The Jim Butcher Files: Dresden . Codex Alera . Cinder Spires & More - Page 16

siraks · 10-22-2011, 12:30 PM

jut loaded summer knight onto the KT, not sure if i'll start this weekend or monday but it's there and ready. i have made my choice to continue with dresden for this book at least.

alansplace · 10-22-2011, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyssa

What are you going to read once you're done with Dresden?

i keep vacillating on that issue. anyway i'm just ready to start chapter 11 of ghost story, so i have a little (very little) time to change my mind again, but as of right now it's between blood ties (pi julie collins 1) by lori g. armstrong and a fatal thaw (kate shugak 2) by dana stabenow. as well as the fact that i've previously started, but not yet finished reading (something else seems to often draw my interest away for awhile), river marked (mercy thompson 6) by patricia briggs, nightlife (cal leandros 1) by rob thurman, heavy time by c.j. cherryh, the phantom menace by terry brooks, and i'm in the middle of two omnibuses, charlie chan by earl derr biggers and the complete works of h.p. lovecraft. [pant pant]

alansplace · 10-22-2011, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siraks

jut loaded summer knight onto the KT, not sure if i'll start this weekend or monday but it's there and ready. i have made my choice to continue with dresden for this book at least.

enjoy!

Nyssa · 10-22-2011, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

i keep vacillating on that issue. anyway i'm just ready to start chapter 11 of ghost story, so i have a little (very little) time to change my mind again, but as of right now it's between blood ties (pi julie collins 1) by lori g. armstrong and a fatal thaw (kate shugak 2) by dana stabenow. as well as the fact that i've previously started, but not yet finished reading (something else seems to often draw my interest away for awhile), river marked (mercy thompson 6) by patricia briggs, nightlife (cal leandros 1) by rob thurman, heavy time by c.j. cherryh, the phantom menace by terry brooks, and i'm in the middle of two omnibuses, charlie chan by earl derr biggers and the complete works of h.p. lovecraft. [pant pant]

glindaharrison · 10-22-2011, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harmon

I picked up on this series pretty early.

And I enjoyed the books, until I got to one that described Wrigley Field as if it were in the suburbs - stadium in the middle of a parking lot sea.

Well, it ain't. Wrigley is smack dab in the city. Sidewalks and streets on all four sides. A small parking area for ballplayers & management.

Even a Sox fan would know better.

Anyway, that ruined the books for me. Chicago is not a fictional localilty, and it shouldn't take much effort to get the facts right.

This is too funny! I live just outside of Chicago in Northwest Indiana and had some of the same location issues.

I started reading the series until the agency pricing drove the prices up over 9.99 - hopefully, at some point I will get back into the books when they fit my definition of a reasonable price...

alansplace · 10-22-2011, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harmon
I picked up on this series pretty early.

And I enjoyed the books, until I got to one that described Wrigley Field as if it were in the suburbs - stadium in the middle of a parking lot sea.

Well, it ain't. Wrigley is smack dab in the city. Sidewalks and streets on all four sides. A small parking area for ballplayers & management.

Even a Sox fan would know better.

Anyway, that ruined the books for me. Chicago is not a fictional localilty, and it shouldn't take much effort to get the facts right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glindaharrison

This is too funny! I live just outside of Chicago in Northwest Indiana and had some of the same location issues.

I started reading the series until the agency pricing drove the prices up over 9.99 - hopefully, at some point I will get back into the books when they fit my definition of a reasonable price...

this kinda' falls into the suspension of disbelief thing. i empathize with you folks familiar with chicago, but submit this to you. i live in southern california and there are so many tv shows and movies that shoot their outdoor locations where you can see palm tress (in locales where they shouldn't be), mountains (in locales where they shouldn't be) and scenes depicting train stations in many different cities but are shot in the los angeles union station. i'm always having to fight to wrap my head around these imperfections so they don't ruin the tv show or movie's enjoyability. it's just the way things are

bizzybody · 10-22-2011, 10:10 PM

Harry Dresden's Chicago isn't our Chicago. So naturally there can be differences in a parallel reality.

I had heard of the Dresden Files TV series via some adverts on SciFi, but never watched as it didn't look like something I'd be interested in. I'd forgotten about the series when I first got turned on to the books by a friend. (Same friend also got me reading Anita Blake.)

I was somewhere around 5 books into Dresden when I saw the first episode of the series. Woah. Nuh-uh! There's a whole two things in common with the books. Its main character is a wizard named Harry Dresden and he lives in Chicago. Does TV Harry live in a basement, drive a VW Bug, make electronics go *pfft*, unlucky in love? Nope! TV Harry lives on the ground floor, apparently in back of his office, drives a Jeep, has a cell phone and has a significant other, at least in the first episode. Another item, do I recall correctly that TV Harry wears a trench coat, not a duster? I suspect Butcher has Harry wear a duster because the trench coat is so cliche for private investigators.

