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The Dresden Files => DF Spoilers => Topic started by: Mpol on June 08, 2018, 11:07:53 PM
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Can’t see this here but at the Lexington book signing, Jim told a redditer the title of book 18 (the book about wrestlers and fallen gods).
The title is: Body Slam.
See quote below:
So Jim Butcher had a book signing at Joseph Beth booksellers tonight. He made reference to a few things, like a couple of spin off series, one about Ebenezer in the French and Indian War and the Knight he knew (I'm not saying the who because I can't remember how to spoiler tag at the moment), and one called Monster LLC.
When I got my book signed, I told him I was a retired independent wrestler and I was looking forward to something down the road. He smiled and told me he has settled on the book title of Body Slam.
Then I referred to the joke another poster and I made about John Cena being a White Court vamp that learned a veil. Jim laughed and then began singing Cena's theme song.
Good stuff
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More good info coming. Is the dry spell ending? Will we see rain coming?
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the fact he is talking book 168 lets hope it means book 16 is done
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Has this forum truly died where a book title announcement takes a few days to come up and gets little discussion? Or is it just sleeping time in the US now?
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a lot of fans have stopped posting over the last two years but I am sure that when cold days is released it will be busy here. I have not posted regularly for the last year but the short story compilation has me excited and posting.
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a lot of fans have stopped posting over the last two years but I am sure that when cold days is released it will be busy here. I have not posted regularly for the last year but the short story compilation has me excited and posting.
Yeah, the books are getting further and further apart between publishing... It looks like it may be close to a year before we see Peace Talks so it is hard to get excited about something that we won't see for five or six years.. It is only natural..
If HBO hadn't done a bang up job with Game of Throne I bet interest in George Martin's next installment would be on the wane as well...
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Has this forum truly died where a book title announcement takes a few days to come up and gets little discussion? Or is it just sleeping time in the US now?
Well, the signing was at 7pm on 6/7, and this was posted almost exactly 24 hours later. Not to mention Friday nights have always been slow here, even in its hayday.
But yes, the forum activity has slowed. Hopefully it'll pick up again. And after we (finally) migrate, we can look into other things to bring people around.
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Mmm the change from Fight Night to the current Body Slam is likely a indicator towards the deeper meaning(s) behind the book title... In this case i'm wondering about the 'Body' as toward the Egyptian six part identity and how it might pertain to those who are now god/Wrestlers.
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I have the strongest possible dislike of professional wrestling. I’m really not looking forward to that book.
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I have the strongest possible dislike of professional wrestling. I’m really not looking forward to that book.
Same here. :/
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I have the strongest possible dislike of professional wrestling. I’m really not looking forward to that book.
The book will be awesome. The focus (in my opinion) will be about the gods, how they get power, some cool fights, and some other non wrestling story arch. Anything you dislike about pro wrestling probably won't be in the book.
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The book will be awesome. The focus (in my opinion) will be about the gods, how they get power, some cool fights, and some other non wrestling story arch. Anything you dislike about pro wrestling probably won't be in the book.
I feel like Jim would write it in a manner that echos Blood Rites, which dealt with the porn industry. There was some mention of the stuff that went down on set but it was nothing like the focus of the action as I recall. Everything was centered on the people and events off camera. I imagine that's how he would handle the wrestling- Harry's interactions with the bombastic personalities and the beings behind them at the center, and the actual wrestling nonsense as a side note.
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But yes, the forum activity has slowed. Hopefully it'll pick up again. And after we (finally) migrate, we can look into other things to bring people around.
Did any alternative forum end up clearly winning out, anyway? I signed up for the google one, but I'm hardly ever on circles to see updates.
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I feel that being quite close to the BAT means that regardless of having wrestling as a theme, the book will no doubt be epic. It’s Dresden after all. The premise of so many of the books in a sentence sounds bizzare but when read, are truely magical.
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I think "Body Slam" suggests cause of death for the diety-victim whose murder that Harry has to solve.
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Did any alternative forum end up clearly winning out, anyway? I signed up for the google one, but I'm hardly ever on circles to see updates.
