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

[ratkity]

I absolutely love Mister! None of my cats have ever been any where near petite and have always been at least 16 lbs (not fat, just big boys - I usually rescue adults). My current cat is a 5 yr old cow-spotted gray and white that can stretch up to the countertop and he's only a 13 pounder (his name is Boss). Can you imagine being greeted by a 30 lb panther-like head butt to the knees? Boss currently smacks my 85 lbs golden retrievers around (who are very tolerant of his ankle bites).

BTW, my nick is the name of my old psychotic tortishell kitteh that has since passed on. She owned everything and she hated everyone, but me. She lived 15 yrs and everyone in my family has a story about how she drew blood from them.

Hugs,
Ratkity

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Joy736

I just finished chapter two of Grave Peril, so I'm officially back to the Dresdenverse . This time in English instead of Dutch, witch takes some time getting used to, but I'll be just as fun

Spoiler:

Harry is now going to the Neverever

Can't wait!!

ps I love Harry's dry humor.

Spoiler:

My office is in a building in midtown Chicago. It's an older building, and not in the best of shape, especially since there was that problem with the elevator last year. I don't care what anyone says, that wasn't my fault.

Ofcourse you'll only get this if you know about the problems with Wizards and electronics.

Does his 'snarkyness' come through in the Dutch translation?

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Just read Blood Rites, thoroughly enjoyed it, but...

Spoiler:

Isn't the mother's dying curse/magic providing protection to the child from a mortal enemy motif a bit Harry Potterish?

And will Harry and Murphy just get it on already!

Hmmm....I don't really think that Jim Butcher was copying anything from J.K. Rowling (the name Harry included). Except for a few accidental collisions the Dresdenverse and the Potterverse (I'm re-reading the 7 Potter novels right now) are, IMHO, quite different.

Originally Posted by Nyssa

Although I want to say "Are you Kidding me!!"

Spoiler:

(the sudden appearance of Elaine)

I had feeling it was going to happen sooner or later, in one way or another...

Spoiler:

(either alive, dying or dead)

.

Spoiler:

I do not trust her in the slightest, bound or not bound.

I really like the set of of this story, although it would be nice if Harry could at least get a night's sleep, some real food and shower.

I love, love, loved the scene with Morgan.

Spoiler:

I could just see the look of shock on his face when Harry figured out that Morgan was trying to set him up.

I do not, however, believe that Elaine could escape the apartment unnoticed, even with the veil. Of course, Mister's prancing in at that time helped.

Hmmmm....

Originally Posted by ratkity

I absolutely love Mister! None of my cats have ever been any where near petite and have always been at least 16 lbs (not fat, just big boys - I usually rescue adults). My current cat is a 5 yr old cow-spotted gray and white that can stretch up to the countertop and he's only a 13 pounder (his name is Boss). Can you imagine being greeted by a 30 lb panther-like head butt to the knees? Boss currently smacks my 85 lbs golden retrievers around (who are very tolerant of his ankle bites).

BTW, my nick is the name of my old psychotic tortishell kitteh that has since passed on. She owned everything and she hated everyone, but me. She lived 15 yrs and everyone in my family has a story about how she drew blood from them.

Hugs,
Ratkity

....and I love Mouse!

[Nyssa]

Finished Summer Knight last night and I loved, loved, loved it!! It gets the first 5-star rating of the year!

[Sil_liS]

Hello to all Dresden Files fans and thanks to Alan for telling me about the thread.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Hello to all Dresden Files fans and thanks to Alan for telling me about the thread.

Hello Sil_liS! Welcome to the Dresden party!

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Hello to all Dresden Files fans and thanks to Alan for telling me about the thread.

You're quite welcome. To inform them about this thread, I PMed everyone who posted in that new thread, but there were two people who were set up to not accept any PMs. I thought that was kinda' odd!!

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Hello to all Dresden Files fans and thanks to Alan for telling me about the thread.

Welcome Sil!

[paulsalter]

Originally Posted by alansplace

You're quite welcome. To inform them about this thread, I PMed everyone who posted in that new thread, but there were two people who were set up to not accept any PMs. I thought that was kinda' odd!!

I put a link to this thread in that new thread (2nd post I believe)

Hopefully those that didn't get your msg or anyone else that looks at it will see this

Back to Dresden though, 2 other books to finish then I am onto the 2nd book in the series (so many good things I want to read at the moment, hard to decide which)

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by paulsalter

I put a link to this thread in that new thread (2nd post I believe)

Originally Posted by paulsalter

Hopefully those that didn't get your msg or anyone else that looks at it will see this

Back to Dresden though, 2 other books to finish then I am onto the 2nd book in the series (so many good things I want to read at the moment, hard to decide which)

Welcome!

[Filark]

What new thread? <looks around>

I am into the exciting part of Fool Moon now. I keep getting distracted (life! MobileRead! ) but am still enjoying Harry's world again. I had forgotten how badly he and Murphy got along in these early books! (Is that too much of a spoiler??)

A few posts back <yes I could look it up if I weren't so lazy> someone compared Harry Dresden to Harry Potter. I've been wanting to discuss the two. Their worlds feel very different to me, yet when I try to pinpoint the differences, I keep noting the similarities instead:

Both worlds have a magical community and a non-magical community that either doesn't know or doesn't want to know about the magical element.

Wizards in both worlds have to study in order to develop their talent. Wizarding is work. It's physically and intellectually demanding and a wizard doesn't always get it right, or get praised when he/she does!

