I think that this is the first blind recommendation I’ve done here. That’s right, this week we’re going to recommend the Latest in the Harry Dresden series:
Now, I know, Dance with Dragons came out a mere two weeks ago. That’s 1000 pages that you have to read right there. You probably don’t even have time to think about another book, let alone a series with a *DOZEN* books in it.
Let me tell you this, though: Dance with Dragons will be over soon enough. You’ll kill 100 pages here, 100 pages there… and the next thing you know, it’ll be the middle of September and you’ll put Dance with Dragons down after reading the last page three times and looking at your calendar and saying “so, when does Winds of Winter come out?”
Winds of Winter will come out in one million years.
So, in the meantime, you’ll be wondering “well… now what?”
In that moment, I hope you remember this essay.
Of course, if you haven’t started the series yet, you’ll want to start with the first book Storm Front
So that’s my recommendation for you this week.
Mid-September? I’ll be done with Dance with Dragons in about 2 weeks.
I’m not up to date on the Dresden books yet, but I do have Dead Beat ready to go once I’m done with Martin’s latest tome.
Oooh, that’s a good one.
I think I will drop Dance with Dragons to read Ghost Story. Dreden is better than the Song of Fire and Ice.
I get tired of my favorite characters dying and staying dead…
George Rest and Relaxation Martin says he’s completed 4 chapters of The Winds of Winter which cover four different viewpoints of the same events. One would think he’s still being paid pennies per word with all that padding.
That’s a silly nickname for him. The irritating thing is how much time he spends on money-making activities other than writing ASoIaF books.
Anyone that takes five years to write a book has been goofing off on other things too much. He has earned this nick name in my opinion.
Scalzi puts all of it into perspective
here.
There is a place for series that are composed of 20 books where one is released yearly.
There is a place for series that are composed of 6 books where one is released every five years or so.
This place is, ideally, in the past. So we can read all of it at once.
Keeping up with the books as they come out ain’t bad, though.
Without getting too political, I’d like to point out that we are not entitled to these stories. We are lucky to get them.
> I’d like to point out that we are not entitled
> to these stories. We are lucky to get them.
The Dune series is a good case study for “sometimes it might be better to get less of a series and let your own imagination take the story somewhere.”
I’ve a friend who is irritated by _Ghost Story_. He says that the series should have ended with _Changes_.
It seems to me that this is an opportunity for the best of both worlds for both of us. I can read the next book. He has the opportunity to not read it and just think cheerfully about how Changes ended on the exact perfect note.
He does not appreciate this suggestion.
My friend, who is a fan of the series, recommends skipping the first 3 books (or at least Fool Moon), and reading the comics for the important plot points.
Since I was so turned off by the books I read (2 and 3) that I’m skipping the rest of the series, I’ll second his suggestion.
I thought that the first was a fun romp and Fool Moon was a good followup. I do think that Grave Peril is the weakest of the series… but it’s immediately followed by Summer Knight which is where the series just takes off and is consistently 4-5 stars after that.
Grave Peril is where we meet Michael, though.
Michael is awesome.
Michael is alright, as is Thomas to a lesser extent.
My gripe is Harry himself, and the female characters. This is one of those books where it feels like the author never talks to girls in real life.
This is one of those books where it feels like the author never talks to girls in real life.
I don’t know about that. I read a paragraph from “Twilight” once.
I think it’s more that there’s a lot of self-selection in the circle he finds himself surrounded by.