sholio | I haz a Dresden Files!

"Side Jobs" came in the mail today. :D

Okay, so, I wasn't expecting answers, and didn't get them. *g* But, actually, there was more than I thought we'd get. No body, hmmm? And I really enjoyed Murphy's POV -- her observations on police work and human nature, her emotional lockdown right up to the breakdown in the warehouse. ("I hurt so much." Oh, Murphy.) And hey, maybe the last scene was a little over the top, but I liked it -- they'll protect Chicago now, because Harry taught them how. Oh. *heartclutch*

In the broader picture, it's a really good point about the power vacuum that exists now: in Chicago, with Harry gone, and in the world, without the Red Court. Next book is going to be interesting. (Six more months!)

One thing I found a little odd, though (actually to the point that it bothered me quite a bit) was that Murphy didn't attempt to call in supernatural resources to find Harry. Now ... there are a number of ways to rationalize this away. She doesn't have Harry's ability to contact most of these people (the Council, the faeries, etc), most of them probably wouldn't be willing to deal with her as an equal anyway, and it makes sense that her avenue of first resort is probably going to be the police, especially since there was no sign of supernatural foul play in Harry's disappearance. And, on a narrative level, the novella was obviously trying to keep its scope narrow and not bring in the whole cast. But, still -- it seemed that she didn't try to contact any of Harry's friends or acquaintances, with their many and varied skill sets, in an attempt to find out what happened to him. There was that offhand comment about having called Butters, but I would have expected a lot more. I found it especially odd that she didn't at least entertain the possibility that something really odd and supernatural might have happened to Harry's body (... I have no clue if it did or not, but given everything that she's seen, I would have expected more of her skepticism to be based not just in blind optimism but also in the fact that their 'verse has a good half-dozen ways that people can skirt near-certain death).

Guess we have to hold back some things for the next book, though. :D

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I think she was just in total shock, still, and hadn't really moved on to thinking about what she could do. And she's always been more of Harry's touchstone to reality, for lack of a better term. So I can see her taking a deep breath, then maybe seeing who she could call now.

And wasn't that awesome, Gard offering her a job? That rocked. Go work for Odin All-Father, Murphy! You know you want to! *g*

I think this was set early enough after Dresden's gone that she didn't have time to use all resources, especially with the kidnapping demanding her attention just then. So that didn't seem odd to me.

I picked up Side Jobs yesterday, and I have to admit I was kind of disappointed. :\ Not that it was a bad story-- in fact I think it was a very good one-- it just wasn't the one I was hoping for, the one dealing with everyone's reactions to Harry's "death". I know he's probably saving all that for Ghost Story, but I love the outsider view, and seeing the reactions from Harry's POV won't be quite the same.

*sigh* Oh well. I suspect this will be one of those stories I'll like infinitely better on the reread, once I've gotten all those expectations out of my head.

*nods* Yeah; I had to make a conscious effort, I guess, not to be disappointed by that, because admittedly that was what I had been hoping for. Like you said, he's probably had to hold a lot back for the next book, though.

Gah, I think the waiting is even harder now, because there's still six months to go and all this did was whet my appetite ...

Gah, I think the waiting is even harder now, because there's still six months to go and all this did was whet my appetite ...

I knoooow. I had to count out the months on my fingers because I couldn't believe we're only halfway there. It feels like forever since the last book! At least this time last year there was a whole new Codex Alera novel to tide me over...

I think a re-read of the series may be in order. (After NaNo, of course.)

Oh, wow, I loved this story. It was a little frustrating in what it wasn't. I really wanted to find out what happened to Harry, to be reassured that the worst hadn't happened. But I guess we're not going to get any kind of a resolution to that situation until the next book. *heavy sigh*

I, too, really liked Murphy's POV. I've liked her a lot all along. I laughed a lot over the Martian speak and hurt with her. But I love the idea that she's picking up Dresden's beat while he's unable to be there to protect his city. Yeah, if anyone can do it, it's Murphy and Will.

Maybe she'll think of trying those other avenues eventually, it's only been a few hours since Dresden's 'disappeared.' I kind of want to be there when she tells Thomas.

When are we getting the next book again?

Going back to read the rest of the stories now ;-)

Heh, yeah -- I wanted more, but I wasn't terribly surprised that we didn't actually get more. And I think Thomas's reaction is what I'm looking forward to most -- ideally I'd love to see Murphy tell him, but I just want to know what he's going to do!

*waits patiently for next book*

gahhh not fair!! amazon said mine is just shipping

Awww! I hope it gets there soon!

i wish we got mail on saturday *paces by mail box*

I got it today and I absolutely love Murphy's POV. Love the observations she makes from her perspective as a vanilla mortal and specially as a woman. I think Jim did a great job with that.

I think maybe everything happened too fast for her and she was in too much denial to think straight about finding Dresden. And remember that Thomas was with Molly and I could bet she can't just call Eb. Also, what was happening with Georgia was more urgent. I think maybe she was doing just what she thought Harry would have done.

Yeah, it makes sense that she's just caught up in events right now, and hasn't really had time to stop and think about things. (For that matter, she's probably trying very hard not to think about things, given that she knows it's going to hit her like a ton of bricks when she does ...)

I was waiting for Thomas to show up because, hey, it's his friggin boat, but I'm hoping Butcher saves that particular reaction for the 'real' book. I'm also still hoping that Murphy will pick up the Sword after all, and that John Marcone gets to be a real character instead of a constant plot device, and that Mouse will do some serious ass-kicking, and that the Black Court gets some real plot (maybe the abduction thing?) instead of, haha, being a constant plot device and Looming Threat^TM.

But it was nice to see the werewolves again, and that short story with Thomas's birthday was kind of awwww-inducing, so whatever. :>

I thought it was kind of odd that they tiptoed around even mentioning Thomas, although I suppose Murphy has to walk a line here, since she can't actually tell anyone why Harry was on the boat, or whose boat it is. (Actually, I just now got to wondering what's going to happen when the police trace the ownership of that boat; if Thomas doesn't hear from Murphy in the next couple of days, he'll probably hear from the cops, which, just ... oh dear.)

The Thomas's birthday story ... eeeee. :) I'd already read it in an anthology, but it's possibly one of my favorite things in the Dresdenverse ever; it's such total published fanfic. I love that not only does Butcher love to write these little side stories in his own 'verse, but the stories he comes up with are every bit as id-satisfying as anything a fangirl ever wrote, which does give me high hopes for the upcoming book. :>

I haz a Dresden Files!

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