The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Speculation: What did Mab remove from Harry's memory this time?
Mira:
--- Quote ---The fact that Bonea is his daughter -- "Ever since the new-formed spirit of intellect had coalesced inside my mind, it had grown until it was too big for the space..." Perhaps I'm reading too much into it -- but Harry doesn't seem to remember how Bonea came to be in his head.
--- End quote ---
No, because his conscience self had no clue what was going on. Mab had nothing to do with that.
--- Quote ---I was just listening to the interview Jim did on Facebook about Peace Talks. Now it's easy for us to say the book was split in two as a cash grab by the publisher, but Jim said; well, he screwed up writing the novel. Jim wanted the story to take a big left turn about two thirds through the story, something that would be really cool. (I'm paraphrasing, I don't remember Jim's exact words.) However, Jim's editor said that the story had become kind of a mess. Not only was it suggested that the story should be split in two, but Jim had to make some changes, some additions to the story, in order for the first book (Peace Talks) to work.
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Well, to be honest, Peace Talks is kind of a mess, everyone was overjoyed to at last have a book, however once the novelty wore off, many find it lacking.
--- Quote ---So, my guess is a lot of work; by both Jim and the publisher, went into the changes made in Peace Talks to make it a (sort of) stand alone story; whereas in every other Dresden Files novel that time and effort would have been exclusively spent on polishing the existing story. It makes me wonder how well Battle Ground will read.
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That is the problem though, Peace Talks doesn't work as a stand alone. I could be wrong, but I think for a story to be a "stand alone" it has to have a beginning, middle, and an end. Peace Talks doesn't have that.
Conspiracy Theorist:
Peace Talks has a beginning and a mi.....
Mira:
--- Quote from: Conspiracy Theorist on August 08, 2020, 06:37:55 AM ---Peace Talks has a beginning and a mi.....
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No, it is mostly middle...
Conspiracy Theorist:
Peace Talks is a whodunnit as regards Thomas, you don’t get much of a beginning because it spoils the reveal. The majority of what’s left is a beginning of the Peace Talks setup and part of the middle for both the Thomas and the PT plots. I think that it was cut prematurely, they should have had his return to Chicago and perhaps half a dozen further chapters, but it was cut at this point because the first couple of chapters of BG contain a huge surprise for the reader, which if we have guessed isn’t going to be a surprise. So mutilation for nothing.
ClintACK:
--- Quote from: Conspiracy Theorist on August 08, 2020, 11:30:14 AM ---Peace Talks is a whodunnit as regards Thomas, you don’t get much of a beginning because it spoils the reveal. The majority of what’s left is a beginning of the Peace Talks setup and part of the middle for both the Thomas and the PT plots. I think that it was cut prematurely, they should have had his return to Chicago and perhaps half a dozen further chapters, but it was cut at this point because the first couple of chapters of BG contain a huge surprise for the reader, which if we have guessed isn’t going to be a surprise. So mutilation for nothing.
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The problem is that a whodunnit is supposed to be a setup for a scene where our intrepid detective sits all the suspects down in the library and expounds his "Here's what happened..." complete with twists and reveals and the culprit making a break for the exit, before being hauled off to justice in an undignified manner.
We got a beautiful version of this at the end of Turn Coat.
Not so much with Peace Talks -- we still don't know who dunnit.
Thomas being "safe" in the prison isn't even a satisfying release of the mild "Is Thomas going to die?" tension, since we still don't know how far gone he is or if it will be possible to save him outside the cell.
But, I agree that it's structural issues from cutting the book. I wish they'd published "Peace Talks, Part I" and not worried so much about trying to make one sort-of-but-not-really resolved plot arc in the first book.
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