UNspoiled! The Dresden Files

Hi there, everyone! For those of you who have read these books before, we've finally gotten to a part that I'm sure many of your were excited for: the one with the frozen turkey. This is one of those moments where you are just dying to ask Butcher where the hell the idea came into his head. Was this a true freak accident he'd read about somewhere? Did he have a strange dream? Did he read about some kind of bizarre phobia in which people are terrified of being crushed by frozen turkeys? Or did he just sit down and brainstorm some of the most hilarious and unexpected ways someone could be killed? There's definitely other stuff happening in this trio of chapters, but you know that's what I had to lead with. I mean, come on. Harry and Lara wind up fighting on the same side from here because the being who gets crushed is a vampire of the Black Court, and part of a scourge joined the party and is ready to take out Harry, Lara, and Thomas. Turns out, Mavra can use her underlings as sock puppets, and she's really excited that she's stumbled across all three of them together like this. Not for long, however, because they're all dispatched. But not before Lara is almost eaten up. Then comes the trip to Raith Manor, and Harry unexpectedly gets to meet Lord Raith. Oh, shit.

Hi there, everyone! For those of you who have read these books before, we've finally gotten to a part that I'm sure many of your were excited for: the one with the frozen turkey. This is one of those moments where you are just dying to ask Butcher where the hell the idea came into his head. Was this a true freak accident he'd read about somewhere? Did he have a strange dream? Did he read about some kind of bizarre phobia in which people are terrified of being crushed by frozen turkeys? Or did he just sit down and brainstorm some of the most hilarious and unexpected ways someone could be killed? There's definitely other stuff happening in this trio of chapters, but you know that's what I had to lead with. I mean, come on. Harry and Lara wind up fighting on the same side from here because the being who gets crushed is a vampire of the Black Court, and part of a scourge joined the party and is ready to take out Harry, Lara, and Thomas. Turns out, Mavra can use her underlings as sock puppets, and she's really excited that she's stumbled across all three of them together like this. Not for long, however, because they're all dispatched. But not before Lara is almost eaten up. Then comes the trip to Raith Manor, and Harry unexpectedly gets to meet Lord Raith. Oh, shit.

Hi everyone! RoShawn and I are back with another installment of Blood Rites, and this is the part where someone pulls a gun on Harry. Wait, I mean the part where someone tries to shoot Harry. Wait, I mean the part where someone succeeds at shooting Harry. You know what? None of this is helpful. Harry gets shot at, and even successfully shot, a lot. These are the chapters where Harry spots Thomas watching him from the shadows, and chases him down to question him, only to have Lara Raith pressing two guns against his back. Lara is in no mood, and when she finds out that Thomas has involved Harry, her reaction is mainly one of incredulity. She can't believe that Thomas has taken this long to "enter the game", as she puts it, and his assertions that the two of them could team up to take their father down are greeted with ridicule. Lana has seen all this shit before, and as far as she is concerned, it's more merciful for her to shoot Thomas now than to let one of his inevitable fuck-ups lead to dying at the hands of their father. Thanks so much for listening! See you soon!

Hi everyone! RoShawn and I are back with another installment of Blood Rites, and this is the part where someone pulls a gun on Harry. Wait, I mean the part where someone tries to shoot Harry. Wait, I mean the part where someone succeeds at shooting Harry. You know what? None of this is helpful. Harry gets shot at, and even successfully shot, a lot. These are the chapters where Harry spots Thomas watching him from the shadows, and chases him down to question him, only to have Lara Raith pressing two guns against his back. Lara is in no mood, and when she finds out that Thomas has involved Harry, her reaction is mainly one of incredulity. She can't believe that Thomas has taken this long to "enter the game", as she puts it, and his assertions that the two of them could team up to take their father down are greeted with ridicule. Lana has seen all this shit before, and as far as she is concerned, it's more merciful for her to shoot Thomas now than to let one of his inevitable fuck-ups lead to dying at the hands of their father. Thanks so much for listening! See you soon!

I'm delighted to bring you this episode with an illustration of Kincaid, who sounds hot as hell and I wish there was more fanart of him. Someone do me a favor and get on that, because he deserves a little more love from the fandom, in my opinion. In this trio of chapters, Kincaid is the one who backed Harry into a corner with a sleep mask over his eyes and a magic circle of salt around him to contain his power. Because he doesn't trust anyone, and he knows that Harry can really throw around some power when he wants to, so Kincaid considers this a compliment. He agrees to help Harry deal with Mavra, and I can't wait to finally see them working together. Murphy, meanwhile, is really having a hard time with her family, and this is one of only two times so far that we've seen her get vulnerable with Harry and divulge some personal problems. Not that Harry is really much help, but he does the best he can because he has arguably the most big-picture perspective of all: appreciate who you have in your life while you can, because they won't always be there. And lastly is the scene where Harry meets Lara. She's a succubus, but that doesn't really sink in until after she's left the room and he has a second to think straight. He's pretty sure that she's a Raith, and he's none too happy about Thomas keeping things from him. Oh, and Harry also meets Tricia Scrump AKA Trixie Vixen, who is just a delight and I hate her. Thanks so much for listening, and I will see you soon!

