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The Dresden Files => DF Spoilers => Topic started by: dspringer1 on November 14, 2018, 06:33:09 PM

Title: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: dspringer1 on November 14, 2018, 06:33:09 PM
There has been a pretty clear absence of official updates on the status of Peace Talks.    No news is generally bad news in this biz.   Anybody have any recent updates?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on November 14, 2018, 08:47:44 PM
I recently watched a lot of youtube videos where Jim was promoting Brief Cases. In one of them, he said he would be done in August or something and in another he said September. He explained that he needs to have a space he can kick people out of to be able to write and that he doesn't (didn't) have that. He also explained that he's building a house and it should have been built a long time ago.

There are other videos in which he talks about his kitchen in the new house, so the house may or may not be done now.

Here's the most recent posting on the forum (I think):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZJiv_GT-Jc

It was from June 9, 2018.  I think it was transcribed, and Raidem posted the transcribed version.


11:18  Goodman Grey spin off sounds confirmed to me.  He is also excited because Goodman is so old that he can bounce around time like on the Highlander TV series/movies.  Also can recycle characters in some of the stories.  Will be called Monster LLC.  "When you're in trouble you need a hero.  When you're in real trouble you need a monster.  He's a monster for higher".
I don't know if it's the most recent video.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: groinkick on November 15, 2018, 02:47:42 PM
In all honesty after the rumor dropped that the Dresden Files was being picked up by television I started to think that's the reason for the delay.  Jim thought it would be wrapped up earlier, and it took longer than expected.  He said if it ever got picked up by tv again he'd be much more involved, and have more control.  Just my current theory.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: pcpoet on November 15, 2018, 05:43:52 PM
I honestly think that Jim butcher is burned out for the moment on the Dresden files.  I am sure he plans to finish the series but writing needs inspiration and he started this series when he was in college.  I figure that the more pressure the fan base puts on him the longer it will be till he gets back too writing it. The man puts out Quality work and if he is going to write that is what I want and suggest everyone give the guy space. I know it been over 4 years since the last book and I am just as frustrated but I respect the artist and part of that is realizing that for his best work we need t just wait.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on November 16, 2018, 12:48:35 PM
I honestly think that Jim butcher is burned out for the moment on the Dresden files.  I am sure he plans to finish the series but writing needs inspiration and he started this series when he was in college.  I figure that the more pressure the fan base puts on him the longer it will be till he gets back too writing it. The man puts out Quality work and if he is going to write that is what I want and suggest everyone give the guy space. I know it been over 4 years since the last book and I am just as frustrated but I respect the artist and part of that is realizing that for his best work we need t just wait.

I agree with this, I wish he'd edit and finish the series.  For his sake as much as ours.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: t5reich on November 21, 2018, 12:40:51 AM
I have a different theory, although the TV show theory is certainly a plausible one. My theory is thus:

George RR Martin contracted an illness at some point in the early 2000s. This illness exhibits none of the symptoms common to most illnesses; there is no vomiting, nausea, headache, muscle soreness, or skin irritation. As far as medical professionals have been able to determine, there is no observable impact on the immune system at all. In fact, there is only one observable symptom: upon publishing a book after contracting said illness, it becomes exponentially more difficult to publish each subsequent book. Since this is a symptom can only be observed in a small percentage of the population (published authors), it is unclear what percentage of the total population has this illness. Further, it is unclear how this was initially contracted, whether it is viral or bacterial in nature, or whether the human body can develop antibodies or in any other way fight off this illness. This illness is communicable through direct contact, although further study has to be done to determine if airborne transmission is possible. What is known is that George RR Martin became a host for the illness and transferred it to Patrick Rothfuss during a chance meeting at a convention in 2010. Patrick Rothfuss then transferred it to Jim Butcher in 2013, this is suspected to have also occurred at a convention, although that hasn't been confirmed. At this point in time, so little is known about this disease that the only real solution is to prevent contracting it. Due to the common demoninator of these cases, it is recommended to avoid conventions or other large gatherings of people who may have been in contact with these three known hosts. If this can't be avoided, wash your hands regularly with a solution of atleast 30% isopropyl alcohol to reduce your risk.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: raidem on November 22, 2018, 11:49:23 PM
I think Jim has spoken to his beta readers why their has been a long delay.  From what I've gathered, something was wrong. 
I asked a question if it was somehow Jim's head that was impacted (emotions, motivation, etc).  In an answer I got from another Forum who is a beta reader, they said it wasn't his head, or something to that effect.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on November 23, 2018, 12:41:45 PM
I think Jim has spoken to his beta readers why their has been a long delay.  From what I've gathered, something was wrong. 
I asked a question if it was somehow Jim's head that was impacted (emotions, motivation, etc).  In an answer I got from another Forum who is a beta reader, they said it wasn't his head, or something to that effect.

  Understandable, it is hard to keep at one series over a twenty year time frame.  Especially when
one has other ideas and wants to write about other things.  That is why I think in fairness to himself as well as to us his readers some serious editing needs to be done, and make a wrap.  And yes, he does owe it to his fans, he is producing a product that we purchase..  A little different perhaps because the act of creation is involved but not all that different.  Yes, he has a lot going on in his life and a lot has happened to him, but that hasn't stopped him from writing, he has started a whole new
series. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: raidem on November 23, 2018, 04:07:17 PM
I agree.  He has marketed the product as a 23 book series.  There is some expectation on his part that by marketing the series in this way and talking up his series that he will get people hooked for it entirely.  Likewise, there is an expectation that I have that I'll be able to read the 23 book series.  This requires somewhat timely releases. He chose to do another series.  That and life events I'm sure has impacted the production. And, I do hope that a release will be shortly.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on November 23, 2018, 10:04:50 PM
I agree.  He has marketed the product as a 23 book series.  There is some expectation on his part that by marketing the series in this way and talking up his series that he will get people hooked for it entirely.  Likewise, there is an expectation that I have that I'll be able to read the 23 book series.  This requires somewhat timely releases. He chose to do another series.  That and life events I'm sure has impacted the production. And, I do hope that a release will be shortly.

I think we will see Winds of Winter after season 8 concludes.. Martin may have been ill etc, however
he has published a lot of material in the GOT universe plus written scripts for various television shows..   

It doesn't matter what Jim originally marketed the Dresden Files to be, that can change..  Martin originally marketed GOT as a three book series..  If he indeed is suffering a road block with Harry, or is just sick of writing the series, then cut it short or hand it off...  He is writing a lot of other stuff so not having the time, will, or strength to write isn't apparently the problem..   Throwing the occasional short story crumb our way to string us along isn't fair either..   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on November 24, 2018, 02:06:34 AM
From what Jim himself has said:

1. He needed a physical space he owned and had moral authority over to write efficiently in.

2. He is nervous about changing the original outline he had to begin with.

3. It gets harder to write as more backstory is canonically established.

Therefore, I think he will start publishing more now that he has a home. He will also publish somewhat more slowly than he did when he had less continuity considerations to worry about.

Edit: I somehow hit alt+post on accident well before I was ready.

Edit 2: That is alt+s. The holiday cheer is affecting me.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on November 24, 2018, 04:38:59 AM
Edit 2: That is alt+s. The holiday cheer is affecting me.
Egg Nog will make you fat, Whiskey will make you drunk.  I have personal knowledge. ;)

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on November 24, 2018, 01:16:23 PM
Egg Nog will make you fat, Whiskey will make you drunk.  I have personal knowledge. ;)

  "It has been universally acknowledged......."   However restraint with both is enjoyable and
make you neither fat nor drunk..
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on November 24, 2018, 07:24:48 PM
Jim just got married in October.  Yes, it's his second marriage, but it's still a big change.  Plus, add in what has been speculated about the TV show.  Even before this I guessed (and posted) that PT won't be completed until sometime between the end of this year and early Spring 2019.  That's my prediction and I'm sticking to it.   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on November 24, 2018, 07:40:52 PM
Jim just got married in October.  Yes, it's his second marriage, but it's still a big change.  Plus, add in what has been speculated about the TV show.  Even before this I guessed (and posted) that PT won't be completed until sometime between the end of this year and early Spring 2019.  That's my prediction and I'm sticking to it.

  Yet he is still publishing and making appearances...  My guess is Harry is way down on his list of priorities,  he may be even suffering from burn out, there is some evidence of that from the quality
of the Dresden short stories we eagerly gobble up.   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Don on November 26, 2018, 06:42:34 PM
Mirror Mirror has garnered a lot more interest than Peace Talks in public appearances.

Jim is obviously working on a double release.  Peace Talks  has been in the can for some time now.

 :P
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on November 27, 2018, 11:01:28 PM
Mirror Mirror has garnered a lot more interest than Peace Talks in public appearances.

Jim is obviously working on a double release.  Peace Talks  has been in the can for some time now.

 :P

   If that is true it would be a nice consolation prize for the long wait...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on November 30, 2018, 12:57:05 AM
The latest I'd heard was an article that I'd posted a link to in another thread, here it is again.
https://strandmag.com/theres-something-about-harry-dresden/
in it, there is a statement  "Currently, Butcher’s putting the finishing touches on Peace Talks, the sixteenth book in the series. Peace Talks is slated for an early 2019 release"

this interview took place in July.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on November 30, 2018, 07:39:31 AM
The latest I'd heard was an article that I'd posted a link to in another thread, here it is again.
https://strandmag.com/theres-something-about-harry-dresden/
  "...Peace Talks is slated for an early 2019 release"

this interview took place in July.

Probably more like Summer 2019 (or Fall, but I'm hoping for Summer).  A couple of years ago I did a comparison of the dates when Jim announced he had finished writing various Dresden Files novels and the actual release dates of each book, going back to White Night or Small Favor.  The shortest time frame between Jim posting on twitter, "The End.  I finished writing X tonight," and publication was just over three months, but that was an outlier.  Nine months is more typical.  There was one book that took longer than that and a couple that were around six or seven months between Jim's announcement and publication.

With other novelists the time frame is often close to a year, but as we all know Jim does more; pre-editing, I guess is the term, by using input from his Beta readers, which shortens the editing process for him.  So if Jim can finish Peace Talks between now and January 31 (fingers crossed), we might get the book by July or August of next year.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: prince lotore on December 05, 2018, 03:36:50 PM
I have been a big Jim Butcher fan for over a decade. I have every book that he has put out (including the comics ). I have waited in line at multiple shows for him to sign some of those books. But when I realized that the 2 yr anniversary of the first chapter of peace talks was last May I canceled my pre order of the dresden statue and decided not to buy anymore short stories until after peace talks is available.  Most of what has come out over the last couple of years seems to be to maximize revenue (something that as a financial advisor I have no problem with and help people do all the time) with minimal effort from Jim.  And if I wasn't a fan I would say good for him but I am and I feel like I've been strung along with no end in site. If he doesn't want to write any more (either by choice or writers block) I would be disappointed but I would understand or at least have closure. I hope he starts writing novels again but until then I'm moving on 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: sayyadina on December 06, 2018, 09:00:18 PM
I just found a little gem on the Upcoming Works page of Jim's website. http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works (http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works) As of December 6, 2018 Peace Talks is up to chapter 36 in draft form!

The last 3 books had 51-53 chapters. So if Peace Talks is around the same length, the draft is now 68-70% done!

As far as the amount of time its taken, yes its frustrating. Every YouTube video of events Jim has been at, he's been very clear of what the causes have been and how frustrated he himself has been at the delay. I've been through similar events in my own life, and personal circumstances do have a way of snowballing as they have for Jim. I've also lived through a house renovation and totally understand how that can disrupt something like writing a book.

I'm also not happy with how long its taken, but its been a good thing in a way for me. I've been extremely ill and was barely able to read Skin Game and Cold Days when they came out. While I'm doing worse physically, mentally I'm much better than I was. So having Peace Talks at some point in early 2019 is one of the very few things I have to look forward to right now. If I'm remembering correctly, the last time he was at an event he said something about having it out in early 2019. While its surely been a very long time in coming, it seems he's at least true to his word.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 06, 2018, 10:26:47 PM
People will speculate no matter what excuse he offers.    And they will continue to do so until a new book hits the shelf.  He sets up that conversation by promising and then failing to deliver.  If, as his representatives have posted, he is at chapter 36, it seems a foregone conclusion that spring of 2019 isn't in the works as a publication date.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 07, 2018, 12:27:32 PM


  I do not buy the excuses because he is still writing and publishing and making appearances... Yup, he has a life like the rest of us, and he has had things happen good and bad like the rest of us... Like the rest of us he has priorities....  On his to do list, whether it is because of what has gone on in his
private life, his other projects, or he is just sick of writing about Harry Dresden, it is low on his priority list these days..   We are addicts hooked on Dresden, he knows that most of us will scramble to read the short story crumbs he tosses our way and will line up when Peace Talks finally does come out....  We will wait.. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on December 08, 2018, 12:45:53 AM
It's even possible, that depending on the terms of the divorce, he may have wanted to delay the publication to avoid having to give up too much of it....
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 08, 2018, 12:18:07 PM
It's even possible, that depending on the terms of the divorce, he may have wanted to delay the publication to avoid having to give up too much of it....

True, but he hasn't stopped publishing the beginnings of another series, his appearances and other
projects.. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: raidem on December 08, 2018, 04:36:34 PM
I'd say that if it's true that he has only completed up to chapter 36, then it isn't just a delay because of divorce related monetary reasons.  He easily could have completed Peace Talks and not have published until say a time deadline was satisfied.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: magnuskn on December 08, 2018, 09:23:23 PM
I just found a little gem on the Upcoming Works page of Jim's website. http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works (http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works) As of December 6, 2018 Peace Talks is up to chapter 36 in draft form!

The last 3 books had 51-53 chapters. So if Peace Talks is around the same length, the draft is now 68-70% done!

As far as the amount of time its taken, yes its frustrating. Every YouTube video of events Jim has been at, he's been very clear of what the causes have been and how frustrated he himself has been at the delay. I've been through similar events in my own life, and personal circumstances do have a way of snowballing as they have for Jim. I've also lived through a house renovation and totally understand how that can disrupt something like writing a book.

I'm also not happy with how long its taken, but its been a good thing in a way for me. I've been extremely ill and was barely able to read Skin Game and Cold Days when they came out. While I'm doing worse physically, mentally I'm much better than I was. So having Peace Talks at some point in early 2019 is one of the very few things I have to look forward to right now. If I'm remembering correctly, the last time he was at an event he said something about having it out in early 2019. While its surely been a very long time in coming, it seems he's at least true to his word.

Now someone get him a dog, that should double his output. ^^
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 08, 2018, 11:05:34 PM
I'd say that if it's true that he has only completed up to chapter 36, then it isn't just a delay because of divorce related monetary reasons.  He easily could have completed Peace Talks and not have published until say a time deadline was satisfied.

   Peace  Talks isn't his only source of income...  No, it is about priorities...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Snark Knight on December 09, 2018, 01:43:55 AM
I just found a little gem on the Upcoming Works page of Jim's website. http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works (http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works) As of December 6, 2018 Peace Talks is up to chapter 36 in draft form!

The last 3 books had 51-53 chapters. So if Peace Talks is around the same length, the draft is now 68-70% done!

I'm not into complaining about it not being ready yet ... but why the hell was he giving public statements that it was almost done months ago, if he just hit the two-thirds mark last week? He doesn't owe anybody a book on any schedule but his own, but at least do the fans the courtesy of not being misleading about it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on December 09, 2018, 10:08:55 AM
...  We are addicts hooked on Dresden, he knows that most of us will scramble to read the short story crumbs he tosses our way and will line up when Peace Talks finally does come out....  We will wait..

For now.  I'm really enjoying the Alex Verus series and even though the latest book came out in July, I won't be surprised if the next book is out before Peace Talks.  Benedict Jacka has already finished writing it and it is going through the first round of major edits.  (His editing process takes much longer that Jim's, so it probably won't be out until next Fall or Winter.)  I just started the latest Rivers of London book today.  Time moves on and so do I.  I think back to when I was a teenager, and when a band I really liked took extra time off before putting out another album or just broke up, I didn't stop listening to music, I found someone else whose music I liked. 

The Dresden Files is Jim's creation and his property, so he can do whatever he wants with it.  However, I determine where my time and money is spent.  At some point, my patience is going to run out and I will move on.  That's not some kind of threat, that's the way of world.  I'll be a bit sad if I reach that point, but I'll get over it. 

Thinking about where the series has gone since Changes, I've had high hopes that Peace Talks would be a major step forward, laying the tracks that would point us towards the BAT.  Now I'm less sure and also a little less interested in it, to boot.  I'm sure my interest will pick up if I hear Jim has finished or I hear he's writing the final, denouement chapter.  I'm not sure that will be true in another six months.   

 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 09, 2018, 12:41:42 PM
For now.  I'm really enjoying the Alex Verus series and even though the latest book came out in July, I won't be surprised if the next book is out before Peace Talks.  Benedict Jacka has already finished writing it and it is going through the first round of major edits.  (His editing process takes much longer that Jim's, so it probably won't be out until next Fall or Winter.)  I just started the latest Rivers of London book today.  Time moves on and so do I.  I think back to when I was a teenager, and when a band I really liked took extra time off before putting out another album or just broke up, I didn't stop listening to music, I found someone else whose music I liked. 

The Dresden Files is Jim's creation and his property, so he can do whatever he wants with it.  However, I determine where my time and money is spent.  At some point, my patience is going to run out and I will move on.  That's not some kind of threat, that's the way of world.  I'll be a bit sad if I reach that point, but I'll get over it. 

Thinking about where the series has gone since Changes, I've had high hopes that Peace Talks would be a major step forward, laying the tracks that would point us towards the BAT.  Now I'm less sure and also a little less interested in it, to boot.  I'm sure my interest will pick up if I hear Jim has finished or I hear he's writing the final, denouement chapter.  I'm not sure that will be true in another six months.   

 

  That is about where I am, at the moment I am rereading the Sharpe's Rifle series by Bernard
 Cornwell.  Or rather the earlier books about Richard Sharpe's life that Cornwell wrote later after the
main series and the television series made from it were finished.  He is a very good author and
carefully researches his novels, even sometimes where possible visiting the places where the
action originally took place.  I also had just finished rereading from Hobbit to Return of the King all
the while marveling at the greatness of Tolkien... 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 09, 2018, 05:09:24 PM
I suspect that there are a two types of fans, some that are prepared to wait forever and others that will lose interest and move on.  More power to them both.  Personally I'm interested in one thing only, the novels.  Nothing else.  I'll buy them as long as he writes them or until I croak, whichever comes first.  But nothing else.

Toodles
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 09, 2018, 10:04:54 PM
I suspect that there are a two types of fans, some that are prepared to wait forever and others that will lose interest and move on.  More power to them both.  Personally I'm interested in one thing only, the novels.  Nothing else.  I'll buy them as long as he writes them or until I croak, whichever comes first.  But nothing else.

Toodles

I suspect that I will too, my biggest fear is I will croak before he finishes the series..
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 10, 2018, 12:56:22 AM
Don't be afraid, Mira. If we die before he finishes it, we will read it from the other side  :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 10, 2018, 01:07:47 PM
Don't be afraid, Mira. If we die before he finishes it, we will read it from the other side  :D

    But will Jim still write it if he is on the other side?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 10, 2018, 01:32:15 PM
 :'( That escalated quickly.

But of course, no unfinished business!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on December 10, 2018, 03:21:47 PM
Depends on which side of the other side you, and Jim are on :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 11, 2018, 04:30:26 PM
Depends on which side of the other side you, and Jim are on :D

 Does Hell have a special place for writers??? ::)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on December 11, 2018, 11:59:27 PM
One thing I noticed about that note, it says that "this draft" is up to chapter 36, the book could be written and this is just the final draft...  that is my hope, but I'm willing to wait until he is ready to release it. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Don on December 12, 2018, 05:11:24 AM
Does Hell have a special place for writers??? ::)

Jim's got a corner booth reserved.  GRRM will be seated near the kitchen.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 13, 2018, 12:32:38 PM
Jim's got a corner booth reserved.  GRRM will be seated near the kitchen.

  With a tiny bathroom on the third floor...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on December 14, 2018, 07:47:46 PM
Does Hell have a special place for writers??? ::)
I have inside info that it does.
Patrick Rothfuss will get the bum's rush though.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on December 15, 2018, 03:38:45 PM
If ghosts be true; then I will definitely be the cold chill on the back of the neck...as I read over your shoulder.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: prince lotore on December 17, 2018, 04:30:37 PM
Even though I'm in the processes of not having any hope that the series will continue (as we all know it's the hope that gets you) All it would take is an honest acknowledgement by Jim and I would be back to checking for updates everyday
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on December 17, 2018, 11:10:41 PM
This whole, "he didn't have a writing space because he was living in an apartment" line just reeks of BS.  Surely his publisher could have rented him an office and decorated it in any way he wanted.  Considering the amount of money on the line, I can't imagine they wouldn't do this.

I love Jim's writing. But I hate being bullshitted.  Why do people do it?  Sure, there are some stupid people that will buy this kind of BS, but it just pisses other people off.  Why not just be honest?  Maybe he's sick.  Maybe he's burned out and needed a break.  Maybe he was messed up by the divorce and is now on Cloud 9 due to the marriage, and he just doesn't want to write.  It could be any number of things, but I just cannot believe that it is due to him not having writing space... that's just about the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard.

Maybe he is working on the television series and it's very hush hush and he can't talk about it and as a clue to us, he came up with the dumbest excuse ever, so that we'd know it was fake?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Griffyn612 on December 17, 2018, 11:28:40 PM
  That is about where I am, at the moment I am rereading the Sharpe's Rifle series by Bernard
 Cornwell.  Or rather the earlier books about Richard Sharpe's life that Cornwell wrote later after the
main series and the television series made from it were finished.  He is a very good author and
carefully researches his novels, even sometimes where possible visiting the places where the
action originally took place.  I also had just finished rereading from Hobbit to Return of the King all
the while marveling at the greatness of Tolkien...
I read the Sharpe series ages ago.  I think I read about a dozen before I lost interest.  But at the time they were my favorite series.  That was before Dresden by a couple years, I believe.  Or at least, before I came on board.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: MoroccoMole on December 18, 2018, 12:41:10 AM
Even though I'm in the processes of not having any hope that the series will continue (as we all know it's the hope that gets you) All it would take is an honest acknowledgement by Jim and I would be back to checking for updates everyday

Well I don't know if this is a good thing or bad, but it looks like updates are coming more than quarterly...

From the Upcoming works page:

As of December 17th, 2018 the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 38. Progress!

I think our man has found his writing room conducive.

~M
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: astralwanderer on December 18, 2018, 01:02:12 AM
Well I don't know if this is a good thing or bad, but it looks like updates are coming more than quarterly...

From the Upcoming works page:

As of December 17th, 2018 the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 38. Progress!

I think our man has found his writing room conducive.

~M

What is your source for this information?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 18, 2018, 04:42:01 AM
It's in the actual JB site.

http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works (http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Con on December 18, 2018, 04:50:37 AM
so two chapters every 10-11 days, roughly 52 chapters in a book. 14 chapters to go. 14x10= 140 or 14x11= 154. say 147 days till the end of the book. assuming writing progress continues at the same rate, book might be finished by mid May next year. Give another 3-6months for editing July at the earliest, September-November more likely.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 18, 2018, 11:50:33 AM
I read the Sharpe series ages ago.  I think I read about a dozen before I lost interest.  But at the time they were my favorite series.  That was before Dresden by a couple years, I believe.  Or at least, before I came on board.

Same here,  but he has since written a couple or three pre-Rifles, telling about Sharpe's early life in
the army, and one post Waterloo..   Since I read those I've decided to revisit the series complete.  It
will take a while though, I usually do not binge read through a series, I have a stack "to read" books
that I progress though, then I start all over again.. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Griffyn612 on December 18, 2018, 10:48:00 PM
so two chapters every 10-11 days, roughly 52 chapters in a book. 14 chapters to go. 14x10= 140 or 14x11= 154. say 147 days till the end of the book. assuming writing progress continues at the same rate, book might be finished by mid May next year. Give another 3-6months for editing July at the earliest, September-November more likely.
Methinks you forgot an operation.  It was chapter 36 on 12/7 and 38 on 12/17.  That's two chapters in ten days, averaging a chapter every five days.  If there's 14 to go, that's 70 days, rather than 140.  Maybe mid--to-late-March, assuming he takes some holiday time off from writing?

I believe it's been said before that once he gets rolling at the end, things go pretty fast.  It might be finished even faster.  Or as others have said, this could be a final draft that he's making some minor edits on.  If most chapters are fine, he could finish sooner.  If it's a first draft, then surely there'll be at least one more round of edits.

Whatever version or pace, it sounds like he's on track, which I take as great news.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Con on December 18, 2018, 11:37:06 PM
ah you're correct my mistake
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on December 19, 2018, 12:04:36 AM
Methinks you forgot an operation.  It was chapter 36 on 12/7 and 38 on 12/17.  That's two chapters in ten days, averaging a chapter every five days.  If there's 14 to go, that's 70 days, rather than 140.  Maybe mid--to-late-March, assuming he takes some holiday time off from writing?

I believe it's been said before that once he gets rolling at the end, things go pretty fast.  It might be finished even faster.  Or as others have said, this could be a final draft that he's making some minor edits on.  If most chapters are fine, he could finish sooner.  If it's a first draft, then surely there'll be at least one more round of edits.

Whatever version or pace, it sounds like he's on track, which I take as great news.

I agree, I'm greatly encouraged
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on December 19, 2018, 12:50:11 AM
I'll take some news over no news most days.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 19, 2018, 03:59:00 AM
I'll take some news over no news most days.

In this case, I agree.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Avernite on December 19, 2018, 12:18:55 PM
This whole, "he didn't have a writing space because he was living in an apartment" line just reeks of BS.  Surely his publisher could have rented him an office and decorated it in any way he wanted.  Considering the amount of money on the line, I can't imagine they wouldn't do this.

I love Jim's writing. But I hate being bullshitted.  Why do people do it?  Sure, there are some stupid people that will buy this kind of BS, but it just pisses other people off.  Why not just be honest?  Maybe he's sick.  Maybe he's burned out and needed a break.  Maybe he was messed up by the divorce and is now on Cloud 9 due to the marriage, and he just doesn't want to write.  It could be any number of things, but I just cannot believe that it is due to him not having writing space... that's just about the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard.

Maybe he is working on the television series and it's very hush hush and he can't talk about it and as a clue to us, he came up with the dumbest excuse ever, so that we'd know it was fake?

Or maybe it's "all of the above" and he picks the most obvious? He had no 'own space' to work in, and his life was a bit messy so noone thought it would really help to fix that problem because he had too many other things going and besides was sort of burned out anyway.

It reminds me of Tolstoy - a breakdown in a writing flow can be caused by dozens of different causes, a happy productive writer is always the same because it needs all those factors lining up well.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 19, 2018, 05:14:44 PM
enen
Or maybe it's "all of the above" and he picks the most obvious? He had no 'own space' to work in, and his life was a bit messy so noone thought it would really help to fix that problem because he had too many other things going and besides was sort of burned out anyway.

It reminds me of Tolstoy - a breakdown in a writing flow can be caused by dozens of different causes, a happy productive writer is always the same because it needs all those factors lining up well.

However there is plenty of evidence that he is writing, so I doubt that is a break down in writing flow.   I think after twenty years of writing about the same character he may be a bit tired of it. That is only natural, yet I can see him unwilling to wrap it up because Harry is to a great extent his bread and butter.   I am not saying that his other stuff isn't good, it is, but he knows we are loyal, even if someof the Dresden stuff is less good and we are willing to wait, cutting him lots of slack..
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Snark Knight on December 21, 2018, 02:13:07 AM
I think after twenty years of writing about the same character he may be a bit tired of it. That is only natural, yet I can see him unwilling to wrap it up because Harry is to a great extent his bread and butter.

Perhaps there's also a bit of a barrier that PT is the one to slog through, before getting to MM which is going to be the fun one.

It seems like most of the fans are more hyped for the concept of MM anyway. Hard to blame the author if he's feeling a bit of the same way.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 21, 2018, 04:53:11 PM
Perhaps there's also a bit of a barrier that PT is the one to slog through, before getting to MM which is going to be the fun one.

It seems like most of the fans are more hyped for the concept of MM anyway. Hard to blame the author if he's feeling a bit of the same way.

Yeah, at this rate though it may be six years before we see MM, maybe more, it is hard baring a movie or new series on television for the excitement to last.   I doubt that fans would remain as patient with GRR Martin if GOT wasn't on the tube... As it is because he is indeed coming out with
other books and writing television series, many fans are beginning to feel jerked around... Personally I doubt that we will see Winds of Winter until the series ends next year.. But now that a prequel is also in the offering, it may be longer yet, and GRR Martin is not a young man any more.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 22, 2018, 12:35:31 AM
Quote
before getting to MM which is going to be the fun one.
I have to tell you that I saw the Trek version when it was first broadcast, and in my opinion the best part was Spock with a beard.  I was happy when they dropped a rock on Kirk in a later movie. :) Otherwise meh.  Although YMMV.  And lest you sneer I watched trek on Sundays religiously for ten years waiting for the movie.  11 o'clock AM Sundays.  520 episodes. :o

However on the topic of when we might see Mirror, Mirror.  I'd say sooner rather than later.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 22, 2018, 06:32:28 AM
I love all the Mirror episodes of the Trek series, but curiously I am not interested in the DF: MM book at all (other than because it would move the story towards the BAT). I just don't care for an alternate Harry. I just want to see more Harry (Harry prime  :D)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on December 22, 2018, 07:59:25 AM
I love all the Mirror episodes of the Trek series, but curiously I am not interested in the DF: MM book at all (other than because it would move the story towards the BAT). I just don't care for an alternate Harry. I just want to see more Harry (Harry prime  :D)

My guess is while the Mirror Mirror novel will most likely read as almost a stand alone story that is seemingly separate from the rest of the Dresden Files we know after Grave Peril; at or near the end of that novel Harry (prime) will learn several things he couldn't have learned in his own universe.   As you said, these bits of knowledge will help move the overall story arc towards the BAT. 

This is probably four years from when Mirror Mirror comes out (God, that is depressing.), but I hope it is a great stand alone story, because I would mostly be reading it just to find out what Harry prime is going to learn.  One TV show that Jim and many fans are familiar with is Babylon 5.  They used to have episodes; particularly in the first two seasons, that were clearly meant to stand alone from the overall story arc.  Some of those episodes were very good, some were really weak, particularly in the first season of the show.  However, even in some of the weaker episodes there would usually be some tidbit of information casually dropped into that episode that would become significant in the larger arc of the show.  Whenever it comes out, I hope Mirror Mirror is a real page turner, because I don't want MM to be like one of those second rate B5 episodes that are only important because of the odd scraps of information that gave us clues to what was coming next.

P.S.  Also, whatever Harry learns had better be worth the wait.

Methinks you forgot an operation.  It was chapter 36 on 12/7 and 38 on 12/17.  That's two chapters in ten days, averaging a chapter every five days.  If there's 14 to go, that's 70 days, rather than 140.  Maybe mid--to-late-March, assuming he takes some holiday time off from writing?

I don't remember where I heard or read this, but I remember Jim stating that he can average writing about 4,000 words a day when everything is running smoothly.  (Or was it 3,400 words a day? - Just ignore that and pretend it's 4,000.)  The last four novels had these many words in it: Changes: 149,280 words, Ghost Story: 162,899 words, Cold Days: 175,685 words and Skin Game: 151,922 words.  That averages to about 159,947 words. So Jim has finished 38 chapters, and I believe someone has said most of the later books have averaged 52 chapters.  Assuming most chapters average out to same length, that would mean Jim has written about 116,884 words so far. (159,947 words / 52 expected chapters x 38 written ones)  This leaves just over 43,000 words left for Jim to write.  (159,947 - 116,884 = 43,063)

In theory, at 4,000 words a day Jim could be done in less than two weeks, but I doubt that will be the case.  (Of course, we have to add at least a week for Christmas and New Years.)  As Jim approaches the final chapters, I think it's to be expected that it takes longer for him to work out all the details, so the climax of the story isn't just exciting, it also makes sense and fits neatly with what has come before it.  So my guess is if Jim is on a roll now, maybe he will finish in about 4 to 6 weeks.  I hope those updates on his website keep coming.  It's nice to have something to keep track of.

(I know Jim needs to take a break from Harry when he finishes a DF novel, but I really wish he could just take three months off, maybe travel to Australia and New Zealand (or wherever).  It's Summer there now.  Shelve the next Cinder Spires novel for a while.  Then come home and jump into Mirror Mirror.  IMO the Aeronaut's Windlass was OK.  It had some fun parts and there was at least one character that I think might become really interesting down the road, but I can't say I'm dying to read what happens next.)       
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 22, 2018, 12:44:56 PM
I love all the Mirror episodes of the Trek series, but curiously I am not interested in the DF: MM book at all (other than because it would move the story towards the BAT). I just don't care for an alternate Harry. I just want to see more Harry (Harry prime  :D)

  Agreed! :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 22, 2018, 12:57:08 PM
Quote

This is probably four years from when Mirror Mirror comes out (God, that is depressing.), but I hope it is a great stand alone story, because I would mostly be reading it just to find out what Harry prime is going to learn.  One TV show that Jim and many fans are familiar with is Babylon 5.  They used to have episodes; particularly in the first two seasons, that were clearly meant to stand alone from the overall story arc.  Some of those episodes were very good, some were really weak, particularly in the first season of the show.  However, even in some of the weaker episodes there would usually be some tidbit of information casually dropped into that episode that would become significant in the larger arc of the show.  Whenever it comes out, I hope Mirror Mirror is a real page turner, because I don't want MM to be like one of those second rate B5 episodes that are only important because of the odd scraps of information that gave us clues to what was coming next.

No,  you are mistaken about B5..  The first season was never meant to stand alone.  I agree some
of the episodes were weak than others, but even the most seemingly insignificant episode had
hints for the future..  What mess everything up is the star Michael O'Hare suffered from significant serious mental illness and by some miracle managed to make it to the end of the first season.  This
was kept secret from the public by MJS at Michael O'Hare's request.  He rebounded somewhat on
medication to return twice for a guest appearance in a couple of later seasons.  However his mental
health continued to slide, it ruined his marriage, his career, and eventually he died of a heart attack
while living in a homeless shelter.  After his death MJS revealed his sad story.. When Michael O"Hare
left JMS was forced to do a major rewrite so hints and clues seen in the first season had different significance. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 23, 2018, 09:54:06 PM
I didn't know all that, Mira. I've never watched B5 so I don't know much about its stars, but I usually read news about actors and things like that. I completely missed that story.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on December 24, 2018, 05:02:26 AM
No,  you are mistaken about B5..  The first season was never meant to stand alone. 

No, I think you misunderstood what I wrote.  I didn't say the first season of Babylon 5 was meant to stand alone.  I said some episodes; perhaps more specifically, the main story told within specific episodes, had little or nothing to do with Babylon 5's overarching story arc.  Even show creator J. Michael Straczynski used to talk about episodes as being arc and non-arc stories.  Below is a quote from JMS made during B5's first season about an episode that was accidentally shown out of its intended order during the season.

"Through a miscommunication, Warners thought TKO was in the slot in which we'd placed Quality [of Mercy], so that went out to TV Guide, and it's now too late to change the order back. Doesn't matter; neither are really arc-stories, though it was hoped to hold back some of Susan's development in TKO just a tad longer."
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/014.html

IMO, TKO was one of the weaker first season episodes.  At least the Alpha story about the human boxer who came to Babylon 5 to enter a martial arts contest no human had ever been allowed to participate in before.  (That idea sounds so much better than it actually was.)  The Beta story about Commander Ivanova denying the grief she felt after her father's death gave the character more depth, but also had little to do with B5's overall arc.

The episode Quality of Mercy had three distinct stories, none of which related to the overall story arc.  What was great about each of those stories is they all introduced elements that would be used in later, sometimes much later, episodes in the show.  There was the alien machine that could cure people of any illness by taking the life energy from another person, which Marcus used to save Ivanova's life in Season 4.  Lennier lied to protect Centauri Ambassador Londo's personal honor after Londo caused a fight in a bar when he was caught cheating at poker.  That became important because most people thought the Minbari never overtly lied.  In a later episode a Minbari lying to protect another person's personal honor was an important plot point.  Telepath Talia Winters had to mind scan a convicted murderer to confirm his guilt before the legal sentence of having his mind and personality wiped was carried out.  That came back in the episode; a really good one, about the priest who starting having terrible dreams about murdering women.

Now I bet if you rewatched those two episodes you could find a scene or even two, in each episode where some point was made, or piece of information was revealed that related to the overall story arc or hinted at an important upcoming story arc development, but none of the individual stories within each of the two episodes I mentioned were part of the main story arc of the Babylon 5.  (Damn, I've got to re-watch that series now.)

   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: HistoryDave on December 24, 2018, 06:05:08 AM
Hello all: just thought I would do my quarterly check on the progress of "Peace Talks".  Over the past couple of years I have had the pleasure of reading the entire "Sharp's rifles" series, the Patrick Rothfuss books (also in a holding pattern, and several non-fiction historical works.  My heart keeps returning to Jim Butcher.  Maybe it's time to catch up on the Raymond Feist universe in Midkemia? 

I hope Jim gets his life and motivation redirected back to the Dresden Files.  The latest news sounds promising but we are looking at a long wait.  I will be back in about three months.  I love JB and this forum.  Bye for now.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 24, 2018, 07:24:52 AM
See you in a while  :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 24, 2018, 12:18:33 PM
I didn't know all that, Mira. I've never watched B5 so I don't know much about its stars, but I usually read news about actors and things like that. I completely missed that story.


