#grave peril

[friendly-books]

Grave Peril implications

Content warning: Rape, Double standard rape: female on male, roofies, 

Alright I hope I gave enough warnings. And that I tagged this right. I’m not a psychologist and I mean no harm with my thoughts.

The implications I got from the end of chapter thirty-three and the beginning of thirty-four is that Bicana at least raped Harry. I got these implications from several quotes and moments from the book. Bicana is naked and Harry has his clothes removed. Some quotes are 

“I heard them taking you. Playing with you, for two hours maybe” pg. 453 Justine tells Harry this when he wakes up. 

“The monsters can’t get you here, Harry,” he used to say. “They can’t get you.” He’d been right. Until now. Until tonight. The monsters got me.” pg. 447 

“I don’t know where real life left off and the nightmares began, but I thrashed myself awake, screaming a scratchy, hollow scream that made little more noise than a whimper. I screamed until I ran out of breath, and then all I could do was sob.” pg. 448 

“I lay there, naked, undone. No one came to hold me. No one came to make it all better. No one had, really, since my dad died“ pg. 448

“Next came the terror. The pain. Humiliation. More than anything, I wanted to crawl into a hole and pull it in after me. I wanted to be not” pg. 448

“And they were always the same: darkness, trapped, with vampires all around me, laughing their hissing laughter. I’d wake up, screaming and crying.” pg. 511. 

Also the Red Vampire spit reminds me of roofies and/or similar drugs. As it has some kind of addictive narcotic. The fact that Harry doesn't remember two hours could be dissociation. Not sure if I’m reading it right or that I’m reading too much into things.

On the assumptions that Bicana raped Harry I see this going in two directions Harry address his trama and heals or he doesn’t. Both with watsonian (inuniverse) and doylist (meta) options. 

To address his trauma a watsonian option could be that with Harry's friends and support network he could heal from this. He could go to a therapist and work through it. 

For the doylist Jim could show the aftereffect and a process to recovery. Now I’m about to make some assumptions. One that Jim has a majority male audience. Two that they wouldn’t have read something addressing rape and/or the aftermath. It could help with the double standard there is in regards to female on male rape. 

Now for a situation where Harry doesn't address his trauma a watsonian option could be that given Harry’s character he would want help or acknowledge what happened to him. It can also take years for a person to come to term to the fact that they’ve been raped. 

For doylist I’m not sure if Jim intended it to come across as rape. He might no want to/know how to write something addressing rape and/or the aftermath. 

All this to say after reading Grave Peril and Harry starts a war. What the wider supernatural community thinks happened at Bicana’s party and how they think the war started. Harry sent a report to the White Council and I’m sure Duke Ortega told the rest of the Red Court of his version. Does the wider supernatural community know that Susan got turned? Or that the sword Amoracchius was going to be unmade? Or what happened to Harry? Are the wider supernatural angry at Harry for starting a war? What about Justine and Thomas? Do they know?

#dresden files #grave peril #tw sa

[hanavesinauttija]

Dresden going to a vampire masquerade dressed as a dollar-store Dracula is actually pretty fucking funny. My dude wants everyone there seething so he kits himself out in a paleface and plastic teeth. Iconic.

#harry dresden #dresden files #dresden files spoilers #grave peril #grave peril spoilers

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The Hint That The World Gets Bigger

Ok, so a lot of reviewers and Dresden Files fans say that you have to wait a while for the series to go from small, contained cases to a massive urban fantasy world that encompasses as much as a lot of the epic fantasies in terms of worldbuilding. And while it would be entirely disingenuous to say that this is the book where the massive expansion actually takes place, this is very much the first book where you get a clear view that the world of the Dresden Files is bigger than Chicago's underbelly. It's also where the subgenres that I'm sure this series was sold on--noir, hardboiled detective fiction--start to really clash with the fantasy elements. It's also where I really had to bite my tongue and make a decision about whether I was willing to let violence against women slide in favor of what is good about the series. I let it go way too long, probably. But let's talk Grave Peril.