I'm delighted to bring you this episode with an illustration of Kincaid, who sounds hot as hell and I wish there was more fanart of him. Someone do me a favor and get on that, because he deserves a little more love from the fandom, in my opinion. In this trio of chapters, Kincaid is the one who backed Harry into a corner with a sleep mask over his eyes and a magic circle of salt around him to contain his power. Because he doesn't trust anyone, and he knows that Harry can really throw around some power when he wants to, so Kincaid considers this a compliment. He agrees to help Harry deal with Mavra, and I can't wait to finally see them working together. Murphy, meanwhile, is really having a hard time with her family, and this is one of only two times so far that we've seen her get vulnerable with Harry and divulge some personal problems. Not that Harry is really much help, but he does the best he can because he has arguably the most big-picture perspective of all: appreciate who you have in your life while you can, because they won't always be there. And lastly is the scene where Harry meets Lara. She's a succubus, but that doesn't really sink in until after she's left the room and he has a second to think straight. He's pretty sure that she's a Raith, and he's none too happy about Thomas keeping things from him. Oh, and Harry also meets Tricia Scrump AKA Trixie Vixen, who is just a delight and I hate her. Thanks so much for listening, and I will see you soon!

I mentioned the artwork I'm using for this post in last week's episode, and it turns out that this is the artwork used on the Dresden Wiki! James Marsters very much works for me as Harry, and I would like to submit a motion to have his face on all the fanart, please and thank you. This episode is the one where the malocchio comes for its first victims that Harry witnesses. He manages to jump in and save them, but it's a near thing, and the girl who is hurt the worst is going to have scars on her neck that will probably prevent her from working as an actress ever again. Harry is really bothered by this whole thing, both because the killer got so close to succeeding and because the curse is so strong and moves so quickly that he's not sure he will be able to stop it when it strikes again. There's a lot going on in this book, and I'm eager to hear what you all think of it! Thanks so much for listening, and I will see you again soon!

I mentioned the artwork I'm using for this post in last week's episode, and it turns out that this is the artwork used on the Dresden Wiki! James Marsters very much works for me as Harry, and I would like to submit a motion to have his face on all the fanart, please and thank you. This episode is the one where the malocchio comes for its first victims that Harry witnesses. He manages to jump in and save them, but it's a near thing, and the girl who is hurt the worst is going to have scars on her neck that will probably prevent her from working as an actress ever again. Harry is really bothered by this whole thing, both because the killer got so close to succeeding and because the curse is so strong and moves so quickly that he's not sure he will be able to stop it when it strikes again. There's a lot going on in this book, and I'm eager to hear what you all think of it! Thanks so much for listening, and I will see you again soon!

I'm sorry this episode is late! Normally I do a bunch of recording on Saturday but I had THREE recordings scheduled that day and I wasn't able to squeeze in any editing. I'm here now, though, and we're starting to get into the main plot of this book. I'm excited because now RoShawn knows just what kind of director Arturo is. Heh. These three chapters focus mainly on the set-up of Harry meeting Arturo, finding out about the case and possible people who could want him to fail, and pow-wowing with Bob. Also, Harry has decided he's going to find out where Mavra's scourge is hiding out, sneak up on them in the middle of the day while they're asleep, and stake them all in the damn heart. No elaborate setups, no drawn-out planning. Just find them and kill them. It's really kind of refreshing! Meanwhile, Murphy is getting recruited to the Mavra & Co. Kill Squad, and she's really hopeful that Harry can schedule her in on a day when she's supposed to see her family. Murph, I don't blame you. Family reunions aren't something the majority of people I know look forward to. Thanks so much for listening, and see you soon!

I'm sorry this episode is late! Normally I do a bunch of recording on Saturday but I had THREE recordings scheduled that day and I wasn't able to squeeze in any editing. I'm here now, though, and we're starting to get into the main plot of this book. I'm excited because now RoShawn knows just what kind of director Arturo is. Heh. These three chapters focus mainly on the set-up of Harry meeting Arturo, finding out about the case and possible people who could want him to fail, and pow-wowing with Bob. Also, Harry has decided he's going to find out where Mavra's scourge is hiding out, sneak up on them in the middle of the day while they're asleep, and stake them all in the damn heart. No elaborate setups, no drawn-out planning. Just find them and kill them. It's really kind of refreshing! Meanwhile, Murphy is getting recruited to the Mavra & Co. Kill Squad, and she's really hopeful that Harry can schedule her in on a day when she's supposed to see her family. Murph, I don't blame you. Family reunions aren't something the majority of people I know look forward to. Thanks so much for listening, and see you soon!

