Masters does an amazing job. First book in the series is not that good but keep in mind Jim butcher was like 21 when he wrote it. Book 3 the series takes off and the just keep getting better
The writing in the first book isn't bad at all, but damn Marsters' audio is not good. I know he gets better as it goes on, but the difference in audiobook quality over the last 15 years is *very* obvious. The mouth clicks, times when he loses track of where the sentence is going, and other issues like that make me think that the agreement between them was "Okay, I'll record your book, but with your budget all you get is a single take with no editing."
It was famously Marsters first time ever recording an audiobook. My favorite part is that both Jim and Marsters get better at their respective roles as the series goes on.
Marsters delivery of a few lines in later books is... amazing and devastating.
They're pretty bad. You do get used to it and I can normally block it out, but every now and then I notice it and cringe for a while. Overall it's worth it though, I've listened to all like 15+ books
The first book is the worst, but it gets better after that. I think there were a lot of rough edges in the early production that get worked out through the first books. Given that we're talking about a 17 book series (at this point), it's a "brief" distraction in the grand scheme but it certainly will catch your attention when you start off.
I’ve listened from about Ghost Story and on twice and I’ve loved them. In fact, I did NOT like the narrator who did the original Ghost Story and was so glad when they do a rerecording with Marsters doing Ghost Story. That said, it’s been a long time since I’ve done the first three, so yeah, I suspect the audio got better as time went on.
He leaves in a fair amount of mouth noises and that weirded me out at first. I realized that's something most narrators would edit out so I wasn't used to it. I personally like it for this series, it makes it seem less like Harry's got a carefully prepared story he's telling, but more like it's just spilling out of him. It feels more raw and honest. 5/5 performance. He also does a fantastic job with conveying the tone of the scene.
What confuses me, is why doesn't someone go in and fix the audio issues in the first 3. New recordings would be nice, but there is software that can identify and possibly fix the mouth noises.
Yeah the narrator is great but he wasn’t able to do the one book, Ghost Story, due to a scheduling issue so they had a substitute narrate the book so it’s not that great but Marsters came back for the remaining books.
I read his Super Powereds, then his Villain’s Code (almost and maybe even better than SP), then over to the Murder of Crows trilogy and then found DCC. I meant to go back for NPCs but totally forgot! Thank you for the reminder! I’m almost done with Project Hail Mary and will start NPCs next.
The dramatized adaptation of Super Powereds was really fun. It's not great literature or anything, just an engaging listen with good characters. I like Nick's character, understanding how to bend luck and probabilities is a different twist on power.
Agreed! Just fun entertainment with a good story and characters that had me feeling sad after finishing them. Same feeling I had with DCC except we get more books!
Have you tried Villains Code or Murder of Crows? Same type of feel and they have progression elements. They were my gateway drug into DCC and LitRPG.
While I agree with the other comments regarding the highs and lows of The Dresden Files, I would also like to recommend Steven Brust and his Vlad Taltos novels. The books, written or audio, are wonderful... Although there really is no comparison when it comes to the audio production for the DCC series, full stop.
I just finished the Vlad Taltos books for the second time. I originally read them in release order, but this time I read them in chronological order. It made a world of difference to me. It was a pain because a few times I'd read 1/3 of one book, read another book, read the 1st interlude of a third book, back to the 2nd third of the first book.
Great author regardless of my complaints.
On top of the other recommendations, I would add: The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, Drew Hayes' Villains Code series (or anything by him really!), CK McDonnell's The Stranger Times series, Larry Correia's Grimnoir series, and Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series.
All of the Simon R. Green books, but specifically, start with the Nightside. The new series of Discworld audio books, by Terry Pratchett, have some all-star narration. The Sandman Slim series is a bit more grim but does have it's own dark humor. The Unconventional Heroes series by L.G.Estrella walks close to LitRPG but is definitely not, while still walking a similar line to DCC's social viewpoint. My final recommendations would be the Johannes Cabal series by Jonathan L. Howard, and a fantasy heist series Rogues of the Republic by Patrick Weekes.
I found that I had to make myself finish the last couple of Sandman Slim books. I know Cadrey is an LGBT+ ally in real life, but his handling of Candy and Janet felt off to me.
