https://www.tor.com/2020/09/01/read...e-ground-jim-butchers-new-dresden-files-book/

First Two Sample Chapters of Battle Ground

 

My first impression is that the fight scene shown here is much better than the one which we got with Dresden and McCoy. So this book's already looking better.

The excerpt did its job: whetted my appetite something good. If this turns out to be good enough I am prepared to develop amnesia regarding my criticism of Peace Talks.

 

Holy crap, it might just be me but I'm far from thrilled with those two sample chapters. The exposition feels choppy and stilted and fails at building tension. It's a slog to get through Harry's inner monologue.

Then there's the action sequence which feels like taken straight from Hollywood blockbuster. Aquaman meets the Avengers.

Now even krakens are afraid of Dresden and somehow you can soulgaze them, too. IDK.

Funny how the shitty, little boat didn't capsize nor was it sunk... oh right, we can't have that. Murphy's on it.

 

Yeah, I'm going to say it was just you. I had more fun reading that than half of Peace Talks.

 

I don't understand why they release teaser chapters...such a bizarre thing to do. Bowing out the thread until the book is released.

 

There was a lot whining going on on reddit about whether there would be some sample chapters or not.

Apparently JB wanted to release the first chapter at the end of August(last week IIRC) but the publisher vetoed the idea, pushing for sample chapters to start coming out with the first of September.

Despite my reservations about the kraken fight I'll echo what Genghiz Khan said: the fight scene is better than the one with Corner Hounds

 

I can understand it for Peace Talks as there is such a large period of time between the stories. They needed to rebuild hype and get people back into it. Thats not needed for an immediate sequel.

As for the Kraken being afraid of Harry, I think you read it wrong, its not afraid so much as unsettled. Soul gazes are powerful magical events, it would thrown anyone on their arse for a few seconds.

What is significant is that the Kraken can soul gaze. Fae can't soul gaze, animals like Mouse can't. This Kraken has a soul.... Either another example of the Formor splicing a human into a monster, or Kraken are fully sentient and sapient.

 

I'd go with the former rather than the latter. Maybe they just grafted a soul on the monster. Seems right their alley to do something like that.

So about the kraken in this chapter:

 

It’s pretty ambiguous, yeah.

 

As we have pre chapters coming out, I figure we can leave the other thread to Peace Talks chat and this one for those who read the pre chapters/spoilers. As well as when the actual book drops later this month.

https://www.tor.com/2020/09/01/read...e-ground-jim-butchers-new-dresden-files-book/

Actual book out on the 29th. For those who pre order, beware that Amazon go off PST time and thus drop almost 12 hours later than some other publishers. I got mine from Apple books about 10 hours before Amazon had theirs drop.

 

I made a new thread for Battle Ground so spoilers don't get posted here for those who don't read pre chapters.

@Ched can you split or spoiler tag the last few posts about Battle Ground?

 

I've been just sticking to the books so far, but I've got a rough headcanon of how the world was made:

In the beginning, there wasn't nothing. Everything was the Outside. Then God came along and made a bubble of habitable reality and that was Creation (which is why Outsiders exist and are trying to get in, since a benevolent God wouldn't make those sort of things). There's still plenty of things that are Outside, potentially other things that aren't Outsiders. So God pulled some things from other/previous realities to fill the slots of protectors. Some of them faded over time and were replaced, others got promoted to other more important jobs (maybe due to the borders to the Outside failing, I don't know), which is why the Sidhe Courts are relatively new compared to things like the Fomor, Titans, etc. And some of the protectors failed their jobs, or maybe fulfilled their jobs in the part of the Great Plan they fit into, and that's where we get things like vampires and other monsters.

Honestly pretty much just the first two sentences of that paragraph are things I'm about 95% sure about. The rest is conjecture.

 

I imagine the various religious creation stiries as similar to a superposition of quantum states with cultures being the ever-changing observers. All of the creation myths/stories are True. However, whichever one is "true" at any given time depends on the region's dominant religion.

For example: In 1450 in Mexico, creation happened as per the Aztec myth but over in China it was as it occured in whatever religion they had at the time.

Not a perfect comparison but I think it works. I don't think reality in the Dresden Files has a static origin.

 

Sorry, the first thread was gonna be for both books, but with the early chapters I thought it better to split it up.

 

Here's the official trailer for Battle Ground. Made by the same crew that did Peace Talks trailer.

 

I know visual media can never really live up to the sidhe beauty, but Mab is looking rough.

 

I wonder if that spear Ethniu is holding is a red herring and is just a 'normal' spear (as normal as a weapon as a goddess would have at least) while harry still has the athame or if they're playing it straight.

It also looks like the masquerade is mega-fucked which I'd really, really like to see. So many shows and series like to keep the status quo regardless of how stretched and forced it feels (looking at you stargate). Butcher just ripping that band-aid off and going for it would be refreshing, by the end of alera everything had been burned down and the tables flipped so I'm pretty hopeful for what's to come there.

 

That trailer was more entertaining than any Dresden Files episode.