Dresden Files: Winter is coming (Cold Days Spoilers)

[Eldan]

Wait. The Blackstaff is Mother Winter's walking stick? Daamn.

When was that revealed? I know that Mother Winter is missing her stick. I didn't know it was that stick.

[Mauve Shirt]

Actually that may have been a fan assumption, based on WoJ "The blackstaff belongs to someone very powerful, and they want it back" and Mother Winter being extra cranky because she lost her walking stick.

[Soras Teva Gee]

I saw somewhere that Jim Butcher was asked to confirm the idea and was some variation of "wow was I THAT obvious" in reply.

But I certainly can't call that up now.

[Mauve Shirt]

Coming up with the correct answer for an open plot element in the Dresden Files makes me think of a dartboard covered in sticky notes.

[Lord Seth]

I've been considering checking out Butcher's other series, Codex Alera. What's it like, especially in comparison to The Dresden Files?

[Tavar]

I've been considering checking out Butcher's other series, Codex Alera. What's it like, especially in comparison to The Dresden Files?

Alera consists of one main story arc, which is fitting given it's size. So, compared to DF, it moves a lot faster, and starts out with a grander scope(the first two DF's are very local in nature, while Alera starts out National/continental).

The magic system is fun to think about, I personally think the world building is both good and well integrated(IE, you don't have walls of text telling you stuff, you generally find stuff out as you go along). It's in many ways more defined than the DF system, at least partially because the character's aren't limited like Harry is regarding knowledge.

Also, it manages some often poorly used plot elements in ways that are refreshing, though I can't get much into which elements without massive spoilers.

It jumps perspectives more, and isn't written in the First person, so that's something different. Also, people tend towards a bit more verbal snark, rather than Harry's mostly internal.

Personally, I love it(and it's the source of my UserName).

[Soras Teva Gee]

Codex Alera is a perfectly fine series. Its shares nothing with Dresden Files, starting with using the using third person so it reads completely differently. I enjoyed it well enough but it doesn't quite stand out in the same way. It good light reading material, maybe a bit more thought out then might be typical for fantasy, but not going to be challenging the greats anytime soon.

Also I think the closest point of comparison I could make is that as a series it feels more like a JRPG or shonen manga. Using that as a compliment here, since if I was adapting it those would be the natural sort of routes I would use to adapt it.

It was apparently spawned from a bet over a premise of "Pokemon meets Rome" and does a well... actually pretty good job of living up to that and still being pretty good.

Oh and as usual with Butcher it manages to get stronger as it goes on though the most fun is probably to be had in the middle books, last one is kinda... grim.

[thorgrim29]

Yeah Alera is pretty cool

[Anderlith]

It's amazing. It's Romans. It's Romans with pokemon. The beginning of the series feels like your ordinary generic fantasy books with interesting characters & good writing. Then as the series goes on it turns into a military novel without a bunch of useless Tom Clancy jargon. The ending is satisfying & makes you beg for a sequel.

[datalaughing]

The most important question that we've all missed here is, will Harry get Mister back, or does the cat live with Murphy from now on? Mister is a city kitty. He might not like the island.

[Anderlith]

The most important question that we've all missed here is, will Harry get Mister back, or does the cat live with Murphy from now on? Mister is a city kitty. He might not like the island.

Mister would love the island. So much space to ramble & no predators bigger than he is.

[Mauve Shirt]

Heehee. Mister is actually the only being on earth who can defeat the evil contained within Demonreach.
He just won't.

[Anderlith]

Heehee. Mister is actually the only being on earth who can defeat the evil contained within Demonreach.
He just won't.

Destroying all evil is too far beneath him, why should he sink so low? :P

[GloatingSwine]

That's what he keeps Harry for.....


Cats could do everything for themselves, they just don't need to.

[Gryffon]

Met Jim Butcher this past weekend at Dragon*Con and got a couple of things signed. Lines to see him were always so long, I didn't manage to make it to any of his panels because I didn't want to wait. When I did see him though, he was wearing a shirt that said "Inflammable? Challenge accepted"

Might be some nice Word of Jim snippets out of the weekend for those with good interwebz skills as well.

