Twelve Months, chapter one

[RobReece]

Good morning, 
Someone in reddit posted a link to chapter 1 of Twelve Months,  but I'm not positive that it's legit.  There are a couple of things that bring up questions if it is.

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Twelve Months sneak peak!

For those that didn't get into the Jim Butcher panel at NYCC, here's the sneak peak of Twelve Months they gave us!

[https://sites.prh.com/twelve-months-landing-page-aug-25?ref=PRHD99966B35334&aid=15745&linkid=PRHD99966B35334]

Let me know if you want to discuss the questions I have on this

[Just Al]

I just read the sneak peek. It is published through the Penguin books web site, so that leads me to believe it's legit.

What strikes me as odd is the use of hyphens then spaces within words. That doesn't seem like anything Jim would do, but it may just be a weirdness involved in the HTML layout.

[g33k]

What strikes me as odd is the use of hyphens then spaces within words...

This often occurs when you strip the text out of a formatted work, and republish the literal text in another format...

In the snug, lonely little cham‑ ber in the basement of the castle,

Most likely, "chamber" in the printed book occurred at the end of the line, and got hyphenated in layout, but not de-hyphenated for this little freebie snippet.

[RobReece]

Does anyone want to discuss what possible issues I saw with it?

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Harry wasn'tshot in the leg in BG... List shot him in the belly, iirc
He doesn't drink his coffee black, but maybeit'sapunishment?
His mickeymouse alarm clock wouldnot have survived Changes...

I don't think these would have made it past the beta readers

[Lord Kinbote]

From that tidbit (chapter?), Dresden seems to be in far worse mental and emotional shape than he was in Christmas Eve.  Maybe Christmas Eve occurs after this tidbit?

[RobReece]

According to the tidbit, it's only 2-3 weeks post battle,  that's about 5 months ahead of Christmas Eve.

[Mira]

Couldn't find it, tried the link but it wasn't there.  Could they have taken it down?

[Dina]

The link that RobReece put in the first post worked for me.

Well, this is more or less what I expected. Something to have the ball start running.
Specifics:

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I am not sure how to say this, but it seems clumsy. Will disappeared without a word. Harry thinks he needed caffeine when he just got a coffe. I don't know, perhaps it is to show his turmoil

Robreece

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Why the clock would have not survived Changes?

The rest I frankly do not remember.

[Mira]

The link that RobReece put in the first post worked for me.

Well, this is more or less what I expected. Something to have the ball start running.
Specifics:
[spoiler ]I am not sure how to say this, but it seems clumsy. Will disappeared without a word. Harry thinks he needed caffeine when he just got a coffe. I don't know, perhaps it is to show his turmoil [/spoiler]

Robreece

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Why the clock would have not survived Changes?

The rest I frankly do not remember.

What I got wasn't the actual chapter, but "what to expect" in the book type thing, very general.

In answer to your one question, this is what I think;

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I seriously doubt it would have survived unless the fire just wasn't that bad or maybe because Harry's place was the basement and the worst of the fire was higher in the building.. Or possibly it was protected by magic somehow.  I've been though a fire and even though something made of metal materials don't burn, the intense heat does things like take the temper out of metal tools for example. Actually in Changes it really doesn't say how badly the building was damaged.  We just learn later in another book that Marcone bought the property, tore it down and brought in a castle to replace it.  The question then becomes, how much of Harry's stuff did survive the fire?  And if it did survive, what happened to it?  And who had the stuff like the clock when Harry was mostly dead for the months after Changes, and when did Harry get his clock back?

[LaraBeck]

From that tidbit (chapter?), Dresden seems to be in far worse mental and emotional shape than he was in Christmas Eve.  Maybe Christmas Eve occurs after this tidbit?

We 100% know that Christmas Eve takes place after this, it's around Christmas on the same year Battle Grounds happens. And the book, Twelve Months takes place three weeks after Battle Ground, one week after the short story Little Things (from Toot toot's POV).

Well, this is more or less what I expected. Something to have the ball start running.
Specifics:

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I am not sure how to say this, but it seems clumsy. Will disappeared without a word. Harry thinks he needed caffeine when he just got a coffe. I don't know, perhaps it is to show his turmoil

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In my opinion, that is a device to show us how bad Harry is mentally and emotionally, he's disassociating pretty hard, he is not alright, at all. And if you look at the early reviews, which are already up on goodreads (people got ARCs three months ago), the whole book is pretty much about this. It's a book comparable to Ghost Story, a slow book and a painful book.

What I got wasn't the actual chapter, but "what to expect" in the book type thing, very general.

Huh, that's weird, the link should take you to Chapter 1, and it is indeed the full chapter. https://sites.prh.com/twelve-months-landing-page-aug-25?ref=PRHD99966B35334&aid=15745&linkid=PRHD99966B35334

[Dina]

Ugh, GS is one of the books I don't like as much.

[CrusherJen]

To me, the excerpt feels true to the way someone deep in pain and grief would be thinking (or not thinking well), including the little inconsistencies.

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It probably would've sounded better if Harry had thought, "I need more caffeine" instead of just "I need caffeine," but a lack of clarity when you're exhausted at every level can and does happen.

It sounds like this will be a painful book to read... but I'm too much of an addict to let it pass me by.

[Dina]

It sounds like this will be a painful book to read... but I'm too much of an addict to let it pass me by.

I agree, of course I will read it. But I think it will be difficult.

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There is one thing I really liked about the chapter. The mention to the bombing that the pixie stopped. Instead, I did not like the fact that Harry did not mention Mister.

[Mira]

Thanks for the link Lara, that worked and I was able to read it, don't know why it didn't work before. 
Here are my impressions of the first chapter.

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I write this from my view point having suffered more than my share of losses, expected, unexpected and traumatic.   1) Harry is going through the normal process of grief, not sleeping is one of the symptoms. 2) He is suffering from major PTSD not just from witnessing Murphy's death and the battle for Chicago, but the deaths and battles he's been through over the years  .  It's a nasty combination and you can't wish it away, nor is there a time limit on it, I still have flashbacks that take my breath away twenty years after the fact.  It does get better over time, but it isn't something you "get over" like mumps or measles, how long it takes is different for everyone, and it does leave lasting painful scars and scabs.  Knowing that the world will go on whether he likes it or not will help Harry recover.  He's a man of action and cares about the world so he will muddle through and hopefully emerge as a wiser and stronger man.  One thing is for sure, he will never quite be the same again.

[cander891]

I think some readers tend to forget that all of these books are technically Harry's Journals. He wrote them. So therefore there are going to be issues like this, especially someone who is impacted by this much trauma.

Additionally, it feeds into an ongoing theory that Harry is not a reliable narrator. This is something that pops up every now and again.

I also feel like the books are getting closer to (Harry's) present time. The early books often read like they are furtner in the past, while as we creep close the end, they feel more "current".

Just one mans opinion.