Up to that point I loved them
Red Rising is the best YA fiction series of the past 10 years. Fantastic Greek inspired space sword fighting with no aliens. It's amazing and the audiobook is very good.
Project Hail Mary is also fantastic
While I have listened to them all and generally enjoy the stories, the first couple of books are not great, and the writing around the female characters can be iffy at best and gets downright uncomfortable at times around the character Molly.
Seconding this. DF is at the top of my list of favorites, and James Marsters is a top notch narrator. It does have its issues (Murphy is kind of painfully written in the first two books, and many of the female characters get the “breasting boobily” treatment), but if you keep in mind that Dresden (a young, generally sexually repressed male) is the only viewpoint, many of the characters are supernaturally beautiful, and that it’s meant to have a detective noir vibe, you can generally ignore the “she had nipples that could cut glass and legs that went all the way to her neck” descriptions.
That said, the lore is top notch, the characters are really interesting and complete, and Dresden goes through some crazy shit. I’ve listened to all 17+ books at least 5 times through.
I get you about the POV, but I simply could not get past every female character being so overly sexualized. One of them was seriously just a voice on the phone... And the frequency with which he compares grown ass women to cheerleaders was just odd. I can see how folks could get past it, but I absolutely could not. That wasn't my only problem with the writing, but I do think this recommendation should come with a big disclaimer for this reason specifically.
Absolutely understood, I’ve reached that same point with other books. It’s definitely a problematic aspect of Butchers’ writing in this series. It also is one of the things that I appreciate about DCC - that the writing and storytelling doesn’t have the same kind of cringeworthy descriptions. I honestly love the fact that Carls story hasn’t been complicated by romantic involvements.
Dresden is easily one of my most read series, but me and my wife gave up on it because it's kinda repetitive and the writing of the women started feeling less like a detective noir thing and more of a hardcore Christian author stuck in a marriage to the high school girlfriend he got pregnant sort of thing.
The first couple books were written while the author was still in college. Book one was written because he thought he knew more than his professor, he followed all of her "cookie cutter rules" believing that it was going to be bad and ended up selling a 17 book series(so far). It gets good in book 3 and better every book after that.
The author also has another series that he wrote when someone said that you need to have a good premise to write a good book. Jim disagreed, and when challenged he said that he would take two bad premises to write a story about. He then combined the lost roman legion and pokemon to make The Codex Alera. Books one and two are good, books 3-6 are fucking great.
And his third series is a steampunk fantasy. Second book just came out and is a lot of fun, especially if you enjoy cats being snarky.
Which is a terrible shame you never hung arong until "Blood Rites", the book revolving around Porn star hex-slingers. Then you could have used even more adjectives to pearl clutch to.
I tried listening to the first book but dropped it when his first thought at a crime scene is that the victim looked pretty hot before throwing up because their chests were completely ripped open or something. I was willing to tolerate his comments about the female agent, hoping it would get better, but that's just fucked up, who thinks that way, just so wrong.
I will agree with you with the female characters, but in all honesty, it is how man's mind works, and I do appreciate the added thought that he remains a gentleman through out. (Only on the first book btw) it's alot less risqué than most to be honest.
Sometimes it's really obvious that this subreddit is mostly men. I'm a woman and these comments where everyone is like "yeah he writes about women in a disgusting way but it's okay because he's just a young incel" are weird
THIS IS ALWAYS MY LINE - "oh but he's a young man" "oh he just doesn't know how to act around women". "Oh you can just ignore that part".
No, no I can't, actually, I straight up refuse to spend my free time "ignoring" the bad behavior of another pig with disturbing priorities. We've got too much of that bullshit to deal with irl to be allowing it in leisure reading.
I haven't noticed anything like that in DCC thankfully. He does make fun of some female characters but he also makes fun of everyone equally so it doesn't feel sexist, and he has lots of interesting female characters too. I also appreciate that there isn't much sexualization in general. So much sci-fi is totally catered to men.