But wait, there's more. Or would it be less, as in even less like the books? I can see renaming Karrin Murphy to Connie Murphy because at the time there was a woman on the real Chicago PD named Karen Murphy (or some other phonetically equivalent first name) but changing the White Council to the High Council? What were they planning to rename the

Spoiler:

to if the series ran longer? Feh, probably wouldn't even have had that since they didn't keep anything else. Another UGH! moment was some curtains by the door as protective wards that a baddie defeats simply by tearing them down.

If you haven't seen the TV series, I'm not saying don't watch it. Just don't expect it to be *anything at all* like the books.

A TV version of Dresden would be sooooo much better if they did each book as one season over several episodes.

What's with TV and movie writers who once they get their hands on a property, think they just have to alter 99% of it beyond recognition? To me that shows an extreme lack of skill, when they should be demonstrating how good they are at 'translating' a bunch of text description into visuals.

Good examples, the TV adaptations of "Hogfather", "The Colour of Magic / "The Light Fantastic" and "Going Postal". With those you can see that the writers and the rest of the crew really worked hard at putting Terry Pratchett's story on the screen, not their own.

Bad examples, "Starship Troopers" and "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". With Hitchhiker's it looked to me as if after Adams' death the writers threw away almost everything Adams had a hand in and made up their own stuff. Especially awful was the bits where they cut the punchlines from gags that were used from prior versions. Troopers went on to spawn some direct to video sequels that I've heard are even worse. Mercifully, plans for sequels to Hitchhiker's quickly died when movie attendance plummeted soon after release.

siraks · 10-23-2011, 10:09 AM

With regards to the Chicago thing and Wrigley field it said a suburb west of wrigley, it didn't say it was directly on the west side of the park it said it's west of it, so that could be multiple blocks....that's my take anyway.

i also wanted to just mention that when i read the books i go in blind, meaning that i have no clue what they're about aside from the title of the book. i haven't read any descriptions or blurbs about the book before i read them. it gets very interesting as they move along while i read as i get surprised more i think.

#4 now and only a billion to go haha !

glad i jumped aboard the dresden train, it's a fun one to be on.

alansplace · 10-23-2011, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siraks

With regards to the Chicago thing and Wrigley field it said a suburb west of wrigley, it didn't say it was directly on the west side of the park it said it's west of it, so that could be multiple blocks....that's my take anyway.

i also wanted to just mention that when i read the books i go in blind, meaning that i have no clue what they're about aside from the title of the book. i haven't read any descriptions or blurbs about the book before i read them. it gets very interesting as they move along while i read as i get surprised more i think.

#4 now and only a billion to go haha !

glad i jumped aboard the dresden train, it's a fun one to be on.

it sounds like you do the 'suspension of disbelief' thing i was trying to describe.

alansplace · 10-23-2011, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyssa

What are you going to read once you're done with Dresden?

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

i keep vacillating on that issue. anyway i'm just ready to start chapter 11 of ghost story, so i have a little (very little) time to change my mind again, but as of right now it's between blood ties (pi julie collins 1) by lori g. armstrong and a fatal thaw (kate shugak 2) by dana stabenow. as well as the fact that i've previously started, but not yet finished reading (something else seems to often draw my interest away for awhile), river marked (mercy thompson 6) by patricia briggs, nightlife (cal leandros 1) by rob thurman, heavy time by c.j. cherryh, the phantom menace by terry brooks, and i'm in the middle of two omnibuses, charlie chan by earl derr biggers and the complete works of h.p. lovecraft. [pant pant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyssa

oops

i just changed my mind and now want to read niki heat #3, heat rises by richard [whoever] castle next

Nyssa · 10-23-2011, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

oops

i just changed my mind and now want to read niki heat #3, heat rises by richard [whoever] castle next

How are the first 2? I have the very first one but have not read it as yet.

alansplace · 10-23-2011, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyssa

How are the first 2? I have the very first one but have not read it as yet.

they're fun

i liked the 2nd one more and it's my belief that they are written by 2 different authors. castle is the only tv show i watch at present and that's why i read these, for the 'real' niki heat'

maybe i'll also watch [seen the first few at the behest of my wife] maria bello's prime suspect this season

Nyssa · 10-23-2011, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

they're fun

i liked the 2nd one more and it's my belief that they are written by 2 different authors. castle is the only tv show i watch at present and that's why i read these, for the 'real' niki heat'

maybe i'll also watch [seen the first few at the behest of my wife] maria bello's prime suspect this season

I had/have Prime Suspect on my to watch list, but I haven't actually been watching any TV lately; not even my favorites, like Castle.

carld · 10-23-2011, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyssa

What are you going to read once you're done with Dresden?

