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sharelleI did a bad, bad thing on Friday. Something I'd tried to make a deal with myself not to do. But alas, and most woeful woe, I succumbed to wicked, wicked temptation . . . and I read the first three posted chapters of The Dresden Files Book 7. Damn my weakness and vulnerability for the written word, and damn the fantabulous ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jimbutcher for posting such a wonderfully riveting beginning that I must now wait until May to finish!
Not much to do except review, I suppose! *G* (Obviously, you won't want to read any further until you've finished the first 6 books and/or the posted teasers.)
Okay, first let me say that I can already tell this installment will be fantastic. *commence bouncing* I'm not sure if Jim knew this novel would be released in hardcover form while he was writing it, but if he put as much into the rest of the book as is evident in the first three chapters, I'd say this episode of Dresden will be a milestone in more ways than one. (The beginning exploits, alone, promise loads of good, good things for we readers to sink our teeth into.)
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Plenty of room for speculation after sifting through the opening goodness of "Dead Beat:"
Chapter 1
- I know I'm going a little out of order here, but I'm anxious to get to the gloating. *ahem* Did I not say that I sensed a hint of Karrin/Kincaid in the last book? Okay, so maybe I wasn't predicting anything hugely surprising (especially after the deeper look we got into Murphy's romance woes in Book 6), but maybe I'm just excited over the prospect of more Kincaid. I'll be honest, I had a take-him-or-leave-him attitude toward his character when he first appeared as the Archive's bodyguard. But when we got a closer look into his bad boy persona, I was a bit more intrigued. And it's times like this that I get really disappointed with the limited first-person perspective of the books. I'd love to be a fly on the wall during the Hawaii trip. (Though, who knows, with Harry being the unexpectedly yet openly jealous wizard that he is, he just may manage that! Have to wait and see!) Jealous!Harry left me feeling all giggly, too. He's definitely reached a turning point in his relationship with Murphy, even if she doesn't realize it yet. Will there be a soulgaze in store in this book? Guess we'll see about that too!
- Other random observations: I still love Thomas, and the fact that the living conditions between him and Harry are getting a little strained should make for interesting developments. (Was he blond in previous books? If not, I certainly pictured him as such – light, at least, with that otherworldly fragile beauty. He seems to be dark-haired now, though, I suppose, with a pretty-boy like Thomas, he couldn't be expected to not change his appearance at some point.)
- Mouse is a monster! (Plus, he and his name are definitely a contradiction in terms!) Harry's taken to calling him "my dog," so I guess the monks aren't coming back for him any time in the near future. I'm assuming his importance in Harry's life may start to come to fruition eventually, too. (If not in this book, then soon.)
- I squirmed a bit during the descriptions of Harry's hand. I had a hard time picturing it, but it sounds like an absolute mess. (Something important there, too.) Plus, he seems to have a phobia about fire now. (Hmm.)
Chapter 2
- Obviously Mavra's still kicking. (But then I think we all knew she was.) Plus she sounds like the most unattractive vampire ever. *g* I'd be interested to know where she got a substantial amount of Murphy's hair.
- Harry's outlook on death is very telling and powerful. (Pretty logical, too, in a bleak and chilling way.) Foreshadowing, maybe? Perhaps for something; we are dealing with necromancy, after all – cheating death.
Chapter 3
- What can I say about this chapter besides, "Guh?!" Bob is awesome overall. I love his character, I love his wisecracks, I love most everything about him. So, what does one do when the comic relief shows his dark, psychotic side? That scene was completely amazing and if the rest of the novel is so powerful it will certainly be quite the ride.
Miscellaneous
- I noticed a few typos ("a" in one spot instead of "an," or an extra letter on the word "goodl"), but they could have just been minor casualties of the online posting process. (Lord knows, we've all done that!) And it wasn't very distracting.
- And, of course, there's the minor issue of the rest of the book not being available until May. But, based on these first bits I know it will be more than worth the wait! (And, hey, it's no longer a wait until August! So I'm thrilled!)