 Because Mr O'Hare wanted it that way, and JMS kept his promise, he only revealed it a couple of years after Mr O'Hare's death.   At the time the fans were in quite an uproar over him leaving the show, the story told to the public was that he wasn't a big enough star so was replaced.   We know now that Mr O'Hare was suffering from hallucinations at an increasing rate and severity, it is a miracle that he was able to finish the season at all.  Tragically like many suffering from his form of mental illness he went off his meds which of course made things worse.

Yes, JMS did talk about some of the stories not being part of the arc, but again some of that was a cover story because some episodes had to be changed because of Mr O'Hare's health.  That might be why they seem a bit weak compared to the rest of the season.   Yeah, you should watch it again, I did recently and it is amazing how well it holds up.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 24, 2018, 09:02:47 PM
Thanks for the info, Mira!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on December 25, 2018, 09:42:23 PM

 Because Mr O'Hare wanted it that way, and JMS kept his promise, he only revealed it a couple of years after Mr O'Hare's death.   At the time the fans were in quite an uproar over him leaving the show, the story told to the public was that he wasn't a big enough star so was replaced.   We know now that Mr O'Hare was suffering from hallucinations at an increasing rate and severity, it is a miracle that he was able to finish the season at all.  Tragically like many suffering from his form of mental illness he went off his meds which of course made things worse.

Yes, JMS did talk about some of the stories not being part of the arc, but again some of that was a cover story because some episodes had to be changed because of Mr O'Hare's health.  That might be why they seem a bit weak compared to the rest of the season.   Yeah, you should watch it again, I did recently and it is amazing how well it holds up.

I remember the speculation that Bruce Boxleitner was brought in because he had been in a popular TV series before; Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and he would draw a larger audience to the show.  I remember thinking that Scarecrow and Mrs. King wasn't that big a hit, but the idea that corporate higher ups were interfering with Babylon 5 seemed very plausible at the time.

One sad irony of Michael O'Hare's condition is the character of Commander Sinclair was emotionally tortured by his past, due to almost hallucinatory and painful flashbacks he kept having to events he couldn't remember.  I was glad they brought O'Hare back in season three for those two-episodes about Babylon 4, because the way Sinclair's story arc was completed was really cool.

Dina, you really should watch this show if you can.  Also, anyone who is a fan of Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus series should watch it too because of the three elements Jacka has taken directly from B5.  There are characters named Morden and Drahk which come straight from B5, and he's even had Morden ask Alex, "What do you want?"  That question is an important one in Babylon 5, and I would bet dollars to doughnuts that sometime soon the question "Who are you?" will play an important part in Alex's life.  (Though the rest of the Alex Verus novels are unrelated to B5.)     
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 26, 2018, 12:30:21 PM

   Yeah,  Mr O'Hare got back on his meds long enough to make a guest appearance  to complete
the Sinclair arc.  At that time there was hope that he'd be able to stay on them and continue his
career but sadly it didn't happen.   The last news I had heard about him before hearing of his death
was about a guest appearance at a con, where he shocked his fans both by the amount of weight he had gained and his angry abusive behavior.  Of course even then no one knew the true reason for either.  It is a real tribute to the kind of writer JMS is that he was able to shift gears after his main star departed from the show.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 31, 2018, 03:17:02 AM
Chapter 39 as of 12/27. Also the Christmas Eve short story. http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on January 14, 2019, 09:29:48 PM
Methinks you forgot an operation.  It was chapter 36 on 12/7 and 38 on 12/17.  That's two chapters in ten days, averaging a chapter every five days.  If there's 14 to go, that's 70 days, rather than 140.  Maybe mid--to-late-March, assuming he takes some holiday time off from writing?

I believe it's been said before that once he gets rolling at the end, things go pretty fast.  It might be finished even faster.  Or as others have said, this could be a final draft that he's making some minor edits on.  If most chapters are fine, he could finish sooner.  If it's a first draft, then surely there'll be at least one more round of edits.

Whatever version or pace, it sounds like he's on track, which I take as great news.
We have another update on Jim's page.
We are now at chapter 40 as of 1/14/19
That is a chapter every 2 weeks but it was also over the holidays and we got a story so looks to me like he is still maintaining a good pace! 

Yes his updates have me all excited for the story again and I am now checking his website every week or so to see if there is anything new plus going back through some of the other books.

Technically the website says chapter 40 as of 2018 not 2019 but I am guessing that will get fixed to 19 as soon as someone who can fix it to 19 notices. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on January 15, 2019, 03:42:43 AM
Yay for updates!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on January 15, 2019, 09:23:00 AM
Your consistent optimism both confuses and amazes me, Dina. Keep it up!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on January 15, 2019, 10:54:53 AM
LOL, I am not an optimist. I think  what I am is called "informed pessimistic" or something like that. I am always ready for things to go bad but I always root for good things to happen. For instance, I've accepted long ago that I may not live to see the end of the series, but after so much time without news I receive every update as a good event in itself. I don't need updates, JB is not forced to do them, so I am grateful for each one, as they are like small gifts, the bproof that things are going in the right direction (and that we are closer to a new book that we were before).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on January 15, 2019, 11:19:51 AM
From Reddit where someone had posted a presale link citing May 16 as the availability date.
Quote
priscellie
 
32 points ·
6 hours ago

I have been summoned!

This speculation is false. Jim posted chapter 40 to the beta list this morning, and there's a heavy helping of awesomeness left to be written. I can't see the book coming out any time in the first half of 2019.
LOL, I am not an optimist. I think  what I am is called "informed pessimistic" or something like that. I am always ready for things to go bad but I always root for good things to happen. For instance, I've accepted long ago that I may not live to see the end of the series, but after so much time without news I receive every update as a good event in itself.
Your point of view is called pragmatism. I'm going write my own ending before I end.  That's called wishful thinking. :)

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: 123Chikadee on January 15, 2019, 08:25:32 PM
Yes, being a pragmatist is for the best, really. You always can get pleasantly surprised when things turn out for the best.
Wow, Jim can churn those chapters out. I wish I could write that fast! 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on January 19, 2019, 05:42:05 AM
January 17 chapter 41 finis.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: 123Chikadee on January 19, 2019, 05:15:54 PM
Wait, finished, like 41 chapters is the full extent of the book?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on January 19, 2019, 05:50:58 PM
Wait, finished, like 41 chapters is the full extent of the book?
Skin Game had 51 chapters.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on January 19, 2019, 07:22:52 PM
Wait, finished, like 41 chapters is the full extent of the book?
No, as in finished another chapter.  Sorry.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on January 19, 2019, 08:03:09 PM
That was a fast update, must be a short chapter  ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Micdavidson00042 on January 22, 2019, 12:27:36 AM
WoJ, he is up to chapter 40 I think. So maybe august. I would guess that there will be 50 to 70 chapters in Peace Talks. Then again I have just settled into the thought it won't be out till 2020.  ;P
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on January 22, 2019, 11:56:55 AM
WoJ, he is up to chapter 40 I think. So maybe august. I would guess that there will be 50 to 70 chapters in Peace Talks. Then again I have just settled into the thought it won't be out till 2020.  ;P

  Sigh...... ::)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on January 22, 2019, 12:16:49 PM
41 not 40. I posted this earlier.  From Reddit.  Speaking about a May publication date.
Quote
priscellie
 
32 points ·
6 hours ago

I have been summoned!

This speculation is false. Jim posted chapter 40 to the beta list this morning, and there's a heavy helping of awesomeness left to be written. I can't see the book coming out any time in the first half of 2019.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on January 23, 2019, 04:26:17 AM
If he continues to write at this rate, and the book is 52 chapters (I think someone said that's the average length), he will be done on April 14th, I think. I did the math, but did it days ago. Just get 12/7/18 to 1/17/19 to get the amount of time he has written, then do 41 minus 36 to get the chapters he has written, then divide the two, then do 52 minus 41 to get the estimated chapters remaining, then multiply the answer from the division by that number. Then add however long for it to get published.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on January 23, 2019, 04:31:59 AM
If he continues to write at this rate, and the book is 52 chapters (I think someone said that's the average length), he will be done on April 14th, I think. I did the math, but did it days ago. Just get 12/7/18 to 1/17/19 to get the amount of time he has written, then do 41 minus 36 to get the chapters he has written, then divide the two, then do 52 minus 41 to get the estimated chapters remaining, then multiply the answer from the division by that number. Then add however long for it to get published.

   Plus if he keeps his toes crossed and doesn't take any potty breaks..... ::)   As we all know the writing isn't the end of the process...  Maybe if we are lucky it will be in our Christmas stockings..
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on January 23, 2019, 04:43:10 AM
   Plus if he keeps his toes crossed and doesn't take any potty breaks..... ::)

I don't care who you are. That's funny.

After a whole lot of if, I'm thinking we are looking at a "in time for Christmas" publication date. All I can do to predict the future is to continue trend lines from the past.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on January 23, 2019, 09:45:03 AM
As of Jan 17, Jim is up to Chapter 41.  Others have stated that 52 chapters is about average for the last few books.  So yea, probably a Christmas release.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on January 24, 2019, 10:47:57 PM
I am hoping for Halloween.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Salusen on January 25, 2019, 01:04:47 AM
In all honesty after the rumor dropped that the Dresden Files was being picked up by television I started to think that's the reason for the delay.  Jim thought it would be wrapped up earlier, and it took longer than expected.  He said if it ever got picked up by tv again he'd be much more involved, and have more control.  Just my current theory.


Wait... it got picked up for TV? WHO? Hahaha
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on January 25, 2019, 02:06:47 AM
Fox, IIRC.
But JB tweeted that we shouldn't believe all what we read on internet, so...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on January 25, 2019, 04:41:30 AM
I am hoping for Halloween.

Possible.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on January 27, 2019, 12:32:22 PM
New update. 
Quote from: Jim Butcher.com
As of January 23rd, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 42. Progress!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on January 27, 2019, 07:48:25 PM
47 days from 12/7/18 to 1/23/19. 42-36=6 47/6=8.33 52-42=10 8.33*10=83.33

Given all the assumptions previously stated, we're looking at April 21, 2019 plus publication time. As always, feel free to check my math.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Salusen on January 27, 2019, 08:23:01 PM
Fox, IIRC.
But JB tweeted that we shouldn't believe all what we read on internet, so...

I was kinda hoping for netflix
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on January 27, 2019, 08:31:34 PM
I'd think Fox was more likely to mess it up than SciFi did.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on January 28, 2019, 12:20:31 AM
There was only a couple of things I liked about the Sci-Fi series. The use of hockey stick as staff and drumstick as rod plus giving Bob a sometimes human form due to the actor playing Bob. The rest of it....not a fan.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Snark Knight on January 28, 2019, 01:51:43 AM
I'd think Fox was more likely to mess it up than SciFi did.

Or if they managed to produce something good, cancel it right away.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on January 28, 2019, 01:55:52 AM
There was only a couple of things I liked about the Sci-Fi series. The use of hockey stick as staff and drumstick as rod plus giving Bob a sometimes human form due to the actor playing Bob. The rest of it....not a fan.

I agree, though I also thought the actress who played Murphy wasn't bad, considering she looked nothing like the character we know from the books and she wasn't given very much to work with in terms of the writing in that show. 

However, I hadn't read any of the DF novels until I heard Jim being interviewed on a podcast (The Slice of Scifi podcast, which was unrelated to the TV channel.) where Jim was promoting both his books and the TV show, which was only a week or two from airing its first episode.  Listening to Jim being interviewed, I remember thinking, "This guy is funny, I think I'll pick up the first book of this series and maybe watch the show too."  So in an odd way, the creation of the the TV series led me to the novels. 

Of course, reading Storm Front and part of Fool Moon before the TV show was cancelled drove home how the show kept missing the mark.  I'm not going to go into details, because frankly I don't remember most of them, but all I could think at the end of most episodes was, "This show has potential, but arghhhhhhh!  They never quite get it right.

By the way, Jim's up to chapter 42 now.



Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on January 28, 2019, 04:11:42 AM
I had not read the books when I watched the show, and I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it and I still think that Harry was perfect. I also liked Morgan and I definitely loved human Bob. Murphy was not particularly good or bad (she is the mother of the new Charmed ones, by the way).

And yes, 42!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on January 28, 2019, 12:38:41 PM
I had not read the books when I watched the show, and I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it and I still think that Harry was perfect. I also liked Morgan and I definitely loved human Bob. Murphy was not particularly good or bad (she is the mother of the new Charmed ones, by the way).

And yes, 42!

Same here!  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on January 28, 2019, 08:22:00 PM
I watched the show before I read the books and liked it. Now that I've read the books, the show is disappointing (and canceled).

The show did lead me to the books. I read the first chapter on Jim's site and didn't like it. Years later I read it again, and thought it wasn't bad. Then I read the rest of the book and series. I still consider the first 3 books to be the worst in the series. I'm not sure if I like Summer Knight or Ghost Story more, but I think if one was to plot the quality of the books on a line graph, it would look a lot like a line graph of the number of chapters in the books on a line graph. (An upward trend).

Or if they managed to produce something good, cancel it right away.
I consider that to be a sub set of "messing it up."

I'm not very familiar with the source material because I really don't like comic books as a medium, but until Game of Thrones, the only decent TV adaptations that I had seen were Fox's Spider-Man and X-men. Game of Thrones was the first decent TV adaptation I've seen that was not for children. TV adaptations have been like movie adaptations; some of them are good if you aren't familiar with the source material.

Anime might be an exception, but I'm not familiar with the source material, and it's arguable whether or not it's for children. The arguable parts being "for" and "children."
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on January 28, 2019, 08:56:59 PM
I also liked Morgan and I definitely loved human Bob.

That's one of those details I forgot, but I also liked.  It was a different kind of Morgan.  He still distrusted Harry but he was more reserved, he kept his fanatic side in check.  It was an interesting take on the character and if the show had continued it was an element that could have been built on.

I think most people liked the human portrayal of of Bob.   I think Terrence Mann did an outstanding job as Bob. 

However, having said that, I highly recommend; if you can find it, the original unaired an hour and a half pilot of Storm Front where Bob was just a CGI skull (unfinished CGI, so not great quality) with glowing orange motes in his eyes.  Though far from perfect, it was the closest the show ever got to doing something based on an actual Dresden Files novel, because when it was cut down to 42 minutes for the TV show, it was a bit of a mess. 
 
(OMG - I just started re-watching Storm Front again and it's amazing; all the changes that were made from the novel, some major and some minor.  Harry has already told Murphy about the Council.  Harry knows his mother was murdered.  Bianca and Harry had a prior romantic relationship, sort of.  Ancient Mai is Harry's warden and Morgan is her henchman.  Detective Carmichael is detective Karmani.  Justin DuMorne is uncle Justin Morningstar.  The spell that killed Tommy Tomm and Jennifer Randall is the same or very similar to the one Harry used to kill Justin.  Harry still has a problem with tech but he can listen to records and has a jazz collection. The actress they got to play Susan Rodriguez was totally wrong.  A white women with a whiny voice and dyed blond hair and her performance wasn't very good either.  I did like the scene when Bob comes on to Susan and tells her she has great legs.  The actress who played Bianca was hot, and she later starred in SyFy's Warehouse 13, which was pretty OK.)     

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on January 28, 2019, 09:08:28 PM
Quote
I think most people liked the human portrayal of of Bob.   I think Terrence Mann did an outstanding job as Bob.

He was the reason I watched the show, and once I began to read the books, Bob was a huge disappointment.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on January 28, 2019, 11:05:19 PM


I remember how cute was to actually see Malcolmas a stage magician with little Harry helping him
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on February 01, 2019, 10:03:57 AM
Quote from: JimButcher.com
As of January 31st, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 43. Progress!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 01, 2019, 05:38:27 PM
 :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on February 01, 2019, 08:46:20 PM
That's one of those details I forgot, but I also liked.  It was a different kind of Morgan.  He still distrusted Harry but he was more reserved, he kept his fanatic side in check.  It was an interesting take on the character and if the show had continued it was an element that could have been built on.
I've heard that Morgan was sort of intended as a mix between Morgan and Michael (and he may be the reason that I picture Michael as a black guy to this day), which would account for his softening.

Quote
I think most people liked the human portrayal of of Bob.   I think Terrence Mann did an outstanding job as Bob.
He was fantastic. One of the best parts of the show. I remember seeing Butcher describe him as having "an arsenal of snide" from being stuck in the skull for so long.

Quote
However, having said that, I highly recommend; if you can find it, the original unaired an hour and a half pilot of Storm Front where Bob was just a CGI skull (unfinished CGI, so not great quality) with glowing orange motes in his eyes.  Though far from perfect, it was the closest the show ever got to doing something based on an actual Dresden Files novel, because when it was cut down to 42 minutes for the TV show, it was a bit of a mess. 
I've never seen it! Where is it available?

Cuz, yeah, the Storm Front that aired had a ton of obvious holes in it.
 
Quote
(OMG - I just started re-watching Storm Front again and it's amazing; all the changes that were made from the novel, some major and some minor.  Harry has already told Murphy about the Council.  Harry knows his mother was murdered.  Bianca and Harry had a prior romantic relationship, sort of.  Ancient Mai is Harry's warden and Morgan is her henchman.  Detective Carmichael is detective Karmani.  Justin DuMorne is uncle Justin Morningstar.  The spell that killed Tommy Tomm and Jennifer Randall is the same or very similar to the one Harry used to kill Justin.  Harry still has a problem with tech but he can listen to records and has a jazz collection. The actress they got to play Susan Rodriguez was totally wrong.  A white women with a whiny voice and dyed blond hair and her performance wasn't very good either.  I did like the scene when Bob comes on to Susan and tells her she has great legs.  The actress who played Bianca was hot, and she later starred in SyFy's Warehouse 13, which was pretty OK.)   
Morningside</nitpick>.

The thing about Susan is that was the actress they originally picked for Murphy, and vice versa.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on February 01, 2019, 09:08:21 PM


As I said, I loved Bob, the guy who played Morgan was okay too.. The most ridiculous thing on the show was the hockey stick for Harry's staff...  I mean people do walk around with walking sticks for various reasons, but it is a bit unusual to walk around with a hockey stick.. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 01, 2019, 09:56:37 PM
It is true that it is a bit unusual, but I still see people carrying them in the bus all the time, so it's not that weird. And I admit I loved it. I think is better than a walking cane (for Harry, at least).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on February 02, 2019, 06:47:41 AM
It is true that it is a bit unusual, but I still see people carrying them in the bus all the time, so it's not that weird. And I admit I loved it. I think is better than a walking cane (for Harry, at least).

   I agree, he shouldn't be carrying a cane, but a walking staff?  Yeah, that makes some sense.. Honestly I see very few people carrying any of the above anymore...  Unless they are hikers, I carry
a staff or set of walking poles in my car, it is part of our required equipment..
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 02, 2019, 06:55:40 AM
Well, of course, I live in a city, so not many hikers around but some hockey players.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on February 02, 2019, 03:50:54 PM
For what it's worth, I walked through NYC in my Harry Dresden cosplay without anyone seeming to notice or care, staff and all.

Of course it was on Halloween so that might have skewed things a bit.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on February 02, 2019, 10:02:06 PM
Well, of course, I live in a city, so not many hikers around but some hockey players.

Well, I lived in Seattle for years and grew up going back and forth to San Francisco and never once
saw any man or woman for that matter openly carrying a hockey stick.... Now Canada would be different, in the latest cold snap there was a huge accident on the road and people were stranded for
a couple of hours, several opened their trunks and pulled out their sticks and pucks and had an impromptu game on the icy road.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 03, 2019, 12:36:11 AM
Ah, girls here are often carrying hockey sticks. Men not that much, but sometimes it happens. Nobody will stare or anything.
That is so cool about Canada  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 03, 2019, 08:24:08 PM
I've seen more people carrying guns in public than sticks of any kind other than people who clearly required canes for walking. But I live in Texas where "clubs" are "illegal weapons," and therefore illegal to carry in public. "Clubs" are basically any blunt instrument "designed, made, or adapted" for hitting people.  Guns=legal; swords=legal; sticks=illegal. ???

(There are complications, exceptions, and requirements here, so don't just go carrying guns and swords in Texas without actually knowing the laws).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on February 03, 2019, 09:17:01 PM
I've never seen it! Where is it available?

I found my DIVX copy of the Storm Front pilot using Bit Torrent, but that was about five or six years ago.  If you can't find it, message me with your email address and I'll send you a copy.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 04, 2019, 03:14:14 AM
I've seen more people carrying guns in public than sticks of any kind other than people who clearly required canes for walking. But I live in Texas where "clubs" are "illegal weapons," and therefore illegal to carry in public. "Clubs" are basically any blunt instrument "designed, made, or adapted" for hitting people.  Guns=legal; swords=legal; sticks=illegal. ???

(There are complications, exceptions, and requirements here, so don't just go carrying guns and swords in Texas without actually knowing the laws).

I won't. I would probably scream, as I've never seen a functional gun in real life.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: magnuskn on February 04, 2019, 01:50:33 PM
So, unless the book is dramatically longer than the previous ones (which is entirely possible with all the promised throw-downs and just accumulated plotlines which need resolving, now that Harry hasn't been secluded away from society and friends for an entire year), the first draft should be done in about April to May?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on February 04, 2019, 03:04:59 PM
Yeah, billyclub laws are kind of silly. Case in point, Maryland has them; so my pine blasting rod prop is an illegal weapon. The holly walking stick that's much heavier and harder? Totally fine.

The little souvenir baseball bats you can get at a game? Illegal. An actual bat? Totally fine.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on February 04, 2019, 04:31:50 PM
Yeah, billyclub laws are kind of silly. Case in point, Maryland has them; so my pine blasting rod prop is an illegal weapon. The holly walking stick that's much heavier and harder? Totally fine.

The little souvenir baseball bats you can get at a game? Illegal. An actual bat? Totally fine.

   Like a lot of things common sense seems to get thrown out when lots of laws or regulations are written...  Take dental insurance, unless you have it though your employer you are pretty much out
of luck.  Oh it is there but covers so little that it costs more than it pays for.  However when you look it up you get the lecture how poor dental health can lead to serious things like heart disease...Huh? 
So Medicare will shell out billions each year for all kinds of heart procedures but not fork over a dime so seniors can have healthy mouths, thus fewer expensive heart procedures... I did find one honest site, the reason there isn't good dental insurance is that there isn't any money in it for the insurance companies..
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on February 04, 2019, 07:41:40 PM
I won't. I would probably scream, as I've never seen a functional gun in real life.
Really?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 04, 2019, 09:16:39 PM
Really. I had a very, very, very old gun from my grand father, who was a cop (I think it's a ceremonial gun or something) and I've seen several old weapons in museums and things like that. I remember now I've been a couple of times in stores that had some guns for sell (I bought a swiss army knife once and some binoculars the other time) but I didn't see the weapons from very close.

The little souvenir baseball bats you can get at a game? Illegal. An actual bat? Totally fine.

How so?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on February 04, 2019, 11:40:33 PM
I am guessing it has to do with concealed weapons issues.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on February 05, 2019, 01:22:12 AM
How so?
wardenferry has the right of it; the actual statute only stipulates the length, not thickness or weight or anything like that.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 05, 2019, 04:06:19 AM
Ah, that explains it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on February 05, 2019, 05:07:54 PM
So Harry's blasting rod is a concealed weapon in more ways than one...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 05, 2019, 07:19:14 PM
I won't. I would probably scream, as I've never seen a functional gun in real life.
Do you travel much? Though I was speaking about running into civilians in places you wouldn't expect them to have such things*, I'd imagine you'd run into a lot of law enforcement/military/security in most every country over the course of a lifetime. I won't pretend to have done a statistical analysis or anything, but I have seen (in the media) a lot of security with sub-machine guns at lots of European airports and such.

*Sticks, swords, guns, etc.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 06, 2019, 12:39:55 AM
You are right, of course. I didn't count the weapons from armed forces, but I've seen several of them. I did not scream for those.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on February 06, 2019, 12:53:23 AM
Heh. Around here in the countryside the only people who didn't have guns were the policemen. At least till 2013. Now it's the other way around; only the criminals and the policemen have them.
Legally speaking, everything that can do harm is banned. Guns, knives, swiss army knives, 3 cm blade knives, sticks and stones, and in the next few months air guns will need to be licensed too.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 06, 2019, 06:59:18 AM
Aw, that's awesome about the air guns. We had two deaths for them this Summer (they are legal). It seems excessive of course on the other things. I would have a lot of trouble  :).  I once had trouble on an airport because I had Swiss army knife in my backpack, I had completely forgotten about it as it is always there  :P.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on February 06, 2019, 12:09:11 PM
Aw, that's awesome about the air guns. We had two deaths for them this Summer (they are legal). It seems excessive of course on the other things. I would have a lot of trouble  :).  I once had trouble on an airport because I had Swiss army knife in my backpack, I had completely forgotten about it as it is always there  :P.
My father used to have an air gun that shot very small pieces of lead and I do not think you could penetrate even a t shirt with it. But that was 40 years ago and their power was regulated by law. We were always careful with it anyway because it would hurt but the killings surprise me. Maybe they are just more powerful, if you do not put legal limits on them people want to have the most powerful ones available.

I do not even want my kitchen knifes too sharp, I do not trust them with my fingers.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on February 06, 2019, 12:36:06 PM
Aw, that's awesome about the air guns. We had two deaths for them this Summer (they are legal). It seems excessive of course on the other things. I would have a lot of trouble  :).  I once had trouble on an airport because I had Swiss army knife in my backpack, I had completely forgotten about it as it is always there  :P.
In America, a swiss army knife at an airport would result in a body cavity search and the SWAT team.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on February 06, 2019, 07:19:31 PM
I understand if the ban was on PCP rifles, which are very powerful and can rechamber very fast. But it's excessive to have to go through background checks and pay an annual fee for a regular air rifle. Sure they're dangerous, but you'd need to hit an eye at a fairly short range to kill a human with most of them.  A regular gun safety course should be enough. Those who want to kill someone will go for firearms.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 06, 2019, 08:24:21 PM
I think the killings here were two small children, I was surprised too. I didn't know the airguns could do that. That also reminds me a case my dad worked many, many years ago (he was a lawyer). He was doing what we call a "mediation", where the appointed lawyer sees the two sides of an demand and tries to reach an agreement among them, so they won't go to an actual trial. The problem was someone had used air gun and a child (maybe 7 yo) had sustained a small injury. My dad told me that they didn't reach an agreement because the child's dad was infuriated the air gun owner had not apologized. If he had done it, the parents probably had not even denounced it, but as he didn't apologized, they were going to a trial.

In America, a swiss army knife at an airport would result in a body cavity search and the SWAT team.

Well, this was in America. South America. Buenos Aires (it was a local flight). I suppose I don't look dangerous. I always have a Swiss Army knife in the backpack or purse I take to work everyday, so I didn't realize it was still there when we travel.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on February 06, 2019, 09:29:40 PM
Well there are some takeaways from all this. 

Obviously the various local authorities should be glad Harry doesn't fly.  His force rings could blow out the cabin walls at altitude.  And they are probably not on the list of things that they search for. Of course even without his blasting rod he can still cast enough fire to make a plane a smoking ruin.  Which might ruin your travel plans. If the plane doesn't fall out of the air because its electronics are compromised.

Anybody who walks around with a 6 foot oak staff or a hockey stick deserves to be tired, not to mention the possibility of getting hung up in doorways if you choose to use a sling.  It's why people don't carry hockey sticks or walking sticks randomly.  I carry a steel cane, and have used it to break things.  But it is capital H heavy.

And like a lot of other people Harry pays just as much attention to the law as he wants to.  Commonly committing various felonies,  top among them, carrying a concealed deadly weapon  in the form a a large caliber handgun.

@Dina
Getting hassled for carrying a Swiss Army Knife through baggage screening is one of the prices we all pay for all the little unconscious habits we all have.  Mine is the tendency to leave my keys in the car and locking the door. And then paying a locksmith to open it.

@Arjan
If cooking shows are to be believed your dull knives are more dangerous than your sharp knives.  It seems counter intuitive.

@Fcrate
I've never understood BB Guns or any other air guns.  They're either too much or too little.  However I do understand the mindset that bans miniature  baseball bats.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on February 06, 2019, 10:20:15 PM

@Arjan
If cooking shows are to be believed your dull knives are more dangerous than your sharp knives.  It seems counter intuitive.
I never use them for cutting meat anyway, that is what butchers are for.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on February 06, 2019, 11:18:04 PM
@Arjan
If cooking shows are to be believed your dull knives are more dangerous than your sharp knives.  It seems counter intuitive.

@Fcrate
I've never understood BB Guns or any other air guns.  They're either too much or too little.  However I do understand the mindset that bans miniature  baseball bats.
1. You are correct. You have to use much more force with a dull knife. It doesn't give you little cuts like a sharp one but when it breaks through, or slips, you could cause yourself a serious injury.
2. Some of them are pretty average. Besides, it's all I can have without paying a ton to get a license. (Besides a background check on family up to the 3rd degree relatives)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Salusen on February 06, 2019, 11:22:28 PM
So, any news on Peace Talks?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 06, 2019, 11:34:41 PM
@Dina
Getting hassled for carrying a Swiss Army Knife through baggage screening is one of the prices we all pay for all the little unconscious habits we all have.  Mine is the tendency to leave my keys in the car and locking the door. And then paying a locksmith to open it.

I was not complaining, I was at fault. I just did it because it's a very old habit. It is much more natural for me to carry a Swiss army knife than packing for a trip.

So, any news on Peace Talks?

Draft is on chapter 43.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on February 07, 2019, 12:12:26 AM
Quote from: Dina
I was not complaining, I was at fault. I just did it because it's a very old habit. It is much more natural for me to carry a Swiss army knife than packing for a trip.
I never thought you were complaining.  As for my case, I blame my car.  It should know that I want it to open like magic rather than needing pesky keys.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 07, 2019, 12:14:37 AM
 :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 07, 2019, 03:23:38 AM
I've noticed most people don't think of government employees authorized to carry guns when talking generally about guns.

Lewis and Clark had a repeating air rifle that was capable of taking down game. They can be very powerful. Most of us think of bb guns when we hear air rifle, which aren't very powerful.

We call that mediation here too.

I accidentally brought a knife into a courthouse today. It's okay because 1) it's a harmless pocket knife, 2) I can, and did, skip security, and 3) it was actually legal for me to bring my gun in.

Finally, I'm often annoyed by South and Central Americans stating something along the lines of "all of the Americas are America and everybody from the Americas is an American" in English. Maybe in Spanish, but not in English. Just like I've never heard "Estados Unidos Mexicanos" outside of a Spanish class, people don't generally run around saying United States of America, and I have never heard anyone say I'm a United States of American. The word for that in English is American. The word for someone from North/Central/South America is North/Central/South American. There is a Spanish word for Americans that isn't Americano, estadounidense, but when having this conversation with my friend from Honduras in Honduras, neither one of us could recall the word. There isn't an English word that I'm aware of like that. Estadounidense would translate to something like "United Stater" or "United Statsian," which, taken literally, could equally be applied to Mexicans. I find it annoying because it is usually done in an "ackchyually, you stupid Gringo" tone, of which I am not accusing you.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 07, 2019, 05:07:38 AM
I knew you had the concept of mediation, but I was not sure if my translation of the word "mediación" was accurate, as I am not very used to legalese (in English. In Spanish, I am relatively fluent because I've taken dictations from my dad more than once).

I am not trying to say that you or anyone else is being stupid, and I don't think that is the case. I've known brilliant people here. Nevertheless, I've been telling people that since I've joined this forum and I am not going to stop now. I think most people from USA simply does not realize how colonialist that word sounds for us many of us and I am just trying to make people aware of that. Not stop using the word, of course, but just thinking of it. When someone tries to tell me I don't live in América, it annoys me, I can't help it (I generally say "US citizens" but with another forumite (from USA) we used to jokingly say "USers"). Give me some credit for writing so many posts in English without using "Americans"  :P.

Being honest, what really, really annoys me is when people in my country or other Latin American Countries use "Americano" instead of norteamericano o estadounidense. None of those words is perfect, but it's the correct word and it is not bad for us. When we really want to say "From North America", including México and Canada, we use some expression like "americanos del norte" o "gente de América del Norte". I really wish my own people was not so brainwashed, because as you said, in Spanish we are all "americanos", There are not many Americas, there is only one. That is why there is the OAS, Organization of American States, which does not mean the States of USA but the Countries of America.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on February 07, 2019, 12:28:25 PM
1. You are correct. You have to use much more force with a dull knife. It doesn't give you little cuts like a sharp one but when it breaks through, or slips, you could cause yourself a serious injury.
If you have to use force which you usually don't have to do if you only chop some vegetables. It must be sharp enough for that of course but not so sharp that it cuts your fingers before you even notice it.
Quote
2. Some of them are pretty average. Besides, it's all I can have without paying a ton to get a license. (Besides a background check on family up to the 3rd degree relatives)
You can not shoot with a firearm in the backyard here even if you have a license so if you don't want to go to the range every time then an air gun is the only alternative.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on February 07, 2019, 01:33:09 PM
If you have to use force which you usually don't have to do if you only chop some vegetables. It must be sharp enough for that of course but not so sharp that it cuts your fingers before you even notice it. You can not shoot with a firearm in the backyard here even if you have a license so if you don't want to go to the range every time then an air gun is the only alternative.
We live in alternate realities when it comes to sharp implements. 

And I'm from Kentucky, where my sisters next door neighbor has a range in his backyard where he fires multiple weapons using gunpowder. Of course she is in the suburbs.  Shooting a gun in the back yard is illegal inside the urban limit in almost every jurisdiction that I'm aware of.  Even Texas. :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: AndiSue on February 07, 2019, 04:57:05 PM
So, any news on Peace Talks?

The Upcoming Works page at jim-butcher.com is being updated every couple of weeks with the current chapter of the draft. You could check there.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on February 07, 2019, 05:38:44 PM
I knew you had the concept of mediation, but I was not sure if my translation of the word "mediación" was accurate, as I am not very used to legalese (in English. In Spanish, I am relatively fluent because I've taken dictations from my dad more than once).

I am not trying to say that you or anyone else is being stupid, and I don't think that is the case. I've known brilliant people here. Nevertheless, I've been telling people that since I've joined this forum and I am not going to stop now. I think most people from USA simply does not realize how colonialist that word sounds for us many of us and I am just trying to make people aware of that. Not stop using the word, of course, but just thinking of it. When someone tries to tell me I don't live in América, it annoys me, I can't help it (I generally say "US citizens" but with another forumite (from USA) we used to jokingly say "USers"). Give me some credit for writing so many posts in English without using "Americans"  :P.

Being honest, what really, really annoys me is when people in my country or other Latin American Countries use "Americano" instead of norteamericano o estadounidense. None of those words is perfect, but it's the correct word and it is not bad for us. When we really want to say "From North America", including México and Canada, we use some expression like "americanos del norte" o "gente de América del Norte". I really wish my own people was not so brainwashed, because as you said, in Spanish we are all "americanos", There are not many Americas, there is only one. That is why there is the OAS, Organization of American States, which does not mean the States of USA but the Countries of America.

As a US citizen who now lives in Canada I quickly noticed after moving that you do not hear American used much.  Canadians usually say the States when talking about the United States or people from the States.  If talking about an individual you often hear Texan, Californian etc or just they are from the States.  I used to use American all the time but now try to avoid it as to my ear it now sounds like I am forgetting the US is not the whole continent.   

To get back to the main topic I am really happy Jim is posting the updates to the page.  I realize that 43 chapters means they is still a bit to go but seeing steady progress has me back to listening to the audio versions of the books in my car again.  With the amount I drive the new book might well be out about the same time as I get through them all again.  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on February 07, 2019, 06:13:30 PM
We live in alternate realities when it comes to sharp implements. 

And I'm from Kentucky, where my sisters next door neighbor has a range in his backyard where he fires multiple weapons using gunpowder. Of course she is in the suburbs.  Shooting a gun in the back yard is illegal inside the urban limit in almost every jurisdiction that I'm aware of.  Even Texas. :)
Urban, suburban, countryside iT does not matter here. Even of you can het a license you have to store your gun and amno in seperate locker containers and you can only shoot at a resignaties shooting range usually a recognised club I believe.

I sometimes watch those clips in YouTube where someone buys a reproducties of a mediëval longsword and tests the sharpness with a piece of paper and continuers to hack in chainmail to see hoe it holds. I just need my knife to cut garlick
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on February 07, 2019, 06:46:44 PM
Urban, suburban, countryside iT does not matter here. Even of you can het a license you have to store your gun and amno in seperate locker containers and you can only shoot at a resignaties shooting range usually a recognised club I believe.

I sometimes watch those clips in YouTube where someone buys a reproducties of a mediëval longsword and tests the sharpness with a piece of paper and continuers to hack in chainmail to see hoe it holds. I just need my knife to cut garlick

Ever watch Forge in Fire?  Kind of like Chopped only it is four blade smiths crafting a knife in a designated time.. They then test the blades, it is fascinating to watch for a number of reasons..  Anyway the two finalists are given a challenge to recreate a weapon, anything from sword to cross bow from history across the world.  They are given five days at their home forges to do it, then the weapons are tested..  The kind of damage that those weapons can do up close and personal makes me cringe..  They have also began to uncover mass graves from battle grounds of the Middle Ages. The knight of old went for the legs.... Most of the skeletons of the soldiers either had their bottom legs lopped off or severely damaged in battle..
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on February 07, 2019, 07:03:06 PM
Ever watch Forge in Fire?  Kind of like Chopped only it is four blade smiths crafting a knife in a designated time.. They then test the blades, it is fascinating to watch for a number of reasons..  Anyway the two finalists are given a challenge to recreate a weapon, anything from sword to cross bow from history across the world.  They are given five days at their home forges to do it, then the weapons are tested..  The kind of damage that those weapons can do up close and personal makes me cringe..  They have also began to uncover mass graves from battle grounds of the Middle Ages. The knight of old went for the legs.... Most of the skeletons of the soldiers either had their bottom legs lopped off or severely damaged in battle..
Probably because the lege were the most difficult to defend and lees armoured. Or you just make a feint at the leg and when he lift his schield  to defend you hit the leg. All explained on YouTube your indispensable source of you want to know how a Viking would do against a Roman legionary.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 07, 2019, 08:40:11 PM
I knew you had the concept of mediation, but I was not sure if my translation of the word "mediación" was accurate, as I am not very used to legalese (in English. In Spanish, I am relatively fluent because I've taken dictations from my dad more than once).