*As always, SPOILERS ABOUND below the break*

The TLDR of this book is that thanks to his chivalristic dick thinking, Harry kicks off a massive war between the Red Court Vampires and the White Council that will remain a massive plot point in the series until Changes. But the centerpeice of this book that really tells the canny reader that the world is going to exponentially grow is Bianca St. Claire's ball. I am low-key reminded of Robert Jordan's famous Darkfriend Social, because this thing has a dress code (Harry also decides to be a smartass about the dress code and shows up dressed as a cheesy vampire, which...goddammit Harry), it has archaic hospitality rules, it has a very uncomfortable passive aggressive gift section, and it also has significant repercussions throughout the rest of the series.

This is where we really get introduced to the three Vampire Courts--Red, White, and Black--and we also get hints of other organizations, groups, and players. In no particular order, we get the Knights of the Cross, Ferrovax, Mavra (who technically falls under Blampire but is an antagonist in her own right), The Nightmare/Leonid Kravos, and Auntie Lea (we get more of the Sidhe courts in the next book, but the Leanansidhe being here nods to that expansion).

This party really shows us the beginnings of what will be a common structure of the different world in the fantasy parts of this urban fantasy. There are three vampire courts, we will get to see that each Sidhe court has three layers, and there are eventually three wizarding councils running around. There are also always three knights of the cross, and thirty potential Denarians. The structures are very similar with varied set dressing, and this book really primes readers to understand what the wider world is going to look like and how the threads cross. For such an early book, that level of prep and education about the world is pretty impressive, and the different courts and factions are creatively and engagingly written.

Then we come back to the noirish/hardboiled genre roots of the book, because quite literally this book victimizes like six different women. We have Lydia (who is functionally not gonna matter beyond this book) who is handed off to be sacrified to unmake Amoracchius, we have Justine (who is going to be important) who is full-on brutalized by the red court, we have Kravos sticking his fingers in Murphy's brain, we have Susan who is tricked by Auntie Lea and half-turned into a vampire, and we have Charity freaking Carpenter who is kindapped and attempted murdered WHILE NINE MONTHS PREGNANT. We're really not at fridging levels for most of these (although I'd argue that Lydia and Justine get more or less fridged), but it's a real clear escalation from the previous two books, and you really have to make a conscious decision about whether or not you're cool with this level of violence against women if you're going to keep going with the books. I justified it with the noir and hardboiled roots, plus I was pulled in by the world and the intrigue, but honestly, there are books that do that well without these levels of chivalry and chauvanism.

This book and the next are really setup books for how much the word will continue to expand, and it sets the first long-term conflict we see in the series, and the war against the Red Court is pretty significant. It also sets up the long-term tension with Harry and Susan, which will also weave in through the next like, eight books. The setups are really what stick in my head with this book, because the plot is often a bit convoluted and doesn't tend to stick in my head on its own; it really falls into the amorphous mass of the early Dresden Books. I think it literally takes until somewhere in Death Masks and Blood Rites for the books to start standing on their own in my head. But the world is well done enough that I was hooked and kept on reading.

#jim butcher #the dresden files #dresden files #grave peril #harry dresden #karrin murphy #michael carpenter #red court #red court vampires #books & libraries #books and reading #books and novels #books #book recommendations #urban fantasy #detective fiction #hardboiled detective fiction #noir fiction #adult fantasy novel

[jodjuya]

I kept my voice quiet. "The guy we're after is a sorcerer. It's sort of like being a wizard, only he spends all his energy doing things that are mostly destructive. He isn't good at doing anything that doesn't fuck someone up."

- Harry Dresden, in "Grave Peril" by Jim Butcher; emphasis mine.

Holy shit I ABSOLUTELY know what my next d&d character is going to be! 🤩

Bonus!

"… We think he might have a demon on a string—that's what the murders have been for. They're part of his payment to get the demon to work for him."

That's an instant character and backstory in one!

Human Sorcerer, able to summon a demon to boost his destructive output, out and about as a d&d adventurer because he's on the run from the consequences of his demon-binding murders!

Lighthearted & power-balanced d&d version: useless himbo who's only able to summon a little minor shadow demon as a familiar. An imp, like that little guy from Disenchanted.

He's still on the run though, from the consequences of his sub-par-demon-binding attempted murders. 😂

But still isn't good at doing anything that doesn't fuck someone up. 😈

#blogging #d&d ideas #the dresden files #grave peril

[charliethejumper]

#grave peril #leave him alone #harry dresden #dresden files #the dresden files #rape #*slaps roof* #this man can fit so much trauma

[margysmusings]

We have now left Reason and Sanity Junction. Next stop, Looneyville.

