Small Favor - discussion (SPOILERS!)

[Fahim]

Originally Posted by Highlander II

Some of the folks who may show up again might surprise you. (They did me. *g*)

OK, now I'm curious. Which ones surprised you, Highlander II? And we can take this discussion elsewhere if you don't want to spoil it for Connavar

[Highlander II]

Originally Posted by Fahim

OK, now I'm curious. Which ones surprised you, Highlander II? And we can take this discussion elsewhere if you don't want to spoil it for Connavar

This is the discussion topic for Small Favor, so, technically, spoilers for that book are allowed in this thread.

There's also the spoiler tag - which, sort of works to hide text a little.

But there was one character who showed up in either White Knight or SmFv who I hadn't actually expected to see. Partly, b/c I thought this character was in prison. The character in question works for Marcone.

Elaine surprised me with her initial appearance, but subsequent appearances, not so much.

I keep hoping for a couple other folks to pop their heads up again.

[Fahim]

Originally Posted by Highlander II

But there was one character who showed up in either White Knight or SmFv who I hadn't actually expected to see. Partly, b/c I thought this character was in prison. The character in question works for Marcone.

Elaine surprised me with her initial appearance, but subsequent appearances, not so much.

I keep hoping for a couple other folks to pop their heads up again.

Are you talking about Ms. Demeter? If so, yeah, that one surprised me too. Especially since I hadn't even paid much attention to her when she first appeared. So now it makes me wonder what other apparently minor characters (like the apprentice who laughed at something Harry said during one of the wizard councils later turning out to be Ramirez) will turn out to have a lot more significance

Elaine was actually a bit of a give away since the book does telegraph well ahead of time that it's going to be her. I just didn't know how it could be possible since she was supposed to be dead. But she's another character that I won't mind seeing more of.

[Highlander II]

Yeah - that's her.

And Elaine being 'presumed dead', yet showing up, is very much why I'm pretty sure Justin's still around too. I don't think Harry killed him, or, if he did, someone brought him back. Harry's pretty sure Justin was dead, but I don't think he actually stopped to check, you know?

I have a theory about who I think is Justin, but I don't wanna say.

What I find absolutely fun to do - read the books in reverse order! That way, when you get back to GP or SF, you can go 'HEY! Jim Butcher, you sneaky devil, you put this BIG HONKING HINT in the early parts of the series and we totally didn't know it was a hint! Sneaky sneaky!' It's a lot of fun.

[Fahim]

Originally Posted by Highlander II

And Elaine being 'presumed dead', yet showing up, is very much why I'm pretty sure Justin's still around too. I don't think Harry killed him, or, if he did, someone brought him back. Harry's pretty sure Justin was dead, but I don't think he actually stopped to check, you know?

Yeah, I'm still waiting for Justin to turn up Plus, they did have that Justin-clone thing on the TV series and so I keep thinking that perhaps that wasn't just an isolated TV-thing ...

Originally Posted by Highlander II

What I find absolutely fun to do - read the books in reverse order! That way, when you get back to GP or SF, you can go 'HEY! Jim Butcher, you sneaky devil, you put this BIG HONKING HINT in the early parts of the series and we totally didn't know it was a hint! Sneaky sneaky!' It's a lot of fun.

LOL. I haven't had the time to re-read the books, not sure I ever will but even without doing that you hit spots in the later books where you suddenly realize, "Ah, that's why it was set up like this in the early books!" For instance, I had never paid much attention to the hexenwolves because that was the weakest story in the series, in my opinion of course. So I had totally forgotten the fact that they mentioned that somebody had given them the belts.

When I originally read the books, I thought that that someone might have been Justin. Then in one of the recent books, Harry brings up the same fact but ties that into everything else happening around him and I had never made the connection that way Of course, that still doesn't mean that it isn't Justin ...

[Highlander II]

I'm glad I'm not the only one not particularly fond of FM. The story in SF isn't the strongest, but I liked it better than FM. GP is one of my faves, as is DM.

