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Dresden bookverse squee
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xparrot? You need to read these books. *g*
It's been a slow build on this one for me, from "hmm, that was pretty good" to "wow, I like these books" to "OMG must have next book gonna die now aargh" ... which is where I am now. And book 9 finally came in the mail, and I'm DESPERATELY to be virtuous and not start reading it yet, because I have a ton of other stuff to do today. (So I'll write about it in my journal instead. That's much more productive.)
These books are starting to hit my lesser-known, underutilitized and neglected fan kinks. The ones I'd sort of forgotten I had. Book Eight hit some of those HARD.
So I have this big-time, platonic relationship kink for protective older guy & young female ward/apprentice, e.g. Buffy/Giles or Manji/Rin (from Blade of the Immortal).
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
And I *adored* Molly in book 5, even though she was only in it a little bit. I adored her so much that I went and wrote about 2/3 of a post-book 5 fic that focused on Molly and Harry -- that is, I'd gotten about 2/3 of it done when I got to book 8, which at first made me *headdesk* because it kinda jossed some of my plot ... but then I got to thinking that certain plot points revealed in book 8 could give me a much neater ending for my fic than I'd originally planned, so I've been retrofitting it to work.
So I was a huge Molly fangirl based on just one and a half scenes in book 5 ... and now she's basically become a main character, from the look of things, AND 1/2 of one of my very favorite sorts of character relationships, and SQUEEEEE.
But that's not all of the squee by a long shot.
The big problem that I had with the first couple books I read, was that Harry was so alone all the time. I like ensembles and friendships; I'm not big on the "lone hero" archetype. HELLO ensemble cast! HELLO "die for ya" friendships! SQUEEEEEE!
I didn't enjoy book 7 as much as I might've because I had a few problems with the plot. I figured out the Lasciel thing pretty early, for example, and then it was just a matter of waiting for the characters to figure it out. But book 8 was just one giant squee from page 1 to the end. So much awesome! Thomas following Harry around to protect him -- with sawed-off shotgun and Harry's black duster! Mouse not being dead! Charity finally, FINALLY getting a clue about Harry -- and the hug at the end! *dies* (And Butcher writes awesome, kickass women. I love that Charity is tough and badass and yet first and foremost a homemaker/mom.) Michael knowing all along about the Denarian coin, never mentioning it, always giving Harry the benefit of the doubt. Molly's description of what she saw when she soul-gazed Harry: "Kind. Gentle. Lonely."
*stares longingly at Book 9*
I hate to mar this squee-post with a complaint, though, but there is one thing about Butcher's writing that's driving me increasingly nuts the more of it I read: his overuse of physical descriptors for the characters. I can figure out on my own that a character nicknamed "Injun Joe" is Native American without needing to have it spelled out for me every time he shows up. No, you do NOT need to tell me that Rawlins is black every time he's in a scene. (Rawlins is awesome, though, and Rawlins as Murphy's partner? Awesomeness x 100!) I am getting REALLY tired of his female characters "arching a golden brow" -- especially since many blond people with really light eyebrows look sort of scary, so now my mental image of both Murphy and Charity is "odd-looking eyebrowless freaks".
But I still want to read Book 9.
*reaches for Book 9*
*smacks hand away*
xparrot? You need to read these books. *g*It's been a slow build on this one for me, from "hmm, that was pretty good" to "wow, I like these books" to "OMG must have next book gonna die now aargh" ... which is where I am now. And book 9 finally came in the mail, and I'm DESPERATELY to be virtuous and not start reading it yet, because I have a ton of other stuff to do today. (So I'll write about it in my journal instead. That's much more productive.)
These books are starting to hit my lesser-known, underutilitized and neglected fan kinks. The ones I'd sort of forgotten I had. Book Eight hit some of those HARD.
So I have this big-time, platonic relationship kink for protective older guy & young female ward/apprentice, e.g. Buffy/Giles or Manji/Rin (from Blade of the Immortal).
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
And I *adored* Molly in book 5, even though she was only in it a little bit. I adored her so much that I went and wrote about 2/3 of a post-book 5 fic that focused on Molly and Harry -- that is, I'd gotten about 2/3 of it done when I got to book 8, which at first made me *headdesk* because it kinda jossed some of my plot ... but then I got to thinking that certain plot points revealed in book 8 could give me a much neater ending for my fic than I'd originally planned, so I've been retrofitting it to work.
So I was a huge Molly fangirl based on just one and a half scenes in book 5 ... and now she's basically become a main character, from the look of things, AND 1/2 of one of my very favorite sorts of character relationships, and SQUEEEEE.
But that's not all of the squee by a long shot.
The big problem that I had with the first couple books I read, was that Harry was so alone all the time. I like ensembles and friendships; I'm not big on the "lone hero" archetype. HELLO ensemble cast! HELLO "die for ya" friendships! SQUEEEEEE!
I didn't enjoy book 7 as much as I might've because I had a few problems with the plot. I figured out the Lasciel thing pretty early, for example, and then it was just a matter of waiting for the characters to figure it out. But book 8 was just one giant squee from page 1 to the end. So much awesome! Thomas following Harry around to protect him -- with sawed-off shotgun and Harry's black duster! Mouse not being dead! Charity finally, FINALLY getting a clue about Harry -- and the hug at the end! *dies* (And Butcher writes awesome, kickass women. I love that Charity is tough and badass and yet first and foremost a homemaker/mom.) Michael knowing all along about the Denarian coin, never mentioning it, always giving Harry the benefit of the doubt. Molly's description of what she saw when she soul-gazed Harry: "Kind. Gentle. Lonely."
*stares longingly at Book 9*
I hate to mar this squee-post with a complaint, though, but there is one thing about Butcher's writing that's driving me increasingly nuts the more of it I read: his overuse of physical descriptors for the characters. I can figure out on my own that a character nicknamed "Injun Joe" is Native American without needing to have it spelled out for me every time he shows up. No, you do NOT need to tell me that Rawlins is black every time he's in a scene. (Rawlins is awesome, though, and Rawlins as Murphy's partner? Awesomeness x 100!) I am getting REALLY tired of his female characters "arching a golden brow" -- especially since many blond people with really light eyebrows look sort of scary, so now my mental image of both Murphy and Charity is "odd-looking eyebrowless freaks".
But I still want to read Book 9.
*reaches for Book 9*
*smacks hand away*