Jim Butcher, Grave Peril

#quote #book quote #jim butcher #harry dresden #grave peril

[wheelybard]

Only Harry Dresden would dress up as a vampire to a vampire masquerade.

#the dresden files #grave peril #harry dresden

[girlzoot]

I had already killed the Nightmare—or helped to kill it, at least. Something about that just didn’t seem fair. There should be some kind of rule against needing to kill anything more than once. —Jim Butcher/Grave Peril

#Jim Butcher #Grave Peril #unfair

[victusinveritas]

Fisherman's Memorial, Gloucester Mass.

Photo by Jason Kennedy.

#photograpghy #gloucester #Massachusetts #grave goods #for those in peril on the sea #merchant marine

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 62 – The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

This is the latest book I never would have heard of if it wasn’t for an award nomination (WFA for Best Novel, in this case). Overall, I was left dearly wishing I had liked it more than I did – it was so thoroughly soaked in imagery and references to a whole milieu I only barely know enough about to catch all the references flying over my head. Unfortunately by the final act the whole thing just collapses into a mess of spectacle without much in the way of connective tissue or context.

The story follows Perilous “Perry” Graves, his kid sister, and his best friend/crush Peaches (who is clearly an ersatz Pippy Longstocking but for some reason this is almost literally the only reference the book doesn’t explicitly acknowledge). They live in Nola, a fantastical alternate New Orleans full of zombies, animate graffiti, sky trolleys, and music that is indistinguishable from magic. After the magical songs that sustain the city escape/are stolen, it’s up to the three of them to get them back before Stagger Lee (the song) hunts down and kills the others for his mysterious partner. There’s also an extended subplot with Casey, a recently returned Katrina refugee in what seems to be our world, discovering that his and his cousin’s graffiti and other art is very literally magic and can come alive when he isn’t looking. Things just generally get messier and harder to explain from there.

Above everything else, the book’s a love letter to New Orleans. The sheer fascination and affection Jenning’s has for the place just about oozes out of every page. The geography and the culture and especially and overwhelmingly the art. Now I know barely anything about modern pop music and even less about classic jazz, but Jennings is either a massive fan or an incredibly confident bullshitter, and either way it’s an absolutely loadbearing part of the book – famous jazz musicians appear as magicians and ghosts, snatches and stanzas of different songs are quoted liberally, and of course the songs themselves are the driving engine of the plot. I, at least, just kind of let all the references wash over me and try to figure them out from context, and also started listening to the namedropped songs as I read. But even without really knowing the subject, the sheer love for the culture that just suffuses the book is really incredible endearing. Which is good, because it’s absolutely the main actual draw here.

The dialogue also deserves a shoutout – both because there’s a fun line you can draw between the characters that talk like actual people and the ones that intentionally present themselves like cartoon characters, and also because it’s the first book I can recall reading this year where people speak in AAVE. Plus, as a matter of style, when songs or certain ghosts were speaking telepathically the book used a different font for what they were saying, which is the sort of flourish that I always like when it’s not too overused.

While the surreal, exaggerated sort of magical absurdism works very well for the setting of Nola, the plot is...just kind of a mess. You almost get the sense the book was written in one sprint and then never revised – the protagonists are constantly getting help out of nowhere exactly as they need it to solve their latest problem, and revelations of plot critical information exactly when it’s needed to keep things moving abound, whether there’s any setup or justification for it or not. The metaphysics that underpin Nola are all vague and confused, which really wouldn’t be an issue if the entire third act didn’t turn on on the villain being wrong about them. The end result is a finale that feels like a bunch of big set piece scene the author had been looking forward to writing without any real connective tissue linking or supporting them.

Also, like – it is a major part of Perry’s arc that a year before the events of the book he had a run in with a monstrous caricature of a Jim Crow era hanging judge, and it has traumatized him sufficiently that he had steadfastly refused to try and do any magic since. The judge is later revealed to be an escaped bit of living graffiti, with absolutely zero relevance or deeper significance, and never appears on-screen again. Which just feels like some sort of narrative malpractice, honestly.

