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Let's chat about books while I try not to fall asleep because I am also hungry.
I read James Butcher's debut novel and I have... thoughts.
If the name James Butcher sounds familiar, he's Jim Butcher's son. I needed a moment when I realized Jim Butcher's son, the son he used to joke was the reason the Dresden Files would go on for awhile (gotta pay for the kid's college education, dangit) was now old enough to be out of college and writing his own stuff.
I also needed a moment because when I first saw the cover for Dead Man's Hand, I legit thought it was a new Jim Butcher book. I am not alone in thinking this because Mom picked it up from the library for me and was ever so excited about a new Dresden book. I specifically asked her if it was possibly the son's book and she was adamant it wasn't. I mean, it was, but I also cannot fault her for thinking what she did. The cover art is VERY Dresden and if you're not paying attention to the fact that there's nary a trenchcoat in sight, you'd be forgiven for making the same mistake.
I told Cass she needed to read it so we could compare notes and she agreed, then said she'd have to tell herself not to compare Junior to Senior. I snorted (ever a lady am I) and told her good fucking luck with that. Some kids try very hard to step outside their famous parent's shadow and some seem to think they're gonna be compared anyway so might as well go allllllllllll the way in. I'm guessing he's the latter because DMH doesn't just LOOK like a Dresden book, it reads like one as well.
To mixed results, honestly.
It's not a bad start and it's probably better than Storm Front in some ways, but it's also one of those books that you cannot help but think, "Yeah, this totally made it this far because the publisher was hoping for Dad 2.0." Maybe that's unfair and they would've grabbed up Dresden-lite anyway, but the name didn't hurt and neither did the ability to market it the way they did... hoping to trick people or entice those of us who did bother to look a little closer.
Thing is, comparing DMH to Storm Front isn't entirely fair, either. Storm Front's decades old at this point and I don't think has ever been considered the best Dresden book, even when it was the ONLY Dresden book. :P I'm pretty sure the general consensus for the DF series is you don't start the newbie off with Storm Front; you have them circle back for it once they're good and hooked.
Mostly I wonder if Jr wanted to write this and have it be so close to his father's stuff or what. It's basically double-dog-daring you to compare the two and Grimsby's cast of characters isn't entertaining enough (yet) to hold a candle to Dresden's. It also feels very much like someone decided that if Dresden's midlife-ish and a hidden wizard, well, what if Grimsby's 20 and magic is out in this world... but he's still shitty at it and the spells and stuff are going to read as similar enough (think Dresden flinging fuego at every turn, only have it be Bind and Torque for Grimsby) to make comparisons really, really easy. Also, let us not forget ORPHAN and TRAGIC BACKSTORY.
All that word vomit being said, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with the series.
I do hope that the fatphobic leanings are just a one and done thing because I am not looking forward to that shit.
Time to Play had (has?) a video on AG's second round of HP stuff and the doll they used to model is one of the twins: Nicki. I'm not sure if it's just how she looks in green or what, but the entire video I kept thinking she looked an awful lot like Ginger from Ginger Snaps and that's gonna be dangerous for my wallet. Debating using the sale to buy Kavi. *muse* Could do that and then use my Rewards on one of the twins if I wanted.
I read James Butcher's debut novel and I have... thoughts.
If the name James Butcher sounds familiar, he's Jim Butcher's son. I needed a moment when I realized Jim Butcher's son, the son he used to joke was the reason the Dresden Files would go on for awhile (gotta pay for the kid's college education, dangit) was now old enough to be out of college and writing his own stuff.
I also needed a moment because when I first saw the cover for Dead Man's Hand, I legit thought it was a new Jim Butcher book. I am not alone in thinking this because Mom picked it up from the library for me and was ever so excited about a new Dresden book. I specifically asked her if it was possibly the son's book and she was adamant it wasn't. I mean, it was, but I also cannot fault her for thinking what she did. The cover art is VERY Dresden and if you're not paying attention to the fact that there's nary a trenchcoat in sight, you'd be forgiven for making the same mistake.
I told Cass she needed to read it so we could compare notes and she agreed, then said she'd have to tell herself not to compare Junior to Senior. I snorted (ever a lady am I) and told her good fucking luck with that. Some kids try very hard to step outside their famous parent's shadow and some seem to think they're gonna be compared anyway so might as well go allllllllllll the way in. I'm guessing he's the latter because DMH doesn't just LOOK like a Dresden book, it reads like one as well.
To mixed results, honestly.
It's not a bad start and it's probably better than Storm Front in some ways, but it's also one of those books that you cannot help but think, "Yeah, this totally made it this far because the publisher was hoping for Dad 2.0." Maybe that's unfair and they would've grabbed up Dresden-lite anyway, but the name didn't hurt and neither did the ability to market it the way they did... hoping to trick people or entice those of us who did bother to look a little closer.
Thing is, comparing DMH to Storm Front isn't entirely fair, either. Storm Front's decades old at this point and I don't think has ever been considered the best Dresden book, even when it was the ONLY Dresden book. :P I'm pretty sure the general consensus for the DF series is you don't start the newbie off with Storm Front; you have them circle back for it once they're good and hooked.
Mostly I wonder if Jr wanted to write this and have it be so close to his father's stuff or what. It's basically double-dog-daring you to compare the two and Grimsby's cast of characters isn't entertaining enough (yet) to hold a candle to Dresden's. It also feels very much like someone decided that if Dresden's midlife-ish and a hidden wizard, well, what if Grimsby's 20 and magic is out in this world... but he's still shitty at it and the spells and stuff are going to read as similar enough (think Dresden flinging fuego at every turn, only have it be Bind and Torque for Grimsby) to make comparisons really, really easy. Also, let us not forget ORPHAN and TRAGIC BACKSTORY.
All that word vomit being said, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with the series.
I do hope that the fatphobic leanings are just a one and done thing because I am not looking forward to that shit.
Time to Play had (has?) a video on AG's second round of HP stuff and the doll they used to model is one of the twins: Nicki. I'm not sure if it's just how she looks in green or what, but the entire video I kept thinking she looked an awful lot like Ginger from Ginger Snaps and that's gonna be dangerous for my wallet. Debating using the sale to buy Kavi. *muse* Could do that and then use my Rewards on one of the twins if I wanted.