There are creatures right under their noses that humans or muggles know nothing about -- and it's better that way!

What else? Anyone??

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Filark

What new thread? <looks around>

I am into the exciting part of Fool Moon now. I keep getting distracted (life! MobileRead! ) but am still enjoying Harry's world again. I had forgotten how badly he and Murphy got along in these early books! (Is that too much of a spoiler??)

A few posts back <yes I could look it up if I weren't so lazy> someone compared Harry Dresden to Harry Potter. I've been wanting to discuss the two. Their worlds feel very different to me, yet when I try to pinpoint the differences, I keep noting the similarities instead:

Both worlds have a magical community and a non-magical community that either doesn't know or doesn't want to know about the magical element.

Wizards in both worlds have to study in order to develop their talent. Wizarding is work. It's physically and intellectually demanding and a wizard doesn't always get it right, or get praised when he/she does!

There are creatures right under their noses that humans or muggles know nothing about -- and it's better that way!

What else? Anyone??

Originally Posted by RemusLupinFan on http://www.cosforums.com/ May 22nd, 2009

Here are my general thoughts/comparisons on HP vs. Dresden:

1. There is a difference in the way magic is done, in that in HP, the words a person says dictates the effect of the magic. In Harry Dresden, words are only used in order to focus magical energy while thoughts are used to direct the magic. So in the Dresden world you could say a bunch of nonsense words and work powerful magic, while in Harry Potter you must speak the words of the spell exactly right or the spell won't work. In general, the mechanisms of magic are explained in a lot more (logical) detail in the Dresden world. I really like that Butcher's magic agrees with physics, for example, he mentions impacts from Dresden's shields being transformed into heat and light. I dig that as a scientist- makes the story more believable.

2. One similarity is that in both worlds, magical folk have secrecy laws in place which prevent non-magical folk from knowing about their world. But HP is different in that a big distinction is made by many between being a wizard and being a muggle; the state of your blood is also a big deal. This doesn't seem to be focused on very much in Dresden. Also, in HP, many of the magical community frown upon those without magical powers, but in Dresden, the supernatural community realizes that ordinary mortals can be very dangerous for them. It's interesting that in both books, wizards live longer than ordinary folk, but only in HD do we get a scientific explanation of why.

3. The Cardinal Laws of Magic, as they were, are pretty similar in both stories. In HP, there's the Unforgivables, which are killing, forcing someone to do what you want, and causing pain. The Seven Laws of Magic in HD are comparable. But the wizards in the Dresden world are a lot less tolerant of violation of these rules, as they're ready to execute Harry for killing in self-defense. Both magical worlds also have a governing body to enforce the rules, both with varying degrees of corruption.

4. In Dresden, there is a greater diversity of magical creatures, many of which have much more power than mortal wizards, and many of which are immortal beings from the Nevernever (ie Sidhe, ogres, demons, etc). Conversely, in HP there really weren't any creatures from the spirit world except ghosts.

5. The concept of magical bindings is present in both worlds. In the Potterverse, there are magical contracts such as the Unbreakable Vow and the life debt that are binding, which have dire consequences if broken. In Dresden, the deals made with the Sidhe cause Harry physical harm when he breaks them.

6. There's an interesting similarity with magical swords in both stories. In the Potterverse, we've got Gryffindor's sword, which can only be pulled out of the Sorting Hat by a true Gryffindor, and which can be used to destroy very evil things like Voldemort's horcruxes. In Dresden, there's the three swords of the Knights of the Cross, which also destroy very evil things (like demons). It's interesting that those three swords are named after Faith (Fidelaccius), Hope (Esperacchius) and Love (Amoracchius). I wonder if Gryffindor's sword had a name.

7. The power of love is very, well, powerful in both series. In HP, the love that Lily has for Harry protects him from being killed. It causes Quirrelmort to get burned when he touches Harry. Harry's love for his friends and Ginny allows him to live in DH, and helps with Voldemort's undoing, as Voldy now has some of Harry's love-infested blood inside of him. With Dresden, his love for Susan protects him against the seduction of the White Court vampires - similar to HP, it burns them when they try to touch someone who has experienced strong love.

8. The magic in Dresden doesn't seem to have many everyday uses like it does in HP. Most of the magic in Dresden is for defense/offense, though there are tracking spells and the like. It seems the spells are not used for mundane things as much as they are in HP.

[Filark]

Very interesting! Thanks for digging that up, Alan!

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Filark

Very interesting! Thanks for digging that up, Alan!

You're welcome.

I figured that it would, along with your post make a good start for an open discussion comparing the Potterverse and the Dresdenverse.

[bizzybody]

HP wizards use wands as all-purpose tools. They're the Gold Seal baking flour of magic. The one special utility item that comes to mind is the Time Turner. (Which could have ended the book easily if Harry had done with it what Torg did with the one Homogenize Milktoast had.)

Dresden wizards mainly use staffs but other items like Harry's blasting rod and kinetic energy rings are special purpose tools.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by bizzybody

HP wizards use wands as all-purpose tools. They're the Gold Seal baking flour of magic. The one special utility item that comes to mind is the Time Turner. (Which could have ended the book easily if Harry had done with it what Torg did with the one Homogenize Milktoast had.)

Dresden wizards mainly use staffs but other items like Harry's blasting rod and kinetic energy rings are special purpose tools.

Every time Dresden gets put in a cell or gets handcuffed I'm thinking 'Alohomora'!!