I’m also just left a bit disappointed with the villain – or, specifically, the wasted potential. Like, the idea of The Storm as this primeval elemental force that wants nothing more than to drown the world is a pretty great villain for a magical New Orleans, honestly. And there was something there of graffiti and music and just art being this engine of joyous hubris letting the city exist in defiance of its inevitable doom – but you really have to dig to get at it, and most of the other personal plots and heroes journey stuff burying it was far less compelling to me.

Anyway yeah, in the end this very much felt like it was style over substance, but on the other hand the style was excellent. In the end I kind of feel like this was ill-served as a book? Not that it’s necessarily impossible to write a novel that’s mostly about music, but this was really begging for a medium that could include a soundtrack.

#book review #the ballad of perilous graves #alex jennings #sff #urban fantasy

[shentunans]

When I started reading the DMBJ book series many years ago, initially it was to help my Mandarin lessons & classes.

Then watching the various productions never once imagining this series would hook me in. It did this in two ways: 1) they’re so much fun and fascinating to read/watch. 2) …PingXie. I know dmbj is not a danmei in genre, but those two are really fascinating. (HeiHua is too, but that’s another story).

One of the highlight moments of the series that is engraved in my mind is this piece here in the finale part of the series: 大结局 when Wu Xie believes Xiao Ge has died:

““I saw Xiao Ge, his faced buried in the clothes. I stumbled and my body stiffened. At that moment, my mind went blank.

I couldn’t describe that emptiness in my heart. Suddenly I just did not know what I should do.

Xiao Ge died? What a joke. He really is dead? This must be the ultimate joke.

“Wake up, we’re home,” I patted his face. Inexplicably, I felt a bit funny.

“I know,” Pangzi said. His voice was very low.

At that moment, my hands began shaking uncontrollably. I looked at my hands and realised I couldn’t feel any sorrow.

My heart screamed. My fricking God, Xiao Ge is really dead. Men You Ping is really dead! There was such a possibility in this world: That Mèn yóu píng could actually die.

This ancient mansion of the Zhang family was truly powerful. I thought Ghostman was only giving us a scare, but everything turned out shockingly true. Mèn yóu píng was always incredible – like a miracle. His death suddenly made people realise that the world had become extremely real and cruel. Couldn’t all miracles be eternal? Still, there was no such thing as a miracle. Everything was a coincidence, and now the coincidence was no longer around.

After a while, I began to feel a shade of sadness. I felt that my instincts would collapse soon, but I could still sense that discomfort as my emotions tightened up. I was aware that I must not let my emotions take the better of me. If I subdued to this sadness, I might die here. The feeling in my heart was strange. It wasn’t just sadness. I didn’t know if people could comprehend this complexity.””

And I’m sold, though it’s just a personal viewpoint. What added to it was when I saw it on screen was in Reunion Season 1 episode 6; when Long Ge’s Wu Xie loses his mind thinking Xiao Ge’s dead.

#dmbj #wu xie #zhang qiling #reunion the sound of the providence #pingxie #dmbj cast #the grave robbers chronicles #wu xie x zhang qiling #random musings #i need there to be moral peril involved or one of them to lose their minds at the prospect of the other dying #then my weird headcanon will say yes they're a romantic cp

[friendly-books]

Dresden files Grave Peril live blog

Grave Peril

Michael! Weird how he’s just now showing up in book 3

Michael is a Harry/Susan shipper

I’m with Michael. Harry should tell Susan that he loves her

Who’s Elaine? 

Not the maternity ward :(

Harry fighting a ghost is cool

Poor Agatha Hagglethorn and her daughter :(

Why does Harry think his soul is bad?

Trip to the Nevernever. Oh am I going to meet Lea?

“You’re right. Sorry. Holy shit,” I breathed “heckhounds” pg. 58 Ha 

“Long estranged godson” pg. 64 Why are they estranged?

Is it bad that I kinda want a fae godmother?

“I can’t believe we’re in jail” pg. 72 Ha 

Oh no Michael got full named. Why doesn’t Charity like Harry? She’s being really mean to Harry. 

“I’d never said them to anyone I didn’t lose” pg. 81 Well now I’m sad :(

Where’s Mister? 