The new site (going live soon) is a clone of this one. Assuming it remains successfully running and people use it, I'd like to eventually move to a dolphinpro or oxwall forum. I like Invision Power Suite (what they're using over at 17th Shard) but it's pricey, whereas the others are free.
The dp/ow sites would allow us to have a forum, chat, wiki-like articles, pic and video sharing, and other cool features. IPS works with a Discord add-on for those that would use it; and it may be available for the others as well.
But that's long term plans, assuming everything else goes well.
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I feel like Jim would write it in a manner that echos Blood Rites, which dealt with the porn industry. There was some mention of the stuff that went down on set but it was nothing like the focus of the action as I recall. Everything was centered on the people and events off camera. I imagine that's how he would handle the wrestling- Harry's interactions with the bombastic personalities and the beings behind them at the center, and the actual wrestling nonsense as a side note.
With the exception of the reveal of Harry’s relationship to Thomas BR was among my least favorite of the Dresden Files novels.
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The book will be awesome. The focus (in my opinion) will be about the gods, how they get power, some cool fights, and some other non wrestling story arch. Anything you dislike about pro wrestling probably won't be in the book.
Except Harry in a grudge match, expect that one lol.
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Mmm the change from Fight Night to the current Body Slam is likely a indicator towards the deeper meaning(s) behind the book title...
It was I who brought up the "Fight Night" proposed title based off a quote by Murphy telling Harry "save it for fight night big guy." There was never any WOJ that suggested the title was going to be "Fight Night." It was all my WAG. So another of my WAGs go up in smoke. :)
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In book 7, which was to be book 8, a magic tries to become a god.
In Book 18, maybe, a magic user kills a god.
I think the theory where first 10 book plots mirror last 10 book plots is still in play.
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With the exception of the reveal of Harry’s relationship to Thomas BR was among my least favorite of the Dresden Files novels.
Same here. I liked the Black Court side plot, but found the White Court main plot to be far, far too convoluted. A whole lot of Bond Villain Stupidity (JUST SHOOT HIM. SHOOT HIM IN THE HEAD.) and too many layers of cat-paws. I get that they don't do anything directly, but come on. And I am... not a particularly big fan of the Suddenly Brothers aspect of Thomas and Harry's relationship. I would've preferred a different method of revealing that side of things.
Anyway, the White Court is part of why I like Kincaid so much. He'll just shoot you from a mile away. In the words of River Tam, "Bang, squish."
As for Body Slam, meh. I have a ton of distaste for wrestling as a... I guess it's technically sport (after all, Starcraft is a sport now). But none of the aspects of Blood Rites I disliked had anything to do with the setting. And, unless being sucked into the Mirrorverse and/or shenanigans on that side of the universal fence somehow frees Harry from the Winter Knight's Mantle, I expect Harry to be investigating on behalf of Winter.
(As far as Mirror, Mirror and losing the Winter Knight gig goes, I figure it's possible that jumping to a universe where there's already a Winter Knight (who I don't expect to be MirrorHarry) might mess with the Mantle—like, it tries to be in two places at once, and the power instead reverts to the constant from the Mirrorverse, or returns to MirrorMab. Either that, or simply being cut off from Prime Winter is enough to free the Mantle, returning it to Prime Mab as Harry gets sucked through. Or, you know, he just finds a good place to get rid of it on Halloween.)
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The new site (going live soon) is a clone of this one. Assuming it remains successfully running and people use it, I'd like to eventually move to a dolphinpro or oxwall forum. I like Invision Power Suite (what they're using over at 17th Shard) but it's pricey, whereas the others are free.
The dp/ow sites would allow us to have a forum, chat, wiki-like articles, pic and video sharing, and other cool features. IPS works with a Discord add-on for those that would use it; and it may be available for the others as well.
But that's long term plans, assuming everything else goes well.
Sorry to derail further, but are you looking at self-hosting or their cloud packages?
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Sorry to derail further, but are you looking at self-hosting or their cloud packages?
Right now we're using a cloud server on TMD Hosting because they support all of those (save for IPS). I'd prefer to avoid self-hosted because the plan is for me to manage things, but I can hand it off seemlessly if needed.
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In book 7, which was to be book 8, a magic tries to become a god.
In Book 18, maybe, a magic user kills a god.