Oh, man, am I teased! Teased! But happy and excited for the book's release! Best of luck to Jim as the release date draws near, as well as in his future work as he continues this terrific series!
jimbutcher for posting such a wonderfully riveting beginning that I must now wait until May to finish!Not much to do except review, I suppose! *G* (Obviously, you won't want to read any further until you've finished the first 6 books and/or the posted teasers.)
Okay, first let me say that I can already tell this installment will be fantastic. *commence bouncing* I'm not sure if Jim knew this novel would be released in hardcover form while he was writing it, but if he put as much into the rest of the book as is evident in the first three chapters, I'd say this episode of Dresden will be a milestone in more ways than one. (The beginning exploits, alone, promise loads of good, good things for we readers to sink our teeth into.)
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Plenty of room for speculation after sifting through the opening goodness of "Dead Beat:"
Chapter 1
- I know I'm going a little out of order here, but I'm anxious to get to the gloating. *ahem* Did I not say that I sensed a hint of Karrin/Kincaid in the last book? Okay, so maybe I wasn't predicting anything hugely surprising (especially after the deeper look we got into Murphy's romance woes in Book 6), but maybe I'm just excited over the prospect of more Kincaid. I'll be honest, I had a take-him-or-leave-him attitude toward his character when he first appeared as the Archive's bodyguard. But when we got a closer look into his bad boy persona, I was a bit more intrigued. And it's times like this that I get really disappointed with the limited first-person perspective of the books. I'd love to be a fly on the wall during the Hawaii trip. (Though, who knows, with Harry being the unexpectedly yet openly jealous wizard that he is, he just may manage that! Have to wait and see!) Jealous!Harry left me feeling all giggly, too. He's definitely reached a turning point in his relationship with Murphy, even if she doesn't realize it yet. Will there be a soulgaze in store in this book? Guess we'll see about that too!
- Other random observations: I still love Thomas, and the fact that the living conditions between him and Harry are getting a little strained should make for interesting developments. (Was he blond in previous books? If not, I certainly pictured him as such – light, at least, with that otherworldly fragile beauty. He seems to be dark-haired now, though, I suppose, with a pretty-boy like Thomas, he couldn't be expected to not change his appearance at some point.)
- Mouse is a monster! (Plus, he and his name are definitely a contradiction in terms!) Harry's taken to calling him "my dog," so I guess the monks aren't coming back for him any time in the near future. I'm assuming his importance in Harry's life may start to come to fruition eventually, too. (If not in this book, then soon.)
- I squirmed a bit during the descriptions of Harry's hand. I had a hard time picturing it, but it sounds like an absolute mess. (Something important there, too.) Plus, he seems to have a phobia about fire now. (Hmm.)
Chapter 2
- Obviously Mavra's still kicking. (But then I think we all knew she was.) Plus she sounds like the most unattractive vampire ever. *g* I'd be interested to know where she got a substantial amount of Murphy's hair.
- Harry's outlook on death is very telling and powerful. (Pretty logical, too, in a bleak and chilling way.) Foreshadowing, maybe? Perhaps for something; we are dealing with necromancy, after all – cheating death.
Chapter 3
- What can I say about this chapter besides, "Guh?!" Bob is awesome overall. I love his character, I love his wisecracks, I love most everything about him. So, what does one do when the comic relief shows his dark, psychotic side? That scene was completely amazing and if the rest of the novel is so powerful it will certainly be quite the ride.
Miscellaneous
- I noticed a few typos ("a" in one spot instead of "an," or an extra letter on the word "goodl"), but they could have just been minor casualties of the online posting process. (Lord knows, we've all done that!) And it wasn't very distracting.
- And, of course, there's the minor issue of the rest of the book not being available until May. But, based on these first bits I know it will be more than worth the wait! (And, hey, it's no longer a wait until August! So I'm thrilled!)
Oh, man, am I teased! Teased! But happy and excited for the book's release! Best of luck to Jim as the release date draws near, as well as in his future work as he continues this terrific series!
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Date: 2004-12-13 11:03 am (UTC)~Ria
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Date: 2004-12-13 12:59 pm (UTC)