Vampire time 

Not Bianca :( 

“Yeah, their saliva’s some kind of addictive narcotic” pg. 84 First Ew Second I guess that helps them when they’re attacking people. Third that’s terrifying 

Why would Bianca invite Harry? She doesn’t like him. I’m suspicious. If this is “official” business why invite Harry? He’s not a warden of the White Council.

“The safety of all invited guests is assured, by word of the assembled court.” pg. 86 Hmmm are we talking about guest rights here? I need more information about this. What counts as safety? Why just words, why not written? Invited guests so unless you have an invitation you’re in trouble? I guess Harry isn’t gate crashing. Bianca is up to something. This is definitely giving me trap vibes. Bianca is probably the reason the ghosts are acting up. As with the previous two Big Bad guys they were behind the “unrelated” problems being connected i.e.: Victor and the drugs and Denton all the murders. I doubt she’d turn him. Maybe it has something to do with Michael and his sword? 

Yay Mister is safe

Susan, why would you want to go to a party with vampires after what you’ve just seen? Please listen to Harry. He knows what he’s talking about. I know you got a career boost from the werewolves but you aren’t Lois Lane and Harry isn’t Superman he can’t save you from everything so please don’t go to the ball.

Lea stop kissing Harry. It's weird. 

I don’t think I’ve ever been smacked in the face with remembering when a book takes place than this quote “Wait until some poor sap who got AIDS from a blood transfusion breaths his last” pg. 121 I was not expecting that. Very late 90’s or early 2000’s. When do these books take place? 

“An unmarked car sat in my driveway” pg. 126 my sheer level of disappointment when I read on and realized I wasn’t getting Marcone was immeasurable  

“Rudy’s clean cut good looks” pg. 126 Bi Harry 7

No, not the birds :( 

Rudouph is the worst 

Poor Micky :( The barbwire curse is scary

Murph is so cool with The Sight

Bob being scared is worrying 

“What could possibly go wrong?” pg. 172 Harry why would you say that?

“And then droplets of her spittle fell onto my throat, my cheek, and into my mouth” pg. 183 oh no I’ve never been more happy that Harry destroyed a building

Why would Bicana send two of her maybe powerful red court buddies (subordinates?) to find Lydia? Maybe Lydia knows too much? Maybe Lydia is one of Bicana girls? 

“I’d learned to block out pain, when necessary. Studying under Justin, it had been a practical necessity.” pg. 188 Not a big fan of Justin 

Scary dream

Oh no it ate Harry’s magic

Oh no it disguised itself as Harry 

Oh no Murph 

Oh no Charity 

What pact did Harry make with Lea? How is Harry going to get out of this new pact with Lea? 

How am I only 48% of the way through? So much has happened? And we still haven’t gotten to the ball

Oh no the baby is coming 

Oh no Lea has Amoracchius

Harry’s mom got him a fae godmother? Harry’s mom makes some weird allies 

How are they going to fight Nightmare and get Amoracchius  back?

Michael, Harry’s a little busy can you have Susan leave a message

“It’s thine heart” pg. 278 Ha

It’s party time 

“Hell’s bells, I noticed how good he looked” pg. 290 Bi Harry 8

Thomas! Yay! 

Wait wait did Harry just talk about how good his brother looks?!? 

“Not just a vampire,” I said, “a cheesy vampire.” pg. 297 Ha 

Bianca’s dress is a fire hazard 

All this talk of hospitality makes me think that’s how the vampire-white council war started. Someone broke hospitality. Why are you drinking the wine Harry? It could be spiked? You don’t know what’s in it or where it’s been. It could be roofied. “The wine is poisoned” pg. 308 Aaaahhh!!!! This is bad. Oh no it’s the venom 

Harry please listen to Micheal and Thomas and leave the party

“We’re here to get information, not bring the house down on a bunch of nasties” pg. 313 but Harry your really good bringing the house down

Dragons are a thing in this universe? Cool! Michael killed a dragon, cool!

“Harry, you're not the biggest kid on the block. You’ve got to learn to be a little more polite” pg. 318 Ha like that will ever happen 

SUSAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?!? You didn’t get an invitation…You forged an invitation.

