What strikes me as odd is the use of hyphens then spaces within words...
In the snug, lonely little cham‑ ber in the basement of the castle,
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]
RobreeceThe rest I frankly do not remember.(click to show/hide)
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?
Well, this is more or less what I expected. Something to have the ball start running.
Specifics:(click to show/hide)
What I got wasn't the actual chapter, but "what to expect" in the book type thing, very general.
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 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.
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.
That is the point. Harry is not a reliable narrator. We know that, at least since Shiela, his fire spells and, well, who hired the killer in Changes. But it is not always so clear when he is writing the files. He has been distressed before, but we had not seen him in writing. Like, we know when Susan happened he was a mess. He told us so. But his actual words were tidier and clearer than now
What is interesting in my opinion is the difference between his reaction to the death of Murphy verses Susan.
Mira, I absolutely agree about the grief that Harry is living feeling realistic. I think you are using "reliable" in two different senses. One is, you can relate with the narrator. I totally agree with that. I had terrible grief moments myself. But I think most of us were talking about the term "reliable narrator", in the sense that if you can trust in what Harry told us. When Harry hallucinates, forgets something, and perhaps has been mentally affected, we as readers only have his words to go by. An objective narrator would have told us that Harry was talking alone in the bookstore, but Harry talk us how nice and pretty was Shiela. That is what we were talking about.
LaraBeck. I agree with what you said, but when I mentioned Harry's depression about Susan, I was talking about when she was bitten. Harry told us that he was a mess for a lot of time, but we barely see it on page.
My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk.At that point, he really wasn't a threat to those who could summon him by his name, not like he is now or as he will continue to grow in strength.
At that point, he really wasn't a threat to those who could summon him by his name, not like he is now or as he will continue to grow in strength.
I always took that as an indication that he wrote these long after the event took place and that was why he'd be considered a unreliable narrator.
For instance, he finishes the first book with the phrase
Quote
My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk.
At that point, he really wasn't a threat to those who could summon him by his name, not like he is now or as he will continue to grow in strength.
I always took that as an indication that he wrote these long after the event took place and that was why he'd be considered a unreliable narrator.
Hi Mira
Well, effectively we disagree in the things you mentioned in your answer to me, but I completely agree with your response to RobReece about the files/journal.
Yes, of course. His pain and state of mind are well written. I hope. The other option is that Jim's writing is a mess.
Yes, of course. His pain and state of mind are well written. I hope. The other option is that Jim's writing is a mess.
Harry is a mess.
Jim told us that he wasn't planning on 12M in his original plans, but has come to realize that he needs to write the process of Grieving Harry, Stressed-to-mental-unwellness Harry, PTSD Harry. As Mira says, that's what we're reading... that's (very much, for very many who go through it) exactly what it's like.
I think Jim wasn't exactly clear how Harry sees things, how he acts, on the far side of that process.
Jim needed to write Harry's experience, to find out about Harry for the rest of the series.
Exactly, and this time Jim nailed it, at least for the first chapter.
... how the clock could have survived the fire, and yes, these unlikely things happen in disastersBoth of these also occurred to me!
maybe Harry just went out and bought himself a new one? They still make Micky Mouse alarm clocks and they are not all that expensive, even Harry can afford one.
I would like a short story about the cleaning system realizing there was a fire that could not been stopped and making the decision of saving as many small items as they can, knowing that the Za-Lord would appreciate that. Harry repaid them with pizza and some extra bread and milk or whatever. It's only he had no time to write it in the Files.
BTW, perhaps that tells us when Harry is writing the Files. He would not write them while he has his cleaning service because that would be a risk, what if that is considered telling? He cannot tell anyone about them.
One statement; well actually two, that Harry makes that I found interesting was Harry's understanding or need to maintain a schedule to keep some kind of grip on himself. I think this can come from two sources. One was how Harry fell apart after Susan was infected by the Red Court. Harry was a complete mess at the beginning and through much of Summer Knight. He doesn't want to fall into that pattern again. The second source that drives Harry is he is a father and recognizes his responsibility to Maggie, but he has also taken on other responsibilities as a protector of people around him. Being the Wizard of Chicago, whatever that will come to mean. I know from my own experience that focusing on a job at hand, putting food on the table and carrying out other responsibilities; while it doesn't help you heal from a tragedy, it can help prevent you from sliding further into despair, at least to a degree.
The second statement was that Harry recognizes that he will heal because he has done so before. At the same time, even though Harry knows he will recover, it doesn't make what he is going through any easier. Grief, and beating yourself up, wondering about what you could have done differently, are an incredible bitch to get through, as many of you know. Harry doesn't wonder what he could have done differently in this chapter, but he always does that and there is no reason to think he won't do so again.
For those reasons I found this chapter to be spot on. About the alarm clock, there are multiple possible answers to that one. He bought a new one, someone else got Harry a new one, the old one had been down in the basement lab and without thinking Harry threw it in with his other stuff that he buried in Lea's garden, the when police and FBI invaded his place in Changes. In fact, Lea should have returned all of that other stuff to Harry by now. It's a very small issue, both literally and figurately, to concern me.
Side note: I have a felling we may get another chapter or two preleased before the book arrives. Jim is pretty good at writing set up chapters that won't spoil the rest of the book if you read them early. I won't be surprised if these preview chapters end just before Harry's first date with Lara. I remember that for Cold Days we received several early release chapters the ended just before Harry's birthday party started in Arctis Tor.
