Flights of Fantasy discussion

Here we discuss all things Jim Butcher!


Codex Alera Series:


Dresden Files Series:





Dresden Files Series to Date (with short stories) in Chronological Order:
(view spoiler)[
0.5 "A Restoration of Faith" (short story) - Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]
1 Storm Front [2000 November 6]

2 Fool Moon [2008 July 1]
2.5"B is for Bigfoot" - Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron [2012 August 28]

3 Grave Peril [2008 November 4]

4 Summer Knight [2009 July 7]

5 Death Masks [2009 November 3]
5.5 "Publicity and Advertising" (but called "Vignette") - Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]

6 Blood Rites [2010 July 5]

7 Dead Beat [2005 May 3]
7.5(a) "I Was a Teenage Bigfoot" - Blood Lite III: Aftertaste [2012 May 29]
7.5(b) "Something Borrowed" (short story) - My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (October 3, 2006) & Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]

8 Proven Guilty [2006 May 2]

9 White Night[2007 April 3]
9.5(a) "It's My Birthday, Too" (short story) - Many Bloody Returns (September 4, 2007) & Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]
9.5(b) "Heorot" (short story) - My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon (December 26, 2007) & Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]

10 Small Favor [2008 April 1]
10.5(a) "Harry's Day Off" (short story) - Blood Lite (October 21, 2008) & Called "Day Off" in Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]
10.5(b) "Backup" (novelette) - Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]
10.5(c) "The Warrior" (short story) - Mean Streets (January 6, 2009) & Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]
10.5(d) "Curses" (short story) - Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy [2011 July 5]
10.5(e) "AAAA Wizardry" (short story) - Volume Two: Our World of The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game [2010 June 15]
10.5(f) "Last Call" (short story) - Strange Brew (July 7, 2009) & Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]

11 Turn Coat [2009 April 7]
11.5(a) "Love Hurts" - Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love (November 16, 2010) & Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]
11.5(b) "Bigfoot on Campus" - Hex Appeal [2012 June 5]
11.5(c) "Even Hand" - Dark and Stormy Knights [2010 July 20]

12 Changes[2010 April 6]
12.5 "Aftermath" - Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files [2010 October 26]

13 Ghost Story [2011 July 26]
13.5 "Bombshells" (short story) - Dangerous Women [2013 December 3]

14 Cold Days[2012 November 27]

15 Skin Game[2014 May 27]
(hide spoiler)]

Bonus --> Here is a Dresden Files: Series Timeline found on Jim Butcher's site.

Thank you Alan for helping to put the short stories in chronological order, for pointing out the timeline and for making the beautiful book cover images!! :)

Happy reading!

15 books? I've just read 1. I guess I have some catching up to do!

It seems like a lot, but you'll go through them rather quickly.

Kathy wrote: "15 books? I've just read 1. I guess I have some catching up to do!"

His master plan is 20 "single" books in the series and a trilogy ending, for a total of 23. There are also quite a few short stories and novellas. Most of which are found in Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files.

Here's a list I compiled that goes through book #14

2/3/14 -Edit: I've added the most up to date list to the original post.

Thanks, Chris. I think I have most of them, butnow I can check. :)

You're welcome, but Nyssa put that list up. Heh...

Ha ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never read these but I have the first one. :)

Oops, Sorry, Nyssa. That's what I get trying to do stuff from my phone. It doesn't take much to confuse me normally....lol.

Nyssa wrote: "Kathy wrote: "15 books? I've just read 1. I guess I have some catching up to do!"

His master plan is 20 "single" books in the series and a trilogy ending, for a total of 23. There are also quite..."

You forgot BOMBSHELLS a novella in GRR Martin's Dangerous Women.
--
Alan :-)

Alan is Here!!! Yay!!!!

Nyssa wrote: "Alan is Here!!! Yay!!!!"