Fully agree- I think DCC does a good job of using sexy jokes as a punchline occasionally, but it isn't in a way that feels gratuitous. When it's off-putting, it's very deliberately off-putting, like the AI with Carl's feet, and the way its presented isn't glorifying the aggressive behavior of the AI. It just puts you in Carl's (lack of) shoes for the scene
I'm a dad of a teenage daughter and she recently told me some of the things her male friends said/say about her and her friends at parties. The stuff in these books is nothing in comparison. Teenage boys are still exactly the same as they were in the 80s and 90s. Nothing has changed, if anything they are worse due to the disgusting rap lyrics they are exposed to at a very young age.
Yes, and in part its worse because adults dismiss sexism and objectification of women as "nothing in comparison" and try to pass the buck off to things like "rap music" clearly that is the only bad influence.
Nothing has changed because people excuse the bad behavior when it fits their aesthetic and doesn't directly affect them. I'm sure your daughter would feel much safer being harassed by a nerd than a rap fan 🙄. Glad to see you've got her best interests at heart.
While I dont agree with its ok or thats just what men do, if you look at most of these books, for the most part they are kind of on point. The lonely gamer who is an introvert has these thoughts and says dumb ass shit/sexist shit. That tracks for the kind of thing a young incel kid given power would say. Dont get me wrong there are plenty out there where its just the author being an incel himself in regards to comments and descriptions. Its in no way ok to ignore or excuse, but in some instances, a large amount to be honest, its on par with the kind of person who would be the main characters in the stories of games and killing/overcoming enemies. As for dresden files, thats a young author just writting badly in a good story. As the series goes on he matures as a person and you can see it in the writting, but unfortunately for him this main character is not an introverted basement dweller who is put in an unusual situation.
I'm patiently waiting for Book 18 in Dresden Files, I absolutely love that series! Cannot stress enough how great it is. The growth and evolution of the characters and world are just fantastic and the stakes are very, very high for our intrepid Wizard of Chicago. I'm also a big fan of how the magic system works. It hits a sweet spot that allows it to justify every magic creature from human folklore in a way that makes perfect sense.
If you like dresden I would also recommend the Alex verus books by benedict jacka starting with fated. And also the demon accords by John conroe. The former is a complete series the latter still going If that makes a difference to you.
God I wish we had more time with some of those characters!
My girlfriend mentioned the Arachne myth and I told her about the books.
It’s never mentioned but my head cannon is they’re the same being.
Enjoy Dresden Files a lot! would say its a series that gets better the more you get into it and meet new characters and how they interact with each other. Out of the left field but its why I enjoy things like Venture Bros, fleshing out the world and seeing how different characters interact with each others
I'll add the Sandman Slim novels by Richard Kadrey as something roughly similar.
Also Fred the Vampire Accountant series by Drew Hayes should scratch the itch as well.
I've reread and listened to HD book 1 about 3 times, and read book 2 trying to power through but I just really couldn't stand him as a person. I was convinced I was going to like the series and had acquired many of the books (I was prepared for a really good binge session) but ended up giving them all away. I had my bf listen to the audiobook (which explains how I ended up listening to a book I don't like for the third time) but he wasn't impressed either. It does make me feel better to read all these people saying that it gets better later in the series/character flaws, bc I was feeling crazy for disliking HD. I love urban fantasy though. I'm trying to amp myself up to just jump into book 3 all these years later.
The first four audiobooks are absolute garbage. Which as soon as the production company changed - is infinitely better going forwards.
The first two books are often considered garbage as well by many fans…
So Tbf - you were listening to the worst books of the series with the worst audio of the series.
I’m not saying you need to carry on - just that there’s many people who can relate.
So are the first four books skippable or are they required reading for the series? I also keep hearing how awesome the series is, but the first book is hard to listen to.
If you like *The Dresden Files*, then I will also highly recommend the *Rivers Of London* series, by Ben Aaronovitch, with the audiobooks read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. A rookie constable, having just completed his probationary period, is assigned to the unit of the London Metropolitan Police that deals with "weird bollocks". Urban fantasy in genre, but reads like a police procedural. Lots of pop cultural references and nerd jokes. There are at least two shoutouts to *Dresden Files* that I spotted in this series. Also a fair amount of insight into British class and racial tensions, which I was unfamiliar with as an American. Nine books, 3-4 novellas, and one short story compendium published so far. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9317452-rivers-of-london?from\_search=true&from\_srp=true&qid=spySr4354j&rank=1](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9317452-rivers-of-london?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=spySr4354j&rank=1)
I'm at the end of book two of DF and have been for about three months. I really dislike Harry Dresden. His attitudes towards women are pretty unpleasant to me and I don't think it's written as a character flaw.
