The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
The Law
Dina:
Hello everyone!
I just finished reading The Law (kindle version). I have not read this thread yet because I wanted to comment without any influence. Obviously SPOILERS AHEAD
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I liked the general plot and I was very glad to have Harry back in action, especially in the PI business. Still, I think some things were off, especially at the beginning. Particularly, Harry seemed too undecided, between being a harsh, cold bully (which he claims to hate) and being regretful of all the spilled blood in the battle, and therefore going to peace. I mean, I understand the general demeanor is "I can be violent, but not a killer" but still felt weird.
I also think that the relationship with Marcone is weird. It should not be a revelation for anyone, let alone Harry himself, that he respected Marcone and Marcone respected him. Still, Harry has ground to treat him with comptempt. Yes, Marcone fought for Chicago, he risked his own life to save a lot of lives. But he also exploits many of those lives, he is a gangster, not Father Forthill :)
I also thought that in the meeting Dresden was generous with them, they all owed him more than what they gave him. Dresden saved the life of the man, that should have some merit. I am glad Marcone did not ask for the life of the hag, I wish Harry had thanked him for that after Mab left. (I am not schizophrenic about Marcone, I just try to see the whole picture. The man is amazing, he is clever, ruthless, brave and fair according to his own code, but he is also a criminal. I acknowledge the good things he does).
Things I liked a lot:
No Maggie :P
Bob
Paranoid Gary and Will
A Mister cameo
Harry actually checking to see if Maya was not tricking him.
A reference to the search for Justine.
Max! I loved him (Max Valerous has to be a fake name, right? Like the man is a Palladin, with a D&D name).
I actually will be happy to read some stories about Max in the future. He could be a good friend of Michael. Perhaps Jim could one day make a collection of short stories about people "touched" by Dresden, where Dresden appears and is an important character, but it is not the main one, and not the narrator. We could have Marcone, Will, Paranoid Gary, Butters,
Goodman Gray, Lara, Max, a random police officer (perhaps the one that cameos here), Fitz, Morty and yes, Maggie. We lack women, so perhaps Gard instead of Marcone. (Sidhe are complicated, I do not want to see Elaine, and there are no other interesting women).
Other things I did not like
Woman punished for taking revenge against a jerk (I agree in universe she should, they are good reasons, but I still wish the men acknowledged more of what the jerk did to her, and took that in consideration for lessening her punishement. The meeting where there were many men deciding things and she was not even able to speak was cringeworthy, even if the final decision went to a woman).
Bob not realizing Talvi Inverno meant Winter Winter, so obviously a vassal or something from Winter.
Dina:
--- Quote from: Conspiracy Theorist on July 05, 2022, 07:43:00 PM ---No Mouse, but we get introduced to a Basset Hound Peppermint, a friend for Mouse? No Toot so this must be set more than 2 weeks before Little Things. Marcone’s reaction to losing the Castle to Harry strongly suggests he was not responsible for the Boom, especially after a car bomb attempt on the Munstermobile ended badly for him. He never repeats a mistake. The Merlin is even more strongly a candidate for that.
We don’t see the Gargoyles, obviously they are being saved for NEXT BOOK.
I think Nameless and Ms Laplander and Max will likely end up in Goodman Grey’s stories, and The Law is a good way of introducing them to the Dresdenverse. Max I think will be in NEXT BOOK following his invitation to Game Knight (you bet everyone is calling it that behind Harry’s back).
--- End quote ---
Sorry about the double post. I began watching the thread and I wanted to say that Game Knight is perfect :)
Also, if it is true that we will have Goodman Grey stories, Max will be a given, I agree.
--- Quote from: Mira on July 06, 2022, 09:50:46 AM ---Yes, he does, and at that point in time, he is dealing with his grief and injuries, the castle is still
being repaired and remodeled. So in many ways it would be best if she remain at the Carpenters for the moment. Notice Mouse isn't at the castle either, he is with her. Except for Marcone's threat to sic the city health department on him, Mouse isn't mentioned either.
--- End quote ---
What? Marcone did not dare to threat Mouse, I am sure?
Conspiracy Theorist:
Try looking up Valerious Maximus, a Roman, Harry would be familiar with the name as his works are heavily used in teaching Latin.
Marcone threatened McAnally’s the pub, not Mouse the pup, a poster reading too late.
A couple of revelations about Nameless which link into the files.
1. Nameless worked with (not for) Kemmler. This is the first instance of an associate of Kemmler NOT being a Kemmlerite. This is important, Nameless would have known about Bob and the information he contained about The Word, and given what he is would have been dismissive of the Kemmlerites. There is exactly one other character who also fulfills those criteria. COWL.
2. Nameless was kicked out of Arctis Tor after the attack on it, suggesting he was complicit in it, we know that attack was by the Circle /Black Council and we know COWL is a member.
On this basis I have put forward the theory that Nameless is Cowl. We have for years been saying that this or that character is/was Cowl, but what if we met Cowl first? That Cowl in his actual persona been keeping out of Harry’s orbit but close enough to keep an eye on the Wizard who has unexpectedly ruined his plans before? Harry only went to the Gold Coast to visit Thomas and Justine, and the last time he was there he and Eb were attacked by Outsiders. Was Nameless or Laplander responsible for whistling them in? Was Nameless colluding with Nemesis?
Cowl provided the infected Athame which infected Lea in Grave Peril, he adopted the disguise to avoid being recognised. Lea would have recognised him from Winter if he were Nameless, and using magic to disguise himself would have made his stick out like a sore thumb. He was also delivering the Sword to Mavra as part of a wider exchange and was responsible for an unspecified gift to Mr Ferro.
Mavra wanted Harry to find The Word in Dead Beat, but no one, not Mavra or Cowl knew Bob contained the Word, so Mavra may have been working for Cowl.
Dina:
Thank you, I just finished the thread. I am now aware of the confussion about Mouse. I still find weird that Marcone chose to threat the pub. I mean, we know he would never threat a child, so Maggie is safe. And he would not threat Eb because he is too powerful, but he could threat any other of Harry's allies. Probably not the Knights (Namshiel is not stupid) but the Alphas, Morty, Lamar, Rawlins, the paranetters, Gary, Forthill. For different reasons, I would think it is OOC for Marcone to do something to most of them, but he could have make the threat knowing how Dresden would react. But McAnally's? Accorded neutral territory? Protected by the placard, I believe? With an angelic owner? And a place of reunion for many supernatural folks? It is weird.
I saw your theory about Cowl. It is possible, but my main objection is that I believed Harry knew Cowl before. I mean, he thought Cowl was hiding his identity because he knew him. And Harry never met the nameless son until now.
By the way, I loved that Harry used his brain in this novella. Like Mira, I thought the novella got better with time and for me in part was for that. In the beginning is as @JTass said, Harry seemed weird making not credible threats.
Oh, I wished we had seen at least a glimpse of Inverno after being defeated again for an (alleged) mortal.
morriswalters:
--- Quote from: Conspiracy Theorist on July 29, 2022, 11:18:40 PM ---Mavra wanted Harry to find The Word in Dead Beat, but no one, not Mavra or Cowl knew Bob contained the Word, so Mavra may have been working for Cowl.
--- End quote ---
Cowl knew evil Bob resided within Bob and thus had the Word Of Kemmler. It's why he took Bob from Murphy's house. He didn't need the book.
This was what Marva feared.
--- Quote ---I've read Kemmler's book. I know how the Darkhallow works. And I know how to turn necromancy against the Black Court."
--- End quote ---
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version