SUSAN YOU NEED TO LEAVE 

Oh no 

No Susan you can’t protect yourself here

Did Lea just try to bargain for Molly? Oh no Lea made Susan forget Harry

Who’s Mavra? Well you don’t need to call Mavra an it. That was rude.

No Susan, you didn’t know the risks before coming to this party. Susan, Harry and Michael aren’t chauvinist pigs they’re trying to help 

Vampire wizard?!? That is cool but bad for Harry 

Gift giving time

So the vampires want a sort of false flag operation? Maybe not a false flag but pressure Harry to attack.

“Lords of the Outer Night” pg. 354 that’s important not sure what it is but with those capital letters that’s important 

How is it Harry’s fault that you (Bianca) killed Rachel?

“Here lies Harry Dresden, he died doing the right thing” That’s a very accurate epitaph. Bianca knows Harry well enough to know that. That’s some villain vibes to gift someone a tombstone 

They draw weapons and the vampires immediately start attacking it’s like they’re trying to start a war. 

Oh no Justine 

Thomas don’t listen to Bianca. THOMAS why would you do that to Susan?!? Oh no Bicana didn’t keep up her end of the deal who would have thought 

Time to burn some vampires. That’s a lot of fire. Bicana isn’t the fire hazard it’s Harry 

Here comes Harry guilt complex 

Lydia what’s up? Nightmare in disguise? Possessed? I’m with Harry, Thomas needs to back off from Lydia 

I like this mushroom plan 

Does everyone know Harry’s mom but Harry? The demon knew her and now Lea 

“The handsome vampire” pg. 440 Bi Harry 9

I think you should all stick together. Oh no Harry’s surrounded 

Why is Bicana naked?

Why are they taking Harry’s clothes off? 

NO NO NO don’t like the end of chapter thirty-three

NOPE NOPE NOPE don’t like the beginning of thirty-four 

I’m crying :( Poor Harry, I don't like the implications. Can someone anyone please help Harry he needs help

Poor Justine, where are her clothes?

“I heard them taking you. Playing with you, for two hours maybe” pg. 453 I really don’t like those implications. 

Rachel ghost to the rescue…or not 

Kravos go away 

Oh no Susan got half turned. Yay Harry told Susan that he loved her! 

The ghost fight was cool!

Why would the Reds want to start a war with the White Council?

The ghosts fighting is cool!

Awww they named their child after Harry! :)

“What goes around comes around. And sometimes you get what’s coming around. He paused for a moment, frowning faintly, pursuing his lips. “And sometimes you are what’s coming around. You see what I mean” pg. 506 Does that mean that Harry is the consequences for the monster? 

“I don’t want you far away marry me” pg. 510 awww Harry asked Susan to marry her 

“And they were always the same: darkness, trapped, with vampires all around me, laughing their hissing laughter. I’d wake up, screaming and crying.” pg. 511 Poor Harry I’m sobbing 

Well I guess the White Council is at war with the Red Court now. 

Final thoughts 

I wished I had Marcone in this book. I need my Marcone fix. Glad I got to meet Michael. Charity needs to calm down. The Red Court vampires are terrifying. I’m upset that I was right about the party being a trap and Bicana. I’m upset that Susan got turned. More Bi Harry the counter is up to 9. Murph looked so cool with The Sight like a guardian angel! Not a fan of Justin. I want to know more about Lea. I hope I get to see more Thomas. Does he know that Harry’s his brother? Is he just messing with Harry? Why would he do that to Susan? I love Harry’s costume. Bianca had it coming. I kinda love Bianca’s gift to Harry. I don’t know if I’m reading too much into the implications but I don’t like them at all. I’ll probably make a whole separate comment about it because I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about it. Harry has a bit of a guilt complex/chronic hero syndrome. Now about this war. As vampires they’ve probably been around for a while so they know about the White Council. Why would they pick a fight with them? They must think they can win against them so they must have had a plan like this in the making for a while. I assume the White Council will try and make peace, maybe throw Harry under the bus as a way to appease the Reds and get rid of their (Council’s) black sheep. I need to know more. Susan went a bit too far in her investigative reporting and it came back to bite her. She’s only half turned so I assume she has some powers but not all and has some weaknesses but not to the extent of a full Red Vampire. I’m sad Harry and Susan broke up but I know she’ll come back and have Maggie. I thought the fights were good and I liked the world building. I’m looking forward to a more central storyline/plot with the war. It'll be different from the sort of monster of the week that I got from the first two books. Despite my several “oh no’s” I did enjoy this book and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

#dresden files #harry dresden is bi #grave peril

[anonymousbathtub]

Illustrations from another Fox&Wit dust jacket commission last year, this time for The Ballad of Perlious Graves - written by Alex Jennings. (I’d definately reccomend a read! His writing style is very engaging.)

