This may come as a shock to you, Harry, but I don't have an ax with me

[sovay]

Today has been marked mostly by hours of pre-holiday errands and a vision-troubling level of headache, which may somewhat foreshorten this post. The evening has been marked by reading four books starring Harry Dresden. I believe I have hurt myself.

Between the weird casual chauvinism and the general air of having been written by a yak that wanted to be Raymond Chandler (I am insulting either Chandler or yaks), I was not impressed with Storm Front (2000). There was a reason I didn't read these books at the time. rushthatspeaks had promised me a character I would love, however, and so I persevered. Fortunately, the library was missing the next three volumes and by the time of Death Masks (2003), Butcher's style had improved to the point where it was no longer actively contributing to my headache and Rush was quite right about the character; I warmed to him instantly, even though he was more of a cameo. And then there was a lot of confused vampirism and I got to Dead Beat (2005). Rush—

"If I tell you this," I said quietly, "it could be bad for you."

"Bad how?"

"It could force you to keep secrets that people would kill you for knowing. It could change the way you think and feel. It could really screw up your life."

"Screw up my life?" He stared at me for a second and then said, deadpan, "I'm a five-foot-three, thirty-seven-year-old, single Jewish medical examiner who needs to pick up his lederhosen from the cleaners so that he can play in a one-man polka band at Oktoberfest tomorrow." He pushed up his glasses with his forefinger, folded his arms and said, "Do your worst."

Waldo Butters is also brilliant enough that he thinks of forensic science as something anyone can pick up if they don't mind the technical terms, geeky enough to forget how terrified he is of zombies when given the chance to research them, and he has mildly mad science hair ("[it] gave him a perpetual look of surprise that stopped just short of being a perpetual look of recent electrocution"). Apparently I have some kind of type.

I don't think I will be eagerly scouring the bookstores for the rest of this series, but someone should tell me whether they're the sort of thing worth persisting with just for love of supporting characters. It is quite likely that I will keep an eye out for a secondhand copy of Dead Beat, even if the Latin is consistently ungrammatical and the mysterious book should really have been called Das Lied des Erlkönigs. The Tyrannosaur was pretty crowningly awesome.

And now I am going to shower, because I don't feel well at all.

Comments

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

Apparently I have some kind of type.

Sorta.

So the yak got better?

I hope you do.

Nine

[gwynnega]

he has mildly mad science hair ("[it] gave him a perpetual look of surprise that stopped just short of being a perpetual look of recent electrocution").

That is lovely.

I hope you feel better soon.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

I like that scenelet you've quoted very much, especially the last paragraph.

I read the first Dresden book a handful of years ago, found it a mildly entertaining bit of pulp distraction, sort of thought I'd get round to reading others at some point, and never did. For a one-man polka band and a Tyrannosaur, I might have to read further, after all.

Do you think the Latin is ungrammatical because it's meant to sound like bad Neo-Latin being used by ceremonial magicians, or do you think it's ungrammatical because it's being written by somebody with less-than-stellar Latin skills? (Or, of course, a combination of the two--Butcher not getting his Latin looked over because the characters aren't meant to be any better Latinists than himself?)

I'm sorry for your headache and not feeling well. I hope the shower helps, at least a little bit. I hope you've not hurt yourself too seriously with reading Dresden books, or with anything else, either.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Harry's never been the attraction for me, in terms of the books, that's true. (Mainly because I hold that if you can't actually fucking swear, not Taking Names in Vain aside, you are doomed to a life of twee-ness and B.S.) I far preferred the live-action version of him in the short-lived, shot-in-Canada (natch) TV show. That said, Butters does indeed sound awesome, and damn but you have a type. Still, it's a type I share.;))

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

There are lots of lovable supporting side characters, they do not get dropped off the face of the earth and forgotten, and the sheer continuity!win of all the various plotlines is impressive. Sure, his grasp of Chicago geography is risible, but even that's improved.

Also, he knows how to write a well-structured action novel, and that's a rare skill.

You might find it amusing that the LJ/DW-based fandom is overwhelmingly about Harry/Marcone slash in which Chicago's crime lord is actually a dear woobie at heart protecting our hero, who is still lying to himself about all the times he's been raped.

[rose-lemberg.livejournal.com]

That's a really nice quite, but Storm Front made me vomit and I couldn't finish it, so, alas. :/

[timesygn.livejournal.com]

Have you read The Yiddish Policeman's Union?

