.

Same here. That's one reason why Small Favor is one of my favorite Dresden books.

Traditionally, I find that- in fantasy- the children of the hero are basically destined for greatness. I don't feel that Butcher would have GIVEN Harry a child unless there was some HUGE plan for the girl. Considering the role that bloodlines play in the series and the fact that Harry is one of the top wizards on the planet, I can't imagine she's just a vanilla mortal, and it would just seem TOO cruel to give Harry a child that he'll probably outlive (ironic statement, I know). But even if Maggie isn't a wizard herself, Murphy has showed that vanilla mortals can be champions of great importance.

That is all true. And I was thinking about it. They've said that magic comes from the mother, but I was wondering if it has to be a direct line - like, could Maggie have magic from her grandmother?

What I would like to see happen, and I know this is unlikely, but I would love to see someone Harry knows take her in. I'll admit I'm a little biased, because I'd like to see him have SOME relationship with the kid, and the idea of someone he trusted with his life raising Maggie after everyone thinks he's dead seems so...right. To me. But I guess it DOES depend on how much of a role Butcher wants to play. Or maybe the idea of just handing her over to the Catholic Church to raise squicks me.

You know, I viewed it as handing the child not to the Church, but to someone who Harry trusted and has hidden other people, but I can see why that would squick you. Who would you like to see raising the kid?

Do you think Murphy will take up the Sword? It almost makes sense right now, as there's probably going to be a power vacuum in Chicago and SOMEONE will need to rise to fill the hole he left in the city.

Ever since the sword responded to her, I have known that Murphy will take up the sword - she is just clearly going to do it on her own terms.

His help here totally surprised me, but I can't decide if he was doing it because he REALLY still cares about Harry and wanted to make sure his niece was safe, or if he was just saving his own skin, which would be SO damned vampiric. I mean, he seemed genuinely repentant after almost feeding on Molly,

I think he genuinely loves Harry and feels guilty about hurting people, but is just sick of fighting with his nature and what he has to do to live. That's my take on it, at least.

[qualapec.livejournal.com]

Do you happen to have a link? It's not that I disbelieve you at all, it's just that 99% of the information I get is from friends telling me what Butcher said, and I am quite aware of that that is not first-source reporting, if that makes sense.

*smiles* I always cite my work!

First of all: here's a link to the Jim-Butcher.com forums "Masterlist of Interviews". The forums are run by his friends and the information has always been congruent with what I've seen him say.

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,7822.0.html

Here's a specific interview where he refers to it:

http://www.crescentblues.com/7_4issue/int_butcher.shtml

"If I get to do what I want, I'll get to do about twenty case books. And then at the end I'll do a big old apocalyptic trilogy because big old apocalyptic trilogies are fun."

And I've seen him speak in person, and the "20 case files + apocalyptic trilogy" is a number that appears consistently through the years.

:) Hope that helps. Some of the interviews are really interesting. He's a pretty dynamic guy.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

*smiles* I always cite my work!

Exactly!

And I am going to have a fun time going through those interviews. I just discovered that James Marsters did the first couple of audio books, and that just thrills me beyond measure.

And I've seen him speak in person, and the "20 case files + apocalyptic trilogy" is a number that appears consistently through the years.

That must have been fun! And I have to admit, 23 books total sounds good to me at the moment.