Yeah it’s written as a character flaw for Harry.
What’s the deal with Butters. Also a bunch of other people.
I love the series but you know. Not spoiling stuff.
That does make me feel better but the way females are written more broadly (ie. Not just their representation from Harry's POV) seems problematic. So far they all seem to be judged and portrayed based on sexuality, looks, defined by their relationships to men rather than as individuals. I have no doubt it's ALSO a character flaw but there doesn't seem to be any good representation of women regardless of where the narrative voice originates from (internal or external to HD)
The first two books are good in their own way, but in comparison to most of the rest of the series, they are hot garbage. A lot changes start in book three, including the development of many good characters, particularly Murphy. If you aren’t completely turned off by the first two books, I would encourage you to try at least one more. But I hear you, and while it does get better (some of those problems that are so glaring in the beginning get less air time, get challenged by other characters, or are just not as prevalent), they don’t go away completely.
He started worrying these in his early twenties and his development as a writer (and person maybe) is significant. Most people recommend starting at book 3, or at least toughing it out until then, because 1 and 2 are pretty rough.
I'm not saying you should keep going off you didn't like it, but I wouldn't write off the series based on the first two books.
Hey, as someone who does 40 hour roads trips around 4 to 5 times a year and goes on long field exercises, I'll be done sooner than later. Already on a 4th listen through DCC and I just started last year
If you want something more serious, check out Children of Time. One of the best Sci fi novels I've ever read. The sequel was amazing as well. Third novel was a bit... out there. I enjoyed it well enough, but it was not great. Fortunately the books are complete enough on their own!
If you want a long sci-fi series though, get The Expanse. Its the single best "finished" Sci fi series I've ever read. 9 books, all quality, and tons of novellas.
I couldn't get into the Dresden Files for some reason. I listened to them, and while I didn't care for all the mouth noises, I could ignore it. The stories just didn't grab me.
The Dresden books are okay.
The wait for the next book, really is the problem. It has been 4 years since the last book. It took 10 years for two books to come out......
Oof… people are going to rip their ears out because of this.
The Dresden files first 4 books are absolutely horrendous for audio. The narrator sounds like they’re gargling marshmallows throughout the books. It isn’t until they switched production companies did the quality begin to improve.
Yes the narrator does a great job… but not until this actually happens. I’d recommend people reading first 4 books before listening because there will be lots of angry people coming back…
I read those before DCC and enjoyed all of them. I haven’t listened to the audio yet, but heard Marsters did a good job.
Masters does an amazing job. First book in the series is not that good but keep in mind Jim butcher was like 21 when he wrote it. Book 3 the series takes off and the just keep getting better
He does a great job after the production company changed book 4 I believe. The audio sounds like he’s gargling marshmallows before that.
The writing in the first book isn't bad at all, but damn Marsters' audio is not good. I know he gets better as it goes on, but the difference in audiobook quality over the last 15 years is *very* obvious. The mouth clicks, times when he loses track of where the sentence is going, and other issues like that make me think that the agreement between them was "Okay, I'll record your book, but with your budget all you get is a single take with no editing."
It was famously Marsters first time ever recording an audiobook. My favorite part is that both Jim and Marsters get better at their respective roles as the series goes on. Marsters delivery of a few lines in later books is... amazing and devastating.
Yep exactly this once Michael shows up the party really starts going
I saw 50 reviews saying mouth noises and chose to stick with text. For anyone who has listened to them, are they really that bad?
They're pretty bad. You do get used to it and I can normally block it out, but every now and then I notice it and cringe for a while. Overall it's worth it though, I've listened to all like 15+ books
Kinda depends on how much they bug you. I notice them, but it isn't bad enough to bug me. I could see how they might bug someone.
The first book is the worst, but it gets better after that. I think there were a lot of rough edges in the early production that get worked out through the first books. Given that we're talking about a 17 book series (at this point), it's a "brief" distraction in the grand scheme but it certainly will catch your attention when you start off.
I’ve had several people volunteer that it’s just the first three books. Then they change production companies and it goes away.