I am not trying to say that you or anyone else is being stupid, and I don't think that is the case. I've known brilliant people here. Nevertheless, I've been telling people that since I've joined this forum and I am not going to stop now. I think most people from USA simply does not realize how colonialist that word sounds for us many of us and I am just trying to make people aware of that. Not stop using the word, of course, but just thinking of it. When someone tries to tell me I don't live in América, it annoys me, I can't help it (I generally say "US citizens" but with another forumite (from USA) we used to jokingly say "USers"). Give me some credit for writing so many posts in English without using "Americans"  :P.

Being honest, what really, really annoys me is when people in my country or other Latin American Countries use "Americano" instead of norteamericano o estadounidense. None of those words is perfect, but it's the correct word and it is not bad for us. When we really want to say "From North America", including México and Canada, we use some expression like "americanos del norte" o "gente de América del Norte". I really wish my own people was not so brainwashed, because as you said, in Spanish we are all "americanos", There are not many Americas, there is only one. That is why there is the OAS, Organization of American States, which does not mean the States of USA but the Countries of America.

I'm perfectly fine with estadounidense, except I'm not sure I can pronounce it. My point is that we don't have that word in English (except for various slurs), a native language shared by many people who are not Americans (usually the ones coming up with the slurs). It's not an American thing to use the word America(n) that way. It's an English thing. (It all doesn't really matter, and besides, it's not half as annoying as people confusing then and than >:().

The reason it probably annoys me is because every time someone has said it to me, they have had a condescending tone that implied I didn't know geography or history. I've often had a better grasp of history of other people's country than they did. And I've never detected rudeness or condescension from you to anyone.

As a US citizen who now lives in Canada I quickly noticed after moving that you do not hear American used much.  Canadians usually say the States when talking about the United States or people from the States.  If talking about an individual you often hear Texan, Californian etc or just they are from the States.  I used to use American all the time but now try to avoid it as to my ear it now sounds like I am forgetting the US is not the whole continent.

Of course people say they're from Texas. It's clearly the best. Everyone knows God blessed Texas on the eighth day. ;).

We live in alternate realities when it comes to sharp implements. 

And I'm from Kentucky, where my sisters next door neighbor has a range in his backyard where he fires multiple weapons using gunpowder. Of course she is in the suburbs.  Shooting a gun in the back yard is illegal inside the urban limit in almost every jurisdiction that I'm aware of.  Even Texas. :)


Depends on the yard. And the gun. We actually do have some state laws limiting how the municipalities can regulate the discharge of firearms. For example:
Quote
Sec. 229.002.  REGULATION OF DISCHARGE OF WEAPON.  A municipality may not apply a regulation relating to the discharge of firearms or other weapons in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality or in an area annexed by the municipality after September 1, 1981, if the firearm or other weapon is:
(1)  a shotgun, air rifle or pistol, BB gun, or bow and arrow discharged:
   (A)  on a tract of land of 10 acres or more and more than 150 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and
   (B)  in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract; or
(2)  a center fire or rim fire rifle or pistol of any caliber discharged:
   (A)  on a tract of land of 50 acres or more and more than 300 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and
   (B)  in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract.

Not that I know of anyone with a 50 acre tract inside any city limits (that isn't being used for commercial purposes that wouldn't go to well with shooting). Also they can't regulate the discharge of a firearm at a "sports shooting range," sort of.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 07, 2019, 11:56:01 PM
Ever watch Forge in Fire?  Kind of like Chopped only it is four blade smiths crafting a knife in a designated time.. They then test the blades, it is fascinating to watch for a number of reasons..  Anyway the two finalists are given a challenge to recreate a weapon, anything from sword to cross bow from history across the world.  They are given five days at their home forges to do it, then the weapons are tested..  The kind of damage that those weapons can do up close and personal makes me cringe..  They have also began to uncover mass graves from battle grounds of the Middle Ages. The knight of old went for the legs.... Most of the skeletons of the soldiers either had their bottom legs lopped off or severely damaged in battle..

Hubby and I like that show  :)

I'm perfectly fine with estadounidense, except I'm not sure I can pronounce it. My point is that we don't have that word in English (except for various slurs), a native language shared by many people who are not Americans (usually the ones coming up with the slurs). It's not an American thing to use the word America(n) that way. It's an English thing. (It all doesn't really matter, and besides, it's not half as annoying as people confusing then and than >:().

The reason it probably annoys me is because every time someone has said it to me, they have had a condescending tone that implied I didn't know geography or history. I've often had a better grasp of history of other people's country than they did. And I've never detected rudeness or condescension from you to anyone.

Thanks. There is a myth that people from USA do not know geography, but many people in my country do not either. I don't think the proportion of ignorant people is bigger in USA than here, only that your population is so big that, objectively, there are many ignorant individuals. That said, when I say all that about America is not because I think the speaking person is ignorant, only because I don't think they are aware of that being an issue for some people in other countries. I am not angry with them (unless is someone speaking in Spanish, from my country or another Latin American one).

And yes, then and than are annoying, but not as much as your/you're   :P

@segaily, thanks for the feedback about Canada.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on February 08, 2019, 01:02:52 AM
We live in alternate realities when it comes to sharp implements. 

And I'm from Kentucky, where my sisters next door neighbor has a range in his backyard where he fires multiple weapons using gunpowder. Of course she is in the suburbs.  Shooting a gun in the back yard is illegal inside the urban limit in almost every jurisdiction that I'm aware of.  Even Texas. :)
What part of KY? I was raised in Ashland and live in Bellevue, across the river from Cincy.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on February 08, 2019, 01:06:15 AM
My fault. I put question and comment in your quote.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on February 08, 2019, 01:10:03 AM
I like the fact that the lovely, kind person with the most posts on this forum has English as their second language. It shows an added level of commitment to the forum and its members.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 08, 2019, 01:28:35 AM
I like the fact that the lovely, kind person with the most posts on this forum has English as their second language. It shows an added level of commitment to the forum and its members.

Awwww, thank you. And yes, I love you, guys.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on February 08, 2019, 02:39:54 AM
What part of KY? I was raised in Ashland and live in Bellevue, across the river from Cincy.

Louisville.  Born there, and if lucky, will cease to exist there.  I don't know Bellevue, though my work took me to Northern Kentucky and Ashland, a time or three. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on February 08, 2019, 08:35:15 AM
I have spent most of my life in KY but have never been to Louisville or Lexington, the two biggest cities in the state.
Title: Wherein we talk of our love of Home and wait for the next chapter.
Post by: morriswalters on February 08, 2019, 10:52:25 AM
I've visited almost every part of the state.  And I love it, as backwards as it can seem at times.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 08, 2019, 05:58:45 PM
I like the fact that the lovely, kind person with the most posts on this forum has English as their second language. It shows an added level of commitment to the forum and its members.

This is just about the only thing on the internet I contribute to for that very reason.

I don't think the proportion of ignorant people is bigger in USA than here. ...

And yes, then and than are annoying, but not as much as your/you're   :P

Because Europe has about as many countries as the U.S. has states (depending on how one counts), I've often wondered how many states can the European insulting Americans' knowledge of geography can name. I don't do a whole lot better at naming the states than I do the European countries. There have been a lot of changes to Europe's internal borders in my lifetime, and no noticeable ones in the States, so that's my excuse.

But it's so much easier to explain the difference between your/you're than then/than. Another one that annoys me was all my Spanish teachers failed to properly define bueno/bien as good/well. They defined them both as good, but used differently because so many native English speakers don't get the difference between good/well. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more subtle differences, but, on this particular, all my teachers failed.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 08, 2019, 06:37:51 PM
This is just about the only thing on the internet I contribute to for that very reason.

I don't follow.

Because Europe has about as many countries as the U.S. has states (depending on how one counts), I've often wondered how many states can the European insulting Americans' knowledge of geography can name. I don't do a whole lot better at naming the states than I do the European countries. There have been a lot of changes to Europe's internal borders in my lifetime, and no noticeable ones in the States, so that's my excuse.

But it's so much easier to explain the difference between your/you're than then/than. Another one that annoys me was all my Spanish teachers failed to properly define bueno/bien as good/well. They defined them both as good, but used differently because so many native English speakers don't get the difference between good/well. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more subtle differences, but, on this particular, all my teachers failed.

I don't know about Europeans. I can name many States from USA but I am unable to place them in a map (except the most obvious ones, like Florida, Alaska or Hawaii  :)) but it's not the same, your States are part of a country, and we generally have not idea of the internal divisions of any country.
I have trouble with good/well  :-[. I believe my teachers failed to teach me that but I try. Anyway, it seems that bueno/bien is accurate in most situations. Mexicans often use "bien" as a sort of "quite". ("Estaba bien chido = it was quite cool") but not in South America, as far as I can tell.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 08, 2019, 08:46:19 PM
The people on this forum aren't rude, nasty, etc. Most of the internet communities are full of terrible people. Here, not so much. I don't bother with places where a good portion of the criticism isn't exactly constructive. (Also I misread wardenferry419's last sentence there, so my sentence made sense in the context of the misreading).

The States and the European countries are pretty comparable in terms of geography, and sometimes even travel, economic relations, and government. It is a bit of apples and oranges comparison, but even apples and oranges have a lot in common. It wouldn't be hard for me to hop in a car and hit four other states without changing directions, and I live in a part of the country where there aren't any small states. I imagine it's similar for Europe, except Europe has a lot more small countries. I'd expect someone to be able to name all the major jurisdictions they can drive to in a day.

And I can name the internal divisions, or at least some, of many countries. Mostly just from watching TV and reading fiction. European internal divisions can be hard because it seems they've all had so many that have changed, somewhat quickly, over the centuries. You might be surprised how many European countries are younger than the U.S. (and probably most countries in the New World). A lot of European countries are younger than me.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 08, 2019, 10:05:44 PM
Why would I be surprised? USA is quite old, a lot of countries are younger. Not only mine, but even such important countries as Italy or modern Germany. And for instance, we have a forumite who is from Croatia, a country that was created when I was already in college  :). And yes, Europe has changed a lot since I went to primary school. Of course, USA is not so old as Spain or...China, but it is old enough that other countries being younger is not a big deal.

I cannot name the internal divisions of any country but mine (23 provinces + Buenos Aires city)  and, to a certain degree, USA  :).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on February 09, 2019, 12:22:50 AM
Quote from: Bad Alias
Because Europe has about as many countries as the U.S. has states (depending on how one counts), I've often wondered how many states can the European insulting Americans' knowledge of geography can name. I don't do a whole lot better at naming the states than I do the European countries. There have been a lot of changes to Europe's internal borders in my lifetime, and no noticeable ones in the States, so that's my excuse.
There are things the Europeans think, that I care about.  Geography isn't even in the top 1000 of those.  Take away the identifiers as represented by street signage and and they, like most citizens of the US, would be lucky to make it out of their hometowns. 

Geography is the illusion of knowledge.  I know the town where I live. But when I travel to Tennessee to visit a childhood friend, I know the road I travel on and nothing more.  I think I knew all the states and capitals at one time, but I don't think I've used it in any useful way since the day I was taught it.  If I need it I look it up, otherwise I have more important things to keep in memory.  Like where I left my keys. :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: groinkick on February 09, 2019, 02:33:19 AM
Geography is the illusion of knowledge. 

lol no.  It's real knowledge, even if it's not important to some people. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 09, 2019, 03:27:42 AM
lol no.  It's real knowledge, even if it's not important to some people.
^ this.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on February 09, 2019, 04:07:31 AM
lol no.  It's real knowledge, even if it's not important to some people. 
Not when all it means is place names. But that's an opinion.  YMMV.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on February 09, 2019, 05:39:38 AM
Not when all it means is place names. But that's an opinion.  YMMV.
A lot of knowledge is like that. No particular understanding is needed and you can drill it into young children’s heads. But that does not mean it is always useless knowledge, not if you build upon it.

A place name is just a word and the location is just part of its meaning. The more words you know the easier you can read and look up the ones you do not know.

And it tells you something about your interests. If you follow the news and took an effort to find out where that flood or earthquake really was. If you read a history book and looked at a map. Or maybe you just know more about the geography of middle earth than this one, not everyone is interested in everything.

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on February 09, 2019, 09:54:49 AM
A lot of knowledge is like that. No particular understanding is needed and you can drill it into young children’s heads. But that does not mean it is always useless knowledge, not if you build upon it.

A place name is just a word and the location is just part of its meaning. The more words you know the easier you can read and look up the ones you do not know.

And it tells you something about your interests. If you follow the news and took an effort to find out where that flood or earthquake really was. If you read a history book and looked at a map. Or maybe you just know more about the geography of middle earth than this one, not everyone is interested in everything.

Yes, to this.  When I was very young, maybe five or six, someone gave me a puzzle.  It was a wooden puzzle with fifty pieces, the fifty states of the U.S.  Of course Hawaii was just a square with the islands painted on it that you stuck off in its own little square on the left hand side of the map.  Canada was included only so you could stick Alaska next to it, and the individual Canadian provinces weren't puzzle pieces though I believe they were drawn in on the map.  The capital city of each state was drawn on each puzzle piece.  So; for example, I learned that Bismarck was the capital city of North Dakota even though I had never been there. (And still haven't.)

You could say I didn't learn much from this puzzle, but as I grew up, if I heard a news story that a tornado had done great damage near Topeka, I knew that was in Kansas and I had a rough idea how far away it was from me. 

Several years later my grandmother decided to she wanted to clear some space and she asked family members if they wanted any old books before she gave them to Goodwill or just threw them away.  I picked out a large World Atlas mostly because it had a large number of great photos in it, but it also told a story because it was published in 1942.  The map of most of Europe was one large Nazi flag.  I don't remember if it was named "German Empire" or "Nazi Occupied Europe."  There was an equally large Japanese Rising Sun flag spread out over a large part of the Pacific Ocean, South East Asia and China labeled "Japanese Empire."  I knew a little about the Second World War, but seeing that book made it much more real for me.  I think that Atlas made me want to learn more about history in general. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 09, 2019, 07:41:52 PM
I really enjoyed your post, Kurtis.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on February 09, 2019, 09:05:14 PM
My grandfather had an atlas of 1939 I often looked in as a child. I don't know what happened to it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on February 09, 2019, 11:37:10 PM
A lot of knowledge is like that. No particular understanding is needed and you can drill it into young children’s heads. But that does not mean it is always useless knowledge, not if you build upon it.
I didn't say that Geography was useless, I said that it was illusionary.  In particular with respect to this.
Quote from: Bad Alias
I've often wondered how many states can the European insulting Americans' knowledge of geography can name.
I suppose that a better word would have been superficial.  For instance three important things are absent from KurtinStGeorge's puzzle.
My grandfather had an atlas of 1939 I often looked in as a child. I don't know what happened to it.
I had my father.  Shot in the hand in some firefight in Africa that he wouldn't talk about.  And full of stories which became part of family lore. My sister and I speculate endlessly about secrets that we imagine to exist.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 10, 2019, 06:48:30 PM
Not only mine, but even such important countries as Italy or modern Germany. ...

I cannot name the internal divisions of any country but mine (23 provinces + Buenos Aires city)  and, to a certain degree, USA  :).

I find a lot of people don't realize how young Germany and Italy are. I think it is because as places or nations, but not countries or nation-states, Germany and Italy "have always been there."

I bet you could name more than you think. Like England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are parts of the U.K. Or perhaps being from former Spanish colony, you can recall all or most of the major political subdivisions of Spain. (I could only get Catalonia, but after looking it up, remembered a couple of others, but definitely not most).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 10, 2019, 06:55:42 PM
Yes about UK. Spain, more or less like you. Half of my family is from Catalonia, so that is easy, and I can remember others but not all. Piece of useless trivia: In Argentina, we informally call all the Spaniards "Gallego" (from Galice). Similarly, we derived the world "tano" from "Napolitano" (from Napoli) and we call all the Italians "tanos". :-*
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 10, 2019, 08:08:13 PM
I figure the UK is easy for me because, from a certain perspective and to a certain point, it is US history, and my family is English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh (plus all the other stuff just about everyone on this side of he Atlantic will be after their family has been here for several hundred years).

Being from Texas, we study Spanish colonial history as part of Texas history. Mostly the conquistadors. (I still don't know what the Incan Empire has to to with Texas history). We also learned a tiny bit about Spanish history when learning about Christopher Columbus.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 10, 2019, 08:59:10 PM
Yes, I understand why. Can you believe that we barely study Incan and even Mexico conquest?
UK it's easy because I watch many thins from UK.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Avernite on February 11, 2019, 08:21:09 PM
(plus all the other stuff just about everyone on this side of he Atlantic will be after their family has been here for several hundred years).
Hate to break it to you, but most of us old worlders are decidedly mixed too ;) I definitely know Dutch and German ancestry (Dutch from all over the country, German from the Rhineland), and probably a few generations further to add UK and French/Belgian. Plus the remainders of Germany :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 11, 2019, 09:19:47 PM
Not surprised in the least. A few generations back, I had an ancestor who was a Dutch immigrant to England. People have always moved around, and if you start going back more than a couple of generations, you have a lot of ancestors. I just think it happens quicker and more thoroughly over here, but think that might be changing with modern travel technology.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Snark Knight on February 12, 2019, 07:07:04 PM
Several years later my grandmother decided to she wanted to clear some space and she asked family members if they wanted any old books before she gave them to Goodwill or just threw them away.  I picked out a large World Atlas mostly because it had a large number of great photos in it, but it also told a story because it was published in 1942.  The map of most of Europe was one large Nazi flag.  I don't remember if it was named "German Empire" or "Nazi Occupied Europe."  There was an equally large Japanese Rising Sun flag spread out over a large part of the Pacific Ocean, South East Asia and China labeled "Japanese Empire."  I knew a little about the Second World War, but seeing that book made it much more real for me.  I think that Atlas made me want to learn more about history in general.

Even aside from the interest, that's probably got enough collector's value that it would have been a shame to just discard.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on February 22, 2019, 12:28:10 AM
New update on the Website.  As of February 21st, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 45
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on February 22, 2019, 01:06:04 AM
Closer and closer. Part foreplay and part slow torture.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on February 22, 2019, 04:42:09 AM
Did we skip/miss an update on 44?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on February 22, 2019, 08:20:57 AM
Not that I recall.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 22, 2019, 12:36:21 PM
Did we skip/miss an update on 44?

As far as I can tell, the was no update for 44. It's fine, Jim is allowed to skip updates  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on February 22, 2019, 06:12:12 PM
As far as I can tell, the was no update for 44. It's fine, Jim is allowed to skip updates  :)

His skipping chapter updates now and then is probably a good thing. Hopefully it will prevent anyone ever posting something like why is this chapter taking him so long.   ;D

I really like the updates but I must say I would be enjoying them a lot more if I could read the chapters as he finishes them.  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: AndiSue on February 23, 2019, 05:39:17 PM
Quote
I really like the updates but I must say I would be enjoying them a lot more if I could read the chapters as he finishes them.  :)

All the beta readers I know say it is much more tortuous waiting between chapters than waiting between books. Think about it this way - how many times have you been reading one of the Dresden Files books, thought to yourself "I will finish this chapter and then go to bed/do whatever" then you get to the end of said chapter and it ends on a cliffhanger? Now imagine you have to wait several weeks or months to get that next chapter instead of just staying up later than you should have.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on February 23, 2019, 10:12:17 PM
All the beta readers I know say it is much more tortuous waiting between chapters than waiting between books. Think about it this way - how many times have you been reading one of the Dresden Files books, thought to yourself "I will finish this chapter and then go to bed/do whatever" then you get to the end of said chapter and it ends on a cliffhanger? Now imagine you have to wait several weeks or months to get that next chapter instead of just staying up later than you should have.
Ah, but on the other hand how many times have you finished reading the book in a couple of marathon sessions and thought: damn, I wish I could've made that last a bit longer.
Besides, chapter by chapter on a half monthly basis should improve self discipline. :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on February 25, 2019, 05:59:56 AM
Even aside from the interest, that's probably got enough collector's value that it would have been a shame to just discard.

I still have that 1942 Atlas and it's in good condition.  I have a cousin who chose a first edition (first in English, not French) of the "Story of O" from my grandmother's extra books.  I didn't know what that novel was at the time.

By the way, as of a few days ago, Jim is up to chapter 45.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on February 25, 2019, 05:17:01 PM
Ah, but on the other hand how many times have you finished reading the book in a couple of marathon sessions and thought: damn, I wish I could've made that last a bit longer.
Besides, chapter by chapter on a half monthly basis should improve self discipline. :D

Exactly.  Reading it a chapter at a time might be torture but it would keep me from staying up all night reading. :)   I am guessing that it would help me slow down and really get all the little details he puts in the first time as well.  It always amazes me how much more I notice on a reread. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on February 26, 2019, 12:34:07 PM
Exactly.  Reading it a chapter at a time might be torture but it would keep me from staying up all night reading. :)   I am guessing that it would help me slow down and really get all the little details he puts in the first time as well.  It always amazes me how much more I notice on a reread.
The problem for the beta readers is that they have to keep secrets. If Peace talks was published as a serial, like a lot of books used to be in the past, we could discuss every chapter here and reread them in all detail. It would be a lot of fun.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 26, 2019, 01:11:58 PM
The problem for the beta readers is that they have to keep secrets. If Peace talks was published as a serial, like a lot of books used to be in the past, we could discuss every chapter here and reread them in all detail. It would be a lot of fun.

Exactly
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: AndiSue on February 26, 2019, 03:57:40 PM
Did we skip/miss an update on 44?

The updates have not been every chapter.

December 6 - Chapter 36
December 17 - Chapter 38
December 27 - Chapter 39
January 17 - Chapter 41
January 31 - Chapter 43
February 21 - Chapter 45
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on February 26, 2019, 05:02:33 PM
The updates have not been every chapter.

December 6 - Chapter 36
December 17 - Chapter 38
December 27 - Chapter 39
January 17 - Chapter 41
January 31 - Chapter 43
February 21 - Chapter 45

Not sure on the rest but we got a chapter 40 update.  It was only about 3 days before the chapter 41 update however so not many people noticed. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on February 26, 2019, 05:15:30 PM
The problem for the beta readers is that they have to keep secrets. If Peace talks was published as a serial, like a lot of books used to be in the past, we could discuss every chapter here and reread them in all detail. It would be a lot of fun.

That really would be amazing!  Though I would not want to force those kinds of deadlines that the serials in the past had.  If a chapter needs a few extra days to be right I am OK with that.   I think Stephan King tried something semi like that at one point with just asking people to pay. I do not remember the details however as I have never been a huge fan of reading horror.   Though I did really enjoy the movie based on Misery. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: jbmdw45 on February 26, 2019, 08:02:22 PM
The problem for the beta readers is that they have to keep secrets. If Peace talks was published as a serial, like a lot of books used to be in the past, we could discuss every chapter here and reread them in all detail. It would be a lot of fun.

Also, they have to keep track of all the different versions of history they've read. It's easy for us to spot continuity errors like e.g. Anna Valmont telling the "wrong" story in Skin Game of how she first got involved with Nicodemus, because we only read one version of Death Masks. For the beta readers it's probably harder, and for Jim himself keeping track of what "actually" happened must be a nightmare.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: toodeep on February 26, 2019, 08:15:25 PM
e.g. Anna Valmont telling the "wrong" story in Skin Game of how she first got involved with Nicodemus.

Has that been confirmed as a mistake?  There are some things that look like mistakes (such as Mort's house changing from a stucco house, to a condo, and back to a stucco house between books) that I thought WoJ had indicated was not writing error.  I believe the current assumption for how this can be is that something that will be written in the future involving time travel will effect things causing this continuity change in the story.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on February 27, 2019, 03:22:24 AM
Not sure on the rest but we got a chapter 40 update.  It was only about 3 days before the chapter 41 update however so not many people noticed.

42 too.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Independent George on February 28, 2019, 09:09:20 PM
I'm suddenly nervous about the fact that the completion of Peace Talks seems likely to coincide with April Fool's Day. You know what that jerk likes to do to us on April Fool's Day...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: AndiSue on March 01, 2019, 05:19:50 PM
Also, they have to keep track of all the different versions of history they've read. It's easy for us to spot continuity errors like e.g. Anna Valmont telling the "wrong" story in Skin Game of how she first got involved with Nicodemus, because we only read one version of Death Masks. For the beta readers it's probably harder, and for Jim himself keeping track of what "actually" happened must be a nightmare.

In one of the Q&As around the Brief Cases release Jim said exactly this. I happened to transcribe a Q&A for another group and here is what Jim said:

"Oh, I don’t check stuff. I don’t check stuff because it would be useless for me to check stuff. When you’re writing a book you’ll go through and plan it out and then get the rough draft written and then you’ll clean that up and send that to beta readers. Then you’ll go through and changes things based on feedback from them, go through it again one more time and see if there’s anything that that needs to be done, then it goes off to the editor and the editor comes back with some comments and then you change it some more. Then it goes off to the line editor and then it comes back and you’ve got to fix all the grammar and spelling errors and then once you’re done with that it goes to the proof stage and then you’ve got to read the proof. So by the time the book is done I’ve seen between 9 and 11 slightly different versions of the same story and in my head I can’t keep track of which one wound up in the books. You guys have read one version. I’ve kind of got this cloud of parallel universes rather than a working knowledge of what actually happened in the book universe. So that’s why I have friends. Priscilla Spencer is very good at that. My friend Lowell in Chicago is really good at that. And when I say “really good” what I mean is it is so annoying. But really, really necessary. Because I’ll write this big scene and be like “boom boom boom boom POW! Wow! That was really good!” and I’ll send it off to the beta readers and they’ll come back and be like “Yeah, you killed that character three books ago.” Stuff like that happens to me." - June 7, 2018, Brief Cases Book Tour - Joseph-Beth Bookstore in Lexington, KY https://youtu.be/Df_3c02lelg
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on March 02, 2019, 02:58:03 PM
The updates have not been every chapter.

December 6 - Chapter 36
December 17 - Chapter 38
December 27 - Chapter 39
January 17 - Chapter 41
January 31 - Chapter 43
February 21 - Chapter 45
To which you can add chapter 46 as of 3/1 2019
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on March 03, 2019, 09:33:52 AM
The updates have not been every chapter.

December 6 - Chapter 36
December 17 - Chapter 38
December 27 - Chapter 39
January 17 - Chapter 41
January 31 - Chapter 43
February 21 - Chapter 45
To which you can add chapter 46 as of 3/1 2019

So let's do some math.

December 6 - Chapter 36
December 17 - Chapter 38
11 Days - 2 chapters
December 17 - Chapter 38
December 27 - Chapter 39
10 days - 1 chapter However, I will subtract 1 day for Christmas
December 27 - Chapter 39
January 17 - Chapter 41
21 days - 2 chapters Again, I will subtract 1 day for New Year's Day
January 17 - Chapter 41
January 31 - Chapter 43
11 days - 2 chapters
January 31 - Chapter 43
February 21 - Chapter 45
21 days - 2 chapters
February 21 - Chapter 45
March 1 - Chapter 46
8 days - 1 chapter

So 11+10+21+11+21+8-2 =  80 Days estimated writing time (It doesn't matter if Jim's writing schedule is 5,6 or 7 days a week.  Assuming his schedule is steady; which I know is a huge assumption in late December, the total number of days are what matter.)

80/10 chapters = 8 days per chapter  Of course, the assumption here is each chapter is the same or very close to the same in word count.

So; in theory, it's just a question of how many chapters Jim has left to complete.  In reality, I don't know if the last chapter or three; the ones which contain the final boss battle(s), might take a day or two longer each, but I'll ignore that possibility for now.  If Peace Talks is 52 chapters long (I believe someone counted and said the last four of five books have been about 52 chapters each.), it should take 48 more days.  (6 chapters x 8 days per chapter)  If Peace Talks is 55 chapters long (I think Cold Days was 55 chapters long.  I know it had the highest word count.), then it will take 72 more days. (9 chapters x 8 days per chapter.)

Final assumption.  When we are given a chapter number, that means Jim has finished that chapter, not that he has started working on that chapter.  If the later is the case, I have to add 8 more days to my estimates, which I really don't want to do.

March 1 + 48 days = April 18
March 1 + 72 days = May 12

So now that I've done some simple math and made a rough estimate when we can expect Peace Talks to be finished, it will be interesting to see how close I get Jim gets to meeting my estimates. :)  If Peace Talks is finished within this time frame, I expect we will get it in time for Christmas.
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on March 04, 2019, 03:43:49 PM
KSG's post made me smile.  Thank you.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on March 04, 2019, 04:57:17 PM
March 1 + 48 days = April 18
March 1 + 72 days = May 12

So now that I've done some simple math and made a rough estimate when we can expect Peace Talks to be finished, it will be interesting to see how close I get Jim gets to meeting my estimates. :)  If Peace Talks is finished within this time frame, I expect we will get it in time for Christmas.

I have been meaning to do this myself. Thanks.  If nothing else it is fun to look at.  If only the update posts included the total planned number of chapters we could really go crazy with predicting publication dates.  I am currently going with hitting shelves just before Halloween :)  I like to be optimistic. 
Title: Chapter 47
Post by: morriswalters on March 05, 2019, 03:23:58 AM
Chapter 47 3/4/2019
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Just Al on March 06, 2019, 05:06:34 PM
Just as an FYI, for everyone here, plus Jim.
Here is an essay that Charles Stross wrote on his own problems with writing very long book series

https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2019/03/lessons-learned-writing-really.html
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on March 06, 2019, 05:33:38 PM
Chapter 47 3/4/2019

Honestly, it's so gratifying to know that Jim is writing. It's not impatience, I'm just happy for him that he's back to doing what he does, at least fairly regularly, after so much time and life upheaval.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on March 07, 2019, 10:00:40 AM
Just as an FYI, for everyone here, plus Jim.
Here is an essay that Charles Stross wrote on his own problems with writing very long book series

https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2019/03/lessons-learned-writing-really.html

That was a pretty good read.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on March 08, 2019, 06:30:00 AM
I agree, that was an interesting article.  After reading that I think I have a better understanding why Jim is writing other, shorter series in between the Dresden Files.

By the way Jim is up to Chapter 48 as of March 7.  That is pretty fast work for the past week or so.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on March 08, 2019, 05:04:15 PM
Yes it was a good read.  I had heard I think from one of his con interviews that he writes the other non Dresden books basically for that reason.  When he is done a Dresden book he is sick of Harry and writes something else for a break. Then when he is done with the non Dresden book he is looking forward to writing another Dresden.  Part of that being Dresden books are easier to write then his non-Dresden because Dresden is written in first person and his other series are not.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on March 11, 2019, 05:25:26 PM
Part of that being Dresden books are easier to write then his non-Dresden because Dresden is written in first person and his other series are not.
I agree and disagree with that sentiment. I don't find first-person inherently easier to write than third. I find third simpler in a lot of ways—I don't have to worry about restricting narration ("I'd like to say this, but the perspective character doesn't have access to this information"), I don't have horse blinders on in terms of plot (I can bounce around between characters, each of whom have different things going on, different information, different personalities, etc., so I can keep things going without everything happening at once, in an unbroken chain of events), it's easier to manage pacing, and—this is a big one for me—I don't need to keep all of the characters together to prevent things from happening off-page.

Basically, first person is "easier" in that the actual prose you write can be much more casual (or not, depending on your perspective character), and it can help you stay focused on a tight narrative. But third gives you so many more narrative options that it can be a whole lot simpler to tackle tougher plot points (and it's helped me avoid a bad block, more than once). I can jump to a different perspective character when the plot starts to drag a bit, to keep things moving along nicely.

On the flip side, it can be harder to keep track of each character or group of characters in longer, complex stories. You'll notice in the Codex Alera series, Jim stuck to a small cast of perspective characters, pretty much sticking to three or four in each one—Tavi, Amara, Isana, and Fidelious (sometimes), plus an occasional villain. That kept things simple enough that he could use the perspective's greatest strengths, and limit the biggest weakness. Aeronaut's Windlass was more troublesome, with... hang on, it's been a while—um... six? Seven? Folly, Grimm, Gwen, Bridget, Rowl, and that Auroran Marine, what's his name. Maybe one more. Anyway, that might've complicated things a bit.

I wrote one door-stopper book with about twenty perspective characters that was a total blast to write, in large part because it bounced around so much. But it was a story that I knew extremely well before I sat down to write any of it, so I didn't have much trouble tracking the different character journeys.

Basically, what I'm saying is this: it's entirely possible that the third-person perspective is part of the break for Jim. First can be really restrictive in a lot of ways, and sometimes it's fun to just cut loose and do what you want.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: tromedlov87 on March 12, 2019, 05:32:06 AM
Isn't the longest book in the series only around 53 chapters (Cold Days)? And I think the books are usually pretty consistent with number of chapters and length. So, if Jim's done with chapter 48, isn't he (most likely) nearly done?

Granted, I'm sure there will be lots of revision and work still to do even when it is done, but this makes me feel really good about the progress and that we might finally get a release date before too terribly long.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on March 12, 2019, 11:47:54 AM
In Skin Game chapter 49 is the is the race to the last battle at Michael's house. 50 is the fight and 51 is the recap and end.  I'm hoping the next update is the End.  Then we can start harassing the publisher.  However still no cover art so not particularly hopeful. :(
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on March 12, 2019, 12:58:47 PM
I believe we are still away of "the end". We are having updates on the drafts, but they will need to be revised.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on March 13, 2019, 02:24:52 AM
Isn't the longest book in the series only around 53 chapters (Cold Days)?

Yes, and Skin Game and Ghost Story each had 51 chapters, though Ghost Story had over 10,000 more words than Skin Game.  So now that Jim has reached chapter 49 he must be getting near the final boss battle chapter, if he isn't there already.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if Peace Talks has as many chapters and words as Cold Days because there are a large number of potential subplots for Harry to deal with, no matter how well Jim can combine them into a single story.
 
I believe we are still away of "the end". We are having updates on the drafts, but they will need to be revised.

I've commented on this topic before.  One day, several years ago, while waiting for Cold Days to be released I started going back through Jim's twitter feed to see when he had announced, "The end.  I just finished (fill in the blank), now it goes to the publisher for ..."  Then I compared that date with the release date of that particular book.  I went back as far as Jim's Twitter feed went.  What I found was most of his books were released within 9 months after Jim's Twitter announcement.  There were some noticeable exceptions.  I think one book took a year or a little longer to be released.  Another was published just 3 1/2 months later; however, I believe Jim said that novel (I think it was Changes.) had already been very heavily pre-edited before he sent it to the publishers so both the publishers and Jim had much less work to do to get that one ready and out the door.  I think there was one other book that was released about 5 months after Jim's "The end" announcement.  There were also one or two books that were released within 6 to 8 months after Jim announced he had finished.

That's why I think it's likely we will get Peace Talks in time for Christmas.  Here in the U.S., publishers like to get best selling books out by the end of November to maximize sales during the Christmas season.  So unless Peace Talks needs a ton of editing and rewrites, the publisher will do their best to get it out before the end of 2019.     
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on March 13, 2019, 08:22:24 AM
chapter 49
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on March 13, 2019, 02:00:07 PM
chapter 49
::)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on March 13, 2019, 03:21:19 PM
I am looking forward for a Dresden birthday gift, but I don't want to raise my hopes.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on March 13, 2019, 08:24:05 PM
I am looking forward for a Dresden birthday gift, but I don't want to raise my hopes.

 Well, it is mine today, and it is what it is.... ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on March 14, 2019, 03:49:46 AM
Sorry I forgot  :'(  (yours and Wat's birthday was today. I simply forgot to watch the list). I hope it has been great!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: AndiSue on March 14, 2019, 09:35:32 PM

I've commented on this topic before.  One day, several years ago, while waiting for Cold Days to be released I started going back through Jim's twitter feed to see when he had announced, "The end.  I just finished (fill in the blank), now it goes to the publisher for ..."  Then I compared that date with the release date of that particular book.  I went back as far as Jim's Twitter feed went.  What I found was most of his books were released within 9 months after Jim's Twitter announcement.  There were some noticeable exceptions.  I think one book took a year or a little longer to be released.  Another was published just 3 1/2 months later; however, I believe Jim said that novel (I think it was Changes.) had already been very heavily pre-edited before he sent it to the publishers so both the publishers and Jim had much less work to do to get that one ready and out the door.  I think there was one other book that was released about 5 months after Jim's "The end" announcement.  There were also one or two books that were released within 6 to 8 months after Jim announced he had finished.

That's why I think it's likely we will get Peace Talks in time for Christmas.  Here in the U.S., publishers like to get best selling books out by the end of November to maximize sales during the Christmas season.  So unless Peace Talks needs a ton of editing and rewrites, the publisher will do their best to get it out before the end of 2019.   

Skin Game was six months from "The End" tweet to published (The End - November 17, 2013, Release date 5/27/2014)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: tromedlov87 on March 15, 2019, 05:38:55 AM
Yes, and Skin Game and Ghost Story each had 51 chapters, though Ghost Story had over 10,000 more words than Skin Game.  So now that Jim has reached chapter 49 he must be getting near the final boss battle chapter, if he isn't there already.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if Peace Talks has as many chapters and words as Cold Days because there are a large number of potential subplots for Harry to deal with, no matter how well Jim can combine them into a single story.
 