#art #the ballad of perilous graves #illustration #dust jacket #perry graves #brendy #peaches #artwork #my art

[checkoutmybookshelf]

You Have My Attention: Dresden Files First Lines

I tend to give a book a few pages or even the first chapter to catch me, but for some readers, you get one line. Despite my complicated feelings about the Dresden Files as a series, Jim Butcher is a bit of an evil genius for first lines (note the plural on that). Here are the first lines of every book (excluding the short stories because that's a whole other kettle of dragons).

"I heard the mailman approach my office door, half hour earlier than usual."

--Storm Front

"I never used to keep close track of the phases of the moon."

--Fool Moon

"There are reasons I hate to drive fast."

--Grave Peril

"It raned toads the day the White Council came to town."

--Summer Knight

"Some things just aren't meant to go together. Things like oil and water. Orange juice and toothpaste. Wizards and television."

--Death Masks

"The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault."

--Blood Rites

"On the whole, we're a murderous race. According to Genesis, it took as few as four people to make the planet too crowded to stand, and the first murder was a fratecide. Genesis says that in a fit of jealous rage, the very first child born to moral parents, Cain, snapped and popped the first metaphorical cap in another human being. The attack was a bloody, brutal, violent, reprehensible killing. Cain's brother Abel probably never saw it coming."

--Dead Beat

"Blood leaves no stain on a Warden's grey cloak."

--Proven Guilty

"Many things are not what they seem: The worst things in life enever are."

--White Night

"Winter came early that year; it should have been a tip-off."

--Small Favor

"The summer sun was busy broiling the asphalt from Chicago's streets, the agony in my head had kept me horizontal for hald a day, and some idiot was pounding on my apartment door."

--Turn Coat

"I answered the phone, and Susan Rodriguez said, 'They've taken our daughter.'"

--Changes

"Life is hard. Dying's easy."

--Ghost Story

"Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, has unique ideas regarding physical therapy."

--Cold Days

"There was a ticking time bomb inside my head and the one person I ttrusted to go in and get it out hadn't shown up or spoken to me for more than a year."

--Skin Game

"My brother ruined a perfectly good run by saying 'Justine is pregnant.'"

--Peace Talks

"Apocalypses always kick off at the witching hour. That's something you know now."

--Battle Ground

#dresden files #the dresden files #harry dresden #first lines #storm front #fool moon #grave peril #summer knight #dead beat #death masks #blood rites #proven guilty #white night #small favor #turn coat #changes #skin game #peace talks #battle ground #books #books and novels #books and reading #books & libraries #fiction #fantasy #urban fantasy #book recommendations

[solarishashernoseinabook]

"You know what your problem is? When a grown-up tell you something can't be done, you just believe 'em. Don't you know there ain't even no such thing as grown-ups?"

"What?"

"There ain't," she said. "They's all just old kids, pretending."

-- The Ballad of Perilous Graves, by Alex Jennings

#the ballad of perilous graves #solaris reads #quotes that resonate a lot more in my 30s than they would have a decade ago

[tinynavajoreads]

Currently Reading: The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

It has been one of those days, weeks, where things seem slow and sticky and yet quick as a whistle as well. And this book ain't helping that feeling!

Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, but so many storylines, so much magic, so many characters that are worrying about the same things I am is both wonderful and slightly frightful. I have underlined so many passages that have just stuck out to me and this is only my first time reading through Perilous Graves. This young man just wants a normal life, a life where he can love his friend and be there for her and possibly play a little music/magic. But no, he's called on to save the world and to save his city of Nola, a...reflection of New Orleans. Now it's just time to see how well he fares.

#the ballad of perilous graves #alex jennings #fantasy #booklr #book talk #book quotes #reading #currently reading #book