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

As of thirteen books in, my ability to tell whether Butcher means these books to read as they read on the surface and has a bloody weird subconscious, or is doing something fiendishly sneaky with the shape of the things of which his protagonist is blithely unaware, is actually getting less as the series progresses, and that's most of why I keep reading; I suspect that love of supporting characters would be well-supported, though I'm a poor fit for the whole concepts of reading books based on whether you like the characters or not.

[coraline]

huh. so maybe i should skip ahead and try again.
(i had the same response to storm front, read the first chapter of the next book to see if there was a dramatic jump between books 1 and 2, and then threw the book out the window.)

on the other hand, i couldn't stand the anita lake books, and the dresden files are an admitted knock-off, so maybe that should have been a sign.

[britmandelo.livejournal.com]

The books continue to improve. They're one of my candy-pleasures - fun urban fantasy with actual character development! (Also, Butcher begins making some commentary on Harry's chauvinism via other characters in some amusing ways. I suspect it got through his head at some point that maybe he should be questioning Harry's attitudes towards women.)

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

No one is ever allowed to name anyone Harry every again. There aren't enough empire-waisted gowns to go round once you count in the other wizard named Harry.

(Or, oh dear, I think I've broken myself. Whups.)

Better days for you, with less visual headache nonsense, please.

[sovay]

So the yak got better?

I would not say that he’s become a good writer, but there were entire passages in Dead Beat that were fine. He managed not to screw up the choreography of polka-drumming a zombie Tyrannosaur through the blacked-out streets of Chicago, which was the critical thing.

(Many cars were hurt in the making of this plotline.)

[sovay]

That is lovely.

He was, actually, worth reading for.

I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks. I still have this headache. I'm seriously contemplating trying to find out which book contains Butters' next significant appearance and just reading it.

[sovay]

For a one-man polka band and a Tyrannosaur, I might have to read further, after all.

Honestly, you could probably pick up Dead Beat and be fine. I didn't know if this was the sort of series that would need familiarity with all earlier books in order to make sense, but with the exception of some backstory from Death Masks (both Butters and the fallen angel who's taken up residence in Harry's head), at least in this case the answer really turned out to be no.

Do you think the Latin is ungrammatical because it's meant to sound like bad Neo-Latin being used by ceremonial magicians, or do you think it's ungrammatical because it's being written by somebody with less-than-stellar Latin skills?

I would have given him the benefit of the former except that the German is terrible—Der Lied der Erlking? I don't even like Goethe all that much and I'm hoping he hunts Butcher down for that one—which makes me question his language(-checking) skills as a whole. "Flickum bicus" as a firelighting spell is clearly a joke, but when you refer to someone trying to kill you in cruor gelidus, that just hurts.

[sovay]

(Mainly because I hold that if you can't actually fucking swear, not Taking Names in Vain aside, you are doomed to a life of twee-ness and B.S.)

Yeah. We do get some amusingly concatenated profanity from Harry in Blood Rites ("Hell's holy stars and freaking stones shit bells!"), but there is way less swearing than there should be for the amount of massively weird shit going down.

(The most profane Butters ever gets in the face of things that scare him incoherent is "Holy crap," but that feels in character.)

I far preferred the live-action version of him in the short-lived, shot-in-Canada (natch) TV show.

What's he like on the show? I did see that a version of Bob was played by Terrence Mann, which I approved of.

That said, Butters does indeed sound awesome, and damn but you have a type. Still, it's a type I share.

You would like him.

[sovay]

There are lots of lovable supporting side characters, they do not get dropped off the face of the earth and forgotten, and the sheer continuity!win of all the various plotlines is impressive.

I am enjoying the supporting cast a lot more than the protagonist. This is a common problem with me and novels, but it's been averted enough recently by the material I preferentially read, I was a little sad to find it back in play here. I like both Thomas and Murphy (who I am pleased to note has not yet hooked up with Harry and quite possibly never will). In the absence of Butters, I'd probably have imprinted on Bob.

Also, he knows how to write a well-structured action novel, and that's a rare skill.

Noted. I'm still finding the language a bit of a sticking point, but at least I no longer want to rewrite all his sentences.

You might find it amusing that the LJ/DW-based fandom is overwhelmingly about Harry/Marcone slash in which Chicago's crime lord is actually a dear woobie at heart protecting our hero, who is still lying to himself about all the times he's been raped.