Wow! What a nice welcome.
--
Alan :-)

Bombshells was a hoot, by the way ;)

Okay, so I am just now on this thread. I've read two of the first two Dresden Files and I love them. Storm Front was amazing. I read it in a day and a half. But, I thought Fool Moon was a little off. I thought it was oddly paced and it didn't quite keep my interest as much as the first one. I can't wait to read Grave Peril though :)

Welcome to the thread Caleb! :)

Summer Knight (book #4) and Cold Days (book #14) are my absolute favorites in the entire series, to date!

Grave Peril was actually my least favorite, but I liked Fool Moon, so you may enjoy Grave Peril more than I did.

Best wishes! :)

Caleb wrote: "Okay, so I am just now on this thread. I've read two of the first two Dresden Files and I love them. Storm Front was amazing. I read it in a day and a half. But, I thought [book:Fo..."

Oh yay! Someone else who agrees with me on Fool Moon. :)
I didn't enjoy it as much as the first. In fact, if it wasn't for people constantly recommending this series I probably would stop. However, I'm going to move onto the 3rd at some point.

To me, Book 3 was when the series went from decent to really damn good.

Jackie wrote: "Caleb wrote: "Okay, so I am just now on this thread. I've read two of the first two Dresden Files and I love them. Storm Front was amazing. I read it in a day and a half. But, I th..."

I love it when people get where I'm coming from! Haha and I definitely need to get started on the third one.

Chris wrote: "To me, Book 3 was when the series went from decent to really damn good."

For me it was Summer Knight.

Just going to throw a vote in for Changes (along with Cold Days) as the best in the series (so far!)

Paul wrote: "Chris wrote: "To me, Book 3 was when the series went from decent to really damn good."

For me it was Summer Knight.

Just going to throw a vote in for Changes (along w..."

Changes was great, not sure why I didn't list it as one of my favorites...I have to think on that.

I just started Storm Front for the first time. :)

Nienna wrote: "I just started Storm Front for the first time. :)"

Hurrah! Let us know what you think.

Funny thing about Summer Knight, Paul.

When I first read it, I thought it wasn't as good as the first three or even the next couple.

But then later on as I look back, it's one that stands out as a favorite.

It seems to have been a more pivotal book than I realized at the time.

That's it exactly.

Part of it might be that I'm real hesitant with (view spoiler)[faeries (hide spoiler)]. But I'm really impressed with how he set them up.

That's my feeling, too, Chris. It's not part of my standard reading (and I even would say I avoid it), but I am enjoying that part of the Dresden world way more than I thought I would!

Very true...Is May here yet? Heh..

I am currently using that cover for Skin Game as my desktop wallpaper.

I have 6 books and the short stories to get through before that. Not sure if I'll mainline them to catch up before then or just keep reading them when I want and get to the new one later this year.

Do you audio? I can't remember. That's how I got through most of the series in a relatively short time. James Marsters is an excellent reader too.

My only "stupid human trick" is that I'm a really fast reader. Books usually only take me a day or two at most (for an average length book), and so I can't handle waiting. Haha.

I appreciate audio. I want to like it. But at the end of the day, audio is too slow for me! Drives me craaaaazy. When I've tried it in the past, I've been known to end up Googling the novel, spoiling myself and not finishing the audio.

That said, I've considered doing some re reads in audio on my commute and these are at the top of my list because of how great I've heard the audio is.

And I read stupid slow so by the time I get to series books they've all come out. ;)

Commutes are a great time to listen. That's time you can't normally read, so you aren't losing book time to an audio. Stephen King actually wrote about that somewhere and I started it when I was running a newspaper route. That was 4 hours twice a week that I was in the car alone, so I really increased my reading production. Plus, it helped me stay awake!

And I do audiobooks when I drive to see the boy (35 minute commute both ways) and to and from work. I also listen when I'm doing dummy tasks at work and when I'm doing housework. I have found that I can't listen when doing something like knitting cause the process itself is not involved enough so my mind wanders. I guess I need 1/4 of my mind involved in another activity so I can pay attention to an audiobook.

Emily wrote: "My only "stupid human trick" is that I'm a really fast reader. Books usually only take me a day or two at most (for an average length book), and so I can't handle waiting. Haha.

I appreciate audi..."

