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.

[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.

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

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