I think the theory where first 10 book plots mirror last 10 book plots is still in play.
See, I think the opposite, it was Halloween, EK was in the sky with the hunt... I think they meant to kill/consume an immortal, Mayhaps book 18 will be a God killing a mortal... one close to Harry.. in revenge for raiding his 'woodshed'?
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Right now we're using a cloud server on TMD Hosting because they support all of those (save for IPS). I'd prefer to avoid self-hosted because the plan is for me to manage things, but I can hand it off seemlessly if needed.
Gotcha. Then yeah, the Invision suites get real expensive real quick depending on average active users. I suppose you'd have a better idea about simultaneous site traffic with the changeover; once Peace Talks come out, that should be a great stress test to see what peak activity looks like.
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Gotcha. Then yeah, the Invision suites get real expensive real quick depending on average active users. I suppose you'd have a better idea about simultaneous site traffic with the changeover; once Peace Talks come out, that should be a great stress test to see what peak activity looks like.
Based on what we heard recently, that he's only about half done, we've probably got a year before it comes out. It might be sooner, or it might be longer. So we might have a chance to migrate to a new forum software before that, in order to impress folks and get them to stick around.
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Based on what we heard recently, that he's only about half done, we've probably got a year before it comes out. It might be sooner, or it might be longer. So we might have a chance to migrate to a new forum software before that, in order to impress folks and get them to stick around.
If he hits his September-something self-imposed deadline goal, I think it'll be a bit sooner than that. I don't know if he has honeymoon plans or what have you, but he's done a lot of what disrupts post-marriage life already (moving, getting into a routine, etc.) Anyway, I figure he'll start editing publisher drafts sometime in October/November. I think (assuming no further delays) we'll be able to get copies no later than March 2019.
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If he hits his September-something self-imposed deadline goal, I think it'll be a bit sooner than that. I don't know if he has honeymoon plans or what have you, but he's done a lot of what disrupts post-marriage life already (moving, getting into a routine, etc.) Anyway, I figure he'll start editing publisher drafts sometime in October/November. I think (assuming no further delays) we'll be able to get copies no later than March 2019.
Oh? sweet, those are the kind that really matter imo.
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If he hits his September-something self-imposed deadline goal, I think it'll be a bit sooner than that. I don't know if he has honeymoon plans or what have you, but he's done a lot of what disrupts post-marriage life already (moving, getting into a routine, etc.) Anyway, I figure he'll start editing publisher drafts sometime in October/November. I think (assuming no further delays) we'll be able to get copies no later than March 2019.
The turnaround time for his "finished" to "published" is apparently 6 months. For other authors, it's actually a year.
3 months is supposedly possible, but probably unlikely when the publisher already has a release for him this year. Whereas if he were to finish by September 1st, we'd be looking at a March release next year. That'd probably be better for their accounting books.
Not that I know enough about the industry to know if that's accurate or not.
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Same here. :/
And here...
Besides I really can't be interested in book 18 announcements with book 16 not even in the horizon :'(
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I think "Body Slam" suggests cause of death for the diety-victim whose murder that Harry has to solve.
Maybe... Skin Game to me is talking about Goodman Grey tricking Nicodemus. Does it mean that to other people?
one of the definitions for slam is prison... Body prison could have a meaning I'd think.
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Dual meaning to the title perhaps? Maybe the environment where the gods wrestle is like a prison of sorts? And we are dealing with an outcast of gods?
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Maybe... Skin Game to me is talking about Goodman Grey tricking Nicodemus. Does it mean that to other people?
one of the definitions for slam is prison... Body prison could have a meaning I'd think.
I can't ever think of a time I've ever heard "slam" refer to prison. "Slammer", on the other hand...
Whatever the case, I'm sure that whatever the secret meaning to the title is will be so specific that every theory we make will be completely wrong.
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Dual meaning to the title perhaps? Maybe the environment where the gods wrestle is like a prison of sorts? And we are dealing with an outcast of gods?
Oooh, Mayhaps they are stuck being embodied by weakling wrestlers just to survive in reality, a Body Slam :o
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I can't ever think of a time I've ever heard "slam" refer to prison. "Slammer", on the other hand...