Do you remember what you read, Emily? I find when I read too fast, I won't remember anything. It's like my brain is seeing the words but doesn't process them. It sucks! I envy you!

I have decent recall, but have been known to start the same book and get a chapter of two in before remembering I've read it (see: Alloy of Law). That's why GR and I are besties.

That's why I started ages ago keeping a list of what I've read....long before GR. Too little time to do a re-read unless it's on purpose! lol

Emily wrote: "It seems to have been a more pivotal book than I realized at the time."

Chris wrote: "Funny thing about Summer Knight, Paul.

When I first read it, I thought it wasn't as good as the first three or even the next couple.

But then later on as I look back, it's one that stands out as ..."

I definitely agree with you both. Thinking back on it I don't think I realised how important Summer Knight was to the series when I read it, I just knew that I enjoyed it more than the first three books. Really loved how Butcher dealt with the subject matter in this one.

Emily wrote: "My only "stupid human trick" is that I'm a really fast reader. Books usually only take me a day or two at most (for an average length book), and so I can't handle waiting. Haha.

I appreciate audi..."

Wow, and I thought I was a fast reader. I've been known to read a book in a day but it has to be; a)amazing and b)short!

I've never really got into audiobooks. I tend to listen to podcasts. I've found with audiobooks that I find it easy to miss things as I'm usually doing something else while listening.

Yesterday was a banner day - I read the last 300 pages of Proven Guilty and all of The Shadowy Horses by Susana Kearsley. Of course, I was bored at work and read for a couple hours there and stayed up until 2am, but it was a good 700 page day.

A 700 page day? Wow, Emily. I'm in awe.

I'm very envious!!!!

Emily wrote: "My only "stupid human trick" is that I'm a really fast reader. Books usually only take me a day or two at most (for an average length book), and so I can't handle waiting. Haha.

I appreciate audi..."

Yes, this is why I can't listen to audio books as well. I'm on medication at the moment that interferes with my reading speed (although it's gradually improving again), but I used to read at about 1100 WPM and finished most books in a couple of hours. I read five Discworld books in one day once. Audio books just make me sit there going 'Could you be any slower?' rather than paying attention to what's said.

But I don't drive, so I don't really have long intervals where reading in print is impossible for me. Print is perfect for trains. If I were a driver I'd definitely be tempted to give them another go, since I hate the radio.

I love podcasts as well. Podcasts definitely slowed down my audiobook consumption.

Felina wrote: "I love podcasts as well. Podcasts definitely slowed down my audiobook consumption."

I've been working my way through the backlog of Sword and Laser recently. Really enjoyed the interview they did with Jim Butcher, although the interaction between the hosts is what keeps me listening (I may have been known to laugh out loud on the train while listening).

I definitely want to try some more audiobooks this year though.

At the risk of getting back to the Dresden Files ;) I was thinking about who my favourite character in the series is. If it could be human/non-human I would definitely go with Mouse. If we are talking just human characters I think probably Molly (I really like her whole story arc. Looking forward to reading "Bombshells" when I eventually pick up Dangerous Women). Anyone else have a favourite character in the series?

Paul wrote: "I've been working my way through the backlog of Sword and Laser recently. Really enjoyed the inte..."

I just finished catching up with S&L myself. I really enjoyed the Jim Butcher interview. He seems like a character. If you like S&L I would strongly recommend the other Frogpants podcasts. Most notably The Morning Stream, Current Geek, Autopilot, Comic Dorks and Film Sack. If you're into WoW I would also recommend The Instance.

That is all...go back to Dresden discussions.

I love Mouse! I just read Proven Huilyy,

Wow, sorry. I'll delete that when I'm on a real computer.

Anyway, I also really like Mouse. I just finished Proven Guilty, so don't know much about Molly yet. I've enjoyed seeing the Thomas and Murphy storylines develop, though.

Molly's probably my favorite side character too. I will also add Butters to the list though.

Oh man, I loved Butters in Dead Beat!

Dead Beat might actually be my favorite...

Or Changes.

Or Turn Coat.

Arrrgghhh