The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Any news on Peace Talks
Mira:
--- Quote from: morriswalters on December 06, 2019, 10:48:23 PM ---I wasn't making a judgement on what I thought of my experience reading both series. For people who choose to write for a living then sales are the only metric that counts. Jim uses the money to afford the lifestyle that he wants to live. So does Rowling. If they didn't get paid they wouldn't be writing.
The biggest problem with both writers was and is that the books got bloated as they went along.
--- End quote ---
Agreed, edit, edit, edit.... An author really guilty of writing bloated books in a series that goes on way too long is Terry Goodkind, his "Sword of Truth" series.
Bad Alias:
--- Quote from: Kindler on December 06, 2019, 04:58:37 PM ---I assume that's [vampires] what you're [me] talking about.
--- End quote ---
I just grabbed a quote from tvtropes and eliminated the references to style, tone, and themes as they didn't have anything to do with what we were talking about.
I think there is a lot in the first few books that Jim changed later on that can be explained away. If we're going to use the retcon to describe it, I'd call it a light retconning because it's more of a "that's a bit of a stretch" situation than a "that's clearly not how it used to be" situation.
The vampire thing can easily be explained away by pointing out that Harry was pretty ignorant about vampires at that point, as can most suspected changes.
I think that the way magic interacts with technology is a bit off in Grave Peril. The whole guns malfunctioning thing kind of just goes away. There's a few throw away lines about newer, better maintained guns.
morriswalters:
--- Quote from: Mira on December 06, 2019, 11:53:18 PM --- Agreed, edit, edit, edit.... An author really guilty of writing bloated books in a series that goes on way too long is Terry Goodkind, his "Sword of Truth" series.
--- End quote ---
I've never read him. A lot of good books trying to get your attention is the problem. And solving that problem is more luck than good writing. When I was young lurid book covers worked as well as anything. Possibly some cheesy sex. Jim pays homage to the idea with the bodice rippers for Bob. Although he could dial it back just a little. In a small way it reminds me of the Doc Savage books. The tone, rather than the content.
I won't live to see it, if it were to happen, but Butcher could make Mab the focus of her own hero story, dying for the ideal of protecting mortals. It has the potential to really pound Dresden emotionally, to realize what Mab gave up to guard the gates. Anyway....
@Bad Alias
One of the better things about the books is that Jim will retcon if it makes the story stronger. Keeping too much technology out kills the story.
Snark Knight:
I don't think Jim's later books have been getting noticeably bloated. They're only middle of the genre pack for length, the plots are still tight, and most of the deeper worldbuilding background elements that have come up were foreshadowed early on.
The DF is nowhere near Sword of Truth (which took an unfortunate turn into political allegory, as well as introducing new elements late in the game) or Wheel of Time (that just meandered and drew plots out past what they needed) for bloat.
morriswalters:
We'll see after Peace Talks. The Butter's plot line is fraught and he's going to need to exercise care. And I don't know that it was needed, I think he wanted to write that chase on a skateboard and turn expectations on its head. And I don't know that it was needed. But then again he built a house in the West and I live in a condo.
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