But I've been thinking through the last several books that Justin has been behind a LOT of things and I get the feeling that the 'apocalyptic showdown' at the end will have to do with Harry facing off against Justin... and possibly the Merlin (who doesn't like him much). But, I could also be WAY off and Harry's final battle will be against Elaine or Thomas or even Morgan. It could be, in the finale, Harry battles himself. Doesn't matter - Jim will never tell, even if I hit it on the nose... he's that tight-lipped about it. And good on him!

[Fahim]

Originally Posted by Highlander II

It could be, in the finale, Harry battles himself. Doesn't matter - Jim will never tell, even if I hit it on the nose... he's that tight-lipped about it. And good on him!

That's part of the fun, isn't it? At least for me it is I try to imagine all the different possibilities and see which ones I get right and which ones are way off. So as the books progress, I have my own theories and possibilities for traitors, allies, guest appearances etc. That, in a sense, is what makes the Dresden books so much fun, apart from the great writing

[Highlander II]

It is.

I love that Jim is *so* good about not revealing anything. He's even good about not telling you if you've guessed exactly right. And I don't just mean via electronic communication, I mean in person, at conventions and such. He has such a knack with twisting an answer off in a completely other direction, you don't realize he didn't actually *really* answer your question, b/c he sort of did, but he wandered off into the trees and showed you something else too.

It's complicated, but the books are SO much fun.

And I've *finally* gotten into the Codex Alera series... working through the first chapter or two now on the first book. It's taken me FOREVER to be able to get into them. The high-fantasy stuff doesn't always work for me.

[Fahim]

Originally Posted by Highlander II

And I've *finally* gotten into the Codex Alera series... working through the first chapter or two now on the first book. It's taken me FOREVER to be able to get into them. The high-fantasy stuff doesn't always work for me.

Well, you at least get to meet Jim at conventions Me, I have to be content with the books. I had meant to try and get the Codex Alera books in e-book format, if they're available, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the Dresden Files ...

[Highlander II]

Hey - if Jim's budget would allow it, he'd travel all over the world. But he's got that whole 'kid in college' thing going on, so unless someone *pays* to fly him somewhere, he's most likely to stick to the US for a while. Maybe one of these days, he'll have the wealth of John Grisham or Stephen King and can go wherever he wants.

He really does want to go int'l to cons and stuff - but he can't afford it w/o some help. He's a poor schmo like the rest of us. *g*

[Fahim]

Originally Posted by Highlander II

He really does want to go int'l to cons and stuff - but he can't afford it w/o some help. He's a poor schmo like the rest of us. *g*

Aren't we all? Anyway, even if Jim went to international cons, I still wouldn't meet him since I don't think they've had a con for anything in Sri Lanka - it's too small a market ... And of course, I can't afford to fly to any of the cons outside the country

[Highlander II]

Are you a good swimmer? How far is it to Australia?

Most of the conventions I know of are either in North America (US/Canada) or Europe. The latter, mostly in London, though Germany gets a few. Granted, since I'm in the US, I don't typically look for cons elsewhere - b/c, same as everyone, the expense gets to be too high once oceans are involved.

But, you can keep an eye out over here to see what Jim's up to.

San Diego comic con, so far, is the closest to the Asian continent that he seems to be heading this year. That might be a heck of a swim!

[Fahim]

Originally Posted by Highlander II

Are you a good swimmer? How far is it to Australia?

LOL. I don't swim at all. So scratch that one

[Highlander II]

Maybe you can get a boat.


Depending on postage - Jim sometimes does 'virtual signings' - where you can mail the book to him and he'll sign it and send it back. Or something along those lines. You could try those.

[Fahim]

Originally Posted by Highlander II

Depending on postage - Jim sometimes does 'virtual signings' - where you can mail the book to him and he'll sign it and send it back. Or something along those lines. You could try those.

Can't even *buy* the books here I've been buying the e-books and reading them on my phone to get them read at all. My wife doesn't like the small text on the phone and so she's still waiting for us to buy the books and that probably will not happen unless we go out of the country ... Yeah, I know I can get them on Amazon or some other online re-seller and then get it shipped here but that ends up being way too expensive due to the taxation laws here. But maybe some day