I think what will ultimately make or break the relationship is how Lara handles Harry's grief. It's more complicated then you think, good intentions are not enough, timing is important, where the person on the recieving end of the process is important, and what may seem like the right thing to say or do could be taken totally wrong by the one grieving.. Conversely Lara may have to cut Harry a lot more slack than she is used to, because his responses may not seem rational, could even be offensive.
I hadn't thought about how Lara will react to Harry dealing with grief, other than trying to use it to gain some kind of advantage over him. Lara is the closest thing to being immortal as a flesh and blood being can get. Though she can be killed, she barely ages. I wonder if she has ever felt grief herself.
Do White Court vamps ever feel and suffer through grief in their own extended lives? To feel grief you probably have to have empathy, otherwise you wouldn't feel anything. But most White Court vamps seem to revel in their own psychopathy, if the conversations we've he have heard with Lord Raith, Madeline Raith, Madrigal Raith and Vito Malvora are any indication. Empathy just isn't their thing.
Lara is smarter than the average bear, which means she should have a greater understanding of what Harry is going through; at least on an intellectual basis. Lara might also be a little closer to having a normal personality than most white court vampires, though only by a tiny sliver. Thomas is the real outlier in his family in this regard.
... The White Court feeds on emotion, is also burned by it, Harry's searing grief may make their relationship impossible ...Each Whamp has particular hunger/weakness pairing, and they don't really interact with other emotions.
Each Whamp has particular hunger/weakness pairing, and they don't really interact with other emotions.
Raith hungers for Lust, but is burned by Love.
So far as we know, Skavis(despair/hope) & Malvora(fear/courage) get nothing from Lust, nor do they suffer from Love.
None, so far as I know, interact directly with grief... though maybe in the Dresden'verse grief has "despair-adjacent" qualities?
I expect the Winter-knight X Whamp-princess engagement to bring Harry & Lara closer together...
Not because either of them want it, but because they need a closer alliance to figure out how to wiggle out from under Mab's edict.
... That might be their plan, but I doubt that it will be that simple or that Mab will be fooled by it ...Of course it won't be easy, and of course it won't fool Mab!
... It may be another of her not all that transparent plans to take either or both Harry and Lara down at least a peg. You can bet that Mab has a plan, and it isn't what she claims, a stronger alliance between the Winter Court and the White Court.I'm pretty sure that Mab is pretty sure that there is some locus of Nemfection in the White Court, and that she intends to hit it with a "patented Harry Dresden anarchygasm" boosted by Winterknight steroids.
I hadn't thought about how Lara will react to Harry dealing with grief, other than trying to use it to gain some kind of advantage over him. Lara is the closest thing to being immortal as a flesh and blood being can get. Though she can be killed, she barely ages. I wonder if she has ever felt grief herself.
Do White Court vamps ever feel and suffer through grief in their own extended lives? To feel grief you probably have to have empathy, otherwise you wouldn't feel anything. But most White Court vamps seem to revel in their own psychopathy, if the conversations we've he have heard with Lord Raith, Madeline Raith, Madrigal Raith and Vito Malvora are any indication. Empathy just isn't their thing.
If they do get married, I expect the consummation to turn violent (and Harry will kill Lara): WoJ has stated that Whampire-Mojo and the Winterknight-mantle interact in explosive and uncontrollable ways.
Or Mab is secretly hoping that Lara will kill Harry.No, Mab has been spending a lot of her time and energy on building up Harry.
No, Mab has been spending a lot of her time and energy on building up Harry.
Remember, Mab is the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Outer Gates, and has been for most of 1000 years; the wheels are turning and the cycles coming 'round, and a Big Apocalyptic event with Outsiders is coming. And there's nobody in the mortal realm ("mortal" being a necessity for the WK role) who can do the whole "Outsider fighting" gig like a Starborn.
Mab needs to forge Harry to be as good a weapon as possible, and she's harsh with him because she sees that harshness as the best way to weaponize him.
I am not so sure, Mab may begin to see Harry as a threat, especially allied with Molly ...I suspect Mab of having the kind of monomaniacal fanaticism that puts "personal survival" somewhere below her own top-3 priorities. By her lights, any Winterfae who can take her out deserve to inherit the Queen of Air and Darkness' mantle, and she hopes they are at least as innovative & tricky in fighting the Outsiders as they were in killing her...
... And don't think she didn't take note, like the White Council did, that Harry has his own pixie army loyal to him and that they can do plenty of damage ...It's questionable how much they can actually oppose Mab. Between CD & SG, Mab subverted all the Pixie-borne messengers Harry tried to send to Molly (trying to get Molly's help with "the parasite").
It's questionable how much they can actually oppose Mab. Between CD & SG, Mab subverted all the Pixie-borne messengers Harry tried to send to Molly (trying to get Molly's help with "the parasite").
In my opinion, Mab will only encourage her Knight. The wild folk are loyal to him, not just because they are fae and are forced to pay their debts. They are truly loyal. And Mab knows what difficult that is. If she loses Harry, she will loose that. She will prefer to exploit him. Also, Harry did that without being ordered or prompted. It is who he is. And Mab knows that could be the gift that keeps given.
A potential threat, yes. Which, in my opinion, is something Mab sees as a good thing.Yes; ^^^this^^^ !!