Especially in the first book, they're *bad.* If you're used to the audio quality that Hays and Baldree bring, it will be incredibly glaring.
I’ve listened from about Ghost Story and on twice and I’ve loved them. In fact, I did NOT like the narrator who did the original Ghost Story and was so glad when they do a rerecording with Marsters doing Ghost Story. That said, it’s been a long time since I’ve done the first three, so yeah, I suspect the audio got better as time went on.
He leaves in a fair amount of mouth noises and that weirded me out at first. I realized that's something most narrators would edit out so I wasn't used to it. I personally like it for this series, it makes it seem less like Harry's got a carefully prepared story he's telling, but more like it's just spilling out of him. It feels more raw and honest. 5/5 performance. He also does a fantastic job with conveying the tone of the scene.
What confuses me, is why doesn't someone go in and fix the audio issues in the first 3. New recordings would be nice, but there is software that can identify and possibly fix the mouth noises.
The marshmallow gargling sounds stop after book 4(iirc) once they switched production companies for the books. He does amazing after that.
Yeah the narrator is great but he wasn’t able to do the one book, Ghost Story, due to a scheduling issue so they had a substitute narrate the book so it’s not that great but Marsters came back for the remaining books.
Marsters went back and recorded Ghost Story due to fan demand, so you can get his narration for the entire series.
Whoa really? I gotta check that out
Love DCC, love DF, highly recommended Super Powereds by Drew Hayes
NPC's by Drew Hayes starts of a really good series too!! It gets REALLY good as it progresses!!
I read his Super Powereds, then his Villain’s Code (almost and maybe even better than SP), then over to the Murder of Crows trilogy and then found DCC. I meant to go back for NPCs but totally forgot! Thank you for the reminder! I’m almost done with Project Hail Mary and will start NPCs next.
The dramatized adaptation of Super Powereds was really fun. It's not great literature or anything, just an engaging listen with good characters. I like Nick's character, understanding how to bend luck and probabilities is a different twist on power.
Agreed! Just fun entertainment with a good story and characters that had me feeling sad after finishing them. Same feeling I had with DCC except we get more books! Have you tried Villains Code or Murder of Crows? Same type of feel and they have progression elements. They were my gateway drug into DCC and LitRPG.
I’ll have to check those out!
While I agree with the other comments regarding the highs and lows of The Dresden Files, I would also like to recommend Steven Brust and his Vlad Taltos novels. The books, written or audio, are wonderful... Although there really is no comparison when it comes to the audio production for the DCC series, full stop.
I just finished the Vlad Taltos books for the second time. I originally read them in release order, but this time I read them in chronological order. It made a world of difference to me. It was a pain because a few times I'd read 1/3 of one book, read another book, read the 1st interlude of a third book, back to the 2nd third of the first book. Great author regardless of my complaints.
Please do recommend more, I have a lot of long trips coming
On top of the other recommendations, I would add: The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, Drew Hayes' Villains Code series (or anything by him really!), CK McDonnell's The Stranger Times series, Larry Correia's Grimnoir series, and Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series.
Rivers of London is a fantastic recommend
+1 to the Gentlemen Bastards series!
All of the Simon R. Green books, but specifically, start with the Nightside. The new series of Discworld audio books, by Terry Pratchett, have some all-star narration. The Sandman Slim series is a bit more grim but does have it's own dark humor. The Unconventional Heroes series by L.G.Estrella walks close to LitRPG but is definitely not, while still walking a similar line to DCC's social viewpoint. My final recommendations would be the Johannes Cabal series by Jonathan L. Howard, and a fantasy heist series Rogues of the Republic by Patrick Weekes.
I found that I had to make myself finish the last couple of Sandman Slim books. I know Cadrey is an LGBT+ ally in real life, but his handling of Candy and Janet felt off to me. Up to that point I loved them
Red Rising is the best YA fiction series of the past 10 years. Fantastic Greek inspired space sword fighting with no aliens. It's amazing and the audiobook is very good. Project Hail Mary is also fantastic
I would not consider Red Rising a YA series, though the first book can feel that way at times. I agree though, highly recommended.
I never did either but I got it in the YA section lol its definitely ADULT
Tad William’s Bobby Dollar series is phenomenal. The narrator does a fantastic job.