I'm reading Child of Fire: A Twenty Palaces Novel by Harry Connolly. It's the first book of the series and is a bit Dresden-esq, without being an homage (rip-off). It's a different tone, with a tough guy hero who can just barely do magic at all, still a good read so far.

I'd also recommend The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne for a different, but enjoyable urban fantasy.

bizzybody · 10-23-2011, 10:33 PM

Another detective/mystery novel Dresden fans might like is Harry Turtledove's "The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump". It's sort of an urbanized fantasy/comedy.

10-22-2011, 10:10 PM	#232
bizzybody Addict Posts: 294 Karma: 7742186 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Idaho, USA Device: Various PalmOS PDAs, Android Phones, Sharper Image Literati	Harry Dresden's Chicago isn't our Chicago. So naturally there can be differences in a parallel reality. I had heard of the Dresden Files TV series via some adverts on SciFi, but never watched as it didn't look like something I'd be interested in. I'd forgotten about the series when I first got turned on to the books by a friend. (Same friend also got me reading Anita Blake.) I was somewhere around 5 books into Dresden when I saw the first episode of the series. Woah. Nuh-uh! There's a whole two things in common with the books. Its main character is a wizard named Harry Dresden and he lives in Chicago. Does TV Harry live in a basement, drive a VW Bug, make electronics go pfft, unlucky in love? Nope! TV Harry lives on the ground floor, apparently in back of his office, drives a Jeep, has a cell phone and has a significant other, at least in the first episode. Another item, do I recall correctly that TV Harry wears a trench coat, not a duster? I suspect Butcher has Harry wear a duster because the trench coat is so cliche for private investigators. But wait, there's more. Or would it be less, as in even less like the books? I can see renaming Karrin Murphy to Connie Murphy because at the time there was a woman on the real Chicago PD named Karen Murphy (or some other phonetically equivalent first name) but changing the White Council to the High Council? What were they planning to rename the Spoiler: Black Council to if the series ran longer? Feh, probably wouldn't even have had that since they didn't keep anything else. Another UGH! moment was some curtains by the door as protective wards that a baddie defeats simply by tearing them down. If you haven't seen the TV series, I'm not saying don't watch it. Just don't expect it to be anything at all like the books. A TV version of Dresden would be sooooo much better if they did each book as one season over several episodes. What's with TV and movie writers who once they get their hands on a property, think they just have to alter 99% of it beyond recognition? To me that shows an extreme lack of skill, when they should be demonstrating how good they are at 'translating' a bunch of text description into visuals. Good examples, the TV adaptations of "Hogfather", "The Colour of Magic / "The Light Fantastic" and "Going Postal". With those you can see that the writers and the rest of the crew really worked hard at putting Terry Pratchett's story on the screen, not their own. Bad examples, "Starship Troopers" and "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". With Hitchhiker's it looked to me as if after Adams' death the writers threw away almost everything Adams had a hand in and made up their own stuff. Especially awful was the bits where they cut the punchlines from gags that were used from prior versions. Troopers went on to spawn some direct to video sequels that I've heard are even worse. Mercifully, plans for sequels to Hitchhiker's quickly died when movie attendance plummeted soon after release.

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10-22-2011, 12:30 PM	#226
siraks use the force Posts: 575 Karma: 564666 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Ontario Device: Kobo Touch, Lenovo K1	jut loaded summer knight onto the KT, not sure if i'll start this weekend or monday but it's there and ready. i have made my choice to continue with dresden for this book at least.

10-23-2011, 10:09 AM	#233
siraks use the force Posts: 575 Karma: 564666 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Ontario Device: Kobo Touch, Lenovo K1	With regards to the Chicago thing and Wrigley field it said a suburb west of wrigley, it didn't say it was directly on the west side of the park it said it's west of it, so that could be multiple blocks....that's my take anyway. i also wanted to just mention that when i read the books i go in blind, meaning that i have no clue what they're about aside from the title of the book. i haven't read any descriptions or blurbs about the book before i read them. it gets very interesting as they move along while i read as i get surprised more i think. #4 now and only a billion to go haha ! glad i jumped aboard the dresden train, it's a fun one to be on.

10-23-2011, 10:33 PM	#240
bizzybody Addict Posts: 294 Karma: 7742186 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Idaho, USA Device: Various PalmOS PDAs, Android Phones, Sharper Image Literati	Another detective/mystery novel Dresden fans might like is Harry Turtledove's "The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump". It's sort of an urbanized fantasy/comedy.

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