Whatever the case, I'm sure that whatever the secret meaning to the title is will be so specific that every theory we make will be completely wrong.
If heard it as "Tossed in the Slam" before, similar in usage to "in lockup" or "the Pen". It's definitely a slang term, not sure if its regional or anything more specific
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If heard it as "Tossed in the Slam" before, similar in usage to "in lockup" or "the Pen". It's definitely a slang term, not sure if its regional or anything more specific
+1 .. heard it in a couple of movies as well.
Oooh, Mayhaps they are stuck being embodied by weakling wrestlers just to survive in reality, a Body Slam :o
Damn, but that's quite an imagination you have :P
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The turnaround time for his "finished" to "published" is apparently 6 months. For other authors, it's actually a year.
3 months is supposedly possible, but probably unlikely when the publisher already has a release for him this year. Whereas if he were to finish by September 1st, we'd be looking at a March release next year. That'd probably be better for their accounting books.
Not that I know enough about the industry to know if that's accurate or not.
A lot of the publishers I used to work with liked Q1 releases. A lot of people get Amazon gift cards over the holidays (especially if they participate in office gift-giving), and there's not much you can get for $20 aside from a new book.
That said, this was back in the days when Kindles and Nooks and iPads and other tablets were all Shiny New Things, so maybe it made more business sense ten years ago. I remember Christmas morning was a particularly strong sales day for ebooks; people would unwrap their Kindle or whatever, and immediately look for something to read on it. Since it was still newish technology, most of them were trying ebooks for the first time, not porting over an existing library.
Anywho, I wouldn't discount the possibility of a Q4 release. Peace Talks is going to perform well for them pretty much whenever they release it, so it honestly depends on their performance over the summer (where you get the Nicholas Sparks-type releases usually, as they're strong beach books) and whether or not Jim can finish it in time. He's established himself well enough that he has some Protection from Editors (his name is almost as big as the title on the cover of Skin Game, and IS bigger on The Aeronaut's Windlass, which is the typical barometer for how much control the writer has over his story), so I don't think there will be many developmental rewrites.
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Maybe... Skin Game to me is talking about Goodman Grey tricking Nicodemus. Does it mean that to other people?
For what it's worth, a "skin game" refers to a rigged game, a con, a swindle, a trick—precisely what Dresden pulls off. Harry's con was built around Goodman Grey, so it makes sense to me.
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I like Body Slam for the title. Lots of double meanings he could work in should he choose to.
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If heard it as "Tossed in the Slam" before, similar in usage to "in lockup" or "the Pen". It's definitely a slang term, not sure if its regional or anything more specific
I see. Only ever heard "tossed in the slammer" myself.
If that's the case, then this might be the book where Harry first imprisons someone/thing on Demonreach.
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I see. Only ever heard "tossed in the slammer" myself.
If that's the case, then this might be the book where Harry first imprisons someone/thing on Demonreach.
Even worse: First time Harry lets something, or even just something's physical body, OUT... :o
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I see. Only ever heard "tossed in the slammer" myself.
If that's the case, then this might be the book where Harry first imprisons someone/thing on Demonreach.
I like the thought of Harry imprisoning whatever he catches during the murder mystery at the wrestling circuit. Good chance to show that process before the BAT.
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I like the thought of Harry imprisoning whatever he catches during the murder mystery at the wrestling circuit. Good chance to show that process before the BAT.
Exactly. It has to happen sometime, right? Jim can't just have Harry be the Warden and never put something in the lockup.
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Exactly. It has to happen sometime, right? Jim can't just have Harry be the Warden and never put something in the lockup.
Nobody ever said he had to be a /good/ Warden :P
Im still thinking that he starts a Parole program. The Brit first, then maybe a heavily leashed naagloshii
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(As far as Mirror, Mirror and losing the Winter Knight gig goes, I figure it's possible that jumping to a universe where there's already a Winter Knight (who I don't expect to be MirrorHarry) might mess with the Mantle—like, it tries to be in two places at once, and the power instead reverts to the constant from the Mirrorverse, or returns to MirrorMab. Either that, or simply being cut off from Prime Winter is enough to free the Mantle, returning it to Prime Mab as Harry gets sucked through. Or, you know, he just finds a good place to get rid of it on Halloween.)