Thank you for reading these things so I don't have to!

[sovay]

That's a really nice quite, but Storm Front made me vomit and I couldn't finish it, so, alas.

Storm Front is terrible. rushthatspeaks explained it to me, but I still can't believe he sold an entire series on the strength of that novel, because it doesn't have any.

[sovay]

Have you read The Yiddish Policeman's Union?

Oh, yes.

[aliseadae]

My friends made me read these ones so that I could play Ivy in a silly LARP where we all play what ever character/concept/thing we want (people've played Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (a la Stoppard) in the past). Because of this, I don't think I really noticed what the first five books were like because I read them all at once.

Later on, I discovered they were good for reading on road trips.

[sovay]

As of thirteen books in, my ability to tell whether Butcher means these books to read as they read on the surface and has a bloody weird subconscious, or is doing something fiendishly sneaky with the shape of the things of which his protagonist is blithely unaware, is actually getting less as the series progresses, and that's most of why I keep reading; I suspect that love of supporting characters would be well-supported, though I'm a poor fit for the whole concepts of reading books based on whether you like the characters or not.

From an admittedly limited sampling, I am not seeing anything fiendishly sneaky nor evidence that Butcher has the writing capacity to pull off M. John Harrison-style deep-structure fiendish sneakiness.

What do you read books for?

[sovay]

(i had the same response to storm front, read the first chapter of the next book to see if there was a dramatic jump between books 1 and 2, and then threw the book out the window.)

There is visible improvement between the first and fifth on almost all fronts, including the number of times I wanted to knock Harry into a wall. The worldbuilding is still an utter mish-mash, though.

on the other hand, i couldn't stand the anita lake books, and the dresden files are an admitted knock-off, so maybe that should have been a sign.

If you have not read them already, the actually, actively good series about urban magic is Tim Pratt's Marla Mason, which was unfairly discontinued by its publisher a few years ago, although there have been two further crowdfunded novels and some shorter works. They are tightly and gracefully written, full of unusual mythology and the realistic consequences of even magically-enabled asskicking (the protagonist only half-jokingly refers to herself as a brute force-o-mancer), and kink-friendly to a refreshingly casual degree. I am also very fond of the main character, which see above is rarer than it should be.

Basically, I really liked Dead Beat. I'm never going to call it a masterwork of contemporary literature, but it has Waldo Butters and a zombie Tyrannosaur, broken out from the Field Museum and controlled by polka. Pratt's zombie apocalypse, Dead Reign (2008), has several versions of Death, a necromancer with Cotard delusion, and the reanimated mummy of John Wilkes Booth all converging on Felport, which is really not Marla's biggest problem; that would be having to organize a ball. If nothing else, there's just more awesome.

[sovay]

The books continue to improve.

I'll try at least another, then.

(Also, Butcher begins making some commentary on Harry's chauvinism via other characters in some amusing ways. I suspect it got through his head at some point that maybe he should be questioning Harry's attitudes towards women.)

Good! Because it was apparent from Storm Front that the chauvinism was a problem—Harry almost misses the actual murderer because he's stuck on the idea of exploding people's hearts out of their chests as a female thing—but then he didn't get better, so I couldn't tell whether it was meant to be a problematic character trait or simply the author bleeding over. And the women around him are, even if still described first in terms of their conventional attractiveness, pretty consistently awesome.

[sovay]

No one is ever allowed to name anyone Harry every again. There aren't enough empire-waisted gowns to go round once you count in the other wizard named Harry.

Given the inception dates of both series, the naming of Harry Dresden can't be accidental. Also he uses fire a lot and I can't quite tell whether it's supposd to be ironic.

Better days for you, with less visual headache nonsense, please.

Today: fewer visual disturbances, more nausea. I haven't a clue what is going on.

[coraline]

ok, definitely adding the marla mason books to my list -- someone else recommended them a while back, and since then i've also enjoyed some of tim pratt's short fiction. thanks for reminding me!
(i may also go try some later butcher, since i have the books easily available on loan.)

[sovay]

My friends made me read these ones so that I could play Ivy in a silly LARP where we all play what ever character/concept/thing we want (people've played Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (a la Stoppard) in the past).

(I approve of LARPing Rozencrantz and Guildenstern.)

Why were you playing Ivy?

Later on, I discovered they were good for reading on road trips.

Heh.