I think the way I consumed the series really effected how positively I see it. I listened to the entire thing in like a month and a half. Yeah, there were entries that were hard to get through, but I could always just go right to the next. Things do start to pick up pretty quickly from book twelve onward. Maybe to quickly for some. While I think the later books are objectively better, I think I enjoy the format of the older ones more.
Wow. That's a lot of Dresden in a very short period of time! I can definitely see how when you listen to the books that way, they would all kind of meld together into one long story. Although, I feel like if you do that, then the repetitive descriptions would be even MORE annoying. All of that said, I look forward to seeing how the rest of the series treats me. One thing's for sure, barring something going horribly wrong, I'm along for the ride till the end!
Dresden Files is just plain, fun. And they are so easy/quick to read, it's like why not? And then of course, the series does just get better and better and morphs into full blown story lines and progression instead of just the same thing, rinse and repeat that the first few books feel like. But yeah, just plain fun.
My kids gave me an Audible subscription so I think I’ll try Book 1. But 10 more books before I get my socks blown off? Okay, who am I to judge because I’m a guy who has two copies of all of Haydn’s 104 Symphonies on his phone! Yeah, some are nice, others pure genius. Thanks as always my friend! Mike
This isn't really a series that is suppose to "blow your socks off"....it's a fun romp...quick and fun....with that said, it Does get better and better where you really start to care about everyone in the books, and the arcs get sooo good...everything just morphs into something you love. But either way, it's just fun quick reads....not something that's suppose to be on the level of "knocking your socks off"....consider them palate cleansers in-between your big, meaty reads....and then if you do stick with them, they will morph into one of your favorites....at least that's how it is for most.
Heya, Mike. I'm not sure I'd spend an audible credit on Book 1 of the Dresden Files. For one, it's so short, it almost feels like a waste (then again, that might be because I'm so cheap that I refuse to use an Audible credit on anything shorter than 30 hours... which works out well for long, epic fantasies, as well as really long biographies and histories). Second, for whatever reason, the quality of the sound engineering for the first few books of the Dresden Files is just bad enough that if you have an ear for it, it's annoying (and I think that you might have that kind of ear, Mike). It gets better around Book 4 or 5, because I assume they got popular enough that they could afford a proper recording studio and sound engineer. If anything, I think Book 1 makes for a good library borrow. PS: watch out for an incoming email re: Bros K!
Changes might be the high water mark for emotional impact. Definitely a top tier book. (You must do a tier list for the whole series when you're done). For sheer fun my choice is Skin Game. Curious to get your take on Ghost Story. Finished book one of the First Law series. Avercrombie's writing is so economical and it just flows very nicely. I'm gonna keep reading but am so far more interested in the political games and infighting than the magical lore around the Maker or Bayaz. Im also kind of hoping for a character i can pull for without hating them- a Michael Carpenter or Karrin Murphy but maybe I'm in the wrong genre for that. About halfway into Stoner. Very serious. I feel like there are there are some deep themes about academia, men, and women that I'm still trying to wrap my ahead around. So far, enjoying it.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment! Going to tackle each of your points in turn here. First off, I just finished Ghost Story. I think the best way for me to sum it up is that I feel like it had a lot of potential that was ultimately squandered? I wanted to see more of the fallout from Changes and more of the impact on the supporting cast, and less of the (somewhat goofy, IMHO) main plot line. I won't be doing a video on it, but a tier list once I've caught up is a great idea (if I can remember enough of each individual book). Re: First Law. Good news and bad news for you. Good news is that you'll get far more political games than magical lore from First Law. Bad news is that you'll never find anyone even remotely approaching a Michael Carpenter in that world... heck, even Harry is downright wholesome compared to any Abercrombie character... which is part of why I like the Dresden Files. Sometimes you just need a break from the morally grey and you need a good ol' fashioned good guys vs bad guys. Re: Stoner. I hope you continue to enjoy it. My advice is to take your time with it and think about what it means to YOU. I read it mainly as the salvation that comes from understanding one's own identity, and as such, I think it's actually got an overall uplifting message. But, I think one of the great things about the book is that you might read it completely differently based on your experience. Thanks again, and look forward to hearing more of your thoughts as you carry on with Stoner and First Law!
Jim Butcher has stated he writes the books so that if someone wanted to, they could pick up a random book in the series and be able to mostly understand what is happening. i do agree that all the character descriptions, setting descriptions, etc get annoying to long time readers of the series. i get why he does it but it does annoy me at times.
First off, love the username! :) I assumed that was why Butcher did it, but frankly, I keep trying to imagine what it would be like to just randomly pick up the 10th book in the series, for example, and even with the repetitive descriptions, I can't see anyone being able to just jump right in. That may have been possible up the third or fourth book, but once you get past there, there's so much context missing beyond just the character descriptions! That said, I do feel like that the repetitive descriptions happen less as of "Changes," and regardless, I'd be willing to completely forgive them given how great the story has gotten.
woah. big question. This may seem like a cop out, but in English, probably Shakespeare. In French, probably Proust. Hard for me to pick anyone writing in any other language, because by virtue of the question I don’t think I can judge based on translations. Thanks for the thought provoking question!
I think the way I consumed the series really effected how positively I see it. I listened to the entire thing in like a month and a half. Yeah, there were entries that were hard to get through, but I could always just go right to the next. Things do start to pick up pretty quickly from book twelve onward. Maybe to quickly for some. While I think the later books are objectively better, I think I enjoy the format of the older ones more.