That...has some interesting implications. I agree that the parallel universe will likely mess with Harry's mantled state. Maybe while over there, like you say, he'll be cut from Winter and unable to access its benefits. It might even cripple him again. But unless something really weird happens, I think the agreement he had with Prime Mab (which would be an absolutely terrifying transformer) would not be broken just be moving from one universe to another.
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That...has some interesting implications. I agree that the parallel universe will likely mess with Harry's mantled state. Maybe while over there, like you say, he'll be cut from Winter and unable to access its benefits. It might even cripple him again. But unless something really weird happens, I think the agreement he had with Prime Mab (which would be an absolutely terrifying transformer) would not be broken just be moving from one universe to another.
For what it's worth, I don't think that Harry's back is explicitly tied to his gig as the Winter Knight. I think the bout of paralysis he experienced in Cold Days was a result of him (briefly) reneging on his Deal with Mab.
The actual text of Harry's Deal in Changes reads (Changes, page 245 on Nook):
"You know my price, mortal. Speak it."
"You want me to become the Winter Knight," I whispered.
A laugh, both merry and cold, bubbled beneath her response. "Yes."
"I will," I said. "With a condition."
"Speak it."
"That before my service begins, you restore my body to health. That you grant me time enough to rescue my daughter and take her to safety, and strength and knowledge enough to succeed. And you give me your word that you will never command me to lift my hand against those I love."
Emphasis added.
First, obviously, Harry's paralysis is taken care of before his term as Winter Knight starts, and that service (as I understand it) begins before he has the Mantle; killing Lloyd Slate is actually the first command she gives him as Queen to Knight. Second, he's agreeing to service explicitly in exchange for healing him (and, you know, buffing him up with Winter Juice).
All of that is to say that by saying "Screw Winter Law," he tacitly rejected the terms of his Deal, which yanked his non-paralysis away temporarily.
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That...has some interesting implications. I agree that the parallel universe will likely mess with Harry's mantled state. Maybe while over there, like you say, he'll be cut from Winter and unable to access its benefits. It might even cripple him again. But unless something really weird happens, I think the agreement he had with Prime Mab (which would be an absolutely terrifying transformer) would not be broken just be moving from one universe to another.
Of course if Mab kept the current WK on ice during those years then only one WK would be exerting his will in reality at a time.... But Mabs never locked up her WK for the duration of any possible TT shenanigan books though, now did she ;)
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For what it's worth, I don't think that Harry's back is explicitly tied to his gig as the Winter Knight. I think the bout of paralysis he experienced in Cold Days was a result of him (briefly) reneging on his Deal with Mab.
First, obviously, Harry's paralysis is taken care of before his term as Winter Knight starts, and that service (as I understand it) begins before he has the Mantle; killing Lloyd Slate is actually the first command she gives him as Queen to Knight. Second, he's agreeing to service explicitly in exchange for healing him (and, you know, buffing him up with Winter Juice).
All of that is to say that by saying "Screw Winter Law," he tacitly rejected the terms of his Deal, which yanked his non-paralysis away temporarily.
I agree with your overall point, but I disagree in some of the details. IMO Harry is agreeing to serve Mab for the healing and for time to rescue his daughter "before his service begins." Meaning that he gets access to the perks of the WK (the healed back and power) before Mab can give his orders so that he can rescue his daughter. The killing of Slate was necessary to free up the power so it could be passed from Mab to Harry.
"While Lloyd Slate lives and breathes, he is my Knight," said Mab's voice. "Take Medea's bodkin, wizard. Take his life's blood."
I stood there holding the knife and looking at Lloyd Slate. The last time I'd heard him speak, he had begged me to kill him. I didn't think he'd be capable of even that much now.
"If you would be my Knight, then this is the first death I desire of you," Mab said, her voice almost gentle. She faced me across the Stone Table. "Send his power back to me. And I will render it unto thee."
It wasn't so much an order from the Winter Queen to the Winter Knight. Instead it was a necessary step that Harry had to take if he wanted that power. He was completely free to back out and pursue one of his other options if he so desired.