Actually, I think it shows quite a bit. Are we doing spoilers? I thought this was a spoiler thread?

Eh - spoiler ahead!

Spoiler

The numerous references to Dresden's emotions stirring, dark and terrible emotions, are setting the scene. This has rocked him - knocked him back for six. It is setting the tone for the entire novel.

Then Mac comes right out and says it - 'watch what the fuck you doing, boy' - and is clearly worried not so much for Dresden himself, but for the damage Dresden may cause.

Yeah, it shows quite a bit.

 

Heh. I liked it. Also, what Joe said--and didn't say.

 

Mac the voice of reason...
What we all thought about the child he summed up quite nicely.


On another point: Mouse rocks!
Damn I want such a dog...

I like it, it starts right away with no slouching or terrible boring chapters we would skip anyway at first to come up to the real deal only to reread them later and notice that this didn't change a damn thing at all.

 

Spoiler

Mac! It speaks!

Having that done, I love the way Dresden is able to read his dog- or the way Mouse behaves - now, that is a Foo Dog.

As to Dresden...

Spoiler

Joe is right, the tone of the story will be dark - Dresden's got issues, lots of them. So far he kept reign over his emotions. The one time his control slipped he started a war while burning red court lair to the ground, and than some. Let's not forget the ghouls at Camp Kaboom

As to Dresden's reaction to the phone, it is a fine example why we all enjoy reading Butcher so much - it is a reaction so human, so plausible.... Hell, if my ex gf called me and told me that there's some trouble with our child, a child I've got no idea about, I'd imagine I'd do the same thing.

 

This is actually hilarious.

When it was first announced that the preview chapters would be posted soon, I forced myself to forget about it for a while and just read it when they came out.

Imagine my surprise when, purely on a whim, I checked Jim's site for updates and found the first chapter. Needless to say, I was excited.

On to the actual story!

Spoiler

At first the writing seemed really... abrupt. But it quickly became clear that Jim was trying to make your head spin, because Harry's was too.

I personally doubt that this book will feature any Denarians, or Harry picking up his coin; it would take away from the emotional factor of the story, in my opinion.

For a few books now, Jim has emphasized the importance of believing in your magic, and what it says about you. Continuing on that vein, we're most likely going to see Harry lose his inhibitions in regards to wholesale destruction and mayhem.

I'm picturing many Bianca BBQ-esque scenes.

It looks like I have something to look forwards to on Tuesdays for the next 3 weeks. I may die from anticipation.

 

I still refuse to make predictions, its much sweeter to just wait and see what happens.

First chapter was good, Butcher wrote it stylistically perfect. The writing mirrored the way Dresden was feeling, allowing us to understand it implicitly.

I look forward to the next few chapters.

 

Mac is most definitely speaking from experience here. The mystery deepens!

 

This s really late, but oh, well.

1) Harry doesn't have the coin anymore, and the people that do wouldn't give it to him.

2) Would turn him into a tool for Mab, and he knows it.

3) Was in german when he read it. Years ago. After multiple blows to the head. Also, Lash is the one with the Super Memory, not Harry.

4) The Big E swre to kill him next time he saw him. Would probably kill his daughter in the process anyway.

5) Ordered Bob never to remember any of K's knowledge.

6) That guy did that with convientent Thunderstorms, and had Arcane Links. Harry doesn't have the latter, and probably won't have the former.

7) Which is very few, from what we know.

8) Would have to be done on Demonreach. And he's not even going to be on the same Continent.

 

If Lash really does still exist and has been hinted at, she can teach him to summon the coin

Knights do have some independence. Look at Slate betraying Mab right under her nose. I can see Mab allowing Harry to slaughter the people who took his daughter in return for becoming Winter Knight

We dont know that he doesnt remember it. Even if he doesnt once again. If Lash comes back it doesnt matter really if he remembers himself.

"Hey Big Guy, You swore to kill me heres an idea though. Go kill all those people over there before you kill me." Gets the kid, runs away. (its the dresden thing to do.)

Never said Kemmler's knowledge, I said stuff not in Kemmler's book. Kemmler is not the only dark wizard in history.

You have got me here. I admit it.

What we know aint shit. He doesnt like summoning demons. And We see what a few days out of every year?

Somehow I dont believe McCoy was in South America when he bombed it with a metor. I dont think Dresden is quite up to that level yet. But tap into the leyline to power a ritual. I get the feeling Harry could do more than do some damage from halfway around the world.