I've commented on this topic before.  One day, several years ago, while waiting for Cold Days to be released I started going back through Jim's twitter feed to see when he had announced, "The end.  I just finished (fill in the blank), now it goes to the publisher for ..."  Then I compared that date with the release date of that particular book.  I went back as far as Jim's Twitter feed went.  What I found was most of his books were released within 9 months after Jim's Twitter announcement.  There were some noticeable exceptions.  I think one book took a year or a little longer to be released.  Another was published just 3 1/2 months later; however, I believe Jim said that novel (I think it was Changes.) had already been very heavily pre-edited before he sent it to the publishers so both the publishers and Jim had much less work to do to get that one ready and out the door.  I think there was one other book that was released about 5 months after Jim's "The end" announcement.  There were also one or two books that were released within 6 to 8 months after Jim announced he had finished.

That's why I think it's likely we will get Peace Talks in time for Christmas.  Here in the U.S., publishers like to get best selling books out by the end of November to maximize sales during the Christmas season.  So unless Peace Talks needs a ton of editing and rewrites, the publisher will do their best to get it out before the end of 2019.   

Yeah, I'm feeling this too. I won't be upset or anything if it doesn't happen, but things to seem to be lining up for the book to release before the end of this year. Unless Peace Talks turns out to be MUCH longer than every other book in the series, which I think is unlikely.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on March 22, 2019, 06:57:37 PM
CHAPTER FIFTY!!!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on March 22, 2019, 09:32:01 PM
A Halloween release may still be possible.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on March 23, 2019, 12:24:32 AM
CHAPTER FIFTY!!!

 :D :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on March 23, 2019, 05:49:05 AM
After doing a couple of chapters in 4 days each, this last one took Jim 10 days to knock out.  I'm hoping that extra time needed to finish this last chapter indicates it was the final boss battle chapter; meaning the next chapter will be the book's denouement, the final chapter; or alternatively, it was the chapter that leads into the final boss battle, and that would mean there were only two chapters left for Jim to finish.

If there are only two chapters left, that could mean Jim is about 2 weeks; give or take a couple of days, from the finish line.  (He said with fingers crossed for luck.)

 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on March 23, 2019, 12:35:02 PM
I mean last weekend was a holiday, that might account for it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on March 23, 2019, 10:58:27 PM
I am really hoping that 50 was the big battle and all that is left is the wrap-up... with a possible lead-in to the next book.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on March 25, 2019, 12:02:14 PM
Irrespective, its solid forward progress and the end is nigh ;)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on March 25, 2019, 01:12:31 PM
Irrespective, its solid forward progress and the end is nigh ;)

Or not.... ::)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on March 25, 2019, 05:31:30 PM
I am really hoping that 50 was the big battle and all that is left is the wrap-up... with a possible lead-in to the next book.

I am a little torn.  I really want it to be almost done but at the same time I want it to be nice and long so that it takes me longer to finish reading it.   ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on March 26, 2019, 05:18:29 PM
I'd wager a guess that if this book were exceptionally longer than the norm, Jim or Priscilla would have clued us in already as his transparency is rather high.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on March 28, 2019, 01:43:24 PM
I am a little torn.  I really want it to be almost done but at the same time I want it to be nice and long so that it takes me longer to finish reading it.   ;D

I know what you mean. I finished Skin Game the day it came out. I cleared my schedule specifically because I knew I was going to be reading all day. It was a bittersweet experience, because it's such a fun book, but then I gazed into the Jim Butcherless future, and wept.

On the flip side, I'll have at least a twelve-hour audiobook too, which should last about two weeks' worth of drive time.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on March 28, 2019, 02:03:29 PM
I know what you mean. I finished Skin Game the day it came out. I cleared my schedule specifically because I knew I was going to be reading all day. It was a bittersweet experience, because it's such a fun book, but then I gazed into the Jim Butcherless future, and wept.

On the flip side, I'll have at least a twelve-hour audiobook too, which should last about two weeks' worth of drive time.
I was the same way -- except I had to immediately reread it in light of the twist.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on March 28, 2019, 02:57:01 PM
I did the same, except I finished Skin Game, then went back to the beginning and reread the series and short stories in order, mostly because I didn't want it to be over (and it was time for my annual reread anyway).

This year, I listened to the audiobooks for the first time instead, and recently finished them (I now understand everyone's praise for James Marsters's performance). An old friend convinced me to really read some manga for the first time a couple of months ago, and I decided to start with Berserk, so I didn't really have time (if you don't know, there are about 8,400 published comic pages over the last thirtyish years, so it was a lot to get through) to read the books even though I was due. Evidently, all of the manga I'm even remotely interested in is almost hilariously lengthy (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, which I haven't looked at for twentysomething years, is somewhere around 24,000 pages; that may not sound like much, but holy crap is there a lot of detail in each panel), so I'm hoping I get to a good stopping point during whatever I'm reading to do a legit reread in the leadup to Peace Talks.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on March 29, 2019, 04:20:00 AM
"Why’s Peace Talks Taking So Long?
Personal problems/life events spanning the past several years gummed up the works for a while.  Fortunately, things are back on an even keel!  For the last several months, he’s been cranking out chapters with blazing speed, under the guidance of his new canine buddy Bru and his wife Kitty’s four majestic cats.
As of March 28nd, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 52. Progress!  We don’t have a release date yet, but we’ll update this page, send out a newsletter, and tweet it to the high heavens the moment we do!"
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on March 29, 2019, 08:17:09 AM
As of March 28nd, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 52. Progress! 

Peace Talks may end up being the longest Dresden Files to date, at least in the number of chapters.  Cold Days had 53 chapters and the highest word count.  Now look at the various issues PT may cover.  Obviously something is going to happen at the talks Harry will have to deal with.  We haven't seen anyone from the White Council since Changes, so there's bound to be some drama with the Council beyond Harry providing security for White Council negotiators.  In Cold Days, Thomas told Harry that Lara was getting scary.  As we can expect the White Court to be a part of the Peace Talks I expect we will get some White Court drama too.  Marcone should also play a role here.  Then there's what's going on with
(click to show/hide)
Ivy might be called in to help negotiate a settlement, so we may see both her and Kincade.  Plus, isn't she a teenager now?  That alone could provide some interesting complications.  After Molly showed up in the Christmas eve short, short story; I think it's a good guess she may represent the Winter Court in some fashion in Peace Talks.  Murphy might be doing rehab after all the injuries she suffered in Skin Game, but she might have a scene or two with Harry.  Plus, there's the whole "Murphy's funeral" thing Jim trolled us with.

Now some of the above guesses may not play out, but I bet most of them do.  Plus there are the wild cards to consider.  What complications could Mavra, Cowl or Elaine bring to the story?  Finally, I know some people have thought the Eebs could show up as the leaders of the new Red Court.  I'm not betting on that one, but you never know.

So I'm going to make another guess, just for fun.  Peace Talks will end up having 55 total chapters, give or take one chapter.  I think it's fair to say Jim is getting pretty close to the end.   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on March 30, 2019, 06:56:13 PM
I ain't even gonna think about it till Tuesday. ;)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: MoroccoMole on March 30, 2019, 11:09:43 PM
I gave up drinking for lent, regular updates on the site really take the edge off.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on April 01, 2019, 04:50:52 AM
Jim Talks Peace Talks (http://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2019/peace-talks-coming-soon)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Warden John Marcone on April 01, 2019, 05:02:15 AM
Also of interest, I just got this in my inbox:

Quote
As Jim approaches completion of his manuscript for “Peace Talks,” he’s excited to talk about Harry’s latest exploits with his fans.  The long-awaited 16th novel of The Dresden Files is set at a summit of the various supernatural movers and shakers who shape Harry’s world, united to formulate a peace treaty with the Fomor.  However, Jim has noticed an unsettling trend among his readers, and he wanted to put a stop to some of the misinformation circulating around the fandom.

“Folks seem to have gotten the wrong impression about this book.  It’s called ‘Peace Talks.’ It’s about peace.  Generally, everyone is nice to each other and they have a good time.  They sing a few songs and drink some good beer, then they go home with everything happily resolved.”

While this may seem something of a departure from Harry’s previous adventures, after two dozen novels under his belt, Jim says he’s ready to expand upon his typical formula and experiment with other styles of storytelling.  That’s not to say there’s no conflict, however.  “Man, can you imagine how tense it’s gonna be to choose between the chicken or the fish entree when you’re seated between a harpy and the creature from the Black Lagoon?  Honestly, the host should’ve just gone for lasagna.”

Who will be at the peace talks, you may ask?  “I think the readers are going to like this one.  We’ll get to see a lot of characters we haven’t heard from in a while.  At the risk of spoilers, there’s a great scene with Marcone and King Korb calmly discussing a point of bureaucratic minutiae regarding water rights.  It’s gonna be wild.”

When his editor confronted him with quotes claiming this would be his “most supernaturally violent book to date,” Jim seemed confused at first. “Yeah.  A bunch of Accorded dignitaries just DESTROY an entire tray of cheesecakes.  They’re like piranha.  Not a single crumb of that sweet graham cracker crust remained.”

Make of it what you will.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on April 01, 2019, 02:05:46 PM
April 1st is what I'd make of it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Warden John Marcone on April 01, 2019, 02:26:57 PM
Which is why I didn't include the last paragraph  ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on April 01, 2019, 05:29:37 PM
I've noticed  ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on April 01, 2019, 07:12:58 PM
Ah, didn't follow the link. Mea culpa.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on April 02, 2019, 03:01:46 PM
We also have this now posted. 

As of April 1st, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 54, and that’s NOT an April Fool. Progress!  We don’t have a release date yet, but we’ll update this page, send out a newsletter, and tweet it to the high heavens the moment we do!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: magnuskn on April 02, 2019, 08:44:21 PM
Well, at least in terms of chapters, that makes Peace Talks the biggest Dresden Files book by Jim yet and it seems he isn't even done yet. Probably no wonder, given the amount of hanging storylines due to Jim locking away Harry from the worldwide consequences of Changes for two books and Peace Talks playing only half a year after Skin Game. There are a lot of chickens coming home to roost and that takes space to flesh out.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on April 03, 2019, 02:29:29 PM
There are a lot of chickens coming home to roost and that takes space to flesh out.
And it's going to be downright delicious. I cannot wait to find out what the Council has been up to, and how bad the damage from Changes-->Skin Game is (I imagine that they've got one hell of a bloody nose from the Fomor).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: magnuskn on April 03, 2019, 07:32:23 PM
I just want the first conversation Harry has with Langtry to be part of the book. That should be amazing.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on April 03, 2019, 11:58:29 PM
I hope Harry tells Merlin, "reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Avernite on April 04, 2019, 06:27:31 PM
And it's going to be downright delicious. I cannot wait to find out what the Council has been up to, and how bad the damage from Changes-->Skin Game is (I imagine that they've got one hell of a bloody nose from the Fomor).
Not too sure; the Fomor in Chicago were pretty smooth operators. Decent chance they managed to avoid any serious open conflict and the Council has egg on its face for failing to deal with them, rather than a bloody nose for confronting them in bloody conflicts.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on April 04, 2019, 06:57:37 PM
The Fomor are specifically noted as avoiding places with wizards, so if anything, I imagine it's the other way around -- the White Council attacking Fomor outposts and giving them a bloody nose.

I mean, think about it, the three major Fomor stories we have right now are:
(click to show/hide)

So all in all, the Fomor are not fairing very well in straight fights, even against mostly mortal forces. So I doubt they've gone and given the White Council a bloody nose -- but they might be using the Peace Talks to try and take some of them out, like they tried in Bombshells.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on April 04, 2019, 07:14:25 PM
Well, yeah, they've gotten their butts handed to them when we've seen them fight characters with Plot Armor. I'm just judging from the information we got between Ghost Story and Skin Game, which kinda indicated that the Council was scrambling, to the point that they pretty much ignore North America to maintain order in Europe (with the exception of Bill, Carlos (currently out of action), and maybe another warden or two I can't remember).

Regardless, I phrased it poorly; I didn't mean that the Council was losing , especially not open confrontations. I meant that the Council was fighting a war of attrition, and not doing great. I mean, one dead wizard is more of a blow than, what, a hundred dead Fomor servitors? I don't know how many of them there are, I'm just going based on Fantasy Rules (for every "hero," there are approximately one quadrillion orcs/goblins/Red Court Vampires/Lilliputians.)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on April 04, 2019, 07:58:41 PM
As of April 4th, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 56. 

I must say wow the book is getting long and Jim is really knocking out chapters lately. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on April 05, 2019, 03:31:42 AM
Well, yeah, they've gotten their butts handed to them when we've seen them fight characters with Plot Armor. I'm just judging from the information we got between Ghost Story and Skin Game, which kinda indicated that the Council was scrambling, to the point that they pretty much ignore North America to maintain order in Europe (with the exception of Bill, Carlos (currently out of action), and maybe another warden or two I can't remember).

Regardless, I phrased it poorly; I didn't mean that the Council was losing , especially not open confrontations. I meant that the Council was fighting a war of attrition, and not doing great. I mean, one dead wizard is more of a blow than, what, a hundred dead Fomor servitors? I don't know how many of them there are, I'm just going based on Fantasy Rules (for every "hero," there are approximately one quadrillion orcs/goblins/Red Court Vampires/Lilliputians.)

Your post makes me wonder about Marcone and the White Court and what kind of losses they have been taking to hold onto the territory they claim within Chicago.  I remember the negotiation session Murphy had with Marcone's proxy in Ghost Story when they traded small bits of territory.  I don't remember the specifics of what their negotiation was about, but the important thing is that Murphy's people and Marcone would have to be willing to fight to hold on to what they had against the Fomor.  The same is true for Lara Raith and the rest of the White Court.

Now Marcone and Lara could use hired guns, but that would get pretty expensive because they would have to be highly trained people to go up against Fomor servitors.  Not the same thing as hiring people for a one time job like Marcone did in the Raith Deeps.  It makes me wonder how much Marcone and Lara would want a settlement with the Fomor or if either or both would really like the White Council to go all out against the Fomor and solve their problem for them.

As of April 4th, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 56. 

I must say wow the book is getting long and Jim is really knocking out chapters lately.

We should have had pool going to guess how many chapters this book will have.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on April 05, 2019, 02:08:25 PM
Your post makes me wonder about Marcone and the White Court and what kind of losses they have been taking to hold onto the territory they claim within Chicago.  I remember the negotiation session Murphy had with Marcone's proxy in Ghost Story when they traded small bits of territory.  I don't remember the specifics of what their negotiation was about, but the important thing is that Murphy's people and Marcone would have to be willing to fight to hold on to what they had against the Fomor.  The same is true for Lara Raith and the rest of the White Court.

Now Marcone and Lara could use hired guns, but that would get pretty expensive because they would have to be highly trained people to go up against Fomor servitors.  Not the same thing as hiring people for a one time job like Marcone did in the Raith Deeps.  It makes me wonder how much Marcone and Lara would want a settlement with the Fomor or if either or both would really like the White Council to go all out against the Fomor and solve their problem for them.

Yeah, that scene was a little telling for me. Marcone and the White Court have the resources to hold Chicago reasonably well, but the Paranet review during that meeting indicates that the world is a very, very scary place for those without an organization backing you up. I would imagine Marcone would be interested in a deal that eliminates or mitigates the Fomor threat... but I also have the sense that Marcone would be extremely reticent to actually give up the territory he's holding, especially to the White Council. Lara and Marcone are using the chaos to expand, I think (actually, doesn't Thomas say that Lara's been particularly aggressive, going for national influence?). The White Council probably wouldn't care which crime lord runs Chicago, so long as it isn't the Fomor.
Quote
We should have had pool going to guess how many chapters this book will have.
I'm in! Twenty bucks on 62.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on April 11, 2019, 12:39:17 PM
He's up to 57, I'm beginning to think he is writing the Encyclopedia Galactica rather than Peace Talks, /stamps feet and throws tantrum/ ;)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on April 11, 2019, 02:02:56 PM
 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: DonBugen on April 11, 2019, 02:23:11 PM
He's up to 57, I'm beginning to think he is writing the Encyclopedia Galactica rather than Peace Talks,
He'd better not be.  It's too expensive, and lacks any helpful advice on the cover.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Griffyn612 on April 12, 2019, 04:46:31 PM
He'd better not be.  It's too expensive, and lacks any helpful advice on the cover.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/teepublic/image/private/s--T11olA5J--/t_Preview/b_rgb:0195c3,c_limit,f_jpg,h_630,q_90,w_630/v1490831605/production/designs/1368582_1.jpg)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on April 13, 2019, 11:24:49 AM


   Long is good, but if the chapters are not just filler to make up for the long drought between books
in the series we may be in for a disappointment...  ::)  Not saying this is the case, it happens... Everything that goes before the word "but" in a sentence is bullshit.... Ned Stark..
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Avernite on April 13, 2019, 05:54:18 PM
Well, yeah, they've gotten their butts handed to them when we've seen them fight characters with Plot Armor. I'm just judging from the information we got between Ghost Story and Skin Game, which kinda indicated that the Council was scrambling, to the point that they pretty much ignore North America to maintain order in Europe (with the exception of Bill, Carlos (currently out of action), and maybe another warden or two I can't remember).

Regardless, I phrased it poorly; I didn't mean that the Council was losing , especially not open confrontations. I meant that the Council was fighting a war of attrition, and not doing great. I mean, one dead wizard is more of a blow than, what, a hundred dead Fomor servitors? I don't know how many of them there are, I'm just going based on Fantasy Rules (for every "hero," there are approximately one quadrillion orcs/goblins/Red Court Vampires/Lilliputians.)
I have the feeling the White Council got too much used to major battles; especially Proven Guilty implied that the Red Court fought them en-masse. So a Wizard would be on his guard only occasionally for a period of utter chaos, and then go back to some semblance of normality.

And I think it's also where the Council's main strength is - bring your army to the battlefield the Council knows about, and they can prepare the magic to utterly wipe the floor with you. So noone who has an army wants to annoy them (much).

But the Fomor are fighting a guerilla war, and that requires constant vigilance and a desire to always go out there and kick the Fomor back. We see Marcone and Lara Raith (intelligent and adaptable operaters) struggle with it, so imagine what a bunch of hidebound conservatives would have to do?
This also means the victories of 'normals' against the Fomor are less impressive than otherwise would be the case - the moment a Fomor operation is known about by their enemies is the moment they have already half-lost, and smart Fomor operators start running (of course, the examples shared make it clear that such smarts aren't always in evidence).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on April 14, 2019, 12:30:03 AM
Do not forget that the Fomor aren't fighting a war, per se. They're heavily recuiting, and accepting casualties while doing so. They're kidnapping as many people as possible with a low-class magical talent. Even to the point of trading one higher-class talent for two of the low-class. This means that they're turning them, and they care more about numbers than talent. All they're doing so far is preparing for the big fight to come.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on April 14, 2019, 04:14:41 AM
If they are not fighting a war, why is the book called Peace Talks?  And if they are poor fighters, why the supposedly high body count in the Christmas story?  Fighting a conventional war is one thing, but they haven't shown any desire to do so.  But they have shown the will to use weapons of mass destruction.  It looks to me the Jim is going to try and deliver a sucker punch based on our expectations.  It's been driving me nuts as to why he killed off the Reds and replaced them with the Three Stooges.  It was late in the game to do it and it doesn't play well with me.  There has to be something more to it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Gman on April 14, 2019, 08:40:04 AM
I think the Fomor are loosing lots of minions and rarely powerful Fomor. The White Council has few minions and lesser allies. So the White Council could be taking losses in much lower numbers but can't afford to lose 20 wizards to 500 minions and the Fomor count themselves ahead. Nemesis could be influencing some of the Fomor leaders so they are doing things not in their long term interests. Look what the Red Court did. They got themselves wiped out. The Black Council (Team Outsider) is trying to get the local major powers to fight each other and weaken or destroy each other. The White Council was supposed to be wiped out or crippled and the Red Court weakend. It was mentioned that the good guys took lots of losses in Peace Talks, perhaps the Fomor are now crippled and no longer a major player.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: groinkick on April 14, 2019, 05:26:29 PM
I have the feeling the White Council got too much used to major battles; especially Proven Guilty implied that the Red Court fought them en-masse. So a Wizard would be on his guard only occasionally for a period of utter chaos, and then go back to some semblance of normality.

And I think it's also where the Council's main strength is - bring your army to the battlefield the Council knows about, and they can prepare the magic to utterly wipe the floor with you. So noone who has an army wants to annoy them (much).

But the Fomor are fighting a guerilla war, and that requires constant vigilance and a desire to always go out there and kick the Fomor back. We see Marcone and Lara Raith (intelligent and adaptable operaters) struggle with it, so imagine what a bunch of hidebound conservatives would have to do?
This also means the victories of 'normals' against the Fomor are less impressive than otherwise would be the case - the moment a Fomor operation is known about by their enemies is the moment they have already half-lost, and smart Fomor operators start running (of course, the examples shared make it clear that such smarts aren't always in evidence).

I think that what happened is the White Council suffered some big losses during the war with the reds.  They have been weakened, thus making their fight with the Fomor a more difficult one.  A good example is the Captain of the Wardens had her power placed in a weaker individual, and she can no longer forge the powerful swords the wardens carry.  Morgan, one of their greatest Wardens was killed.  Archangel, and the Brute Squad were all slaughtered. 

So they lost some heavy hitters, and that's not including all the people they lost to the Reds.  A White Council at full strength would be less vulnerable to the Fomor, and their tactics I think.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Avernite on April 15, 2019, 09:54:50 AM
I think that what happened is the White Council suffered some big losses during the war with the reds.  They have been weakened, thus making their fight with the Fomor a more difficult one.  A good example is the Captain of the Wardens had her power placed in a weaker individual, and she can no longer forge the powerful swords the wardens carry.  Morgan, one of their greatest Wardens was killed.  Archangel, and the Brute Squad were all slaughtered. 

So they lost some heavy hitters, and that's not including all the people they lost to the Reds.  A White Council at full strength would be less vulnerable to the Fomor, and their tactics I think.
Absolutely.
And I imagine the pre-war Warden crop, used to the ongoing policing work of finding Warlocks and smashing individual monsters, would have a better mindset for it too than the post-war 'ready for a real battle' group.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on April 15, 2019, 11:39:27 AM
Wasn't there an ongoing power struggle between White Council factions when we last saw them in Changes?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Independent George on April 15, 2019, 03:01:01 PM
So... Jim starts cranking out chapters right while Sanderson is outlining Stormlight 4? And Peace Talks ends up being unusually long?

I think Jim borrowed some unused writing clones. If we see a fourteen page explanation of how magic works in the nevernever, we'll know for sure...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on April 16, 2019, 01:16:10 AM
Wasn't there an ongoing power struggle between White Council factions when we last saw them in Changes?

Yes, and we have no idea how it played out.  So I'm expecting we'll get some kind of explanation of what happened.  The only guess I can make in Senior Council member Cristos gained more power. 

Now that I think about it, I think the White Council is in something of a fragil state.  It's not really united, and I think that because of the prediction we got from Rashid in Turn Coat when he said to Harry, "It's not your hour" to challenge the Council to combat.  That suggests the White Council is or will become a total mess at some point.

Progress: Jim's up to chapter 58 now.  Whoever predicted PT will be 62 chapters long is still on track.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on April 16, 2019, 09:06:06 AM
Thanks for the update.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: nadia.skylark on April 16, 2019, 09:09:04 PM
Quote
If we see a fourteen page explanation of how magic works in the nevernever, we'll know for sure...

That would be so awesome to read! Seriously, the one thing that could possibly make these books better would be more magic explanations.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on April 17, 2019, 05:10:44 AM
And potions! I loved Harry making potions.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on April 17, 2019, 08:31:16 AM
I do miss the potions part of the early books. Just for Bob's commentary.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on April 17, 2019, 11:33:09 AM


 I just miss Bob as Harry's partner,  not saying that Bonny won't be good, but will never be the same.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on April 17, 2019, 01:14:10 PM
I agree.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on April 17, 2019, 01:14:44 PM
I miss the potions, too, though I understand why Jim has shied away from them a bit. He added a nod to them in Changes, which made sense; he was adding everything (and everyone but Will and the Alphas; though it would've made the jungle run more fun (and maybe a brief altercation between Will and Mouse for Pack Leader status? I dunno), there really wasn't much room for them anyway) back into it anyway. Harry's pretty much at the point where most potions would be redundant for him now—though that can't be totally true, considering the Merlin wears a tac belt chock full of them when he gets ready for a fight.

Bob the Skull always reminded me of an old D&D character my friend used to play, Bob the Wizard (that was his full name; his middle name, he insisted, was "the"). Dude used to just use Tenser's Transformation and beat the snot out of things with a dagger, or Enlarge himself and hit stuff with his bare hands. Played him like a totally lecherous psychopath. And, naturally, he was the one who always survived party wipes.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Independent George on April 17, 2019, 01:15:48 PM
I just miss Bob as Harry's partner,  not saying that Bonny won't be good, but will never be the same.

Yes, but Bob + Butters & Andi has the potential for something truly, dare I say, magical.

On a more serious note, I'm curious about what happens when a spirit of intellect starts spending a lot of time with the faith side of things. Bob said he's not equipped to deal with it, but with Butters by his side... I suspect Jim is setting us up for something big.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on April 17, 2019, 05:31:09 PM
I'm kind of expecting some sort of sibling-rivalry thing between Maggie & Bonnie.

Maggie is a bit too mature, too much a "little adult" in portrayal.  I don't think Jim has had a chance to really get to know little kids in depth.  I think she's too grown-up to START the problem, but not above responding if provoked.

But Bonea?  Yeah, I can see problems from her.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on April 17, 2019, 05:49:31 PM
I'm seeing the Fomor take a big hit, this book or maybe next.

Mollie has kind of a hate-on for them.  Ditto Harry (recently & unexpectedly back from the presumed-dead).  One of the most-subtle wizards, and likely the strongest wizard, of the new "not Old Guard" generation of wizards.

Now Winter Lady and Winter Knight.

I do not see the Fomor flourishing in this situation.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on April 17, 2019, 06:00:40 PM
Yes, but Bob + Butters & Andi has the potential for something truly, dare I say, magical

<heh>
But nah.

Bob's not a perv.  HARRY's Bob is a perv.

Evil Bob?  Not a perv.  Scary as fuck, but not a perv.

Butters' Bob?  Ummm.  I don't think we know enough to be sure... but I don't think we see any signs of perviness... which just is NOT pervy Bob, especially with Andi around!

On a more serious note, I'm curious about what happens when a spirit of intellect starts spending a lot of time with the faith side of things. Bob said he's not equipped to deal with it, but with Butters by his side... I suspect Jim is setting us up for something big. 

A very interesting thought.  Very interesting indeed!

Bob says he's "not equipped" -- I presume that means no soul, no moral sense, etc.  But Bob is self-admittedly ignorant in this realm, and... well... "with God, all things are possible."

So I think you may be onto something.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on April 17, 2019, 06:46:31 PM
<heh>
But nah.

Bob's not a perv.  HARRY's Bob is a perv.

Evil Bob?  Not a perv.  Scary as fuck, but not a perv.

Butters' Bob?  Ummm.  I don't think we know enough to be sure... but I don't think we see any signs of perviness... which just is NOT pervy Bob, especially with Andi around!
No signs? Among the first things we see of Bob under Butters' ownership is him giddily gushing about just how much porn is on the internet. He is absolutely still pervy.

Jim himself has said that Bob is basically the same, because Butters first met Bob when he was under Harry, so Butters' expectations about Bob are based on that.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on April 17, 2019, 07:00:44 PM
He's also living with Andi, a werewolf who winds up defrocked with significant frequency. So, bonus for Bob, I guess.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: nadia.skylark on April 17, 2019, 07:11:38 PM
Quote
<heh>
But nah.

Bob's not a perv.  HARRY's Bob is a perv.

Evil Bob?  Not a perv.  Scary as fuck, but not a perv.

Butters' Bob?  Ummm.  I don't think we know enough to be sure... but I don't think we see any signs of perviness... which just is NOT pervy Bob, especially with Andi around!

When Harry broke into Butters' place and Andi attacked him, Bob was too busy staring at naked Andi (after she un-wolfed) to respond to anything Harry or Andi said until Harry blocked his line of sight.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on April 17, 2019, 08:12:32 PM
Harry losing Bob is one of the things that have made the story much less funny for me. I loved "pre-Changes" books with real passion. Post-Changes ones are fine, and I kinda love Skin Game, but never as much as "pre-Changes". Of course, the main reason for that is Maggie, but definitely Harry without Bob does not help.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on April 17, 2019, 10:48:49 PM
I guess it is a sign of Harry's maturity when he stops doing the magical equivalent of fart joke.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Cozarkian on April 18, 2019, 09:11:56 PM
<heh>
But nah.

Bob's not a perv.  HARRY's Bob is a perv.

Evil Bob?  Not a perv.  Scary as fuck, but not a perv.

Butters' Bob?  Ummm.  I don't think we know enough to be sure... but I don't think we see any signs of perviness... which just is NOT pervy Bob, especially with Andi around!

You've just highlighted the power of names. All Bob's are Harry's Bob. Evil Bob isn't actually a Bob at all, it's just a spirit of intellect. Butters' Bob, however, is a Bob, which means he will share some of Harry's Bob's original personality. Butters' Bob might not be as pervy and/or might have more restraint, but he's still going to be a perv.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on April 18, 2019, 09:54:44 PM
Well said.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Snark Knight on April 19, 2019, 11:13:47 PM
Plus, as I think was explained in one of the books, Butters already knew Bob when he was Harry's, so his personality didn't change much since Butters already had pre-formed impressions and expectations of him.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on April 23, 2019, 02:29:09 PM
As of yesterday, Chapter 59!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Avernite on April 25, 2019, 04:39:33 PM
As of yesterday, Chapter 59!
I'm gonna need a wheelbarrow! ;)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on April 25, 2019, 05:00:21 PM
That is a great advantage for e-books.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: groinkick on April 25, 2019, 05:23:10 PM
As of yesterday, Chapter 59!

(http://i.imgur.com/cFY6iqg.gif)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on April 25, 2019, 07:23:07 PM
Chapter 60!!!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on April 26, 2019, 05:25:42 AM
My prediction was Peace Talks would have between 54 and 56 chapters, so it's 4 chapters past my highest guestimate now.  I predicted Jim would finish between April 18 and May 12, so I'm still in the ballpark there.  At the time I made my prediction Jim was averaging one chapter every 8 days, but now he's averaging one chapter every 4 to 5 days, that's why Jim's finish date may still fall within my estimated time frame.

I'm wondering if Jim has only 1 to 3 chapters to finish or if it could be more like 8 to 10 chapters, or something in between.  I hope it's a lower number.  Jim is attending a Con around the July 4 weekend in Layton, UT.  (I should go to that one.)  Maybe he could read 3 or 4 chapters, like he has done in the past.  (That's probably not going to happen, but it's a fun idea.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on April 26, 2019, 05:06:10 PM
I'm torn... 60 chapters means more reading (or listening in my case), but... I want him to finish! 

So conflicted!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on April 26, 2019, 10:10:31 PM
I say he has 2 more chapters tops. Feels like he has passed ending conflict and is now working on conclusion.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: pcpoet on April 28, 2019, 05:05:03 AM
I think the reason for the book being so many chapters is that he wrote 1/3 the book and then ended up having to take two year break on writing....when working on a project like a book you never stop thinking about what you are writing even if you cant write. I bet Jim Butcher  came up with another plot line to weave into the story and ended up rewriting a great deal of the chapters he all ready had written. this new plot line ended up also adding another 12 chapters to the book....this is my guess and if I ever meet him at Q and A I am going to ask him.  if I am right I think the plot line was created when he wrote the short story Zoo day.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on April 29, 2019, 04:30:48 PM
I think the reason for the book being so many chapters is that he wrote 1/3 the book and then ended up having to take two year break on writing....when working on a project like a book you never stop thinking about what you are writing even if you cant write. I bet Jim Butcher  came up with another plot line to weave into the story and ended up rewriting a great deal of the chapters he all ready had written. this new plot line ended up also adding another 12 chapters to the book....this is my guess and if I ever meet him at Q and A I am going to ask him.  if I am right I think the plot line was created when he wrote the short story Zoo day.

That sounds possible.  Especially the extra time having caused extra ideas.  No idea if you are correct but it is certainly an interesting idea. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: pcpoet on April 29, 2019, 06:42:36 PM
like I said someone will have to ask Jim Butcher if the break caused him to rework the book and put in a new sub plot...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on May 01, 2019, 04:03:54 PM
I think the reason for the book being so many chapters is that he wrote 1/3 the book and then ended up having to take two year break on writing....when working on a project like a book you never stop thinking about what you are writing even if you cant write. I bet Jim Butcher  came up with another plot line to weave into the story and ended up rewriting a great deal of the chapters he all ready had written. this new plot line ended up also adding another 12 chapters to the book....this is my guess and if I ever meet him at Q and A I am going to ask him.  if I am right I think the plot line was created when he wrote the short story Zoo day.

I've seen it happen to other writers in the past. It's not quite boredom with a current direction so much as greater excitement about a new addition. I would not be surprised in the least to find out that Jim got some new ideas for ongoing plotlines and resolutions to existing ones while poking at Peace Talks in his head, considering the sheer size of the cast and the opportunity for foreshadowing and straight-up exposition. Good God, I'm getting sweaty just thinking about a thirty-page Ebenezer Infodump about the Life, Universe, and Everything.

I'm also willing to bet that Jim spent a lot of time thinking about the Cinder Spires, even though he was still slated to finish Peace Talks before continuing that series. I'm on my annual Butcher Binge right now, listening to all of his books through Audible this time, and I'm reminded about how much fun the Aeronaut's Windlass is and the opportunities for worldbuilding, political intrigue, and cat-on-everything violence he'll have going forward. I'm sure he's got some new plans for that series, too.

By and by, is his next work after Peace Talks (and, I suppose, the Maggie and her Maggical Pals series debut) confirmed to be a Cinder Spires entry, or is he jumping straight to Mirror, Mirror? I'd heard the former, but I saw some speculation that he'd be sticking with Dresden to try to get back on schedule.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on May 02, 2019, 04:27:58 AM
...
By and by, is his next work after Peace Talks (and, I suppose, the Maggie and her Maggical Pals series debut) confirmed to be a Cinder Spires entry, or is he jumping straight to Mirror, Mirror? I'd heard the former, but I saw some speculation that he'd be sticking with Dresden to try to get back on schedule.

Jim has said before that he needs to take breaks between every DF novel; I suppose that is subject to change, to the vagaries of the creative impulse.  But I won't be holding my breath...

Jim's official site jim-butcher.com states that the next writing project after completion of Peace Talks (DF#16) is Olympian Affair (Cinder Spires #2).

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on May 02, 2019, 12:33:11 PM
Jim has reaffirmed by belief that he is a machine with his recent progress.

I'm pretty sure even with Olympian affair, with his life in order now, he can get us back on track and unless he takes up some dangerous new hobbies, we have no more threat of a Robert Jordan...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on May 02, 2019, 04:43:37 PM
we have no more threat of a Robert Jordan...
Knock on some wood, right now!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on May 06, 2019, 12:21:21 AM
Time to break up the boredom and make a prediction.  It's been 11 days since it was announced that Jim was up to chapter 60.  I don't know if that means Jim is working on chapter 60 or he has finished 60 chapters.  That wording is a little vague.  Whoever is writing those updates needs to write more clearly; and I say that as someone who often needs to remind myself to write more clearly, but I digress.

For the past few weeks Jim has been knocking out a chapter every 4 or 5 days.  Several months earlier Jim was averaging about 8 days per chapter.  Now there could be some simple explanation why the current chapter is taking so long for Jim to get through.  Jim may have had some personal or family issue come up that he needed to take a few days off to deal with.  However, I'm hoping it's not an outside problem, I'm hoping it's actually a good thing; something indicative that Jim is really in the very final stretch of finishing up Peace Talks.  I'm thinking Jim has been working through all the final twists and turns of the final confrontation or set of confrontations Harry must pass through, and following the conclusion of the current chapter (or two) there will only be the epilogue to write.  The epilogue chapter probably won't take more than 3 days for Jim to knock out.

Even if the current chapter isn't the penultimate one, the extra time Jim is taking to finish the current chapter will mean the final boss battle chapter will go pretty quickly because Jim has already set everything up for the conclusion he's aiming for.  I think after the current chapter is finished, it might only be 3 to 8 more days before Jim writes "The End."
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: prince lotore on May 06, 2019, 05:29:40 PM
may 19th is the 3 year anniversary of the release of the first chapter.  I wonder if we will get news by then or at least a rerelease of the chapter or even an updated version
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Cozarkian on May 06, 2019, 06:49:18 PM
may 19th is the 3 year anniversary of the release of the first chapter.  I wonder if we will get news by then or at least a rerelease of the chapter or even an updated version

We might get more news by then, but I doubt JB or his publisher are paying any attention to an anniversary of a kickstarter reward.

I suspect the next announcement will be that JB submitted the manuscript to the publisher but that the first chapter won't be released to the general public until the announcement of the release date.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on May 06, 2019, 11:48:55 PM
Time to break up the boredom and make a prediction.  It's been 11 days since it was announced that Jim was up to chapter 60.  I don't know if that means Jim is working on chapter 60 or he has finished 60 chapters.  That wording is a little vague.  Whoever is writing those updates needs to write more clearly; and I say that as someone who often needs to remind myself to write more clearly, but I digress.