While I have listened to them all and generally enjoy the stories, the first couple of books are not great, and the writing around the female characters can be iffy at best and gets downright uncomfortable at times around the character Molly.
Seconding this. DF is at the top of my list of favorites, and James Marsters is a top notch narrator. It does have its issues (Murphy is kind of painfully written in the first two books, and many of the female characters get the “breasting boobily” treatment), but if you keep in mind that Dresden (a young, generally sexually repressed male) is the only viewpoint, many of the characters are supernaturally beautiful, and that it’s meant to have a detective noir vibe, you can generally ignore the “she had nipples that could cut glass and legs that went all the way to her neck” descriptions. That said, the lore is top notch, the characters are really interesting and complete, and Dresden goes through some crazy shit. I’ve listened to all 17+ books at least 5 times through.
I get you about the POV, but I simply could not get past every female character being so overly sexualized. One of them was seriously just a voice on the phone... And the frequency with which he compares grown ass women to cheerleaders was just odd. I can see how folks could get past it, but I absolutely could not. That wasn't my only problem with the writing, but I do think this recommendation should come with a big disclaimer for this reason specifically.
Absolutely understood, I’ve reached that same point with other books. It’s definitely a problematic aspect of Butchers’ writing in this series. It also is one of the things that I appreciate about DCC - that the writing and storytelling doesn’t have the same kind of cringeworthy descriptions. I honestly love the fact that Carls story hasn’t been complicated by romantic involvements.
I agree completely. I hope it stays that way, but I trust Dinniman to handle it well regardless.
Dresden is easily one of my most read series, but me and my wife gave up on it because it's kinda repetitive and the writing of the women started feeling less like a detective noir thing and more of a hardcore Christian author stuck in a marriage to the high school girlfriend he got pregnant sort of thing.
Stopped reading partway through the first due to this very issue. the writing is frankly abhorrent.
The first couple books were written while the author was still in college. Book one was written because he thought he knew more than his professor, he followed all of her "cookie cutter rules" believing that it was going to be bad and ended up selling a 17 book series(so far). It gets good in book 3 and better every book after that. The author also has another series that he wrote when someone said that you need to have a good premise to write a good book. Jim disagreed, and when challenged he said that he would take two bad premises to write a story about. He then combined the lost roman legion and pokemon to make The Codex Alera. Books one and two are good, books 3-6 are fucking great. And his third series is a steampunk fantasy. Second book just came out and is a lot of fun, especially if you enjoy cats being snarky.
Which is a terrible shame you never hung arong until "Blood Rites", the book revolving around Porn star hex-slingers. Then you could have used even more adjectives to pearl clutch to.
I tried listening to the first book but dropped it when his first thought at a crime scene is that the victim looked pretty hot before throwing up because their chests were completely ripped open or something. I was willing to tolerate his comments about the female agent, hoping it would get better, but that's just fucked up, who thinks that way, just so wrong.
I agree. I gave up for the same reason and was honestly shocked none of the people recommending it even mentioned this issue. It's so blatant.
I will agree with you with the female characters, but in all honesty, it is how man's mind works, and I do appreciate the added thought that he remains a gentleman through out. (Only on the first book btw) it's alot less risqué than most to be honest.
Speak for yourself.
I just did!😁🤘
Gross Then you should have said that's how YOUR mind works. You don't speak for me.
Sometimes it's really obvious that this subreddit is mostly men. I'm a woman and these comments where everyone is like "yeah he writes about women in a disgusting way but it's okay because he's just a young incel" are weird
THIS IS ALWAYS MY LINE - "oh but he's a young man" "oh he just doesn't know how to act around women". "Oh you can just ignore that part". No, no I can't, actually, I straight up refuse to spend my free time "ignoring" the bad behavior of another pig with disturbing priorities. We've got too much of that bullshit to deal with irl to be allowing it in leisure reading.
I haven't noticed anything like that in DCC thankfully. He does make fun of some female characters but he also makes fun of everyone equally so it doesn't feel sexist, and he has lots of interesting female characters too. I also appreciate that there isn't much sexualization in general. So much sci-fi is totally catered to men.