[Mauve Shirt]

Gryffon, I wish I had your life sometimes. :P Or maybe I just wish I could afford Cons.

[lt_murgen]

Destroying all evil is too far beneath him, why should he sink so low? :P

Agreed, but the idea of Mister using a Skinwalker's crystal pile as a litter box might just be too funny for Jim to pass up.

[lt_murgen]

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not sure that this is the situation where you want your only backup to be someone who could switch sides in an instant.

Yes, nut I think that can be resolved when Harry comes up with the thing Bob asked him to create in Cold Days......

[BRC]

I do have some questions/thoughts about the new status quo post Cold Days.

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It seems like Harry may be moving to Demonreach full time, and I'm sure Mab would have no difficulty getting some construction crews out there to build him a house.
However, Demonreach is a full hour from Chicago, which will make it difficult to get back and forth, and the Water Beetle can't always be on-call.

That said, Demonreach is very powerful, its entierly possible they could work up some sort of Way to get to and from chicago easily.

Also it's not like mortal currency would be hard to come by. Thomas could probably get enough money for Dresden to have an apartment in chicago, Harry might protest, but Thomas would say 1) It's Lara's money anyway, and barely any of that, and 2) It's back-rent for all the time he spent on Harry's couch.

I could see Harry having his fortress of Harrytude on Demonreach, and an apartment in Chicago.

Bob will probably stay with Butters though. The Skull needs broadband!

Mister could go live on Demonreach easily enough. I wouldn't be surprised if Harry took Mister to demonreach, only to find that his Intellectus dosn't let him know what Mister is up to.

Mouse will probably stay with the Carpenters.


Which brings us to poor Molly.
The previous Winter Lady's had a retinue of Sidhe and other faries backing them up, but Molly is new to the Court scene. My guess is that she's going to be warned against making any such alliances, and it's not like anybody is going to mess with her. Harry had to worry about making an impression as the new Knight. Molly is a Queen, nobody is going to question her power. Also, she can borrow Donut Boy's reputation.

Besides, letting Harry ask molly to borrow a few trolls significantly cuts down on dramatic possibilities.
The point is that while I hope this dosn't mark Molly's departure from events, I doubt she's going to have a lot of faries following her around. She'll probably keep her apartment, the Svarts will probably honor their deal, even if "Being the landlord of the Winter Lady" seems to tarnish that whole neutrality thing they have going on.

Really, assuming the Lady mantle works like the Knight one, my guess is that Molly will be more powerful (And, you know, Immortal), but will still keep her primary skillset and will avoid tapping into the Mantle's power as much as possible in order to slow down the process of it changing her.
We'll probably have the same old Molly for a while anyway, only this time she can pull out the Deep Freeze if need be and can't lie anymore.

Lets actually talk about those Mantles, shall we?

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Before Harry got a Mantle, anybody with one was treated like a massive powerhouse. in Summer Knight IIRC harry asked the question "Who could kill the Summer Knight", and the answer was "The Winter knight or a faerie queen".

According to Cold Days, anybody with a gun could have done it if they got lucky.For all his Winter Knightness, Harry seemed only marginally less vulnerable than before.

But then we learn that, for most of Cold Days, Harry was not really using the Mantle. He was getting some benefits, superstrength, extra UMPH for his spells, and resistance to pain, but he seemed the same old Harry Dresden.

My current theory is this. The Mantle is like an extra battery, you can tap into it's powers if you want to, but by doing so you give it more influence over yourself and your actions.

Somebody like Fix, or LLoyd Slate, a (For all intents and purposes) ordinary Mortal with the Mantle, The Mantle is the only power source they have. Harry (and Molly) have the benefit of their own power as Wizards to draw on, they can afford to not use the mantles.

[Lamech]

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Before Harry got a Mantle, anybody with one was treated like a massive powerhouse. in Summer Knight IIRC harry asked the question "Who could kill the Summer Knight", and the answer was "The Winter knight or a faerie queen".