For the past few weeks Jim has been knocking out a chapter every 4 or 5 days.  Several months earlier Jim was averaging about 8 days per chapter.  Now there could be some simple explanation why the current chapter is taking so long for Jim to get through.  Jim may have had some personal or family issue come up that he needed to take a few days off to deal with.  However, I'm hoping it's not an outside problem, I'm hoping it's actually a good thing; something indicative that Jim is really in the very final stretch of finishing up Peace Talks.  I'm thinking Jim has been working through all the final twists and turns of the final confrontation or set of confrontations Harry must pass through, and following the conclusion of the current chapter (or two) there will only be the epilogue to write.  The epilogue chapter probably won't take more than 3 days for Jim to knock out.

Even if the current chapter isn't the penultimate one, the extra time Jim is taking to finish the current chapter will mean the final boss battle chapter will go pretty quickly because Jim has already set everything up for the conclusion he's aiming for.  I think after the current chapter is finished, it might only be 3 to 8 more days before Jim writes "The End."

The problem with you idea is that we do not always get an update for every chapter.  This means that while you could be correct and the latest chapter is taking a little longer it is also possible the next update will say chapter 62 or 63 not 61 meaning the chapter is not taking any extra time compared to others. 

It is also possible we will just get a book complete notice soon and we will not know for sure how many chapters until we get the book.  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on May 07, 2019, 03:59:56 AM
The problem with you idea is that we do not always get an update for every chapter.  This means that while you could be correct and the latest chapter is taking a little longer it is also possible the next update will say chapter 62 or 63 not 61 meaning the chapter is not taking any extra time compared to others. 

It is also possible we will just get a book complete notice soon and we will not know for sure how many chapters until we get the book.  :)

I don't think the number of chapters is important, it is the length of those chapters... Are they fifteen pages or forty?  Are we talking a four hundred page book or an eight hundred page book?  How many pages really advance the plot line and how many are just descriptive padding?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on May 07, 2019, 10:57:02 PM
Just waiting for two words, "The End."
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on May 08, 2019, 07:15:04 PM
He needs to do 62-63 chapters for me to win this bet. Any less, and the terms are unmet for both of us and we have to roll the pot (and add to it) for a release date bet. Any more, and I just lose. COME ON JIM FINISH THIS ONE AND THEN DO AN EPILOGUE.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on May 11, 2019, 08:21:35 AM
He needs to do 62-63 chapters for me to win this bet. Any less, and the terms are unmet for both of us and we have to roll the pot (and add to it) for a release date bet. Any more, and I just lose. COME ON JIM FINISH THIS ONE AND THEN DO AN EPILOGUE.

As of today it's been 16 days since we've heard any new progress.  So I suppose it's possible Jim is up to chapter 62 or 63 by now.  I hope that's what it is; that Jim decided to go dark as he knocked out the last few chapters.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on May 13, 2019, 04:34:27 PM
18 days since the last news. I think the book is finished. Editing is in progress and there is not yet a release date.
I'm starting to get excitet. It has become difficult to concentrate on the book I'm reading though it's a good one.  ;)
Greetings from the book-junkie.  ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: prince lotore on May 14, 2019, 02:11:07 PM
or jim saw something shiny and stopped writing for 3 weeks
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: pcpoet on May 15, 2019, 06:10:46 AM
no one tell Jim about the new larp group that combines larping with mixed marshal arts. he will never get back to writing
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on May 15, 2019, 06:22:19 AM
no one tell Jim about the new larp group that combines larping with mixed marshal arts. he will never get back to writing

I heard it combines larping with mixed martial arts, and weight training.  We really need to keep this under wraps.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on May 15, 2019, 03:10:10 PM
No no no, don't tell me about this stuff either! I can't afford to pick up another hobby.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on May 16, 2019, 04:03:02 PM

Maybe Jim realized he needed to make a critical change back in Chapter 13, and has to re-work the rest of it going forward.

(this Public Service Announcement is sponsored by the Society for the Infliction of Cruelty to DF Fans)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on May 16, 2019, 05:37:06 PM
 :o :-\ Oh nooooooo! Please don't. Mercy!!!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on May 17, 2019, 01:56:42 AM
Maybe Jim realized he needed to make a critical change back in Chapter 13, and has to re-work the rest of it going forward.

(this Public Service Announcement is sponsored by the Society for the Infliction of Cruelty to DF Fans)

Thankfully Harry is not one of the readers of the books because if he was Jim would probably be doing just that to torture him.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: nadia.skylark on May 17, 2019, 02:06:41 AM
Quote
Thankfully Harry is not one of the readers of the books because if he was Jim would probably be doing just that to torture him.

Harry not being a reader won't stop him. He's said that he tortures his characters as a way to torture readers.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on May 17, 2019, 03:27:09 AM
I hereby declare the readers tortured.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on May 17, 2019, 02:38:45 PM
I hereby declare the readers tortured.

You are correct!  I was doing pretty well thinking the delay just meant we would soon see a publish date update but you all have now made me paranoid.   :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on May 17, 2019, 03:32:49 PM
New Theory:

Jim has just thought of an amazingly-kewl crossover, the Cinder Codex.

He has put aside the Peace Talks draft to write Vol.1 of this new series.



(this Public Service Announcement is sponsored by the Society for the Infliction of Cruelty to DF Fans)
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on May 17, 2019, 04:17:34 PM
New Theory:

Jim has just thought of an amazingly-kewl crossover, the Cinder Codex.

He has put aside the Peace Talks draft to write Vol.1 of this new series.



(this Public Service Announcement is sponsored by the Society for the Infliction of Cruelty to DF Fans)
 

Oh my god! You have deliciously cruel ideas. I like that, I think... But I'm still feeling tortured.  ;D

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on May 17, 2019, 05:23:09 PM
New Theory:

Jim has just thought of an amazingly-kewl crossover, the Cinder Codex.

He has put aside the Peace Talks draft to write Vol.1 of this new series.

(this Public Service Announcement is sponsored by the Society for the Infliction of Cruelty to DF Fans)

Turns out it all takes place in a very distant part of the Nevernever, Furies are just not very smart neutral fairy that like humans and cats are all distant relatives of Cat Sidhe. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on May 18, 2019, 12:57:11 AM
Butcher has decided that Peace Talks is so huge that it needs to be done in two parts. LOL.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Independent George on May 21, 2019, 01:14:07 PM
Jim decided to take a break and got sucked into the world of Pony fic and isn't surfacing until he figures out a way to add them to the DF ecology...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on May 21, 2019, 03:03:03 PM
Jim decided to take a break and got sucked into the world of Pony fic and isn't surfacing until he figures out a way to add them to the DF ecology...
I think you're behind the series, so I'll sblock it, but
(click to show/hide)
so Jim has already gotten the Pony fic out of his system.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on May 23, 2019, 04:32:11 AM
Chapter 61!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on May 23, 2019, 11:00:16 AM
still 30 chapters to go
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on May 23, 2019, 01:38:08 PM
I'm curious... guess we'll find out when the book comes... big chapter? convoluted?  required tying up lots of things?  Or did RL/writers block/something outside just get in the way. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on May 23, 2019, 02:52:39 PM
still 30 chapters to go
You have some wicked thoughts going on!  ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: groinkick on May 23, 2019, 03:11:15 PM
As of May 22nd he's up to chapter 61
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on May 23, 2019, 03:47:42 PM
As of May 22nd he's up to chapter 61

no one tell Jim about the new larp group that combines larping with mixed marshal arts. he will never get back to writing

That chapter took him a while so maybe somebody did tell him about it but thankfully he is still writing :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: sonwarrior on May 23, 2019, 05:31:15 PM
Quote
As of May 22nd, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 61.

I'm really hoping that Butcher, writer of Sidhe we know and love fear, is trolling us and the current draft is past chapter 61. He is telling only the technical truth in that any chapter past 61 would include 61.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on May 23, 2019, 05:58:56 PM
I'm curious... guess we'll find out when the book comes... big chapter? convoluted?  required tying up lots of things?  Or did RL/writers block/something outside just get in the way.

Nah.

Jim took an hour or so to visit this thread, catch up on what we were all saying.
We depressed him so much he had to go take a vacation from writing.

It's our fault.
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on May 24, 2019, 05:10:22 AM
My guess is Jim had something come up that he had to take care of; some personal or family matter that needed to get sorted out of and he had to stop writing for a few weeks.  I don't think it took him 27 days to knock out one chapter because if that was the case; well, I wouldn't want to think too deeply about what it would mean for the story as a whole. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: fetchzee on May 24, 2019, 01:23:37 PM
I just want everyone to remember, several months from now as we all tear our eyes from Chapter 61, jaws on the floor, staring in stunned awe across the room as we desperately try to process what the heck just happened, that Mr. Butcher took an extra week and a half to make the chapter Just. That. Awesome.

Have faith, people.  Utter ass-kickery sometimes takes a little extra aging in the barrel, so to speak.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on May 25, 2019, 04:52:57 AM
Exactly so.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Lazarus52980 on May 30, 2019, 02:06:21 PM
Looks like he's up to chapter 62!   I wonder how many chapters there will be in this book...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on May 30, 2019, 02:20:59 PM
Wow, and still more to go... wondering how long Peace Talks is now...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on May 30, 2019, 02:46:40 PM
Looks like he's up to chapter 62!   I wonder how many chapters there will be in this book...

  It isn't the number of chapters it is how long the chapters are...   A chapter can be anywhere from 5 to 35 pages long and sometimes even longer...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on May 30, 2019, 08:27:01 PM
Throughout the series, Jim has had chapters of pretty consistent length (at least based on how long it takes me to read a chapter). Some chapters are "long" and others are "short," but I find them to be pretty consistent.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on May 31, 2019, 03:14:53 PM
Looks like he's up to chapter 62!   I wonder how many chapters there will be in this book...

97.

He's only about 2/3 done.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on May 31, 2019, 11:36:35 PM
That's evil! LOL Has anyone ever made a chart of Butcher's average pages per chapter length and seen whether it has gone up or down?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 01, 2019, 05:46:14 AM
I am not that crazy yet  ;)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on June 01, 2019, 07:17:19 AM
That's evil! LOL Has anyone ever made a chart of Butcher's average pages per chapter length and seen whether it has gone up or down?

If I did that someone would suggest that it wasn't good enough.  To be truly accurate we would need to compare the average number of words per chapter Jim has used over the past five or six books.  Plus, it wouldn't hurt to know the highest number of words in a chapter Jim has used per book and see if that number has changed significantly over time.  We could also do a character count per chapter, and divide that by the number of words per chapter to see if Jim's vocabulary for Harry and the other characters, plus the description of people, things, the environment, events and emotions have become more complex, meaning Jim is using bigger words, not just more of them.  Of course, some people might think that last suggestion is a bit too much, but aren't you a little bit curious to find out?     

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on June 01, 2019, 03:48:33 PM
If I did that someone would suggest that it wasn't good enough.  To be truly accurate we would need to compare the average number of words per chapter Jim has used over the past five or six books.  Plus, it wouldn't hurt to know the highest number of words in a chapter Jim has used per book and see if that number has changed significantly over time.  We could also do a character count per chapter, and divide that by the number of words per chapter to see if Jim's vocabulary for Harry and the other characters, plus the description of people, things, the environment, events and emotions have become more complex, meaning Jim is using bigger words, not just more of them.  Of course, some people might think that last suggestion is a bit too much, but aren't you a little bit curious to find out?   

Yeah, I think using the size of the words is going just a weeee bit to far.... ::)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on June 01, 2019, 05:02:54 PM
If I did that someone would suggest that it wasn't good enough.  To be truly accurate we would need to compare the average number of words per chapter Jim has used over the past five or six books.  Plus, it wouldn't hurt to know the highest number of words in a chapter Jim has used per book and see if that number has changed significantly over time.  We could also do a character count per chapter, and divide that by the number of words per chapter to see if Jim's vocabulary for Harry and the other characters, plus the description of people, things, the environment, events and emotions have become more complex, meaning Jim is using bigger words, not just more of them.  Of course, some people might think that last suggestion is a bit too much, but aren't you a little bit curious to find out?     



 ;D
If I were an author and reading that comment, I would rewrite an least my first chapter using extra long words. And then I would post it on my website as preview oft my newest work.
All the while evil laughing.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on June 01, 2019, 10:34:54 PM
Yeah, I think using the size of the words is going just a weeee bit to far.... ::)
Wee bit too far?! No such thing! Are you just a fan or are you the full word which is fanatic? LOL
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on June 05, 2019, 06:20:41 PM
As of June 5th, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 63.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on June 05, 2019, 08:20:17 PM
I was expecting this book to be 53-56 chapters long.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 05, 2019, 09:35:24 PM
 :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on June 05, 2019, 10:08:32 PM
@Dina: On the one hand I agree, on the other I'm wondering why does it need so many more chapters. This is a big jump in the number of Chapters.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 06, 2019, 02:30:31 AM
When you are in chapter 52, you will probably be happy.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on June 06, 2019, 02:34:33 AM
I find pessimism usually leads to expectations being exceeded, so I'm going to go with Jim is floundering and can't figure out how to end the book. It's a disaster and awful.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 06, 2019, 02:36:43 AM
I am moderately pessimist too, but not with Dresden. I trust Jin, even when I like the newer books less than the older ones.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Con on June 06, 2019, 08:52:46 AM
A part of me is like the longer the book, the more I'll get to read, but another part of me is like finish already! I want to read it now!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: magnuskn on June 06, 2019, 12:17:59 PM
I am moderately pessimist too, but not with Dresden. I trust Jin, even when I like the newer books less than the older ones.

I'm the other way around, I think (almost) every new book in the series has improved over the prior ones. Exceptions are Blood Rites, White Night and Ghost Story.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on June 06, 2019, 01:02:48 PM
I'm the other way around, I think (almost) every new book in the series has improved over the prior ones. Exceptions are Blood Rites, White Night and Ghost Story.

That is a manner of opinion... 

Quote
A part of me is like the longer the book, the more I'll get to read, but another part of me is like finish already! I want to read it now!

That is how I am increasing feeling about the whole series.. Actually I've felt this for some time.. Why?  Because as the years go by, Jim gets occupied with more creative projects, like all of us he has a life and that gets more complicated... Result longer stretches between books,  with a few unsatisfying crumbs scattered in between...   Jim talks about Maggie at school spin offs, he is writing a whole new major series concurrent with the Dresden Files...  Result, the books since Changes have seemed rushed, diluted even,  sometimes especially the short stories, going through the motions... If Jim is floundering and I pray he isn't, it may because he is trying to stretch it out just a bit too thin, trying to put in six books where one focused one could tell it all.   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: prince lotore on June 06, 2019, 02:54:36 PM
there is part of me that is convinced that nothing has been done and these updates are just to stall the mob until a contract can be signed for another project
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on June 06, 2019, 03:48:11 PM
there is part of me that is convinced that nothing has been done and these updates are just to stall the mob until a contract can be signed for another project

You poor optimistic fool.

The contract has already been signed, and Jim's hard at work on it.  And developing a new proposal.'
The draft of Peace Talks is actually the 3rd item down his "Projects" list.  Most days he doesn't even think about it.

(is this pessimistic enough for y'all?)
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on June 06, 2019, 09:26:08 PM
I'm the other way around, I think (almost) every new book in the series has improved over the prior ones. Exceptions are Blood Rites, White Night and Ghost Story.
Ghost story is one one of the better ones, especially if you like world building.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on June 06, 2019, 09:50:22 PM
Disclaimer: I like every book Jim has written.

Fool Moon, Storm Front, and Ghost Story are my least favorite stories of the series (and maybe of any books written by Jim), in order from least to most. I don't think Jim really hit his stride until Death Masks. I like Grave Peril a lot and think Summer Knight is pretty good, but the "world" hasn't really jelled in Grave Peril, and there's just something about Summer Knight that feels off compared to pretty much all the books afterwards that isn't off even in Death Masks.

I will concede that Ghost Story has a lot of information that is really necessary to the story. I skipped Ghost Story the first time I was reading the series and didn't notice until about a third of the way, I think, into the book that I had missed something.

On a side note, one of the things I've always liked about Death Masks (and Blood Rites) is that it has two story lines that intertwine but aren't "it was the same case the whole time!"
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Wolfeyes on June 07, 2019, 06:43:19 AM
As of June 5th, 2019, the current draft of the novel is up to chapter 63.


According to priscellie, this isn't even the second last chapter: https://www.reddit.com/r/dresdenfiles/comments/bx5v0z/update_chapter_63_on_june_5th/eq75rfx/
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on June 07, 2019, 07:42:42 AM
On the positive side, Jim is making (what I believe) is his first appearance at a Con this year (Westercon) over the July 4th weekend in Layton, UT; which is just north of Salt Lake City and right next to Hill Air Force Base.  I will be in attendance.  The reason I'm being positive is I think (hope) Jim will have wrapped up Peace Talks by then.

That is a manner of opinion... 

That is how I am increasing feeling about the whole series.. Actually I've felt this for some time.. Why?  Because as the years go by, Jim gets occupied with more creative projects, like all of us he has a life and that gets more complicated... Result longer stretches between books,  with a few unsatisfying crumbs scattered in between...   Jim talks about Maggie at school spin offs, he is writing a whole new major series concurrent with the Dresden Files...  Result, the books since Changes have seemed rushed, diluted even,  sometimes especially the short stories, going through the motions... If Jim is floundering and I pray he isn't, it may because he is trying to stretch it out just a bit too thin, trying to put in six books where one focused one could tell it all.

Yes, to all of this.

I'm also becoming annoyed by things like the retconning we saw in Skin Game.  Anna Valmont and the other two Churchmice didn't rip off Nicodemus.  That's not why Nic killed Valmont's friends.  They didn't know Nicodemus existed.  I'm actually surprised none of the Beta readers caught that.  It makes me worry that other errors might get introduced into the series.   

Ghost story is one one of the better ones, especially if you like world building.

I really disagree with you here.  I thought at least one early chapter in Ghost Story was sloppily written, and overall I think the story aimlessly meanders back and forth, rather than powerfully driving to a satisfying and emotional conclusion.  When we get the big reveal, that explains why Molly is such a mess, I felt like, "Oh, I get it.  Molly blames herself for Harry's death because she went along with his suicide plan. That's it?  That was a long way to go just to find out that Harry set up his own assassination."  What should have been an emotional gut punch was like getting hit by a pillow.  Now that I think about, the Star Trek theme in Molly's head didn't add anything either.

That's not to say there weren't some very good parts in Ghost Story.  I enjoyed Harry's discussions with Lea, Carmichael, Captain Murphy and Uriel, but overall I thought it was the most disappointing book in the series.  I don't think you can compare it to something like Fool Moon; a book many people feel is mediocre, because Fool Moon was such an early effort.  Jim was still learning his craft then.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on June 07, 2019, 10:56:19 AM
You poor optimistic fool.

The contract has already been signed, and Jim's hard at work on it.  And developing a new proposal.'
The draft of Peace Talks is actually the 3rd item down his "Projects" list.  Most days he doesn't even think about it.

(is this pessimistic enough for y'all?)
I will do you one better. Jim Butcher has died and the person we see walking around is his look-alike stunt double. Unfortunately, the double can't write. There will be no new book.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on June 07, 2019, 01:23:03 PM
I will do you one better. Jim Butcher has died and the person we see walking around is his look-alike stunt double. Unfortunately, the double can't write. There will be no new book.

No, the person walking around is probably a zygon with all his knowledge and talents. So must be kept alive somewhere, otherwise the zygon wouldn't have access to his brain. Peace Talks is taking so long, because Jim is not cooperating and hoping for years that someone finally notices that he is not there.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on June 07, 2019, 10:58:47 PM
Darn, my sonic screwdriver is in the shop for repairs.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on June 10, 2019, 05:32:18 AM
On the positive side, Jim is making (what I believe) is his first appearance at a Con this year (Westercon) over the July 4th weekend in Layton, UT; which is just north of Salt Lake City and right next to Hill Air Force Base.  I will be in attendance.  The reason I'm being positive is I think (hope) Jim will have wrapped up Peace Talks by then.

Yes, to all of this.

I'm also becoming annoyed by things like the retconning we saw in Skin Game.  Anna Valmont and the other two Churchmice didn't rip off Nicodemus.  That's not why Nic killed Valmont's friends.  They didn't know Nicodemus existed.  I'm actually surprised none of the Beta readers caught that.  It makes me worry that other errors might get introduced into the series.   

I really disagree with you here.  I thought at least one early chapter in Ghost Story was sloppily written, and overall I think the story aimlessly meanders back and forth, rather than powerfully driving to a satisfying and emotional conclusion.  When we get the big reveal, that explains why Molly is such a mess, I felt like, "Oh, I get it.  Molly blames herself for Harry's death because she went along with his suicide plan. That's it?  That was a long way to go just to find out that Harry set up his own assassination."  What should have been an emotional gut punch was like getting hit by a pillow.  Now that I think about, the Star Trek theme in Molly's head didn't add anything either.

That's not to say there weren't some very good parts in Ghost Story.  I enjoyed Harry's discussions with Lea, Carmichael, Captain Murphy and Uriel, but overall I thought it was the most disappointing book in the series.  I don't think you can compare it to something like Fool Moon; a book many people feel is mediocre, because Fool Moon was such an early effort.  Jim was still learning his craft then.
I liked the discussions especially those with Lea, she is always a fun to read and I liked the world building. Seeing the impact of Harry’s suicide on his friends was important as well. Too often these things get drowned in one big fighting scene. The fighting is not the most important part of the book.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: noblehunter on June 10, 2019, 03:21:07 PM
Do we know if Peace Talks is going to be crash-published or are we looking at the usual 6-8-12 months to publish after the manuscript is finished?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on June 10, 2019, 03:27:15 PM
I'm also becoming annoyed by things like the retconning we saw in Skin Game.  Anna Valmont and the other two Churchmice didn't rip off Nicodemus.  That's not why Nic killed Valmont's friends.  They didn't know Nicodemus existed.  I'm actually surprised none of the Beta readers caught that.  It makes me worry that other errors might get introduced into the series.   

There was some discussion on this very question on the Dresden subreddit. Evidently, the Beta Readers did catch it, and pointed it out, repeatedly, with sources cited. Jim chose to move on with Skin Game as published. No explanation as to why, yet, but it's fed more than one theory.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on June 10, 2019, 06:02:56 PM
It allows Anna Valmont to rationalize working with Nic, Rather than being just victims, the Churchmice were greedy thieves who got caught.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: isoycrazy on June 12, 2019, 02:02:02 PM
It is also plausible that in story, Harry didn't want the full facts known to an outsider like Hannah.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on June 12, 2019, 04:43:33 PM
Do we know if Peace Talks is going to be crash-published or are we looking at the usual 6-8-12 months to publish after the manuscript is finished?

Just guessing but my bet would be they will get it out for the Christmas shopping season if they can.  If that requires a rush they will otherwise probably not.  As long as it is done soon enough for that to be possible I think we will get as much of a rush as needed to make that happen.  After that window completely closes I am not sure they would have a reason to rush anymore. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on June 12, 2019, 09:36:49 PM
Do you think blood thirsty readers with pitch forks and torches might motivate them?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on June 13, 2019, 12:23:44 AM
Do you think blood thirsty readers with pitch forks and torches might motivate them?
Just draw a big circle 'round the editor's office when the ms. arrives, and then order in pizza.

The editor-fairy doesn't get out until they finish Peace Talks.
 
Easy-peasy.
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Lazarus52980 on June 14, 2019, 12:56:22 PM
Finished with chapter 64!!


http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on June 14, 2019, 01:04:33 PM
The man is a machine! :)
Now I'm /really/ excited to see what was in Chapter 63 as it took longer than most of the others...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on June 14, 2019, 02:31:47 PM
More to the point...

Quote
We won’t have a release date until Jim finished the manuscript, but hopefully that will be soon, so look for an announcement in July!

Seems like he's coming up on the end.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Avernite on June 14, 2019, 07:40:58 PM
More to the point...

Seems like he's coming up on the end.
Well he better, I don't have a wheelbarrow ;)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on June 14, 2019, 08:04:26 PM
More to the point...

 We won’t have a release date until Jim finished the manuscript, but hopefully that will be soon, so look for an announcement in July!

Seems like he's coming up on the end.

I almost missed this.  It is not really a surprise given the chapter but still nice to see.  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on June 16, 2019, 06:24:41 AM
Chapter 65!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on June 16, 2019, 04:28:09 PM
It will soon be announced that just as Quentin Tarantino divided Kill Bill into parts 1 & 2, Peace Talks will be released in two parts.  Whether we will have to wait until after the second Cinder Spires book is released for Peace Talks part 2, is an open question.  ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on June 16, 2019, 05:23:29 PM
It will soon be announced that just as Quentin Tarantino divided Kill Bill into parts 1 & 2, Peace Talks will be released in two parts.  Whether we will have to wait until after the second Cinder Spires book is released for Peace Talks part 2, is an open question.  ;D

WHAT?!? Such a cruel idea!  :o I want one really fat book. By now I'm getting very excited.
I have finished the Alex Verus series, read Kevin Hearne's First Dangle and have tried to start some new books but put them aside after a few pages. Now I'm back to Kelley Armstrong's Women of the otherworld. These were always fun. There are 13 books and the short stories. But after that... I started Codex Alera but that was not what I wanted right now. Maybe something completly different like something with crime or something historical or Diana Gabaldon's last book again. She is going to finish book 9 this year according to her website.
So, what I want to say: I am ready for Peace Talks, whenever it is completed. I will stop immediataly whatever else I'm reading, as soon as I have it in my hands. I will buy one for my e-reader and one to touch and smell for my bookshelf and to infect some friends.
I am very grateful that books like the Dresden Files exist, I can read them over and over and they are still great.
Mr Butcher, you have created something amazing and I admire your work.

... and now I want the book.  ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on June 16, 2019, 06:59:29 PM
I am very grateful that books like the Dresden Files exist, I can read them over and over and they are still great.
Mr Butcher, you have created something amazing and I admire your work.

... and now I want the book.  ;D

Seconded.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on June 16, 2019, 09:11:56 PM
Third.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 17, 2019, 01:14:20 AM
Fourth
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on June 17, 2019, 06:27:20 PM
well saw it while out getting a coffee and went back  to the office to post and see its not news anymore :) hooray hurrah!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on June 17, 2019, 06:29:23 PM
Oh wait, this might be news... its done? Per twitter.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on June 17, 2019, 06:29:57 PM
Oh wait, amendment:
He is doing the wrap-up chapter now.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on June 17, 2019, 06:31:13 PM
Yep! (https://twitter.com/longshotauthor/status/1140685538648715264)

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on June 17, 2019, 06:59:43 PM
From Jim's Twitter feed.
Quote
Finished the finale of Peace Talks this morning.Just the wrap-up chapter to go. :) News regarding pub dates as I get it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 17, 2019, 07:47:24 PM
Yay!!!  :D :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on June 17, 2019, 08:03:35 PM
The denouement chapter will probably only take a couple to three days for Jim to knock out.

In two and a half weeks Jim will be in Utah for Spikecon or Westercon72.  (I think Westercon is part of Spikecon, but that's a minor detail.)  I will try to record any panels I go to where Jim is the sole speaker and try to make it to any other panels he is a part of.  I'll let everyone know when I can post to YouTube.  If Jim says something really interesting about Peace Talks or other upcoming DF books; beyond answering questions like "Why did you set the Dresden Files in Chicago", I'll create a thread here so we can discuss first.  For fans of the Cinder Spires, if Jim says anything interesting about that series I'll post it in that part of the forum.

I'm really glad Jim won't have to face any, "How much longer?" questions.  Now that I think about it, if Penguin doesn't announce a release by the July 4th weekend I'm sure someone will want to know when it will be released, even if Jim doesn't know.     
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: 123Chikadee on June 18, 2019, 05:07:18 PM
So, you think that Peace Talks could come out on 4th of July?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on June 18, 2019, 05:10:41 PM
Just the release date.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on June 18, 2019, 05:20:16 PM
So, you think that Peace Talks could come out on 4th of July?

No, that would be too fast. I don't know how long the editing process will be but maybe he has posted a clue in twitter.

See https://www.paranetonline.com/index.php/topic,53142.0.html
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: noblehunter on June 18, 2019, 08:13:16 PM
The soonest possible date is probably November or December but that would involve the publisher spending a few buckets of extra money, parallel edits and copy edits, a lot of *really* tight deadlines and betting there won't be major revisions of the manuscript. I think the publication process can be condensed down to about three months (which I think is the plan for GRRM's book) but that assumes writing and editing can be done in parallel. Given that the Dresden Files are a single POV in rigid chronological order, I don't think that can be done.*

More likely is spring or summer of next year, which is what most of me hopes they'll do. It tends to make for a better book and is less likely to burn out the author. I'd rather Jim get back into the rhythm of regular releases than go into a major editing crunch just to get the book out a few months earlier.

*I don't know how Jim's writing process fits into editing or what state his submitted manuscript is in. But what I've heard about the more common methods is that edits in later chapters can often mean revising previous chapters to make it look like they knew what they were doing all along.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: magnuskn on June 18, 2019, 08:47:04 PM
Yes! We are finally on the final track. I hope it's more of a winter release than a next summer release.

Also, fifth'ed. I think I'll start soon on my fifth (or is it the sixth already?) read-through, although currently books 1-7 are with a friend.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: 123Chikadee on June 18, 2019, 10:00:11 PM
Ah ok, then, I see. I just want it so bad, lol. Well hopefully when they are ready to announce that he's done, they state a date.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Griffyn612 on June 19, 2019, 02:33:14 AM
The soonest possible date is probably November or December but that would involve the publisher spending a few buckets of extra money, parallel edits and copy edits, a lot of *really* tight deadlines and betting there won't be major revisions of the manuscript. I think the publication process can be condensed down to about three months (which I think is the plan for GRRM's book) but that assumes writing and editing can be done in parallel. Given that the Dresden Files are a single POV in rigid chronological order, I don't think that can be done.*

More likely is spring or summer of next year, which is what most of me hopes they'll do. It tends to make for a better book and is less likely to burn out the author. I'd rather Jim get back into the rhythm of regular releases than go into a major editing crunch just to get the book out a few months earlier.

*I don't know how Jim's writing process fits into editing or what state his submitted manuscript is in. But what I've heard about the more common methods is that edits in later chapters can often mean revising previous chapters to make it look like they knew what they were doing all along.
In the past, Jim has used Beta readers that get chapters as he goes.  They provide notes, so there are fewer surprises at the end.  I don't know if he's continued to use them or not, but it seems likely.  That should help with the editing turnaround.

Still seems likely that the end of the year would be the earliest, and early next year more likely.  Depends on if the publisher wants the sales sooner or later.  I imagine they'd bump someone else off the schedule for a sure #1 if they need the 2019 sales.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Con on June 19, 2019, 02:32:40 PM
I mean I'm hoping for a Christmas release. That would make sense for the publishers to push for.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: magnuskn on June 19, 2019, 02:46:45 PM
From reddit, the turnaround time for prior books, after Jim posted "The End" on Twitter:

Skin Game: 191 days* (6.4 months)
Cold Days: 120 days (4 months)
Ghost Story: 109 days (3.6 months)
Changes: 93 days (3.1 months)
Turn Coat: 97 days (3.2 months)
Small Favor: 208 days (6.9 months)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on June 19, 2019, 03:33:29 PM
Storm Front: 86,961 words

Fool Moon: 102,149 words

Grave Peril: 116,932 words

Summer Knight: 111,764 words

Blood Rites: 121,308 words

Death Masks: 107,382 words

Dead Beat: 144,555 words

Proven Guilty: 154,598 words

White Night: 130,223 words

Small Favor: 139,798 words

Turn Coat: 141,745 words

Changes: 149,280 words

Ghost story: 162,899 words

Cold Days: 175,685 words

Skin Game: 151,922 words
https://www.reddit.com/r/dresdenfiles/comments/29lhkq/word_count_for_all_books/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/dresdenfiles/comments/29lhkq/word_count_for_all_books/).

From reddit, the turnaround time for prior books, after Jim posted "The End" on Twitter:

Skin Game: 191 days* (6.4 months) [151,922 words]
Cold Days: 120 days (4 months) [175,685 words]
Ghost Story: 109 days (3.6 months) [162,899 words]
Changes: 93 days (3.1 months) [149,280 words]
Turn Coat: 97 days (3.2 months) [141,745 words]
Small Favor: 208 days (6.9 months) [139,798 words]

I have to run. I haven't done the math, but it looks like there isn't much correlation between word count and time to publication. Good news?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: noblehunter on June 19, 2019, 05:32:52 PM
It looks like Jim's publishers are quicker than I thought. Optimism!

Assuming the clusters of turnaround time have meaning, do we know of any distinguishing characteristics of Skin Game and Small Favors? It's not time since previous novel.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: nadia.skylark on June 19, 2019, 05:42:56 PM
Quote
Assuming the clusters of turnaround time have meaning, do we know of any distinguishing characteristics of Skin Game and Small Favors? It's not time since previous novel.

Well, they both start with "S" :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on June 19, 2019, 06:35:42 PM
Well, they both start with "S" :D

LOL
So, how long did it take for Proven Guilty?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bacail on June 19, 2019, 08:51:09 PM
I'd love to see it on Halloween.  Would be perfect.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on June 19, 2019, 10:26:13 PM
We can crunch the numbers any way we want, it's not like we can draw any real conclusions.

First, there isn't enough data to actually do any (valid) statistical analysis.

Second -- and much more important -- Jim isn't delivering his manuscript to some predictable, homogenous, PerfectEditingEngine.  The publisher won't slurp up the draft and PEE out a hardcover in 4.61829 months.

It's a bunch of PEOPLE.  What other projects have they got under way, because they cannot just put the whole business on-hold waiting for the next DF novel; not even a guaranteed hit is worth that!  Maybe his editor is going through a divorce of their own, or moving, or just lost a pet, or is undergoing gender-reassignment surgery.  I dunno, what other reasons has Jim given -- valid, understandable reasons -- for being so much slower to complete this draft?  Maybe Jim's editor isn't playing "Keeping up with the Butchers," maybe they aren't hitting EVERY hardship Jim hit en route to finishing this draft.  Maybe they've got it worse.  We have no real way of knowing.  (n.b. I don't remember all of Jim's (very good!) reasons; I may have forgotten one or two, or added-in one or two that didn't actually happen to him).

 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on June 20, 2019, 12:29:04 AM
This is my good news of the day! Still hoping for Oct 31 but I will be happy with Turkey day or X-Mas!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: pcpoet on June 20, 2019, 03:20:52 AM
I think release date will  have more to do with looking for a release date that fits....you don't want the release date being the same week as George R Martins Game of thrones or another major urban fantasy novel.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: noblehunter on June 20, 2019, 01:35:45 PM
We can crunch the numbers any way we want, it's not like we can draw any real conclusions.

First, there isn't enough data to actually do any (valid) statistical analysis.

Second -- and much more important -- Jim isn't delivering his manuscript to some predictable, homogenous, PerfectEditingEngine.  The publisher won't slurp up the draft and PEE out a hardcover in 4.61829 months.

It's a bunch of PEOPLE.  What other projects have they got under way, because they cannot just put the whole business on-hold waiting for the next DF novel; not even a guaranteed hit is worth that!  Maybe his editor is going through a divorce of their own, or moving, or just lost a pet, or is undergoing gender-reassignment surgery.  I dunno, what other reasons has Jim given -- valid, understandable reasons -- for being so much slower to complete this draft?  Maybe Jim's editor isn't playing "Keeping up with the Butchers," maybe they aren't hitting EVERY hardship Jim hit en route to finishing this draft.  Maybe they've got it worse.  We have no real way of knowing.  (n.b. I don't remember all of Jim's (very good!) reasons; I may have forgotten one or two, or added-in one or two that didn't actually happen to him).

True. But I'd hoped for a visible reason for some books to take six months instead of three to four; like apparently delivered on schedule vs apparently late. There are so many factors in publishing schedules, it was a forlorn hope but I thought I'd ask.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on June 20, 2019, 03:37:26 PM
I think release date will  have more to do with looking for a release date that fits....you don't want the release date being the same week as George R Martins Game of thrones
Pretty sure that we don't have to worry about until, like, maybe the 20th DF novel.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on June 20, 2019, 06:27:09 PM
We can crunch the numbers any way we want, it's not like we can draw any real conclusions.

I was just wondering if there even was a pattern, or a somewhat tight range that the books fell into.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: magnuskn on June 20, 2019, 07:54:08 PM
Pretty sure that we don't have to worry about until, like, maybe the 20th DF novel.

Think more the final novel of the BAT. ^^
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on June 20, 2019, 10:25:10 PM
No book has ever been published in December.  Most books have been published in April and May.  Ghost Story and Cold Days  were in July and November respectively.  Bad Alias  didn't post the dates for the Twitter posts.  It looks like spring is the favorite date to publish if the manuscript gets there after October or November.  Figure 120 days from July 1st and say November.  Maybe sooner. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on June 20, 2019, 11:23:52 PM
Based on the Clue gif he posted, I'm hoping for a Nov 21st release.  The only problem with that is that it isn't a Tuesday...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on June 21, 2019, 01:57:04 AM
Clue gif? Where, please?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 21, 2019, 02:11:27 AM
On his twitter
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on June 22, 2019, 01:18:30 AM
Gotcha. Thanks, Dina. Is that a clue to the books or a reference to what he is watching? Are we going to get a Clue-like scene in the novel?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on June 22, 2019, 01:28:27 AM
Publication date?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 22, 2019, 05:09:39 AM
Gotcha. Thanks, Dina. Is that a clue to the books or a reference to what he is watching? Are we going to get a Clue-like scene in the novel?

Who knows? Sometimes Jim is difficult to interpret.