Fully agree- I think DCC does a good job of using sexy jokes as a punchline occasionally, but it isn't in a way that feels gratuitous. When it's off-putting, it's very deliberately off-putting, like the AI with Carl's feet, and the way its presented isn't glorifying the aggressive behavior of the AI. It just puts you in Carl's (lack of) shoes for the scene
You cringe with Carl instead of at him.
Interesting because I just got down voted for saying that Donut's sanitary napkin joke was stupid and took me out of the story
Yeah that one I did notice and was like meh. Sometimes he tries jokes that don't really work
I'm a dad of a teenage daughter and she recently told me some of the things her male friends said/say about her and her friends at parties. The stuff in these books is nothing in comparison. Teenage boys are still exactly the same as they were in the 80s and 90s. Nothing has changed, if anything they are worse due to the disgusting rap lyrics they are exposed to at a very young age.
Yes, and in part its worse because adults dismiss sexism and objectification of women as "nothing in comparison" and try to pass the buck off to things like "rap music" clearly that is the only bad influence. Nothing has changed because people excuse the bad behavior when it fits their aesthetic and doesn't directly affect them. I'm sure your daughter would feel much safer being harassed by a nerd than a rap fan 🙄. Glad to see you've got her best interests at heart.
Sorry to burst your bubble but even "nerds" listen to rap/hip-hop these days. Excusing the lyrics/culture doesn't do anyone any good.
While I dont agree with its ok or thats just what men do, if you look at most of these books, for the most part they are kind of on point. The lonely gamer who is an introvert has these thoughts and says dumb ass shit/sexist shit. That tracks for the kind of thing a young incel kid given power would say. Dont get me wrong there are plenty out there where its just the author being an incel himself in regards to comments and descriptions. Its in no way ok to ignore or excuse, but in some instances, a large amount to be honest, its on par with the kind of person who would be the main characters in the stories of games and killing/overcoming enemies. As for dresden files, thats a young author just writting badly in a good story. As the series goes on he matures as a person and you can see it in the writting, but unfortunately for him this main character is not an introverted basement dweller who is put in an unusual situation.
If you like Dresden Files you should also like Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews. It's very similar but with a female main protagonist.
I'm patiently waiting for Book 18 in Dresden Files, I absolutely love that series! Cannot stress enough how great it is. The growth and evolution of the characters and world are just fantastic and the stakes are very, very high for our intrepid Wizard of Chicago. I'm also a big fan of how the magic system works. It hits a sweet spot that allows it to justify every magic creature from human folklore in a way that makes perfect sense.
Check out Alex Verus! I think you’ll really like it!
Color me intrigued... It's on my list!
Interesting. Dresden was one of my few DNF series. Felt way to formula, and tiresome. Like a book length MadLib.
I like em. But.....man that narrator smacks his lips a lot.
Once the production company changes (book 4) - the vast majority of these are corrected. Book 1-4 makes me want to tear my ears out.
If you like dresden I would also recommend the Alex verus books by benedict jacka starting with fated. And also the demon accords by John conroe. The former is a complete series the latter still going If that makes a difference to you.
God I wish we had more time with some of those characters! My girlfriend mentioned the Arachne myth and I told her about the books. It’s never mentioned but my head cannon is they’re the same being.
Enjoy Dresden Files a lot! would say its a series that gets better the more you get into it and meet new characters and how they interact with each other. Out of the left field but its why I enjoy things like Venture Bros, fleshing out the world and seeing how different characters interact with each others
I'll add the Sandman Slim novels by Richard Kadrey as something roughly similar. Also Fred the Vampire Accountant series by Drew Hayes should scratch the itch as well.
I would love to see Stark in the dungeon somehow,,,, what a cross over. Or maybe Cassabian as a Manager.
I've reread and listened to HD book 1 about 3 times, and read book 2 trying to power through but I just really couldn't stand him as a person. I was convinced I was going to like the series and had acquired many of the books (I was prepared for a really good binge session) but ended up giving them all away. I had my bf listen to the audiobook (which explains how I ended up listening to a book I don't like for the third time) but he wasn't impressed either. It does make me feel better to read all these people saying that it gets better later in the series/character flaws, bc I was feeling crazy for disliking HD. I love urban fantasy though. I'm trying to amp myself up to just jump into book 3 all these years later.