According to Cold Days, anybody with a gun could have done it if they got lucky.For all his Winter Knightness, Harry seemed only marginally less vulnerable than before.

But then we learn that, for most of Cold Days, Harry was not really using the Mantle. He was getting some benefits, superstrength, extra UMPH for his spells, and resistance to pain, but he seemed the same old Harry Dresden.

My current theory is this. The Mantle is like an extra battery, you can tap into it's powers if you want to, but by doing so you give it more influence over yourself and your actions.

Somebody like Fix, or LLoyd Slate, a (For all intents and purposes) ordinary Mortal with the Mantle, The Mantle is the only power source they have. Harry (and Molly) have the benefit of their own power as Wizards to draw on, they can afford to not use the mantles.

Loyd seemed to drop pretty quick when someone took a iron bar to his backside. I think fae have a big weakness and it hits them hard if they face it. Iron filings send Lea running way back in book three.

[The Glyphstone]

Which would make sense with the gun bit, in a way....Harry seems to be more sensitive to iron when he's tapping his own Mantle at all, so it would be logical that you become more 'faerie-like' in both ways (strengths/weaknesses and temperament) the more you draw from it. For pure mortals like Lloyd and the old guy, or Fix, don't have a secondary tap, so they have to pull purely from the mantle, which would make even ordinary iron-jacketed bullets exceedingly deadly.

[Rakaydos]

Speaking of mantles, it is implied that the longer you have it, the more you become the person you replaced. But it seemed like a iron nail works to "shut off" the mantle, until it's removed, at least for knights.
Could Molly get an iron "Power limiter" piercing to keep Maeve out of her head?

[BRC]

Speaking of mantles, it is implied that the longer you have it, the more you become the person you replaced. But it seemed like a iron nail works to "shut off" the mantle, until it's removed, at least for knights.
Could Molly get an iron "Power limiter" piercing to keep Maeve out of her head?

unlikely. The Lady Mantle seems a good deal more intense than the Knight mantle. The Queens are true Sidhe, while the Knight is a Mortal with extra power. Molly should now have the same vulnerabilties to Iron as the rest of the Sidhe.

[Feytalist]

Her Mantle would also be much more difficult to ignore, or repress, I'd guess.


I'm also kinda wondering how Maggie will fit into the whole equation. Will she largely be a non-entity? It seems odd for Harry to be a daddy now, too, among all the other things.

[Rakaydos]

Her Mantle would also be much more difficult to ignore, or repress, I'd guess.


I'm also kinda wondering how Maggie will fit into the whole equation. Will she largely be a non-entity? It seems odd for Harry to be a daddy now, too, among all the other things.

Speaking of daddies, if I'm tracking the timeline right, the Loup Garu's son should be 10 to 12 years old by now. And will be 18-20 by the time the rumored "apocalyptic trilogy" rolls around.

[jindra34]

I'm also kinda wondering how Maggie will fit into the whole equation. Will she largely be a non-entity? It seems odd for Harry to be a daddy now, too, among all the other things.

I think he intends to stay out of her life. Mainly because nothing would screw hers up more than becoming known as the daughter of the Winter Knight. With all the enemies that would entail.

[Anderlith]

He will stay out of her life until she's in her mid teens. Then it is more story appropriate for him to enter into her life & shenanigans will ensue.

[BRC]

I think he intends to stay out of her life. Mainly because nothing would screw hers up more than becoming known as the daughter of the Winter Knight. With all the enemies that would entail.

She'll probably be mentioned, but rarely show up until the Apocalyptic Trilogy.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if post-AT Jim writes some sort of epilouge story about her.

[Mauve Shirt]

Speaking of daddies, if I'm tracking the timeline right, the Loup Garu's son should be 10 to 12 years old by now. And will be 18-20 by the time the rumored "apocalyptic trilogy" rolls around.

You mean Fitz from Ghost Story?

[Anderlith]

Maggie is going to end up with a Harry Carpenter. The kid will be the Righteous (capital R) scion of two magically powerful bloodlines & how awesome would it be to have Micheal & Harry as your grandpas?