@morriswalters: Not yet. He said he will tell us as soon as he has news.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on June 24, 2019, 07:25:11 PM
I figured he was just watching Clue. It's a great movie, after all.
As far as release dates go, I've already lost the Chapter Count bet with my friend. So we're doing a release date bet next. I've got money on November 19th, a week before Thanksgiving. Rules are Price is Right rules, so closest to the date without going over. I'm pretty sure my friend's going to go for a December release date, so if it comes out in October, we're going to have to double down on a plot-related bet to settle things. There's not a lot of NOT YA fantasy competition that's already been announced for November, so it's a good window, and it's right in front of the biggest shopping weekend of the year (which gives book stores an extra week to place large orders and have their endcaps set up before Black Friday). I can see Dresden Files displays popping up in Barnes and Noble for Black Friday. Discounting the previous 15 books when you buy Peace Talks, that kind of thing. And of course there's Cyber Monday for the ebook crowd.

But yeah, assuming Jim finishes at some point in the next week, a 2019 release date is pretty much assured. There's no reason to hold it back until next year when they can hit a holiday shopping season release window fairly comfortably. And to those who asked: yes, Jim does still use Beta Readers, so Peace Talks has already been vetted for plot inconsistencies. It's less likely that there will be necessary changes that will dramatically alter the book at this stage. Not impossible, of course, but less likely than for most other authors.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 25, 2019, 03:22:19 AM
I want a Christmas' release...because it's my birthday.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: magnuskn on June 25, 2019, 04:02:47 AM
As soon as possible. Preferably just before I go on vacation at the end of October, but still in a way that I can get it in Germany before I leave.  ;)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on June 27, 2019, 02:09:34 PM
I want a Christmas' release...because it's my birthday.
An old girlfriend of mine from many years ago was born on Christmas. Whenever she mentioned it to anyone, they always said, "Oh, I'm sorry, that must've been rough." She always found their immediate sympathetic responses annoying as hell, because, as she put it, "Every year, I spent my birthday surrounded by everyone in the world who loved me. And ham is my favorite food."
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on June 28, 2019, 05:01:29 AM
I have enough of that but also the "that's amazing". I am just glad I never had to go to work (or school) in my birthday.
So, did she eat ham for Christmas?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: wardenferry419 on June 30, 2019, 10:01:36 PM
Dec 15. Got my BDay gifts wrapped in X-Mas paper.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on June 30, 2019, 11:03:34 PM
Dec. 4th, I remember having to spend birthday money on other people's Xmas gifts.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on July 02, 2019, 05:30:21 PM
I have enough of that but also the "that's amazing". I am just glad I never had to go to work (or school) in my birthday.
So, did she eat ham for Christmas?

Every year.
Mine's November 2nd, so my birthday "presents" from society are pretty much limited to elections (November 2nd is the earliest possible date for Election Day in the US, as it is defined as "The first Tuesday after November 1st.") So, on occasion, I'd get a bonus day off for my birthday, too.

On the other hand, apparently November 2nd is an extremely popular date for weddings, because I've gone to several over the years that fell on my birthday. On the plus side, that meant lots of free booze and an excuse to wear a cummerbund.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on July 02, 2019, 07:30:04 PM
My niece's birthday is on December 20th. She just has a party in June and sometimes tries to scam a second gift out of us.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on July 02, 2019, 09:40:16 PM
My son's is 26 Dec.

EVERYBODY is burnt-out on the whole "going to parties" thing, and often tapped-out for giving-presents.  Really sucked for him, as a youngster.  Often, friends were away on winter-vacation trips.

We always made sure he had something from us to open on his actual birthday.  Some years we gave a really-big combined gift, and then a little pro-forma thing or minor accessory to the Big Gift.  Usually we tried to do a more-even split, or even a bigger gift on the 26th, so it wouldn't be a let-down.

But getting a party with lots of friends -- or even his few best friends -- was ALWAYS a challenge.
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on July 03, 2019, 04:36:57 PM
My niece's birthday is on December 20th. She just has a party in June and sometimes tries to scam a second gift out of us.

Smart kid.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on July 03, 2019, 05:27:46 PM
As she should. My closest ones always gave me 2 gifts. Hubby still gives me 2 (and I give him one for Xmas, of course)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on July 03, 2019, 05:34:57 PM
I think you misunderstand me. My niece occasionally tries to get a June birthday gift, a December birthday gift, and a Christmas gift. If she were the only kid, that might fly. There are five others.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on July 03, 2019, 06:00:31 PM
I understood that she wanted a birhday gift and a Christmas gift, both around the same date as her birthday is close to Christmas. But the party in June...well, I did not understand that, to be honest. I thought it was an unrelated thing. Why does she have a birthday in June?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on July 03, 2019, 06:31:22 PM
I understood that she wanted a birhday gift and a Christmas gift, both around the same date as her birthday is close to Christmas. But the party in June...well, I did not understand that, to be honest. I thought it was an unrelated thing. Why does she have a birthday in June?

Our family did that too:  the idea is a "half-birthday" party (as close to 6 months' offset as can be made to work) when friends might be more available and when it can "stand out" more from  Christmastime celebrations.
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on July 03, 2019, 06:35:01 PM
You people are weird  :o
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on July 04, 2019, 01:49:38 AM
You people are weird  :o 

You say that like it's some sort of surprise to you...  ::)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on July 04, 2019, 04:27:38 AM
Actually this time you surprised me.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on July 12, 2019, 06:58:37 PM
Our family did that too:  the idea is a "half-birthday" party (as close to 6 months' offset as can be made to work) when friends might be more available and when it can "stand out" more from  Christmastime celebrations.
Pretty much this, but my niece is a kid, and I haven't noticed kids having a lot of Christmas parties that they have to go to (other than something in school). People are in such a hurry around Christmas (at least in my little part of the world) that a lot of events around Christmas can start to feel like a burden. The husband's office party, the wife's office party, this social group's party, that social group's party, a business organization or two's parties, the landlord's, the extended family's (again on both sides). And the traffic around the bigger local shopping spots was crazy the last time I went there during Christmas after office hours. (It was 10-15 years ago, so maybe ordering online has changed things. It sure has for me).

You people are weird  :o

Well, yes.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on October 25, 2019, 05:19:07 PM
Is it normal for it to take this long to announce a publication date? The book was supposedly finished July 22... It is now over 3 months later...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on October 25, 2019, 06:38:37 PM
According to Priscellie and the official JB website, he has done some revisions and rewriting. But the releasing date is supposed to be announced soon, so cross your fingers.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Just Al on October 25, 2019, 07:35:20 PM
Is it normal for it to take this long to announce a publication date? The book was supposedly finished July 22... It is now over 3 months later...

Per this video, James Marsters has agreed to do the audiobook for Peace talks. That tells me that the print release date must be fairly close, as you wouldn't set up the base for the audiobook before the book was ready to print.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYTfviCVxpE
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Wolfeyes on October 26, 2019, 09:12:24 PM
I'm expecting an early 2020 release date (Jan/Feb/March/April) but an end of the year release would be such a good birthday present for me.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on October 28, 2019, 03:47:34 PM
According to Priscellie and the official JB website, he has done some revisions and rewriting. But the releasing date is supposed to be announced soon, so cross your fingers.
Just checked. The upcoming works page does indeed state that revisions are done. So we're close to a release date. I'm anticipating a Halloween announcement, because that would be fun and appropriate.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on October 29, 2019, 05:59:17 AM
You are right in that.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: noblehunter on October 30, 2019, 05:34:20 PM
Anyone check the usual length of time between "The End" and announcement of a release date?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on November 01, 2019, 07:00:35 AM
You are right in that.

No, but based on time between the announcement of previous Dresden Files novels being finished and their release dates, there is still a chance; however slight and fading fast, Peace Talks might be released before year end.  The one element that is working against this possibility is that according to Jim, Peace Talks has the highest word count of any Dresden Files book so far.  There is just more work for the publisher to do.  I suppose another major factor is that Penguin most likely had a number of other novels finished earlier that are scheduled to be released for the Christmas season.  The publisher had already planned and was expending efforts and resources into getting those books finished and out the door.  It's not like they can just snap their fingers make new resources and people available.

My guess is Peace Talks will be released next Spring.  Hopefully, a very early Spring release date. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on November 01, 2019, 01:21:09 PM
They probably don't want to rush it. In the long run it is more important that it is as good as possible. A few months do not make that much a difference on a few years.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on November 01, 2019, 07:19:54 PM
I was expecting to have news on Halloween  :'( :'(
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on November 01, 2019, 08:15:49 PM
Me too.

On Penguin... it really depends on their 2019 balance sheet. They'll find a way to push it out if they need to show better earnings than their current projections.

Pretty sure it's also a bit reliant on James Marsters's schedule. I'm reasonably certain they'll want to do as close to a simultaneous release as possible for the audiobook and the novel. The audiobooks have almost certainly been a really, really big profit driver for them, so I'd imagine they want to take advantage as much as possible.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on November 01, 2019, 09:37:52 PM
I'm a little concerned that the cover art isn't up.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on November 03, 2019, 08:33:24 PM
I'm a little concerned that the cover art isn't up.
I don't think it need worry you.... AFAIK the rest of the publication process is unimpeded by that.  Maybe something in the artist-submitted pic was deemed too spoilerific, or egregiously mis-representative, or otherwise needed extensive reworking.  Getting the cover done/ready USUALLY happens early-on, but doesn't HAVE to happen early-on...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on November 03, 2019, 09:09:43 PM
If you go visit Chris McGrath's website, you can see alternate versions of covers for a couple of Dresden Files novels.  So there have been times when the publisher must have come back to him and said, "No, we need you to (emphasize this or eliminate that) in the cover."
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on November 03, 2019, 09:51:57 PM
I might buy a Skin Game print. But I might wait until Peace Talks is out, it may be better.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on November 03, 2019, 10:36:56 PM
I thought the cover for Skin Game was really good.  I was thinking about buying a print myself.

I tried to imagine what the cover for Peace Talks might look like.  In the vast majority of Chris McGarth's covers you don't see any of Harry's adversaries.  The cover of Turn Coat had a couple of hooded figures in the background who appeared to be following Harry.  Changes had a bunch of skulls and the pyramid of Chicken Pizza in background.  That's about it.  However, I could see this novel being an exception to this rule.  IMO The title Peace Talks implies that other characters should be in the frame besides Harry.

I can't draw much more than stick figures myself, but I would love to see what kind of cover ideas more visually talented readers might come up with for Peace Talks.  I wonder what section of the forum I could start a thread for that idea as a challenge.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on November 04, 2019, 01:42:16 AM
The wife is onboard, so it will happen.  In honor of the books we named our two new kittens Harry and Thomas.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on November 04, 2019, 04:00:15 AM


   My long legged American Labrador is named Harry... 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on November 04, 2019, 04:08:06 AM
Awesome, Morris  :)  (I already knew about your Harry, Mira).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on November 04, 2019, 03:54:52 PM
I thought of naming my dog Mouse about two days after I renamed him Jackson, and had already done a ton of work getting him to respond to his new name. I spent about a week castigating myself over that oversight, because Jax is especially Mouselike (quiet, constantly alert, multiple barking styles (including one deep as hell warning bark and a small yipping one that's just to get your attention), enormous (for me, he's about 20% bigger than a typical Lab, but he's all Border Collie, which is a super weird outcome for the breed), oddly empathetic (he knows when someone is upset, and will go to comfort them as best he can)).

Ah, well. C'est la vie.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on November 04, 2019, 08:26:24 PM
Perhaps Mouse is one of his Names, but it is good that you are not going around calling him that. You don't know any dastardly character knowing it. By the way, your Jax sounds amazing  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on November 04, 2019, 11:51:33 PM
Jackson is a good name, too.  :)
I once named a cat after a character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Darla.
Though Drusilla would have been more fitting. She was a crazy one. I loved her.

And I hope for a 2019 release date. But I think early 2020 would be more realistic.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mar10 on November 05, 2019, 07:25:33 PM
I names my 9mm Darla.  She's a biter. :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on November 06, 2019, 03:12:27 PM


My new puppy, who is a rescue, she and her sisters were dumped... Anyway she is very pretty and sweet, so I call her "Princess Buttercup."
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on November 06, 2019, 05:39:13 PM
I names my 9mm Darla.  She's a biter. :)
You do know that's weird, right? :D
The way this is going, I think we'll get a release day around christmass.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on November 06, 2019, 06:15:29 PM
The way this is going, I think we'll get a release day around christmass.

Do you mean the announcement of the date being around Christmas or the release date itself being around Christmas?
If you mean the announcement of the date... OMG you are killing me!!!!! That would be another 6 weeks of waiting! I hope the announcement will come sooner. I just want to know the date, even if it is in May2020. Not knowing the date is making me crazy.  :o
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: 123Chikadee on November 06, 2019, 06:27:45 PM
Exactly! Though I do hope its this year, I want Peace Talks as a Christmas present. :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on November 06, 2019, 09:46:45 PM
I would love that! It would make an awesome birthday present too... But I don't think that is going to happen.  :'(

My new puppy, who is a rescue, she and her sisters were dumped... Anyway she is very pretty and sweet, so I call her "Princess Buttercup."

Awww, new puppy! Joy of joys!!  :) :) ;D

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on November 07, 2019, 03:55:03 PM
Perhaps Mouse is one of his Names, but it is good that you are not going around calling him that. You don't know any dastardly character knowing it. By the way, your Jax sounds amazing  :)
Fair point.
And yes, he is a very good boy. As long as he gets playtime. If I go two days without at least one ball session, he starts going nuts. One of the dangers of border collies, and one of the reasons you can usually find one at shelters (most shelters I check usually have pitbulls, several mixed breeds, and some border collies, plus a variety of other breeds (usually older dogs, and maybe Australian Shepherds, which are pretty close in temperament to border collies)). People get a border collie because they tend to be handsome or beautiful dogs (there's a reason they're one of the go-to breeds for pet supply commercials), and have no idea how much attention you have to give them.

He's my second, though the other border collie doesn't go quite as insane without regular playtime. They both get it anyway, cuz they're good boys. In the grand scheme, it's really not much. It's like fifteen minutes per session, and they're good. They tell me when they want to stop. And with the kids, it's often a full day of work/play for them (they guard the children, which really means herding them and preventing them from going where they think they shouldn't be allowed. Jackson won't let the baby off the deck unless she's holding someone's hand.)

I can go on and on about border collies or Aussies. They're both awesome breeds, and I highly recommend them—if you have a yard. They are not well-suited for apartment or condo spaces.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on November 07, 2019, 04:01:58 PM
Quote

I can go on and on about border collies or Aussies. They're both awesome breeds, and I highly recommend them—if you have a yard. They are not well-suited for apartment or condo spaces.

   No, even if you have a yard they can be difficult.   They are high energy working dogs, and as such, need a job.   Idle paws can lead to all kinds of things, namely chewed up items, but sometimes worse.   Working dogs, sporting dogs, herding dogs all need lots of exercise and things to stimulate their brains because they are very intelligent and active breeds.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on November 07, 2019, 04:20:23 PM
Yeah, I'm well aware. I've got two now, and had an Aussie earlier. I'd do things like hide mail around the house for her to find and gather, since that was one of her jobs. She'd bring me my shoes in the morning, get the mail for me, that kind of thing.

But if you don't even have a yard to exercise them, it's downright impossible. They don't really require that much effort, in my experience. Gotta play with them, and have tasks for them to do. Otherwise they go straight insane, and can either tear up your place, or hurt themselves. But you're talking about really minimal effort. It doesn't take all that much time to keep them occupied.

They're a great candidate for Go, Dog, Go (that automatic ball-throwing machine that dogs can use on their own). Downside is that they might actually do it constantly, all day, every day, and that's actually really bad for them.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on November 15, 2019, 03:32:57 PM
So I've been poking around looking for more Peace Talks news, and found this from Priscillie on Reddit, 24 days ago:

Quote
The revisions took a LOT longer on this book because of the extended span of time over which it was written. Usually, that 4-6 month turnaround is from the time Jim sends the last chapter to the betas and tweets "The End." It INCLUDES any revisions. Clearly, that wasn't the case this time. But I'm reading the revised novel now, and holy crap holy crap holy crap HOW DID HE MAKE IT EVEN BETTER?!???

So, revisions are 100% complete, Priscillie has read the finished, publishable novel. Everything is in Penguin's hands, and they're holding off on announcing a publication date for now, presumably until they decide on the best release window for it. Personally, I was hoping for a Christmastime release, and it's still technically possible, but now I'm thinking they're going to shoot for Q1 2020. We'll certainly have it within the next six months, unless Penguin decides they want to sit on it for God only knows why.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on November 15, 2019, 10:02:33 PM
So I've been poking around looking for more Peace Talks news, and found this from Priscillie on Reddit, 24 days ago:

So, revisions are 100% complete, Priscillie has read the finished, publishable novel. Everything is in Penguin's hands, and they're holding off on announcing a publication date for now, presumably until they decide on the best release window for it. Personally, I was hoping for a Christmastime release, and it's still technically possible, but now I'm thinking they're going to shoot for Q1 2020. We'll certainly have it within the next six months, unless Penguin decides they want to sit on it for God only knows why.
Thanks for the update. The wait is freaking killing me. How hard is it to publish a release date?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on November 16, 2019, 03:33:58 AM
Priscillie has read the finished, publishable novel.
I doubt her copy had been copy edited (edited for grammar and such) and proofread yet (for clean pagination and such).

That reminds me of some stuff I noticed in my last reading of Blood Rites. I think it might be the worst (copy) edited book of the DF. I noticed so many mistakes (for a Penguin book, at least). The funniest one was "Harry said" instead of "I said."
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: prince lotore on November 19, 2019, 09:08:18 PM
apparently if you call up penguin and ask they will tell you
(click to show/hide)
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Wondering Wanderer on November 19, 2019, 10:03:01 PM
Soooo, still time to do a leisurely series reread if you didn't already do it, say twice, since Skin Game was a year old. . .
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on November 19, 2019, 11:24:09 PM
apparently if you call up penguin and ask they will tell you
(click to show/hide)

Well, that's not in time for my birthday. Maybe it will be several months earlier.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: 123Chikadee on November 20, 2019, 12:08:27 AM
Oh that's past my birthday. At this rate then, it's a just treat myself gift.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on November 20, 2019, 12:43:52 AM
apparently if you call up penguin and ask they will tell you
(click to show/hide)

Huh.  That seems... odd.  Why has Jim's editor not told Jim, and Jim not told his fans?

Maybe that's just a rough-guesstimate placeholder, pending some imponderables; and rando-customer-service-worker just reported it, not realizing it as only a guess.

Or maybe it's brand-brand-new info, that hasn't wended its way through the Normal Channels, and we'll get it in a few days...
 
Maybe someone who knows someone who knows Jim (add layers of knowlege as needed) can kick this back up the ladder, and Jim can WTF his editor?
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on November 20, 2019, 06:00:06 AM
Well, that's not in time for my birthday. Maybe it will be several months earlier.
That is my birthday  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Wolfeyes on November 20, 2019, 06:27:30 AM
Well dang. I guess I have an excuse to finally listen to the audiobooks for a reread...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on November 20, 2019, 02:16:23 PM
More of the same.  No one voice, just noise.  Ima go do this, Ima gonna do that.  It was floating around on Reddit that a publishing date was decided on.  It makes them look like amateurs.  The hype machine probably wants to make several announcements at once, but they can't keep a secret.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on November 20, 2019, 07:49:49 PM
I doubt her copy had been copy edited (edited for grammar and such) and proofread yet (for clean pagination and such).

That reminds me of some stuff I noticed in my last reading of Blood Rites. I think it might be the worst (copy) edited book of the DF. I noticed so many mistakes (for a Penguin book, at least). The funniest one was "Harry said" instead of "I said."

Copy editing + pagination is the shortest step in the process. When I did it professionally, a Peace Talks-length book would be the work of about two weeks, if I really dragged my feet. That includes generating the clean EPUB/MOBI/AZW3 files for eBook sales, laying out the document for printing, adjusting the kerning if they went with justified text (I'm a ragged-right proponent, because kerning blows—but eBooks are justified by default, so you have to do it anyway), etc. I had to learn HTML to make sure the eBooks were formatted nicely. I've read some pirated copies of Jim's books (I had already purchased the eBook iterations, but needed EPUBs with no DRM so I could copy + paste from it for some presentations on modern novels; I'd never steal from Jim). All of them had some of the worst formatting errors I'd ever seen. They looked like they were copied and pasted from PDFs.

For those who don't know, PDFs are a fixed-layout file format. No matter what screen size you're using, page 53 will always be page 53; you have to zoom in/out and scroll around to view it if you're looking at one on a phone. EPUBs are dynamic; they scale down to whatever you're reading on (a few years ago, they tried to roll out a fixed-layout EPUB, but it never took off because it's a terrible concept). But anyway, word processors tend to interpret all of the formatting in a PDF precisely. So the end of a line in a PDF will get a hard line break when you copy and paste it into Microsoft Word. That means you have all of these weird paragraphs with random breaks spread across a whole document. It's a real pain to clean that kind of thing up (there is no quick fix; you have to go through it and delete the breaks, fix the spacing, etc.)

Anyway, about 90% of the pirated books I've looked at (again, I owned them all already, it was only done for presentation purposes, hand to God) have been formatting horror shows. One of the copies for one of the Codex Alera books lacked quotation marks throughout the whole text. Some of the books had the infamous "I don't know what this character is supposed to be" blank, empty squares all over the place (some of the conversion programs and OCRs have trouble interpreting various punctuation marks if the fonts aren't Times New Roman (and some even if it is TNR)).

But anywho, when you have a Word document to start with, on the other hand, formatting everything perfectly is easy as heck. The only sticky parts are when you have images within the main document (children's books and cookbooks are annoying that way). But pure text? Pshaw. It can be done nicely in an afternoon. Unless, you know, Jim does things like manually press "Enter" twenty times to start a new page (page breaks, people. Ctrl+Enter.) Widows and orphans, adjusting the hyphenation, kerning, all that stuff can be done pretty fast.

I seem to have wandered a bit. The point is that Penguin should be done with that whole process by now, especially because (I assume and hope) they have multiple specialists working on each part. Still has to be done in stages (widows and orphans can fix themselves, justification changes when characters are added or deleted, etc.) but specialists can usually do their one task efficiently. It's been a month since Priscillie announced it, and I'd assume Penguin had it before her. Should be set by now, or close enough that it's not worth considering.

And as for copy editing mistakes: there is no such thing as a perfect document, not now, not ever. Any editor can look at any document and find things to change or mistakes to fix. The trick is to catch the ones that anyone would notice. Questionable comma placement is one thing, but mess up the tensing and everyone will say, "Gotcha!"

I caught the Blood Rites "Harry" mistake too, and rolled my eyes when I saw it. Whoever edits Terry Brooks's novels should be fired, for that matter, because all of his novels have extremely noticeable mistakes. I'm currently reading The Witcher novels (finally, I've been putting it off for years). Whoever is responsible for editing the translated text needs to learn how semicolons should be used, because they're all over the place. Not one has been correct, but they've all been wrong for different reasons.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: TrueMonk on November 20, 2019, 09:38:59 PM
So both amazon, a danish bookstore and some other place has set the release date to 16th of April. Is that just because one of them guessed and the others are copying?
https://www.amazon.com/Peace-Talks-Dresden-Files-Sixteen-ebook/dp/B07SZLRHMT
https://www.saxo.com/dk/peace-talks_jim-butcher_hardback_9780356500911
https://www.risingshadow.net/library/book/43381-peace-talks
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on November 21, 2019, 12:15:30 AM
I am sad to disappoint you, but I believe Amazon has said so long before de book was finished, so it is not very reliable. But... Who knows? Perhaps they knew...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on November 21, 2019, 01:06:49 AM
I've read some pirated copies of Jim's books (I had already purchased the eBook iterations, but needed EPUBs with no DRM so I could copy + paste from it for some presentations on modern novels; I'd never steal from Jim).

...

But anyway, word processors tend to interpret all of the formatting in a PDF precisely. So the end of a line in a PDF will get a hard line break when you copy and paste it into Microsoft Word. That means you have all of these weird paragraphs with random breaks spread across a whole document. It's a real pain to clean that kind of thing up (there is no quick fix; you have to go through it and delete the breaks, fix the spacing, etc.)
I remove the DRM protections from any epub I get my hands on. I've pulled all the short stories out and put them in there own epub file. I've also changed the names of the books (and short stories) so that they are in chronological order (First Fistful of Warlocks to that most recent Christmas story that I haven't done yet).

I have to copy information from some actual real physical documents for new documents for work. Actually did it today. OCR on scanners has gotten a lot better, but a lot of those problems still come up. On the one today 1/2" appeared in the document three or four times. The OCR got it right once. I also come across a lot of forms that are part of a paper that are pdfs. Point being, I've done the whole turn a pdf into a word doc thing a few times. It's all still so much quicker than transcribing it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on November 21, 2019, 04:07:22 PM
Oh yeah, there's a reason I went through the obnoxiousness of doing it that way. When I'm dealing with 150k word documents, I'm not going to spend several eight-hour days typing everything out.

And to be fair, the latest iteration of the Adobe Cloud suite's Acrobat Pro does a reasonably good job of exporting PDF to Word. Still get a lot of the line break weirdness, and God help you if there are any design-y elements, but at least most of the paragraphs remain, you know, paragraphs. The thing with the quotation marks often depends on whether or not the original document used the fancy "smart quotes," which are stylized and curve toward the enclosed word (the ones in this post do not have smart quotes, so they'd be fine about 95% of the time).

I was doing this as a side gig about 10-11 years ago, when eBooks were still in their infancy. Sigil wasn't released yet, and Calibre didn't have any editing capability at the time (if it even supported EPUBs, I can't really remember). Big chunks of the work was done using Word's HTML editing. I don't know if that's possible in Office 365 anymore—at least, not like it used to be. Back then, a lot of the publishers I'd worked with were still using PageMaker or Quark. InDesign had replaced both pretty completely in terms of feature offerings years earlier. Publishers have never been precisely quick on the uptake of new things, though.

So, they'd lay these books out in PageMaker, and refuse to provide me with the source document—neither the Quark or the PM file, nor the Word/WordPerfect/Scrivener/whateverthehell the author used ("PROPRIETARY," they'd shout. "YOU COULDN'T POSSIBLY NEED THAT!!!") I'd have to make do with the PDFs they provided. Thus did I venture boldly into the unknown field of eBook preparation.

At the time, I was freelancing as a writer/editor, and it was a random gig I was offered by one of my clients (these are smaller publishers, before most of them got eaten by Penguin, Harlequin, and the other few Last Men Standing). Sort of a, "Hey, can you turn this document into one of those electronic books?"

I kinda knew what I was doing, but not really. But when you freelance, there's no such thing as a job you can't do. "Sure, I've done that plenty of times! Send over the file, and I'll give you an estimate." That night, I downloaded a ton of software to see if I could find a solution that's basically automated, but none existed. It was pure grunt work. The next three weeks were dedicated to learning HTML as I went, which was easier than I thought it'd be (syntax, yo). I had to learn all about the ways PDF screws you over. But hey, I got it done, and the publisher paid more for that job than they ever did for editing. That's the value of a totally separate skill set, I guess. So I started offering that to these small publishing houses looking to break into this whole "digital book" thing.

Now that whole job would be just about done just during the editing phase. As long as your breaks are in all the right places and you use MS Word styles correctly, generating a clean EPUB or MOBI is pretty much a matter of file conversion. Can take a little finagling, but not much, and you can do spot-fixes quickly in Sigil. So they can do the print layout in Word or whatever for the most part, and can basically just convert that source file to whatever you want.

Kids these days have it easy, I tell ya huwhat.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on November 21, 2019, 06:39:15 PM
In other words, as I suspected, there is absolutely no excuse not to publish a book quickly after it is done.

If we have to wait until July, then either the book isn't actually done (which seems unlikely), the editor at Penguin is absolutely buried or on sabbatical or something, Penguin wants to wait for some crazy indecipherable reason, or Penguin is incompetent.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on November 21, 2019, 08:17:04 PM

Maybe that's just a rough-guesstimate placeholder, pending some imponderables; and rando-customer-service-worker just reported it, not realizing it as only a guess.

Or maybe it's brand-brand-new info, that hasn't wended its way through the Normal Channels, and we'll get it in a few days...
 
Maybe someone who knows someone who knows Jim (add layers of knowledge as needed) can kick this back up the ladder, and Jim can WTF his editor?

I agree with this statement.  My guess is Penguin; for whatever reason, hasn't decided when it will get the most bang for its buck.  However, I seriously doubt that the middle of Summer will be the best release time for them. Generally speaking, when you have a product with a high demand level, you want to make it available to the public ASAP.  It's the whole time value of money thing.  Making money sooner is better than making the same amount of money later.   

What I don't know is what kind of scheduling issues Penguin might have to deal with.  For example, what if James Marsters schedule is full up right now, and even though Penguin would like to release Peace Talks in early February, Marsters won't be available until mid-May.  Would the three to four month mismatch between the release dates for the written version and the audio version of Peace Talks be a problem for Penguin; meaning would that cut into their expected revenue and profits?  I also have no ideas about other kinds of scheduling issues Penguin might have to wrestle with.

The odd thing, what is really puzzling me, is why hasn't Penguin figured this out yet?  OK, let's say after all is said and done, that for whatever reason Peace Talks can't be released until sometime in May or even July 14, 2020.  What problem is making this date difficult to determine?  I assume the people at Penguin would want to get this nailed down and then have that information released to the buying public ASAP.  I don't believe I've ever seen Penguin take over four months after Jim has announced that he finished a Dresden Files novel to announce a release date for that novel.  I remember they once had a release date that was about a year away, but even then they made that statement within a few weeks after Jim announced on Twitter and his website he'd written "The End" to that novel.   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on November 21, 2019, 10:20:52 PM
Yes, Sir KSG, it is totally baffling. And it is made even worse due to there being a ginormous wait between books three times as long as between book 14 and 15 and six times as long as between all 14 of the prior books. They already have a fan base that is "triggered"... maybe they think that if the announced date is 8 months away, that will make the fan base even more triggered?

The Marsters being busy issue seems plausible. It would suck for the audiobook to be delayed in relation to the hard cover book. I don't even read the hard copies any more (although I buy them to support my favorite author) and only listen to the audiobooks.

What would be amazing is if they actually went to a "full cast" audiobook. That could cause a significant delay, but would be freaking awesome. Highly unlikely, though, and a lot of people would probably hate it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on November 22, 2019, 03:50:47 AM

What would be amazing is if they actually went to a "full cast" audiobook. That could cause a significant delay, but would be freaking awesome. Highly unlikely, though, and a lot of people would probably hate it.

Not a bad marketing idea.  That would be a special version; make that special versions of all the novels, released after the original versions come out.  You would have to cast various actors to play specific characters; like Susan and Murphy, and then (probably) edit them into the original versions Marsters did.  No point in reinventing the wheel and have Marsters re-record everything he already did.  Of course, you could still use other distinct character voices he has done like Bob and Butters.  Not every character would need a different actor.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on November 22, 2019, 05:50:31 PM
Yeah, that sounds pretty neat. I like the actress that voiced Molly in Bombshells and the other Molly perspective story.

The American Gods audiobook was amazing. I bought it just before the show came out on Stars, and I had no idea that when they said "Full Cast" they meant the cast of the show. That was a really neat listening experience.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on November 22, 2019, 07:42:45 PM
I haven't listened to an audiobook in decades. I find I have to be focused on something else (like driving/running) to pay attention to an audio only presentation. Otherwise, my mind wanders. I don't exercise as much as I should and seldom take drives long enough (alone) to necessitate obtaining books to listen to, even if I do it for free from my local library.

I'd probably check out (literally) a "full cast" Dresden Files audio book. If I liked it and could listen to it without my mind wandering to far, I'd probably end up buying the whole set.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on November 22, 2019, 08:57:58 PM
What would be amazing is if they actually went to a "full cast" audiobook. That could cause a significant delay, but would be freaking awesome. Highly unlikely, though, and a lot of people would probably hate it.
Yes! I remember listening to Arabian Nights as a radio show with a full cast when I was a kid, a full set of actors, was awesome :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on November 23, 2019, 10:59:02 PM
http://www.jim-butcher.com/

Quote
Call for Extras for the Peace Talks trailer!
Nov
23
2019
 
Attention, Los Angeles: Want to be a part of the fan-made book trailer to promote the next Dresden Files novel?  We’d love to have you!  All shapes, sizes, genders, ages, and ethnicities welcome to submit.
and so on...

Apparently the trailer isn't finished. So no announcement of release dates yet. I have the growing suspicion, they might be going to show the trailer including the date in January or even February. I don't believe it will be done this year, when they want people for early December.
This is starting to frustrate me.  :(
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on November 23, 2019, 11:54:01 PM
Try to relax. The book will be released when is released, meanwhile is not as if there are no other books in the world.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on November 24, 2019, 07:50:04 AM
Try to relax. The book will be released when is released, meanwhile is not as if there are no other books in the world.
Hi, Dina.
That's not what I mean. I'm reading a whole bunch of other books. It is simply the date, whenever that may be. And if it is 2021, I would be happy, too. It bugs me, that we are waiting for this one announcement. Then I take a look at the website, see there is a change, get excited, read it, and it is only this. Made me dissapointed.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on November 24, 2019, 07:54:12 AM
Hi! I understand (and share) your disappointment, just like every time the JB is down and I got illusions, but I was trying to help you with frustration. Frustration is not good for anyone. As a friend would say, it makes your telomeres shorter (telomeres are the ending but of chromosomes and apparently a lot of stress helps increasing the telomeres shortening. And that, in turn, makes your life shorter) so I wanted to cheer you up! Relax.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Regenbogen on November 24, 2019, 08:02:49 AM
Ah, thank you.  ;D
I feel already cheered. Don't want to shorten my telomeres.
Currently I'm reading the forth book of "The Trials of Apollo" by Rick Riordan. I have not planed after that, but I think I'm going to re-read the last Alex Verus and after that something not fantasy.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on November 24, 2019, 08:12:01 AM
That sounds good! I am just watching a Supernatural episode right now. It's fun, there is an adult witch in it who appeared many years ago in aother episode, when she was a girl (as you like horror movies, perhaps you remember her, she is the one from Silent Hill (and others)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on November 25, 2019, 02:06:18 AM
I don't think the trailer casting call tells us anything about when the release date of Peace Talks will be announced online.   We have no indication the book publisher will coordinate the announcement of the release date of the book with the release of the trailer.  However, I think it would be very smart for Penguin to do exactly that.  In case you are wondering, Industriosa Pictures; the company making the trailer, was set up by Priscilla Spencer.

I just looked at the trailer for Skin Game.  It was posted to YouTube on May 9, 2014 and the release date for Skin Game was May 27, 2014.  I'm pretty sure that the announcement of the release date for Skin Game was made months in advance of the trailer being posted.  If we are lucky, maybe when the trailer is released the book release date will only be a very short time away, like within 30 days, as was the case with Skin Game.  If that turns out to be the case, I hope filming, editing and it's release happen by the end of January.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on November 25, 2019, 08:18:23 PM
... We have no indication the book publisher will coordinate the announcement of the release date of the book with the release of the trailer...

Say rather, we have no proof.  But "indication"?  Well... maybe...


... the trailer for Skin Game.... was posted to YouTube on May 9, 2014 and the release date for Skin Game was May 27, 2014 ...

These seem to me remarkably close-set, sufficient for me to doubt that it was accidental.  Rather than the publisher coordinating THEIR timing, I might suspect that Industriosa will set their release to match up with the publisher; or maybe the nearest 'Con event before the release.  It may even be part of the contract that gives them access to PT content, that the timing be set for maximum promo value to the line as a whole, i.e. under Penguin's control.

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on November 26, 2019, 03:21:59 PM
It's almost certainly a result Penguin picking a time that will be best for their balance sheet. There are industrial concerns (still gotta print, produce and execute a marketing plan, book speaking engagements and promotions, etc.) Penguin's got the juice it needs to rush all of that, but wouldn't if they didn't think it was worthwhile. They're likely thinking that Peace Talks is going to be a bestseller regardless of its street date, and they're probably right.

But they also don't want to cannibalize their own sales on other books; most readers don't buy more than one book at a time. So they want to find a good release window to prevent Dresden from negatively impacting the opening week (or weeks) of other books. Also have to look at competing books in the urban fantasy or adjacent genres; they want to make sure Peace Talks will win the week it's released.

The final reason they may be delaying is they may want to prop up an otherwise lackluster quarter. Releasing in January or February can be a good way to kickstart their Q1 (and 2020) revenue sheet. January usually has pretty good book sales, but it's mostly in nonfiction stuff (which dominates the sales charts as it is). So stuff like Jordan Peterson's Rules for Life or other self-help books will probably dominate book sales since everyone is still convinced that they're going to keep their New Year's Resolutions. But it's not a great month for fiction, after everyone's blown through their gift cards (and people are still recovering from Holiday shopping spending). February is usually a pretty weak month for books (and for all of retail except florists, Hallmark, and jewelers), and it's a couple shopping days shorter (only one or two since it's a Leap Year), so a major blockbuster release like Peace Talks will make them look good.

The good news for me is that my friend and I are going to reschedule our bet. There was a stipulation that if there is no announcement by Black Friday, we're going to have the opportunity to alter our chosen dates. So I might not be out five hundred bucks after all (my bet was on last Tuesday).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on November 27, 2019, 05:17:33 PM
A publication date in July would make almost exactly a year since Butcher wrote The End on Peace Talks, and more than five years since he had a new book on the shelves.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on November 30, 2019, 12:52:22 AM
... almost exactly a year since Butcher wrote The End on Peace Talks ...
I don't think anyone has tracked down this span -- "The End" to publication-date -- to see if the publisher has any patterns or predictability...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on November 30, 2019, 02:32:37 AM
I believe they have on reddit.  Just for giggles....
Quote
As of July 22nd, 2019, Peace Talks is in the hands of Jim’s editor!  Look for a release date announcement in the next couple weeks.