 

I believe you're mixing up fanon and canon here. The whole summon the coin is from one of Big D's stories, I believe.

 

Nope, you are wrong.

Lash tries to get him to summon it in the Deeps at the end of White Night.

 

Michael also mentions the possibility in Small Favor. That is why the fact that Dresden gave up the coin does not matter to Michael, since Dresden could summon it instantly from whatever church its now hidden in and as such giving it up was meaningless (Michael does not know about Lash taking that psychic bullet).

However it is debatable if Dresden could do the summoning anymore, even if Lash returned. It is possible that the coin would no longer be willing to respond to Lash after Dresden changed her. I seem to recall that Lash thought that helping Harry and showing selflessness would cause the real fallen in the coin to reject her.

I suspect that if Lash ever does return, it will be without a link to the coin and without hellfire. And possibly limited amnesia or something due to the brain damage. She would be too all-knowing/powerfull otherwise and make things too simple.

 

I do recall Lash offering to teach him how to summon it and I know Dresden made mention of the fact that he knew if he wanted to he could get the coin out from under the concrete in his basement with a thought but I dont recall Lash ever actually teaching him the ability to do it. If I had to hazard a guess though it would probably be a matter of Names and focus, if he concentrates on the coin and calls for Lasciel not Lash then that might do the trick. However thats just a guess on my part.

 

Yeh. Lash offered to teach it but Harry refused and then Lash died or otherwise went away. She would have to return and then teach Harry the coin-summoning trick before Harry could do anything. We don't know how difficult it is, since Lash lived in Harry's head and could probably teach even extremely complex spells quickly by essentially "uploading" the knowledge to his mind. So it could be something very difficult that Harry could never figure out on his own.

Also I think somekind of connection is required with the coin before the summoning trick works. I mean why would the snakeguy have gone after Harry and Lasciels coin, if he could have just performed a magic rite and summoned his own coin. I think the shadow is somehow connected to the coin (the sigil in Harry's hand) and this connection is required for the summoning to work. As such it is possible that even if she returned, Lash, having defied Lasciel could no longer do the summoning since she no longer qualified as a true shadow having been changed by Harrys influence

Ofcourse, it is possible that if Lash returned, and if she had been redeemed and this whole thing was not just a trick, then possibly Harry would not need the coin. I figure Lash would have enough knowledge to give Harry a boost without needing to sacrifice his soul. Presumably Lash would know how to use soulfire in very effective ways for instance since she was once an angel(or had the memories of one anyway) and thus used it herself before her fall.

 

True, but that would result in Lash's death, and Harry knows it, so...doesn't matter.

Mab's smart enough to know Harry would try to avoid becoming the Knight if she did that. Like he did with his deals with Lea, multiple time, from which came Mab's power over him.

If she comes back in his head. Jim said her story wasn't over, not that she was still there.

And Big E would kill the guys he doesn't even know over the one he actually wants to kill...why exactly?

Yeah, but Bob probably doesn't know every Dark Wizard in History. Especially given that the White Council is pretty good at it's job.

Cool.

The few days in which he needs all the help he can get.

Yeah, McCoy probably wasn't. But we know for a fact that Harry is going to be in this book. So, yeah.

 

He is one of the Fae. That should be more than enough reason.

 

Huh? That makes no sense at all.

Erlking wants to kill Harry bad for summoning him in the first place. What possible reason would he have to go after the Red Court rather than Harry. If Harry did summon and free him, he would go after Harry instead. Sure, he might take out any vampires that got in his way, but that would just be a case of exchanging a weaker enemy (vampire) to a more powerfull one (Erlking).

And that would be the best case scenario. The Erlking might decide to work together with the Red Court instead to really screw Harry up badly. Vampires are predators and the Erlking sympathises with creatures like that. I think Harry would be utterly stupid to risk it.

Especially since this is a rescue mission. Even if Harry did figure some way of tricking the Erlking into attacking the Red Court, how would he know that the Erlking would not just go straight to where his daughter is and kill her.

 

The Fae make deals, that is why he'd go for the Red Court instead of Harry. It's pretty much their basic desire. Humans eat, fish swim, Fae make deals.

Besides, I wasn't really saying it's a viable option, just that it could work if Harry found something worth the trade.