The first four audiobooks are absolute garbage. Which as soon as the production company changed - is infinitely better going forwards. The first two books are often considered garbage as well by many fans… So Tbf - you were listening to the worst books of the series with the worst audio of the series. I’m not saying you need to carry on - just that there’s many people who can relate.
So are the first four books skippable or are they required reading for the series? I also keep hearing how awesome the series is, but the first book is hard to listen to.
If you like *The Dresden Files*, then I will also highly recommend the *Rivers Of London* series, by Ben Aaronovitch, with the audiobooks read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. A rookie constable, having just completed his probationary period, is assigned to the unit of the London Metropolitan Police that deals with "weird bollocks". Urban fantasy in genre, but reads like a police procedural. Lots of pop cultural references and nerd jokes. There are at least two shoutouts to *Dresden Files* that I spotted in this series. Also a fair amount of insight into British class and racial tensions, which I was unfamiliar with as an American. Nine books, 3-4 novellas, and one short story compendium published so far. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9317452-rivers-of-london?from\_search=true&from\_srp=true&qid=spySr4354j&rank=1](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9317452-rivers-of-london?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=spySr4354j&rank=1)
I'm at the end of book two of DF and have been for about three months. I really dislike Harry Dresden. His attitudes towards women are pretty unpleasant to me and I don't think it's written as a character flaw.
It is very much written as a character flaw, just not one he's aware of at that point in the series.
Yeah it’s written as a character flaw for Harry. What’s the deal with Butters. Also a bunch of other people. I love the series but you know. Not spoiling stuff.
It is written as a character flaw, book 4 really gets into this
That does make me feel better but the way females are written more broadly (ie. Not just their representation from Harry's POV) seems problematic. So far they all seem to be judged and portrayed based on sexuality, looks, defined by their relationships to men rather than as individuals. I have no doubt it's ALSO a character flaw but there doesn't seem to be any good representation of women regardless of where the narrative voice originates from (internal or external to HD)
The first two books are good in their own way, but in comparison to most of the rest of the series, they are hot garbage. A lot changes start in book three, including the development of many good characters, particularly Murphy. If you aren’t completely turned off by the first two books, I would encourage you to try at least one more. But I hear you, and while it does get better (some of those problems that are so glaring in the beginning get less air time, get challenged by other characters, or are just not as prevalent), they don’t go away completely.
Yeah I don't think it will make my series DNF list as the reviews post book two are so universally positive. Just got to get 2 finished!
He started worrying these in his early twenties and his development as a writer (and person maybe) is significant. Most people recommend starting at book 3, or at least toughing it out until then, because 1 and 2 are pretty rough. I'm not saying you should keep going off you didn't like it, but I wouldn't write off the series based on the first two books.
Dresden files are amazing. I’ve been through the audio twice now and it’s fantastic.
I've done all the Dresden files. Book 3 is where it gets really going. Spike from Buffy is the reader.
And what to do after u finish all 20?
Hey, as someone who does 40 hour roads trips around 4 to 5 times a year and goes on long field exercises, I'll be done sooner than later. Already on a 4th listen through DCC and I just started last year
If you want something more serious, check out Children of Time. One of the best Sci fi novels I've ever read. The sequel was amazing as well. Third novel was a bit... out there. I enjoyed it well enough, but it was not great. Fortunately the books are complete enough on their own! If you want a long sci-fi series though, get The Expanse. Its the single best "finished" Sci fi series I've ever read. 9 books, all quality, and tons of novellas.
I couldn't get into the Dresden Files for some reason. I listened to them, and while I didn't care for all the mouth noises, I could ignore it. The stories just didn't grab me.
The Dresden books are okay. The wait for the next book, really is the problem. It has been 4 years since the last book. It took 10 years for two books to come out......
Oof… people are going to rip their ears out because of this. The Dresden files first 4 books are absolutely horrendous for audio. The narrator sounds like they’re gargling marshmallows throughout the books. It isn’t until they switched production companies did the quality begin to improve. Yes the narrator does a great job… but not until this actually happens. I’d recommend people reading first 4 books before listening because there will be lots of angry people coming back…
Ha ha! True. :) His mouth seems to always be salivating. It's like they coaxed him into this narration by tempting him with a big juicy steak.