We’ll announce further details as we have them!
I'd like her to define 'next couple of weeks'.  Look at the post date. :o
Quote
Posted by priscellie on 2014/05/23 at 2:31 pm
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on November 30, 2019, 06:27:54 AM
I believe they have on reddit ...
Has anyone done all the data, though.  How many times has Jim typed "The End" and had it mean, all revisons/betas/etc are done... Jim won't touch it again before publication (is that even what it means THIS time?) ?

Do we know exactly what it meant when Jim last announced; and do we know we have that exact point in the process for any (how many?) other volumes, to compare?
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on November 30, 2019, 03:24:07 PM
You'd have to do a deep dive on Reddit. But as indicated in my previous post the publication date was expected in weeks not months after he wrote he was finished.  Something has subverted that.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: pcpoet on December 01, 2019, 09:21:41 AM
I speculated in the past that the delay in Butchers writing war games  had to do with the divorce and how may years his ex would share in profits from the books. I think that is the reason for the delay. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 02, 2019, 12:37:53 AM
I speculated in the past that the delay in Butchers writing war games  had to do with the divorce and how may years his ex would share in profits from the books. I think that is the reason for the delay. 

I presume you mean Skin Game not "war games."   ;D

But far, FAR more happened to him than just the divorce.  Including the lack of any "room of ones own" for writing in.  It's really, REALLY not the case that writers can just sit down and be equally productive in all circumstances; it's not like being a sales-clerk or an bookkeeper or etc; creatives are profoundly impacted by their internal state.  Mr. Butcher reports (with, I think, some surprise) that the editors and readers don't seem to be able to tell the difference between inspired-Jim (who just got shagged by his muse), and pedestrian-Jim (whose muse seems to be deleting his voicemails without even listening) ...  BUT that his productivity goes down to about 1/4 inspired-Jim's daily wordcount.

Add in the fact that Aeronaut's Windlass is also somewhere in there, alongside the tons of disruption in his life, I don't think you need any extra motivation (such as trying to stick a knife in the Ex) for him to delay.

But this is, really, none of our business; and we can think whatever we want but I seriously doubt that anybody's guesses will be confirmed by anyone who actually knows.  So if someone wants to allege that Jim was actually abducted by Greys and spent the time touring the habitable planets of TRAPPIST-1... well, I guess that's a theory to consider alongside the other unprovables...
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: pcpoet on December 03, 2019, 05:17:13 AM
I meant to say peace talks. I don't know why I said war games …though that would be a cool title.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on December 03, 2019, 07:29:24 PM
I presume you mean Skin Game not "war games."   ;D

But far, FAR more happened to him than just the divorce.  Including the lack of any "room of ones own" for writing in.  It's really, REALLY not the case that writers can just sit down and be equally productive in all circumstances; it's not like being a sales-clerk or an bookkeeper or etc; creatives are profoundly impacted by their internal state.  Mr. Butcher reports (with, I think, some surprise) that the editors and readers don't seem to be able to tell the difference between inspired-Jim (who just got shagged by his muse), and pedestrian-Jim (whose muse seems to be deleting his voicemails without even listening) ...  BUT that his productivity goes down to about 1/4 inspired-Jim's daily wordcount.

Add in the fact that Aeronaut's Windlass is also somewhere in there, alongside the tons of disruption in his life, I don't think you need any extra motivation (such as trying to stick a knife in the Ex) for him to delay.

But this is, really, none of our business; and we can think whatever we want but I seriously doubt that anybody's guesses will be confirmed by anyone who actually knows.  So if someone wants to allege that Jim was actually abducted by Greys and spent the time touring the habitable planets of TRAPPIST-1... well, I guess that's a theory to consider alongside the other unprovables...
While it definitely is not of our business, surely, over the course of several years, someone can find a place where they are comfortable to write. I bet his publisher would even help pay for an office space, an extra apartment, comfortable decor, whatever.

I love his books, but I've never bought this "lack of writing space" excuse.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 04, 2019, 12:03:27 AM
While it definitely is not of our business, surely, over the course of several years, someone can find a place where they are comfortable to write. I bet his publisher would even help pay for an office space, an extra apartment, comfortable decor, whatever.

I love his books, but I've never bought this "lack of writing space" excuse.

Except it's not just "lack of writing space" -- although that's a Real Thing, and it matters (N.B. he DID have a writing space.  It just wasn't his space (the same way a rented office wouldn't be); rolling out of bed in the undies to get a critical, dream-inspired hour of work in, from 2:45-3:45am?  Not in a rented office!  Blasting Ride of the Valkyries at feel-it-in-your-bones volume, to write a scene with Gard?  Not in a rented office!  Etc... ) .

Yes, spaces can be had, but (as I understand his situation) he was more or less expecting his (own) new space to be completed "within a short while" for at least a couple of YEARS (bad contractor), the actual "need" for a separate office/whatever wasn't really clear for a long time.

But even so, such temporary spaces are not the same, and not likely to be an equally-productive space.

And the book DID get written; just less-productively than we (and he, I presume!) would want.

But -- in addition to the "room of ones own" -- his marriage ended, his dog died, he found new love and got RE-married ...

Someone can go work retail, or a bunch of other jobs, largely without regard to their "internal state."  They may have a spate of late-arrivals, their productivity may dip a bit, from a crying-jag or situational depression.  But basically, they grind on.

A creative worker is a bit more limited; their productivity is profoundly impacted by their "internal state."  Mr. Butcher has stated that he can and does "grind on," just  v--e--r--y  s--o--w--l--y  (and so we got the book after an unexpected delay).
 
I... kind of don't see why anyone would expect anything else, given his circumstances?
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on December 04, 2019, 12:12:12 AM

I love his books, but I've never bought this "lack of writing space" excuse.

Having worked from home the lack of space makes sense to me when combined with the house building as covering a fair amount of lost time.   When I first started working from home I would set up anywhere and it took me a while to realize I was getting almost nothing done. Then I cleaned out a space for a small office and things got a lot better.  If Jim did the same thing we wasted a chunk of time not really thinking about the fact he was getting almost nothing done on the dinning room table.  Then he may have been thinking the new house will be ready soon not worth worry about I will carry on this way.  Then the house kept having delays.   

This does not explain all of the delay but I think the lack of writing space was certainly real and cost him a good chunk of time.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 04, 2019, 06:33:48 AM
Or if his books were selling as good as J.K. Rowlings Harry potter books he could have applied her solution and spend 1000 pounds a night in the Edinburgh Balmoral hotel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjLan582Lgk

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: segaily on December 04, 2019, 07:12:04 PM
Or if his books were selling as good as J.K. Rowlings Harry potter books he could have applied her solution and spend 1000 pounds a night in the Edinburgh Balmoral hotel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjLan582Lgk

I bet Jim wishes his books sold that well as well.  Having read everything from both of them I think Jim is better though his stuff is not as kid friendly. :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Maz on December 04, 2019, 07:24:58 PM
Let's just kill this line of thinking.   The book's done, the delays are Jim's business and we can simply choose to continue to follow him or not.  I strongly suspect the Penguin employee was unaware of what was going on and quoted a placeholder date.  It's a waste to delay a book that far and I suspect we'll hear something sooner rather than later - unless there's some huge fundamental flaw that somehow got past the beta readers.  Even at today's low interest rates, there's still the time value of money and executives are generally compensated based upon the firm's profit and delaying the release of a solid seller is delaying their compensation. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on December 04, 2019, 08:05:27 PM
I bet Jim wishes his books sold that well as well.  Having read everything from both of them I think Jim is better though his stuff is not as kid friendly. :)
No contest. Jim's a better writer. Now, at least. Though I think he was a better writer in his first book than Rowling was for hers.

Point is that Jim learned pretty fast. His characters feel like people who might really exist. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and most of the rest of the cast read like an adult's interpretation of the way teenagers behave and speak. The interpersonal conflicts (the many arguments between the main power trio, the feuds with some of the other Houses' students, etc.) stank of manufactured drama, and frequently made me roll my eyes. Add on that Potterverse magic runs mostly on whimsy (with a bunch of "Laws" tacked on in the last book that are contradicted by earlier books; for example, Mrs. Weasley is seen pouring sauce out of her wand, yet food cannot be created by magic. I mean, Snape teaches Malfoy how to conjure a freaking live snake out of nowhere in less than a minute (and it IS a real snake, because Harry was able to talk to it). Snakes are edible! Hermione knows how to conjure BIRDS for crap's sake, but she can't create a chicken?! So the "law" only means that "you cannot create fully-cooked, prepared meals" not "you cannot create food." That "law" only exists because Rowling wanted the trio to be hungry). The contrast between Rowling's approach and Jim's is pretty stark.

Magic in the DV has been consistent from book one. The rules were obviously thought out beforehand, and I can't pinpoint anywhere they're broken. In fact, half the fun of a lot of scenes comes from Harry finding a new application of the rules, or a loophole, or something unexpected. Unlike Harry, who mostly yells "Expelliarmus" and "Stupefy" while brandishing his wand.

I like Harry Potter. I reread that series every year or two. But it doesn't hold a candle to Dresden in setting, plot, or characterization.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 04, 2019, 08:29:06 PM
I agree with most of it, but I disagree about first books. I think The Sorcerer's Stone is almost perfect and I think the writing is better than SF. That said, I completely agree about Butcher learning faster and I think he is now a much, much better autor than JKR.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: noblehunter on December 04, 2019, 08:38:32 PM
To be fair, DF and HP are trying to do different kinds of story telling. The whimsy and inconsistency is more of a feature than a bug for those sorts of stories.

Though Butcher has done a better job at keeping the story corralled rather than sprawling all over the place like a lot of other long running series, including HP.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 04, 2019, 09:19:13 PM
Rowling ended it in seven books, and she captured a generation or two, internationally.  By any definition that includes the readers, she wrote better books.  Butcher might have served himself better by not trying to make a life's work of it.  You get tired of anybody or thing that consumes as much of your life as the Dresden Files.  Rowling hit it and moved on.  Now she can work for pride and fun.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on December 05, 2019, 12:45:45 AM
More popular does not necessarily mean better.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 05, 2019, 01:18:47 AM
Agree ^
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 05, 2019, 02:14:21 AM
Magic in the DV has been consistent from book one. The rules were obviously thought out beforehand, and I can't pinpoint anywhere they're broken.
There is a lot of early installment weirdness. I'd say the "rules" for the series isn't really on solid ground until book 4 or 5.
(click to show/hide)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/Literature (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/Literature)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Just Al on December 05, 2019, 09:33:29 PM
Apropo of nothing, Locus magazine has again listed a publication date for Peace Talks. They list an April 2020 release, but only in the UK, which strikes me as odd. I've noticed that, in general, British authors have an earlier release date for their works in the UK. North American authors have an earlier release date in NA, and most release on either side of the Atlantic on the same date.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on December 06, 2019, 12:36:07 AM
Having worked from home the lack of space makes sense to me when combined with the house building as covering a fair amount of lost time.   When I first started working from home I would set up anywhere and it took me a while to realize I was getting almost nothing done. Then I cleaned out a space for a small office and things got a lot better.  If Jim did the same thing we wasted a chunk of time not really thinking about the fact he was getting almost nothing done on the dinning room table.  Then he may have been thinking the new house will be ready soon not worth worry about I will carry on this way.  Then the house kept having delays.   

This does not explain all of the delay but I think the lack of writing space was certainly real and cost him a good chunk of time.
Four additional years, though? Lack of a writing space was way too high on the excuse list. Hell, just say, "I haven't been in the right frame of mind for a bunch of reasons and had to take a break." I'd be fine with that. But not being able to find a place to write for 4 years? 4 freaking years?!?! I mean, come on. That's just blowing smoke and feels completely disingenuous. If he really wanted to be writing, he'd have found a space in which he could write. Get a larger apartment for God's sake. Rent a house. Four years is a long damn time to be in limbo. I can't imagine putting up with that. Maybe a year, max. I'd much rather have just heard, "Sorry folks, I had to take a break. I'll get back to writing as soon as I can!"
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 06, 2019, 12:51:46 AM
Four additional years, though? Lack of a writing space was way too high on the excuse list ...

<baffled shrug>

What... now you're asking for a ranked list?  "This contributed 45% to the slowdown, that was responsible for 20%," etc...?

It was part and parcel of a big stack of things.  Which one(s) impacted him worse may well have varied on a daily / weekly / etc basis, and have evolved and changed as his circumstances changed.  Maybe it's just the one that was most on his mind in the moment that he listed the reasons.

Collectively, they probably didn't only interfere with writing... they probably interfered with figuring out how to fix the slowdowns.
 
And in the end... do we really care that much, now that his productivity seems to be restored?  Do we "need to know" and moreover... are we in ANY way entitled to know?
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 06, 2019, 12:56:08 AM
Apropo of nothing, Locus magazine has again listed a publication date for Peace Talks. They list an April 2020 release...

IIRC, this matches the (probable mis-)information given upthread, which I presume originated with Amazon.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 06, 2019, 02:55:08 PM
Rowling ended it in seven books, and she captured a generation or two, internationally.  By any definition that includes the readers, she wrote better books.  Butcher might have served himself better by not trying to make a life's work of it.  You get tired of anybody or thing that consumes as much of your life as the Dresden Files.  Rowling hit it and moved on.  Now she can work for pride and fun.

  Rowling's  was excellent in the first four to five books, but when she began to write about our favorite young wizards as teens things began to fall apart.   She also kept to her original outline, which she has admitted was a bit of a mistake as far a who ended up with whom.  However she did know when to quit.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on December 06, 2019, 04:58:37 PM
I agree with most of it, but I disagree about first books. I think The Sorcerer's Stone is almost perfect and I think the writing is better than SF. That said, I completely agree about Butcher learning faster and I think he is now a much, much better autor than JKR.

My issues with the first books of both are that they mainly fall into the same trap. Most chapters are pretty much "I went to a place, and this thing happened. I left that place." Tons of first books fall into the same pattern. Iron Druid was a particular offender throughout the entire series, and Alex Verus would have fit it if Jacka's chapters were shorter. It's the kind of thing that comes from writing based on a rigid outline, mostly (though not really in Jim's case; it's formulaic, but I believe he wrote Storm Front pretty much as he went). Outlines are great, but I prefer it when books don't read like an outline.

Sorcerer's Stone was mostly about the wonder of uncovering a secret world, and it's got a fair bit of wish fulfillment baked into it (poor, abused Harry is saved from a devastatingly poor home life and is revealed to be not just special, but wealthy and famous, and he's a star athlete based on some kind of natural talent). It's fine for what it is, and I like it well enough, but I'm not the target audience for it.

And yeah, Bad Alias, some of the details of the supernatural creatures were retconned a bit, but the point is that magic itself functions in the exact same way from Storm Front through Skin Game. And Harry didn't even know that there were multiple Queens until Summer Knight.

The thing about Vampires is that White Court vamps don't follow the same rules. I assume that's what you're talking about. Because Red Court + Black Court can't do thresholds, and have never been depicted crossing one. So it's not "some breeds," it's "one breed," and that's because they're born human (and still apparently have trouble calling on their Hunger after crossing one). I think Harry even stipulates

In Storm Front, the only thing I recall about the Nevernever as it relates to vampires is that they wouldn't be able to rip someone's heart of their chest with a simple spell on the mortal realm, and would have to do it in the Nevernever. That rule gets twisted in Changes, but that took countless human sacrifices and a leyline, which is the kind of thing you'd notice in Chicago (and way too much effort to kill a mob enforcer). The only other thing I can remember is their "corporeal form" bit, which I took as a reference to the Red Court fleshmasks, which we see in Storm Front.

The Chauncy bit is kinda whatever.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 06, 2019, 05:04:49 PM
Rowling vs Butcher?

Well -- at least for Philosopher's Stone vs Storm Front -- Rowling's effort was overwhelmingly superior.

Rowling was trying to write a whimsical kids' adventure-story in the "British Boarding School" model.  It was a runaway international bestseller, and went onto innumerable "best of..." and "must read..." lists.  You don't have to like the books, personally, but you need to face the fact that most people -- from literary critics to librarians to the buying public -- love the books.  You must face up to the fact that any "dislike" is a matter of personal taste.

Jim Butcher?  He was trying to prove that his own writing style was incompatible with what his writing-teacher thought he should write.  He wanted to demonstrate it would be unsalably bad.  Jim Butcher utterly failed his goal with this book (the poor guy; gotta pity him, really...).

 :o
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 06, 2019, 08:45:07 PM
Rowling vs Butcher?

Well -- at least for Philosopher's Stone vs Storm Front -- Rowling's effort was overwhelmingly superior.

Rowling was trying to write a whimsical kids' adventure-story in the "British Boarding School" model.  It was a runaway international bestseller, and went onto innumerable "best of..." and "must read..." lists.  You don't have to like the books, personally, but you need to face the fact that most people -- from literary critics to librarians to the buying public -- love the books.  You must face up to the fact that any "dislike" is a matter of personal taste.

Jim Butcher?  He was trying to prove that his own writing style was incompatible with what his writing-teacher thought he should write.  He wanted to demonstrate it would be unsalably bad.  Jim Butcher utterly failed his goal with this book (the poor guy; gotta pity him, really...).

 :o

Oh I am not saying Rowling isn't good,  I am repeating what she, herself said about her final pairings.  They are what she had planned from day one, and as we all know sometimes characters take on a life of their own, and she wishes she had paid more attention to that instead of sticking to her original ideas on that score.   I think it is difficult in any case to write a series of any kind and have it be good through the whole series.   Lord of the Rings may be the exception, but it was also the result of a lifetime's work of setting up the world that it is set in..  Even at that there are bits revised with each printing to improve it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 06, 2019, 10:48:23 PM
  Rowling's  was excellent in the first four to five books, but when she began to write about our favorite young wizards as teens things began to fall apart.   She also kept to her original outline, which she has admitted was a bit of a mistake as far a who ended up with whom.  However she did know when to quit.
I wasn't making a judgement on what I thought of my experience reading both series. For people who choose to write for a living then sales are the only metric that counts.  Jim uses the money to afford the lifestyle that he wants to live.  So does Rowling. If they didn't get paid they wouldn't be writing.

The biggest problem with both writers was and is that the books got bloated as they went along.

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 06, 2019, 11:53:18 PM
I wasn't making a judgement on what I thought of my experience reading both series. For people who choose to write for a living then sales are the only metric that counts.  Jim uses the money to afford the lifestyle that he wants to live.  So does Rowling. If they didn't get paid they wouldn't be writing.

The biggest problem with both writers was and is that the books got bloated as they went along.

  Agreed, edit, edit, edit....  An author really guilty of writing bloated books in a series that goes on way too long is Terry Goodkind, his "Sword of Truth" series.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 07, 2019, 11:53:56 PM
I assume that's [vampires] what you're [me] talking about.
I just grabbed a quote from tvtropes and eliminated the references to style, tone, and themes as they didn't have anything to do with what we were talking about.

I think there is a lot in the first few books that Jim changed later on that can be explained away. If we're going to use the retcon to describe it, I'd call it a light retconning because it's more of a "that's a bit of a stretch" situation than a "that's clearly not how it used to be" situation.

The vampire thing can easily be explained away by pointing out that Harry was pretty ignorant about vampires at that point, as can most suspected changes.

I think that the way magic interacts with technology is a bit off in Grave Peril. The whole guns malfunctioning thing kind of just goes away. There's a few throw away lines about newer, better maintained guns.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 08, 2019, 04:07:52 AM
  Agreed, edit, edit, edit....  An author really guilty of writing bloated books in a series that goes on way too long is Terry Goodkind, his "Sword of Truth" series.
I've never read him.  A lot of good books trying to get your attention is the problem.  And solving that problem is more luck than good writing.  When I was young lurid book covers worked as well as anything. Possibly some cheesy sex.  Jim pays homage to the idea with the bodice rippers for Bob.  Although he could dial it back just a little.  In a small way it reminds me of the Doc Savage books.  The tone, rather than the content. 

I won't live to see it, if it were to happen,  but Butcher could make Mab the focus of her own hero story, dying for the ideal of protecting mortals.  It has the potential to really pound Dresden emotionally, to realize what Mab gave up to guard the gates.  Anyway....

@Bad Alias

One of the better things about the books is that Jim will retcon if it makes the story stronger.  Keeping too much technology out kills the story.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Snark Knight on December 08, 2019, 11:00:36 PM
I don't think Jim's later books have been getting noticeably bloated. They're only middle of the genre pack for length, the plots are still tight, and most of the deeper worldbuilding background elements that have come up were foreshadowed early on.

The DF is nowhere near Sword of Truth (which took an unfortunate turn into political allegory, as well as introducing new elements late in the game) or Wheel of Time (that just meandered and drew plots out past what they needed) for bloat.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 09, 2019, 12:30:03 AM
We'll see after Peace Talks.  The Butter's plot line is fraught and he's going to need to exercise care.  And I don't know that it was needed, I think he wanted to write that chase on a skateboard and turn expectations on its head.  And I don't know that it was needed.  But then again he built a house in the West and I live in a condo.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 09, 2019, 09:34:09 AM
... I think he wanted to write that chase on a skateboard and turn expectations on its head.  And I don't know that it was needed...

I think Jim spent so long building Butters up as the comic little not-a-credible-threat nerd -- whose highest aspiration to Hero'dom is gnawing (briefly) on a villain's leg -- that we'll be seeing a fair bit of Jim building-up New Butters as a smart hero, using wits and Science! and magical Inspector Bob-Gadget'ry (in addition to being a Jedi Knight of the Cross).  I think that's why we saw, e.g. the Skateboard of Awesome (also, I'm willing to bet that somebody in Jim's life (maybe Jim himself) is a 'board fan; just sayin' ).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 09, 2019, 03:18:39 PM
I think Jim spent so long building Butters up as the comic little not-a-credible-threat nerd -- whose highest aspiration to Hero'dom is gnawing (briefly) on a villain's leg -- that we'll be seeing a fair bit of Jim building-up New Butters as a smart hero, using wits and Science! and magical Inspector Bob-Gadget'ry (in addition to being a Jedi Knight of the Cross).  I think that's why we saw, e.g. the Skateboard of Awesome (also, I'm willing to bet that somebody in Jim's life (maybe Jim himself) is a 'board fan; just sayin' ).

But he always was a hero in the eyes of his fans, from the very beginning.  Remember before he was introduced he stood up for the truth of his scientific findings at great cost.  Yes, he relented some, but so did Galileo so he'd have some career left.   In Dead Beat, scared out of his mind, yes, but willing to help Harry as best he could.  "Polka will never die!" ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 09, 2019, 06:48:40 PM
To make Butter's a Knight Jim had...
Create the most overpowered weapon in the books.
Have a Jew carry a weapon forged with the nails of Jesus's crucifix, which is somewhat dubious.

At 46 Butters is on the decline of aging.  The sword can't be used directly against other swords, it cuts steel.  It's a killing weapon with no weight to speak of and no one in the Dresden Files knows how to wield that type of weapon unless there is a Jedi Knight around that I haven't seen.  This type of thing could and might play hell with Jim's story.  Having said that, this is Jim's book and he, of course, is the guy with the mind that puts it on paper.  May the force be with him.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mr. Death on December 09, 2019, 08:49:10 PM
  Agreed, edit, edit, edit....  An author really guilty of writing bloated books in a series that goes on way too long is Terry Goodkind, his "Sword of Truth" series.
Oh lord. Especially his newer stuff -- in one, Richard spends 200 goddamn pages in a cave, most of which is spent with him learning about the "unholy half dead" zombie things over and over again.

Like, there's no memory charm, and he's not learning anything new about them, he just keeps finding out through the cave carvings that they exist, and every single time it's treated as a revelation.

Damn near made me put the book down entirely right then and there.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 09, 2019, 10:36:17 PM
Create the most overpowered weapon in the books.

That's Amoracchius (at least, amongst the Swords).

The new lightshow is tactically interesting, sure (and egregiously fun fanservice!); but essentially irrelevant.

WoJ says:
Quote
We’ll probably get the new wielder of Fidelacchius in Book 14 or 15. Um, Amoracchius is gonna, uh…(Jim chuckles evilly), that’s gonna be apocalypse time by the time we get [unintelligible].  Amoracchius is not one of those Swords that really rampages around the world very often, and when if does, you’ve heard about it, so…
( https://wordof.jim-butcher.com/index.php/word-of-jim-woj-compilation/woj-on-future-df-works/ )
Also note the Bible -- "... these three abide: Faith, Hope, and Love.  And the greatest of these is Love."  (And if you wanna get really interesting, note this was NOT originally written in English, and the other common translation of that "Greatest of these" is CHARITY).

Or the Grail, and/or other items from Hades' vault.  At least to Harry's psychic senses:
Quote
... a combined aura that made the thrumming power of a roused Amoracchius seem like a low-wattage lightbulb in comparison.
(emphasis added -- not Amoracchius "whenever" but Amoracchius roused.)

Or magic itself!  Again, WoJ:
Quote
Q:  What are the upper levels of magic?
A:  There are none, if the person has enough juice.  If someone was strong enough, they could completely rewrite reality.
( https://wordof.jim-butcher.com/index.php/word-of-jim-woj-compilation/woj-on-magic-in-the-dresden-files/ )

 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 09, 2019, 11:04:39 PM
... Have a Jew carry a weapon forged with the nails of Jesus's crucifix, which is somewhat dubious ...

huh?

Shiro was Buddhist, not even one of the People of the Book.  Sanya calls himself an atheist, but admits to -- maybe -- being agnostic (when pressed).

I mean, Jesus was a Jew!  Matthew 1:1 also cites him as from the line of Kings, the Davidic house (regarding the importance of which, note how Jim is going to great lengths to demonstrate how important a Kingly lineage is).

A whole bunch of "Christian" words -- like "Messiah" and "Hallelujah" -- are Hebrew.  All those -el names, Raphael, Uriel, Michael... they come from Hebrew, where "-el" means "of God."

During Jesus' lifetime (and his direct disciples) "Christianity" was a sect of Judaism; specifically, the sect that believed the prophesied Messiah had in fact arrived.

There's STILL groups like "Messianic Jews" (some of whom are mere revanchist Christians (trying to proselytize the unconverted Jews), but some are genuine practicing Jews who believe the Messiah has come and given them a New Testament).

Are you going back to that whole "Jews killed Jesus, and therefore are Eeeevil!" rationalization?
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Snark Knight on December 10, 2019, 01:35:07 AM
To make Butter's a Knight Jim had...
Create the most overpowered weapon in the books.

I don't think it really is, though. We've already seen Michael use Amoracchius to cut through steel like it was paper a couple times in Death Masks - stabbing a squire through a security door in the airport, and cutting through the roof of the train to go after Deirdre. The Swords are already effectively lightsabers when they're on mission. All that was new in SG was that it doesn't actually matter whether the steel blade is there or not, but it's not like anyone thought it was the physical blade leaving red-hot holes where it goes through sheet metal.

And the narration couldn't have been clearer about the Swords being relatively minor in comparison to the artifacts from Hades' vault. It remains to be seen how accurate Harry is about them being weapons, but there doesn't seem to be much doubt about the spearhead / knife.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 10, 2019, 02:21:33 AM
Quote
Are you going back to that whole "Jews killed Jesus, and therefore are Eeeevil!" rationalization?
Being an atheist your point is lost on me.

In none of the fights involving the swords did one sword cut through another leaving behind white hot metal.  I'm thinking of the fight on the train.
Quote
Nicodemus attacked in the moment Michael's attention was elsewhere. The Denarian's weapon blurred, and Michael barely managed to get Amoracchius into a parry. He was thrown off balance and to one knee for a fatal second, but Sanya roared and attacked, whipping his saber through whistling arcs, and driving Nicodemus back. The Russian drove the Denarian toward the far side of the car.
And here comes Butter's, snickity, snick.  Nic is done.

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Snark Knight on December 10, 2019, 03:23:38 AM
In none of the fights involving the swords did one sword cut through another leaving behind white hot metal.  I'm thinking of the fight on the train. And here comes Butter's, snickity, snick.  Nic is done.

The swords' power has always been variable according to the circumstances, though. As I said, they have cut metal other than opposing blades in ways a physical blade obviously can't on a couple other occasions, and their mystical power varies in some combination of response to both the bearer and the current adversary. Fidelacchius gives Harry a fighting chance wrestling with Nicodemus, but it lights up like a freaking meteor for Karrin against Deirdre.

And I think Fidelacchius starting to act like a lightsaber all the time when it was thrown to Butters may have just possibly been influenced by the fact that the one throwing it had the very probable spear of destiny - which is legendarily supposed to confer victory on the side that carries it - stuffed up his sleeve at the moment.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 10, 2019, 05:07:23 AM
The swords' power has always been variable according to the circumstances, though. As I said, they have cut metal other than opposing blades in ways a physical blade obviously can't on a couple other occasions, and their mystical power varies in some combination of response to both the bearer and the current adversary. Fidelacchius gives Harry a fighting chance wrestling with Nicodemus, but it lights up like a freaking meteor for Karrin against Deirdre.

And I think Fidelacchius starting to act like a lightsaber all the time when it was thrown to Butters may have just possibly been influenced by the fact that the one throwing it had the very probable spear of destiny - which is legendarily supposed to confer victory on the side that carries it - stuffed up his sleeve at the moment.

This^^

The swords, like Mouse, like pretty much any really significant power - are incredible and unstoppable in the right circumstances. Mouse powered up by the Carpenter house is much stronger than when powered up by Dresden's poor threshold ("from the Thing to the Hulk" WOJ). The Archangels and the Mothers and the Walkers are incredibly powerful, but only in very specific situations. Choice seems to unlock the power, but so does destiny (which one could argue is the result of a line of choices - no wonder you can't fight fate). Harry was never a Knight of the Cross, and so could never wield a blade like one. Although I do admit, Jim does seem to vary the powers of the Swords a lot. Early Michael was way less powerful than later Michael, despite the damaged leg. Karen makes them all look pitiful, and despite Shiro supposedly being a Sword-Saint we never saw him unleash the way Karen did. Sanya is as true KotC but has he ever been as strong as the others? A good argument might be that Jim needed to super-charge them for the writing later in the series as events demanded. Also perhaps one could argue as the stakes get higher, so does the power of the swords increase (we are getting close to the end of the world).

But mostly it seems situational, and not always obvious. Sanya does more than merely kill armies of baddies - he provides Hope when all hope is lost. He carried the burden of being the sole KotC when none were available. And he did not fail or falter or shirk his duties. That isn't nothing. In some ways, it is greater than any one act of combat we have seen so far. Like in Lord of the Rings, it is the little things that make the difference.

The fact that Harry carried the Spear of Destiny (or Longinus) is definitely worth remembering. The power to warp reality and probability so that all conflicts go your way? Greater than any of those swords or any spell that we have seen. Perhaps it supercharged Butter's sword, perhaps not (which is likely considering it functionally worked the same in the short story). But the fact that Harry carried it with him in hopeless odds, and won, should not be overlooked.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 10, 2019, 05:15:37 AM
But he always was a hero in the eyes of his fans, from the very beginning.  Remember before he was introduced he stood up for the truth of his scientific findings at great cost.  Yes, he relented some, but so did Galileo so he'd have some career left.   In Dead Beat, scared out of his mind, yes, but willing to help Harry as best he could.  "Polka will never die!" ;D

I want to clap at this  :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on December 10, 2019, 09:47:35 AM
huh?

Shiro was Buddhist, not even one of the People of the Book.  Sanya calls himself an atheist, but admits to -- maybe -- being agnostic (when pressed).

I mean, Jesus was a Jew!  Matthew 1:1 also cites him as from the line of Kings, the Davidic house (regarding the importance of which, note how Jim is going to great lengths to demonstrate how important a Kingly lineage is).

A whole bunch of "Christian" words -- like "Messiah" and "Hallelujah" -- are Hebrew.  All those -el names, Raphael, Uriel, Michael... they come from Hebrew, where "-el" means "of God."

During Jesus' lifetime (and his direct disciples) "Christianity" was a sect of Judaism; specifically, the sect that believed the prophesied Messiah had in fact arrived.

There's STILL groups like "Messianic Jews" (some of whom are mere revanchist Christians (trying to proselytize the unconverted Jews), but some are genuine practicing Jews who believe the Messiah has come and given them a New Testament).

Are you going back to that whole "Jews killed Jesus, and therefore are Eeeevil!" rationalization?

I agree with what you said here.  However, what I found odd; maybe incongruous is a better word, was when Butters attached a red cross from a first aid kit (I think) to his improvised knight outfit.  I get the idea that he's now one of the Knights of the Cross, but I don't think Sanya does this.  If Butters had decided to stick a Star of David to his Knight outfit, I think that would have made more sense, unless he's been converted to Catholicism or some other flavor of Christianity. 

I'm thinking about what Shiro told Harry about God seeing hearts not labels.  Butters should have been true to his personal identity, not try to blend in, in order fit in with his new job.   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 10, 2019, 09:52:37 AM
I feel like I'm attacking motherhood or the Queen. However, Jim pivots from the swords being important, to making swordplay moot.  Butter's can't have a sword fight. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: KurtinStGeorge on December 10, 2019, 09:58:35 AM
I feel like I'm attacking motherhood or the Queen. However, Jim pivots from the swords being important, to making swordplay moot.  Butter's can't have a sword fight.

...he can if someone else can get the same thing or  something very similar.  I know that sounds silly, but why not? 

Actually, I think Butters is going to have to be a different kind of Knight.  One who relies more on ingenuity and subtlety that brute force.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 10, 2019, 01:39:50 PM
I agree. Also, Butters have faith in the red cross or, better, in what it represents. Yes, the origin is the Christian symbol, but now it stands for medicine and hellping people in most parts of the world and clearly in USA, so Butter grew up with that meaning. He has literally served under that sign for years. Besides, Butters is not obtuse. Whatever his faith he knows the importance of symbols, and knights like Arthur's round table ones are powerful symbols.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on December 10, 2019, 02:42:20 PM
I agree. Also, Butters have faith in the red cross or, better, in what it represents. Yes, the origin is the Christian symbol, but now it stands for medicine and hellping people in most parts of the world and clearly in USA, so Butter grew up with that meaning. He has literally served under that sign for years. Besides, Butters is not obtuse. Whatever his faith he knows the importance of symbols, and knights like Arthur's round table ones are powerful symbols.

  I  don't think it is about what religion is followed by the Knight,  as in Sanya's case, it is none.   Butters isn't a Christian, but he is faithful, the Sword that he wields is about faith not what door he chooses to walk through to get to God.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 10, 2019, 02:54:58 PM
The medical symbol is the Caduceus, not a cross.  And the Red Cross is symbolic of the Swiss Flag where the International Red Cross was founded.  The cross is a symbol of the crucifix, wherein the three nails affixed to the swords are thought to be from. And since the rules expressly forbid taking this any further I'll stop.

I hope Butter's story line works out.  Jim can't unwrite it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: noblehunter on December 10, 2019, 04:25:24 PM
To skip back a few topics, I think Peace Talks will be a sort of test for Butcher. So far, he's avoided the bloat that afflicts many long running series but it's been partially due to the fact that the series since Harry's death hasn't involved a lot of politics. There's been some expansive world building, notably regarding the Outer Gates, but not much time spent on what the world looks like since the end of the Red Court. Peace Talks looks like it will break from that trend which risks turning into a sprawling mess of plots and counter-plots. Which is a bit ironic given that I've been waiting years to get info about the new balance of power but if writing was easy everyone would do it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: dspringer1 on December 10, 2019, 04:54:05 PM
Quote
The swords, like Mouse, like pretty much any really significant power - are incredible and unstoppable in the right circumstances. Mouse powered up by the Carpenter house is much stronger than when powered up by Dresden's poor threshold ("from the Thing to the Hulk" WOJ). The Archangels and the Mothers and the Walkers are incredibly powerful, but only in very specific situations. Choice seems to unlock the power, but so does destiny (which one could argue is the result of a line of choices - no wonder you can't fight fate). Harry was never a Knight of the Cross, and so could never wield a blade like one. Although I do admit, Jim does seem to vary the powers of the Swords a lot. Early Michael was way less powerful than later Michael, despite the damaged leg. Karen makes them all look pitiful, and despite Shiro supposedly being a Sword-Saint we never saw him unleash the way Karen did. Sanya is as true KotC but has he ever been as strong as the others? A good argument might be that Jim needed to super-charge them for the writing later in the series as events demanded. Also perhaps one could argue as the stakes get higher, so does the power of the swords increase (we are getting close to the end of the world).

This was explained in one of the books.  The power of the knights (or the swords if you like) is not fixed.   Their purpose is to balance the scales so that human skill, will and morality will decide the battle, not supernatural power.  So if the knight needs to fight two vampires, you get power X.   If the knight needs to battle a frigging dragon, he gets power 5X. 

I suspect there is a range of possible power.  A knight can probably easily kill any normal vampire 1-1, so there seems to be a minimum power level.   And the top end a knight can channel also appears to be limited.   Murphy was apparently a VERY powerful knight in Changes, while Sanya appears to be of more typical Knight power.  And even Murphy and Sanya together were insufficient to beat all the vampires in that last battle.  Not even close. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 10, 2019, 06:40:16 PM
This was explained in one of the books.  The power of the knights (or the swords if you like) is not fixed.   Their purpose is to balance the scales ...
...   And even Murphy and Sanya together were insufficient to beat all the vampires in that last battle.  Not even close.

In fact, Murphy and Sanya DID beat all the Vampires:  they were sufficient to stop them from reaching Harry in time to stop HIM.