Wow. That's a lot of Dresden in a very short period of time! I can definitely see how when you listen to the books that way, they would all kind of meld together into one long story. Although, I feel like if you do that, then the repetitive descriptions would be even MORE annoying.
All of that said, I look forward to seeing how the rest of the series treats me. One thing's for sure, barring something going horribly wrong, I'm along for the ride till the end!
@@ADudeWhoReads Yeah, that is a benefit of audiobooks. Fast forwarding through things you’ve already heard.
Dresden Files is just plain, fun. And they are so easy/quick to read, it's like why not? And then of course, the series does just get better and better and morphs into full blown story lines and progression instead of just the same thing, rinse and repeat that the first few books feel like. But yeah, just plain fun.
Sounds a lot like lot my experience. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I must have posted this in the wrong place, thanks for your comment. I've been doing some heavy reads and I like the idea of fun reads! Best wishes!
My kids gave me an Audible subscription so I think I’ll try Book 1. But 10 more books before I get my socks blown off? Okay, who am I to judge because I’m a guy who has two copies of all of Haydn’s 104 Symphonies on his phone! Yeah, some are nice, others pure genius. Thanks as always my friend! Mike
This isn't really a series that is suppose to "blow your socks off"....it's a fun romp...quick and fun....with that said, it Does get better and better where you really start to care about everyone in the books, and the arcs get sooo good...everything just morphs into something you love. But either way, it's just fun quick reads....not something that's suppose to be on the level of "knocking your socks off"....consider them palate cleansers in-between your big, meaty reads....and then if you do stick with them, they will morph into one of your favorites....at least that's how it is for most.
Heya, Mike. I'm not sure I'd spend an audible credit on Book 1 of the Dresden Files. For one, it's so short, it almost feels like a waste (then again, that might be because I'm so cheap that I refuse to use an Audible credit on anything shorter than 30 hours... which works out well for long, epic fantasies, as well as really long biographies and histories). Second, for whatever reason, the quality of the sound engineering for the first few books of the Dresden Files is just bad enough that if you have an ear for it, it's annoying (and I think that you might have that kind of ear, Mike). It gets better around Book 4 or 5, because I assume they got popular enough that they could afford a proper recording studio and sound engineer. If anything, I think Book 1 makes for a good library borrow.
PS: watch out for an incoming email re: Bros K!
Thanks my friend! I'm going to the library so I'll look for it. Cheers!
Sounds good! I've been doing some heavy reads, and I do like lighter fun reads. Very best!
@@RhinoViper
Changes might be the high water mark for emotional impact. Definitely a top tier book. (You must do a tier list for the whole series when you're done). For sheer fun my choice is Skin Game. Curious to get your take on Ghost Story.
Finished book one of the First Law series. Avercrombie's writing is so economical and it just flows very nicely. I'm gonna keep reading but am so far more interested in the political games and infighting than the magical lore around the Maker or Bayaz. Im also kind of hoping for a character i can pull for without hating them- a Michael Carpenter or Karrin Murphy but maybe I'm in the wrong genre for that.
About halfway into Stoner. Very serious. I feel like there are there are some deep themes about academia, men, and women that I'm still trying to wrap my ahead around. So far, enjoying it.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment! Going to tackle each of your points in turn here.
First off, I just finished Ghost Story. I think the best way for me to sum it up is that I feel like it had a lot of potential that was ultimately squandered? I wanted to see more of the fallout from Changes and more of the impact on the supporting cast, and less of the (somewhat goofy, IMHO) main plot line. I won't be doing a video on it, but a tier list once I've caught up is a great idea (if I can remember enough of each individual book).
Re: First Law. Good news and bad news for you. Good news is that you'll get far more political games than magical lore from First Law. Bad news is that you'll never find anyone even remotely approaching a Michael Carpenter in that world... heck, even Harry is downright wholesome compared to any Abercrombie character... which is part of why I like the Dresden Files. Sometimes you just need a break from the morally grey and you need a good ol' fashioned good guys vs bad guys.
Re: Stoner. I hope you continue to enjoy it. My advice is to take your time with it and think about what it means to YOU. I read it mainly as the salvation that comes from understanding one's own identity, and as such, I think it's actually got an overall uplifting message. But, I think one of the great things about the book is that you might read it completely differently based on your experience.
Thanks again, and look forward to hearing more of your thoughts as you carry on with Stoner and First Law!
Jim Butcher has stated he writes the books so that if someone wanted to, they could pick up a random book in the series and be able to mostly understand what is happening. i do agree that all the character descriptions, setting descriptions, etc get annoying to long time readers of the series. i get why he does it but it does annoy me at times.
First off, love the username! :)
I assumed that was why Butcher did it, but frankly, I keep trying to imagine what it would be like to just randomly pick up the 10th book in the series, for example, and even with the repetitive descriptions, I can't see anyone being able to just jump right in. That may have been possible up the third or fourth book, but once you get past there, there's so much context missing beyond just the character descriptions! That said, I do feel like that the repetitive descriptions happen less as of "Changes," and regardless, I'd be willing to completely forgive them given how great the story has gotten.
question, what writer has the greatest sheer skill. Just pure skill with language
woah. big question. This may seem like a cop out, but in English, probably Shakespeare. In French, probably Proust. Hard for me to pick anyone writing in any other language, because by virtue of the question I don’t think I can judge based on translations. Thanks for the thought provoking question!
'promosm'
I had to Google to find out what this means :)