As you say, they have however much power they need to "balance" the conflict.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 10, 2019, 10:13:13 PM
The medical symbol is the Caduceus, not a cross.  And the Red Cross is symbolic of the Swiss Flag where the International Red Cross was founded.  The cross is a symbol of the crucifix, wherein the three nails affixed to the swords are thought to be from. And since the rules expressly forbid taking this any further I'll stop.

I hope Butter's story line works out.  Jim can't unwrite it.

Well, most of us are ok with Butter's story. And you don't need to patronize me. You know what I meant. If you see a box with a red cross in most places in the world you don't think inside you will find a bible and holy water, you know there is a first aid kit with gauze, band aids and other things you use to heal. That is why I said that I know the origin is the Christian symbol but now it stands for medicine.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Fcrate on December 10, 2019, 10:53:28 PM
I don't like Butters' upgrade, however, I think that Jim needed it to consolidate more power firmly in Harry's corner as the challenges get tougher and the fights become on a larger scale. It seems unlikely to me that he'll ever be a knight on par with Sanya or Michael, but a little upgrade in addition to his smarts are good enough for him to become a valuable ally instead of a fun character that patches up corpses, and on occasion Harry.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 11, 2019, 12:00:41 AM
This was explained in one of the books.  The power of the knights (or the swords if you like) is not fixed.   Their purpose is to balance the scales so that human skill, will and morality will decide the battle, not supernatural power.  So if the knight needs to fight two vampires, you get power X.   If the knight needs to battle a frigging dragon, he gets power 5X. 

I suspect there is a range of possible power.  A knight can probably easily kill any normal vampire 1-1, so there seems to be a minimum power level.   And the top end a knight can channel also appears to be limited.   Murphy was apparently a VERY powerful knight in Changes, while Sanya appears to be of more typical Knight power.  And even Murphy and Sanya together were insufficient to beat all the vampires in that last battle.  Not even close.

It was explained somewhat in the books, in a rather vague way. Never so clearly as the Swords balance the fight. If anything, the closest explanation is it gives the Knight a chance of victory, which is incredible enough anyway but not the same as matching the foe.

If it really does in fact make the knights power up to a certain level, based on the enemy in front of them, then why were three Knights needed to take on Ursiel? As I say I think it gives them a chance, which is good, but if you want to maximise your chances you have as much help as you can get.
 
I also am not so taken with the idea that some Knights are greater in power than others. True, some Knights are more talented and skilled warriors than others - Shiro was clearly the most dangerous warrior early on. But the true purpose of the Knights is not as mere swordsmen, but as saviours and guardians. They are meant to help. I do think the character of Sanya is constantly weirdly nerfed by Jim - he is often clumsy, hardly a tornado of warrior power, and rarely seems to go toe-to-toe with any villain on his own. Is this because he is agnostic? I can't imagine so as Shiro ascribed to multiple belief systems and Butters is Jewish! I think it is more down to poor character development and being overshadowed in pivotal scenes by other characters. Also, I think if Murphy and Sanya were meant to beat all those Vampires they would have. I think that is precisely how their game works.

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 11, 2019, 12:47:14 AM
Well, most of us are ok with Butter's story. And you don't need to patronize me.
I'm sorry that you took it that way.

Any reading of Changes suggesting that the Knights balanced the table at Chechen Itza seems a little nearsighted.  Harry is shitting kittens thinking he has led his allies to their deaths. Had the Knights been able to run the table, Susan needn't have died.  Harry killed every vampire everywhere. god was late to the game and purely local.

As an extra added attraction for the Butter's story line he had to mug Murphy, again.  She is apparently Jim's torture doll.  While Butters was carving the dead Murphy got mind raped.  Lost her career and got demoted. Got dumped at the boat and abandoned in place to cope with the Fomor and the White Vamps. And got a bad knee and a rep as a sword breaker. Kincaid broke her arm, but at least he showed her a good time. Oh yeah and she got puppeted by an angel.  She deserved a larger cut of the diamonds.  And the sword.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 11, 2019, 02:08:00 AM
When I was young lurid book covers worked as well as anything.

...

@Bad Alias

One of the better things about the books is that Jim will retcon if it makes the story stronger.  Keeping too much technology out kills the story.
I didn't read a book once because of it's ridiculous cover art. Years later, my brother highly recommended the book. I ended up loving it.

Agreed. And he usually manages to do it well enough that the inconsistency can be explained away.

On Butters and such. I always assumed Shiro was Shinto. Death Masks doesn't specifically mention what religion he was before he "converted." Shiro serves "Heaven. Or the divine in nature. The memory of my fathers past. My fellow man. Myself. All pieces of the same thing."

Sanya isn't an atheist. He's a Trotskiest. "Because it must be done. ... For the good of the people, some must place themselves in harm's way. some must pledge their courage and their lives to protect the community." That's what he believes in.

I don't know what kind of Jew Butters is. There are a lot of atheist Jews and a lot of pious Jews, but Butters faith is in stories.
Quote
Uriel: I must admit I never foresaw that particular form of faith being expressed under my purview.
Harry: Belief in a freaking movie?
Uriel: Belief in a story, of good confronting evil, of light overcoming darkness, of love transcending hate. Isn't that where all faith begins?
Harry: Huh. Lot of Star Wars fans out there. Maybe more Star Wars fans than Catholics.
Uriel: I liked the music.

For the Knights, it isn't about what religion they are; it's not about faces, skin, flags, membership lists, files. "God sees hearts." It's about what they believe in.

With that context, it would make sense for Butters to where a red cross. The imagery of a knight would appeal to Butters.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 11, 2019, 05:25:48 AM
See this quote from Ghost Story:

Quote
“Excalibur, Durendal, and Kusanagi, yes, yes,” Sir Stuart said, his tone a little impatient. “Of course I know the Swords of the Cross. And the little blond woman has two of them?”

And what Kusanagi actually is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusanagi

Definitely more Shinto than christian. These things adapt to keep functional. How they express themself is a function of human belief. It is probably older than christianity and it will survive it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 11, 2019, 11:21:20 AM
@Bad Alias

I'm sure that I missed good books because of bad covers.  I always regret that Harry doesn't actually wear a hat.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 12, 2019, 05:26:47 AM
See this quote from Ghost Story:

And what Kusanagi actually is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusanagi

Definitely more Shinto than christian. These things adapt to keep functional. How they express themself is a function of human belief. It is probably older than christianity and it will survive it.
Absolutely agree. That's the whole point that Jim made isn't it - that it's mortal's understanding of the entities that changes, not really the entities themselves.


Any reading of Changes suggesting that the Knights balanced the table at Chechen Itza seems a little nearsighted.  Harry is shitting kittens thinking he has led his allies to their deaths. Had the Knights been able to run the table, Susan needn't have died.  Harry killed every vampire everywhere. god was late to the game and purely local.

As an extra added attraction for the Butter's story line he had to mug Murphy, again.  She is apparently Jim's torture doll.  While Butters was carving the dead Murphy got mind raped.  Lost her career and got demoted. Got dumped at the boat and abandoned in place to cope with the Fomor and the White Vamps. And got a bad knee and a rep as a sword breaker. Kincaid broke her arm, but at least he showed her a good time. Oh yeah and she got puppeted by an angel.  She deserved a larger cut of the diamonds.  And the sword.

I am not suggesting at all that they balanced the table any more than any other piece on the chess board. Merely we are speculating how they are able to overcome odds and the powers that their swords grant them. The salient point is less about ability, and more about destiny. The Knights represent TWG, the Creator, the Authority etc. Which is pretty established by Jim both in the books and without. We definitely know that the Almighty created the universe etc, and that they serve the Almighty. It rather seems logical then that the Knights make their choices, which lead them to create a present of their own making. Hence why the whole interference thing by Angels is so tightly managed. They don't just rewrite reality without permission, as that would lead to them negating Free Will, which sort of defeats the purpose of having it.

But just because the Knights CAN have destiny on their side, doesn't mean they always do. Murphy didn't when she broken the Sword, attempting to kill Nicodemus in a faithless act. Michael didn't when he was shot on the island. Shiro didn't when he gave up his Sword. But funnily enough whilst those individual events don't go well, somehow the whole tapestry of events works out better. Murphy's failure allowed for Butter's success. Shiro's sacrifice allowed for Harry to live, and for Murphy to be a knight, and for Butters to become a Knight. Michael's defeat allowed for him to spend more time with his family, to be there for them and enjoy his life. And to be available when Harry needed him most. It's an enormous game of Go or Chess or whatever - and each move allows for countermoves in a complex and infinite structure beyond human comprehension. Which is why if TWG had wanted them to defeat the Red Court that day, he would have built in the possibilities and chances for that and left it to them to make the choices to create that version of events. But a diffferent destiny had been lined up, which Harry and his allies realized (with all the entailing consequences).

God wasn't late to the game as you put it; he started playing before the Universe got started - if we go by Christian doctrine. Which seems to be how the Dresden Files largely operates. Can't beat a player who planned the whole thing and every conceivable version of events, who is everywhere and able to do anything and knows everything. That's a rigged game, son. Unless of course Free Will keeps it random - and that is whole nature of the battle between Heaven and Hell.

I agree with your analysis about Murphy, from a story perspective. Definitely Jim likes having a few punching bags alongside Harry to manipulate the reader. Wouldn't be a very interesting story if we didn't care. You could argue that Murphy has a rougher time than most, but if you picked the Dresden Files for the good times you are probably reading the wrong series. It's a tragedy, not a comedy really.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 12, 2019, 11:32:07 AM
I understand the mythology of the Knights in the DF.  In terms of Murphy, she's carried a lot of the story.  And it would have been nice if there had been a payoff for her character.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 12, 2019, 07:40:15 PM
We definitely know that the Almighty created the universe etc.
Tiny quibble: I recall Jim saying something along the lines of how would one know the difference between the creator of the universe and a being potent enough to retcon the universe/creation story.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Snark Knight on December 13, 2019, 01:33:27 AM
The fact that Harry carried the Spear of Destiny (or Longinus) is definitely worth remembering. The power to warp reality and probability so that all conflicts go your way? Greater than any of those swords or any spell that we have seen. Perhaps it supercharged Butter's sword, perhaps not (which is likely considering it functionally worked the same in the short story). But the fact that Harry carried it with him in hopeless odds, and won, should not be overlooked.

I'm not proposing Fidelacchius needs to be in the immediate presence of the spearhead to function every time - it clearly doesn't. I'm proposing that the presence of the spearhead helped with its initial recovery / transformation.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 13, 2019, 01:34:41 AM
OK, you asked for a release date, here's the announcement. (https://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2019/trailer-wrapped-and-side-jobs-on-sale)
Quote
Speaking of Peace Talks, a release date has been set, and we should be able to announce it VERY soon! Join our snazzy new mailing list to ensure you’re among the first to know. (If you were a member of our old Yahoo Groups mailing list, you’re good! Your subscription has been automatically transferred.)
Weirdly this is an announcement about an announcement, and had you been following on Reddit it had been rumored that the date was set, just not announced.  Go figure.

This tasty from Reddit.
Quote
priscellie
Resident Intellectus
 
21 points ·
6 hours ago

This is the only comment I'll make about the timing of the release date, as I don't want folks to press me into splitting hairs, but YES, the release date will be announced before Christmas.
Now we can all say awomen to the WG.

For those like me who are calendar challenged, that's 12 days.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 13, 2019, 02:58:39 AM
I'm not proposing Fidelacchius needs to be in the immediate presence of the spearhead to function every time - it clearly doesn't. I'm proposing that the presence of the spearhead helped with its initial recovery / transformation.

And I think Fidelacchius starting to act like a lightsaber all the time when it was thrown to Butters may have just possibly been influenced by the fact that the one throwing it had the very probable spear of destiny - which is legendarily supposed to confer victory on the side that carries it - stuffed up his sleeve at the moment.

Just how you put it gave me the impression that the spear supercharged Fidelacchius in that moment, but not that the spear's presence for the Fidelacchius's new lightsaber form to function altogether. But fair enough to the theory. I think that a variety of factors came together to allow Fidelacchius to be "reforged" into its new look - but I concur that it seems likely that the spearhead may well have been one of the more significant factors. One wonders how many times the swords have been broken...they each have at least two names and likely a few more.

Tiny quibble: I recall Jim saying something along the lines of how would one know the difference between the creator of the universe and a being potent enough to retcon the universe/creation story.

Interesting information. Do you remember where he said it? I always love to go digging! I also remember a fan once asking if the Creator was always the Creator as the fan felt the Backup short story implied entities can retroactively gain power. Jim's response was that the fan was assigning limits where there arn't any - that it is mortal's understanding of the entities that changes, not the entities themselves. We Name them, but the being is always the same being, in a cosmic sense. Also, Uriel (who makes it a point of necessity that he does not lie - and has intellectus, and Jim called him a Executive VP of Creation) told Harry that the Almighty is everywhere, see's everything from everyone's POV and experiences it too. I mean he COULD be wrong...but I would say that if the being (his boss and father) that he is referring to is not in fact the Creator and running the show then I shudder to think of what is. Maybe Azathoth - the "Blind Idiot God"... 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 13, 2019, 07:35:43 AM
Tiny quibble: I recall Jim saying something along the lines of how would one know the difference between the creator of the universe and a being potent enough to retcon the universe/creation story.

I'm pretty sure I recall seeing that WoJ!

I'm also pretty sure Mr. Butcher is kinda infamous for playing geeky wordgames with his fans.

If "The White God" actually had enough power to retcon Creation, and that's how he BECAME the creator... it's kind of like a cyclic pre/post BigBang universe, in a mystic sense.

Maybe THAT is the secret of the Outsiders -- they were in charge of everything, and TWG retcon'ed them out of existence.    8)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 13, 2019, 06:08:17 PM
I'm pretty sure I recall seeing that WoJ!

I'm also pretty sure Mr. Butcher is kinda infamous for playing geeky wordgames with his fans.

If "The White God" actually had enough power to retcon Creation, and that's how he BECAME the creator... it's kind of like a cyclic pre/post BigBang universe, in a mystic sense.

Maybe THAT is the secret of the Outsiders -- they were in charge of everything, and TWG retcon'ed them out of existence.    8)
I also remember something about the current holder of that mantle not being the first one.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 14, 2019, 05:39:44 AM
I'm pretty sure I recall seeing that WoJ!

I'm also pretty sure Mr. Butcher is kinda infamous for playing geeky wordgames with his fans.

If "The White God" actually had enough power to retcon Creation, and that's how he BECAME the creator... it's kind of like a cyclic pre/post BigBang universe, in a mystic sense.

Maybe THAT is the secret of the Outsiders -- they were in charge of everything, and TWG retcon'ed them out of existence.    8)

Except the WOJ I mentioned says basically the opposite - The Creator is ALWAYS the Creator, it is MORTAL understanding that changes.

I also remember something about the current holder of that mantle not being the first one.

See above. I think you are confusing that with a WOJ that said Uriel might merely be a being that THINKS he is an Archangel etc, and not necessarily be JUST that. All to do with mortal belief, I grant you.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 14, 2019, 06:55:29 AM
Except the WOJ I mentioned says basically the opposite - The Creator is ALWAYS the Creator, it is MORTAL understanding that changes.
Which changes how he expresses himself in the mortal realm. That is what he is for us. It is a very powerful being but in certain ways humanity is more powerfull.
Quote
See above. I think you are confusing that with a WOJ that said Uriel might merely be a being that THINKS he is an Archangel etc, and not necessarily be JUST that. All to do with mortal belief, I grant you.
I specifically remember the white god. At the time I linked it to the radical changes in his character in history though that does not have to be the case. Human understanding changed.

Uriel's grace behaves like a mantle. If Michael had kept the mantle he would have become Uriel. It was not said with so many words but that is how it looked like. 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 14, 2019, 10:25:34 PM
Which changes how he expresses himself in the mortal realm. That is what he is for us. It is a very powerful being but in certain ways humanity is more powerfull. I specifically remember the white god. At the time I linked it to the radical changes in his character in history though that does not have to be the case. Human understanding changed.

Uriel's grace behaves like a mantle. If Michael had kept the mantle he would have become Uriel. It was not said with so many words but that is how it looked like. 

Well that's been said of mantle bearers, it might not be true of the Almighty. We really haven't got much to go by, other than the power He gives His agents. And perhaps the power of His enemies - as excellent an indication as any.

But remember mortal understanding once placed Earth at the centre of the universe and the solar system etc. It also once posited that the Earth was flat - some fools still believe that today! I think humanity's power IS significant - but even in the Dresden Files humanity haven't lived longer than the universe. Which seems to me that the universe then has some fundamentals that no amount of understanding will affect. I don't think the Almighty's impact is limited the same way other supernatural's are. He holds the keys to the kingdom, He presumably can bypass the normal restrictions.

In any case, if you could pull up that WOJ or direct me to it as I am having a hard time tracking it down I would appreciate it. :)

Also, with regards to Uriel...I find it highly significant that his Grace acts rather like a Mantle. For two main reasons.

1) Grace is basically what makes an Angel an Angel. This is what Uriel said. BUT - not quite everything. He still had his identity, and seemingly his intellectus. Bob also has said that Angels are able to do what they do mostly via Soulfire. When Harry expresses surprise at this, wondering if Angels even have souls, Bob explains that they don't have much else. Now Bob doesn't know everything and his view gets narrowed because of what he is. But if I had to guess, a soul is merely a word that covers a range of spiritual qualities and pieces. Many cultures such as the Egyptians believed that the soul had multiple parts. Angels and humans share certain parts of the soul, but not all. Angels get more power, but humans get some part that gives them total Free Will. Which is more useful is probably more based on perspective and context. I think Griffin or Serack covered the whole soul thing in a WAG a few years back.

2) If Uriel IS wearing a mantle, then what other mantles might he also be wearing? My personal WAG (and it is wild) is that each Archangel, and perhaps each Angel and even each Soul, might make up TWG in some variation. If you think of TWG as a superbeing (I would say superorganism but it really doesn't quite work), then His "body" is the universes, His "arms" and "legs" are the Angels, and the souls of us are part of His mind. The other part of course is the Archangels. That is how He is able to interact, He is literally doing it through lesser parts of Himself. And we know that He does this - He has sent himself as a Mortal into the world before, perhaps even several times. So we know He is capable of being partially in one form, but the greater part of his infinite power is retained elsewhere. My analogy might be rough, but I think the idea is clear. I have no basis for it in canon or otherwise...but I do wonder. It would go a long way to explaining how He is able to be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. It also might indicate that part of himself rebelled though...which is also rather disturbing. But then again our bodies and minds rebel against ourselves all the time. Perhaps that's just a part of the natural order of things.

And my WAG best answers the Problem of Evil.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 14, 2019, 11:15:31 PM
If you look at it historically as in what people really believed at the time the hebrew god started as the head of a pantheon of gods with a wife and so on. The story changed and the other gods in the pantheon changed and some became angels just like some other gods later became saints. I think we can assume that Uriel's grace evolved from something that was originally even more like a mantle.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 15, 2019, 12:43:48 AM
It also once posited that the Earth was flat - some fools still believe that today!...

In any case, if you could pull up that WOJ or direct me to it as I am having a hard time tracking it down I would appreciate it. :)...

He still had his identity, and seemingly his intellectus.
It's not the fools who believe such things that worry me.

Sorry. I just have some vague recollection of it, but I do mostly just watch videos posted on Youtube (as opposed to Reddit AMA's and magazine interviews whose transcripts I don't trust to be precise enough to be useful anyway). The main thing is that I recall Jim asking the question "how would you know." A question for in response to an answer is only the implication of an answer. Basically, even if I remember perfectly correctly, Jim did not say that the Creator wasn't the original creator.

Uriel didn't have his intellectus. If you recall, he had to ask where the towels (or sheets or some such thing) were.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 15, 2019, 11:19:10 AM
Jim's channeling Karl Popper. Popper said, more or less, that if it couldn't be falsified, then it wasn't worth investigating.  So if a being could retcon the creation of the universe there isn't any test you can propose that would allow you to contradict the idea.  And this is a gross oversimplification.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 15, 2019, 04:18:25 PM
Jim's channeling Karl Popper. Popper said, more or less, that if it couldn't be falsified, then it wasn't worth investigating.  So if a being could retcon the creation of the universe there isn't any test you can propose that would allow you to contradict the idea.  And this is a gross oversimplification.
We just change the story. Or drown it in more stories. We can oblivion war him out.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 15, 2019, 09:13:34 PM
Works for me. :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 16, 2019, 12:57:26 AM
If you look at it historically as in what people really believed at the time the hebrew god started as the head of a pantheon of gods with a wife and so on. The story changed and the other gods in the pantheon changed and some became angels just like some other gods later became saints. I think we can assume that Uriel's grace evolved from something that was originally even more like a mantle.

An interesting idea, but I don't think we can assume that it matches up quite the same as our world might. I think Serack's famous GUCMT might be closer to what is happening in the series. But that's just my opinion. I think TWG and his Angels, aside from the fact that they are confirmed to have existed "before" Time was a thing (a paradox of sorts), are just on a different level to the rest of the supernaturals.

It's not the fools who believe such things that worry me.

Sorry. I just have some vague recollection of it, but I do mostly just watch videos posted on Youtube (as opposed to Reddit AMA's and magazine interviews whose transcripts I don't trust to be precise enough to be useful anyway). The main thing is that I recall Jim asking the question "how would you know." A question for in response to an answer is only the implication of an answer. Basically, even if I remember perfectly correctly, Jim did not say that the Creator wasn't the original creator.

Uriel didn't have his intellectus. If you recall, he had to ask where the towels (or sheets or some such thing) were.

Which fools worry you then? I mean there are plenty to worry about of course, but I have no real respect for them.

Fair enough, there is so many interviews and videos it can be hard to find it. No worries I will keep looking!

Yes that's right, I remember. But he did seemingly have all the knowledge he had accumulated at that point (which is odd, because cause and effect are not really a thing for such beings). He perfectly knew how many bullets Karen had taken. But the rest of the stuff he did have.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 16, 2019, 03:45:01 PM
apparently if you call up penguin and ask they will tell you
(click to show/hide)
 

Well then!
Turns out this information was indeed correct!  Nicely found.

https://www.tor.com/2019/12/16/jim-butchers-new-novel-peace-talks-will-publish-in-2020-for-the-20th-anniversary-of-the-dresden-files/
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 16, 2019, 08:53:29 PM
Yay, we have a date!!!!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 16, 2019, 11:41:08 PM
Which fools worry you then?
It's not the fools at all. It's the people who are otherwise not foolish. It's kind of like any strongly held position. No matter what it is, some smart people disagree with it. That means, that no matter how smart you are, you are likely to be vehemently, adamantly, and proudly wrong about something. What am I vehemently, adamantly, and proudly wrong about? (That's a rhetorical question folks).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 17, 2019, 12:03:11 AM
I get your point. Anyone too inflexible of thought, too dogmatic of belief, too narrow-minded, too insecure to have their views challenged and too arrogant or scared to be wrong is dangerous and difficult, and pitiable. Humans are more irrational than rational, it is quite literally how our brains work. The same area of the brain that signals DANGER lights up when our identity or views are attacked. Robots would never have such problems.

But a purely logical and unemotional society would be harsh, boring and probably wouldn't have made it as far. Certainly this wonderful series wouldn't have been written, for if Jim was purely logical in his attitude to writing he never would have believed he could write a 20 book series (as he puts it).

It's all about balance.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on December 20, 2019, 07:10:24 PM
It's not the fools at all. It's the people who are otherwise not foolish. It's kind of like any strongly held position. No matter what it is, some smart people disagree with it. That means, that no matter how smart you are, you are likely to be vehemently, adamantly, and proudly wrong about something. What am I vehemently, adamantly, and proudly wrong about? (That's a rhetorical question folks).
This is a very interesting post. I've never thought about it that way. Thanks.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 20, 2019, 08:33:31 PM
...Robots would never have such problems.

But a purely logical and unemotional society would be harsh, boring and probably wouldn't have made it as far. Certainly this wonderful series wouldn't have been written, for if Jim was purely logical in his attitude to writing he never would have believed he could write a 20 book series (as he puts it).

It's all about balance.
Go to the grocery and stand and look at the canned green beans.  While you're looking, you use an emotional process to decide which can to buy.  You justify your choice with a veneer of rationality, but advertisers know better.  If you took away all emotion than it is possible that you could make no choice at all. A guy won a Nobel Prize for his studies of the psychology of decision making.

And Bad Alias made an important point, everybody is
Quote
inflexible of thought, too dogmatic of belief, too narrow-minded, too insecure to have their views challenged and too arrogant or scared to be wrong is dangerous and difficult, and pitiable.
about something.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 22, 2019, 10:10:26 PM
Is your contention Morris, that Robots are incapable of making choices? Or that emotions are required to make choices?

Because, no offense, that is just dead wrong. Either way.

Some AI can make choices, that are more than mere programmed responses (in the strictest sense). Would you say that you can advertise to an AI?

Anyway If we are going to go into a deeper discussion of decision-making processes of the brain, we should probably make a new thread.

And I was not suggesting that Bad Alias was wrong in that we all cling to erroneous beliefs from time to time. Any old regular person can be dangerous and difficult, and we are all pitiable. But that does NOT mean we shouldn't strive to improve our thinking and refine or challenge our own ideas and convictions.

I think the world would be a better place if people were more prepared to examine their own views and change them as the situation demands.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 22, 2019, 11:13:19 PM
I buy the cheapest green beans. Vegetables are vegetables, right? I love it when grocery stores label items with price/ounce (or whatever unit of measure).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 22, 2019, 11:35:07 PM
We have a law for that here, but sometimes the smaller stores don't do that, only the big supermarkets.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 23, 2019, 12:15:25 AM
Is your contention Morris, that Robots are incapable of making choices? Or that emotions are required to make choices?
We'll it wouldn't be the first time I have been wrong.  However I was paraphrasing Daniel Khaneman, in Thinking Fast And Slow.  For instance, in Bad Alias's answer, what happens if five brands are at exactly the same price point? How does
he pick?  The problem arises out of the fact that in most ways we are always presented too little data to make rational decisions.  I could go on and on, but not in this thread.
We have a law for that here, but sometimes the smaller stores don't do that, only the big supermarkets.
Every man, women and child should be able to do that calculation, it's an indictment of educational sytems that they can't. :'( >:(

Sorry for the divergence.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 23, 2019, 12:26:35 AM
Do any of the brands have the super convenient pop top (they don't, that's the most expensive brand)? To your point, choosing based on price is, if not an emotional choice, a value choice.

It's not so easy to figure out when one product is in grams and one is in ounces. I do use a calculator to figure it out when the grocery store doesn't supply the answer.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 23, 2019, 01:13:53 AM
Every man, women and child should be able to do that calculation, it's an indictment of educational sytems that they can't. :'( >:(
Sorry for the divergence.
Sometimes it is difficult, you need to do 453.2/27, for instance. So the law helps.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 23, 2019, 03:26:33 AM
... Every man, women and child should be able to do that calculation, it's an indictment of educational sytems that they can't.
It's not so easy to figure out when one product is in grams and one is in ounces. I do use a calculator to figure it out when the grocery store doesn't supply the answer.

We get to some interesting time/value equations... can the little store AFFORD to calculate ALL the prices to usable standards?  I've noted some comparable products measure by weight, others by volume (very annoying!).  Does doing that add an onerous expense, one that raises their costs (yet again, yet higher) above the Big Stores (who can spread the cost across a MUCH higher volume)?

And for the consumer who DIY's the answer...  How long to find the "best" few options (two products? three?  more?), snd calculate all the different prices... vs. the amount saved?  Was it "worth" the time/$ ?

FWIW... I am another of those who will often open a calculator as a main way of deciding between two similar products.

And I too apologize for the digression.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 23, 2019, 04:11:27 AM
It may be complicated. Perhaps you can easily compare two or three products to choose the cheaper one, but there is another problem, sometimes you need to take in consideration the volume (or weight) you are buying. It's the cheapest option the more practical? If it is a package too large perhaps it is difficult to find a good place in your kitchen and you have to store it in an uncomfortable place for a long time. On the other hand if the package is too small, you will get out of it too soon, and need to spend time (and sometimes money) going to the store too often.

I believe most of us have some of all that someplace in our mind, so when we chose to buy something sometimes it seems emotional but it is rational.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Yuillegan on December 23, 2019, 04:46:18 AM
Morris, Daniel Kahneman whilst being a heavy weight in his field, is not the only authority. Indeed, Gerd Gergerenzer (his most prominent critic) has argued strongly that Kahneman treats people as being basically incapable of making the best choice for themselves, which Gergerenzer argues isn't actually the case. Kahneman even admitted he relied too heavily on weak studies in some areas of his book (which was a very gracious thing to do when confronted with a criticism of your life's work).

I have always thought that shops be they supermarkets or general stores or anything in between, should provide a price in weight. And many do in many countries, as Dina says it is often the law. People should be able to do their own calculations too, but then again at the end of the day customers just want a good value proposition. Each of us might have a different idea of what that is, but the more information available then the easier that is for consumers to make their own choice, rather than a guided one.

But this is all way off topic. Perhaps we should get back to discussing Peace Talks.

For those that are interested I will be starting a thread in the Bar for anyone who wishes to discuss this all further.  :)

Link: https://www.paranetonline.com/index.php/topic,53300.0.html

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 23, 2019, 07:44:04 AM
Try to make a rational decision about toilet rolls. The price per package tells you nothing and the price per roll is useless. You need the price per sheet but then some sheets have three layers and other sheets....

And if you do not have enough layers you will fold them so you need twice the number of sheets. And then we do not even talk about the softness and aestethic considerations. Some are just too ugly...

Really a rational decision is nearly impossible and then we do not even consider the time involved in making it.

A lot of economical decisions are emotionally driven because emotions are the usual shortcut for these things.   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 23, 2019, 05:26:39 PM
Never skimp on toilet paper or underwear (underpants, socks, undershirts, anything that has direct contact with your skin and goes under another article of clothing). It's just not worth it.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 24, 2019, 09:54:33 PM
 :)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 24, 2019, 10:25:33 PM
Or in feminine products, you know, feminine pads. Never try to save in them.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on December 25, 2019, 02:56:00 AM
@Bad Alias

My father never wore anything other than 100 percent cotton. I'll give you a heuristic for sheets. Never buy anything less than 200 threads per inch.  I learned that from the ladies in the housewares department when I worked in retail.  Anything less will pill and will feel rough.  However I wouldn't bet that Egyptian Cotton has any useful meaning.  Since almost no cotton anything is produced in the US, what you get today is a crap shoot.

As a side note apropos of nothing, my grandmother brought home pillow cases which had been flour sacks.  She worked in a bakery.  I was fascinated by the fact that they had a pattern printed on them.  Obviously I am older than dirt.

Harry should use fireproof sheets and blankets in case he has nightmares and starts casting fuego in his sleep.

@Dina

Since I am retired and my wife isn't, it falls on me to order supplies for my wife. I survive this process by following the explicit instructions given to me by my wife. It boggles the mind.

There is humor in truth, and with that Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and whatever salutation fulfills your requirements.

Toodles

Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 25, 2019, 04:31:35 AM
There used to be a type of cheap toilet rolls commonly called sandpaper in the supermarkets but I do not see it anymore, I do not know when it disappeared but nowadays all brands are usable.  Sometimes it makes sense to buy something more expensive and at other times it is just hot air. Or extra fluffy paper with little pink dogs printed on them.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: spiritofair on December 26, 2019, 06:31:20 PM
There used to be a type of cheap toilet rolls commonly called sandpaper in the supermarkets but I do not see it anymore, I do not know when it disappeared but nowadays all brands are usable.  Sometimes it makes sense to buy something more expensive and at other times it is just hot air. Or extra fluffy paper with little pink dogs printed on them.
A thread about when a favorite author is finally going to release his latest book devolves into a discussion about toilet paper... I hope this thread is not prophetic.  ;)  :P  :-\
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on December 26, 2019, 07:06:03 PM
Hijacking threads is a cherished sport for us forumites.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Kindler on December 27, 2019, 09:24:28 PM
I didn't read a book once because of it's ridiculous cover art. Years later, my brother highly recommended the book. I ended up loving it.

Agreed. And he usually manages to do it well enough that the inconsistency can be explained away.

On Butters and such. I always assumed Shiro was Shinto. Death Masks doesn't specifically mention what religion he was before he "converted." Shiro serves "Heaven. Or the divine in nature. The memory of my fathers past. My fellow man. Myself. All pieces of the same thing."

Sanya isn't an atheist. He's a Trotskiest. "Because it must be done. ... For the good of the people, some must place themselves in harm's way. some must pledge their courage and their lives to protect the community." That's what he believes in.

I don't know what kind of Jew Butters is. There are a lot of atheist Jews and a lot of pious Jews, but Butters faith is in stories.
For the Knights, it isn't about what religion they are; it's not about faces, skin, flags, membership lists, files. "God sees hearts." It's about what they believe in.

With that context, it would make sense for Butters to where a red cross. The imagery of a knight would appeal to Butters.

Shiro professed to be a Baptist. He discusses it in Death Masks. The whole "I found out I had become a Baptist. So I tried to be a good Baptist," conversation. He considered being a Baptist... incidental (I think that was the word he used).
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 28, 2019, 03:08:43 AM
What was he before he was Baptist? G33k said Shiro was Buddhist (before he was Baptist). I always assumed he was Shinto. Shiro wasn't an "orthodox" Baptist. My point was that his views were probably indicative of whatever religion he "converted" from, but I don't know enough about Buddhist or Shinto beliefs to make an argument of what those views are indicative of.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 28, 2019, 06:19:08 AM
What was he before he was Baptist? G33k said Shiro was Buddhist (before he was Baptist). I always assumed he was Shinto. Shiro wasn't an "orthodox" Baptist. My point was that his views were probably indicative of whatever religion he "converted" from, but I don't know enough about Buddhist or Shinto beliefs to make an argument of what those views are indicative of.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyuan_religion

Okinawa is not Japan, it was conquered quite recently.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on December 28, 2019, 08:54:27 AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyuan_religion

Okinawa is not Japan, it was conquered quite recently.
Well, for values of "recent" in excess of a century... And with massive influence from mainland China before that.  And I think "Yoshimo" is a Japanese name, not distinctively Okinawan.

But I'm not actually clear WHAT faith Shiro held to, before he accidentally converted to being a Baptist...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 28, 2019, 12:41:25 PM
Well, for values of "recent" in excess of a century... And with massive influence from mainland China before that.  And I think "Yoshimo" is a Japanese name, not distinctively Okinawan.

But I'm not actually clear WHAT faith Shiro held to, before he accidentally converted to being a Baptist...
He might have had more than one. The abrahamic religions all claim exclusivity and monopoly but outside that people don't mind worshipping different gods in different contexts. Many japanese are both shinto and buddist and I can totally imagine Shiro being all three of them, honoring the Ryukyuan religion of his ancestors as well.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 29, 2019, 04:15:47 AM
Me trying to figure out the difference between Ryukyuan and Shinto beliefs is probably like someone over there trying to figure out the difference between Church of Christ and Baptist without speaking any European languages.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 29, 2019, 07:35:52 AM
Me trying to figure out the difference between Ryukyuan and Shinto beliefs is probably like someone over there trying to figure out the difference between Church of Christ and Baptist without speaking any European languages.
You get it with a bit of wiki reading. Shinto is the japanese state religion and Ryukyuan was the local religion representing a seperate identity with distinct practices. Incorporating it into shinto is the thing to do if you want to make them into japanese. It is like the difference between roman and celtic gods. It is part of their identity.

The exact nature of the  differences are not that important. It is not like you split of because you have a different opinion about the nature of the son and the father. You are split up and so you develop different practices and beliefs.   
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Bad Alias on December 29, 2019, 06:00:54 PM
A bit of wiki reading has things like "Ryukyu Shintō," and similar descriptions of the religions.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Arjan on December 29, 2019, 06:31:32 PM
A bit of wiki reading has things like "Ryukyu Shintō," and similar descriptions of the religions.
That is the japanese trying to make it shinto. They had some success.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: morriswalters on January 16, 2020, 08:50:10 PM
The cover is out and an excerpt from the book. (https://ew.com/books/2020/01/16/jim-butcher-peace-talks-preview/)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on January 16, 2020, 10:34:03 PM
Awesome!
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Mira on January 17, 2020, 12:13:25 AM

   
 
 Looks like it might be a nail biter!   ;D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on January 17, 2020, 12:43:47 AM
Looks like it might be a nail biter!   ;D 

Better start growing your nails long...  you'll need 'em!
 
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on January 17, 2020, 12:59:02 AM
I am already nervous.
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on January 17, 2020, 01:31:46 AM
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on January 17, 2020, 01:33:37 AM
The cover is out and an excerpt from the book. (https://ew.com/books/2020/01/16/jim-butcher-peace-talks-preview/)

Still wearing a hat...
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: g33k on January 17, 2020, 01:45:05 AM
Still wearing a hat...
Oh yeah, Big Man???

I got 25cents says that in the BAT, Harry Dresden is finally gonna wear a hat.

And the covers will show him hatless.


 :D
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: RobReece on January 17, 2020, 03:36:37 AM
Oh yeah, Big Man???

I got 25cents says that in the BAT, Harry Dresden is finally gonna wear a hat.

And the covers will show him hatless.


 :D

I'm thinking that his mirror mirror counter part will wear a hat
Title: Re: Any news on Peace Talks
Post by: Dina on January 17, 2020, 04:42:33 AM
Oh yeah, Big Man???

I got 25cents says that in the BAT, Harry Dresden is finally gonna wear a hat.

And the covers will show him hatless.


 :D

I'm thinking that his mirror mirror counter part will wear a hat

I like both those things.

(click to show/hide)