Woot wooooooot! We're getting started on the next installment of The Dresden Files and I'm so excited! I have my reservations about this book (more on that in the episode) but there's still some great shit coming up and I'm excited to get to it all. This book starts of with Harry running for his life from some literal flying monkeys while saving a basket full of puppies. It's the most quintessential Harry Dresden Moment so far in the series, to be honest, and RoShawn is totally here for the puppy that winds up in the bottom of Harry's car hidden under his seat. Yay! Puppies! Also, Thomas Raith is here which throws her for a bit of a loop, but she's very happy to see him because he's such a fun character. She's a little surprised by how serious he is, though, as compared to other times we've seen him, and there's a really tense moment between him and Harry when Justine comes up in conversation. Overall, this is a great couple of opening chapters, and I can't wait to get further into the book. This is gonna be fun! Thanks for listening! Artwork credit: https://saintash.deviantart.com/art/thomas-202498064

Woot wooooooot! We're getting started on the next installment of The Dresden Files and I'm so excited! I have my reservations about this book (more on that in the episode) but there's still some great shit coming up and I'm excited to get to it all. This book starts of with Harry running for his life from some literal flying monkeys while saving a basket full of puppies. It's the most quintessential Harry Dresden Moment so far in the series, to be honest, and RoShawn is totally here for the puppy that winds up in the bottom of Harry's car hidden under his seat. Yay! Puppies! Also, Thomas Raith is here which throws her for a bit of a loop, but she's very happy to see him because he's such a fun character. She's a little surprised by how serious he is, though, as compared to other times we've seen him, and there's a really tense moment between him and Harry when Justine comes up in conversation. Overall, this is a great couple of opening chapters, and I can't wait to get further into the book. This is gonna be fun! Thanks for listening! Artwork credit: https://saintash.deviantart.com/art/thomas-202498064

So I'm finally able to post this episode after re-recording it with RoShawn, and I'm happy to say that it was just as much fun to record the second time as it was the first time. Which I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting. There are three stories covered in this episode, one of which is so short that it's not really a story at all, hence its title: Vignette. Then there's A Restoration Of Faith, and Working For Bigfoot, which are longer and the only stories in either collection that we are allowed to read at this point in the series for fear of spoilers. Restoration of Faith (takes place before Storm Front): http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/side-jobs/restoration B is for Bigfoot (takes place between Fool Moon and Grave Peril): http://amzn.to/2FQKocH Vignette (takes place between Death Masks and Blood Rites): http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/side-jobs/vignette/Restoration is the first Dresden story that Jim Butcher ever wrote, and all things considered, I think it's pretty good even if it gets a little cliched at times. But the standout, of course, is Bigfoot, which really moved RoShawn in a way that I hadn't expected. Once you stop and consider the current climate, I think it's understandable, but it hadn't really occurred to me in the moment. I hope that you enjoy our analysis and all of my Peabody Awards!

So I'm finally able to post this episode after re-recording it with RoShawn, and I'm happy to say that it was just as much fun to record the second time as it was the first time. Which I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting. There are three stories covered in this episode, one of which is so short that it's not really a story at all, hence its title: Vignette. Then there's A Restoration Of Faith, and Working For Bigfoot, which are longer and the only stories in either collection that we are allowed to read at this point in the series for fear of spoilers. Restoration of Faith (takes place before Storm Front): http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/side-jobs/restoration B is for Bigfoot (takes place between Fool Moon and Grave Peril): http://amzn.to/2FQKocH Vignette (takes place between Death Masks and Blood Rites): http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/side-jobs/vignette/Restoration is the first Dresden story that Jim Butcher ever wrote, and all things considered, I think it's pretty good even if it gets a little cliched at times. But the standout, of course, is Bigfoot, which really moved RoShawn in a way that I hadn't expected. Once you stop and consider the current climate, I think it's understandable, but it hadn't really occurred to me in the moment. I hope that you enjoy our analysis and all of my Peabody Awards!

This is the finale episode of Death Masks, and RoShawn is very concerned about how this book ends. Her concern is understandable. The Knights treats the coins like they're radioactive, and say that touching one is a contract you never get out of, and here Harry goes slapping his hand over one. Was it for a good reason (to protect a child)? Sure. But like, come on dude, you couldn't have stepped on it with your boot instead? Tsk tsk. There's a lot of little surprises in these last three, but one of the biggest is the reveal of at least part of Marcone's secret. He's got a little girl in a coma tucked away in a long-term care hospital, and he goes to see her all the time. He wanted the shroud for her, in the hopes that it would make her well again. Although it doesn't seem to work right away, Harry gives him 3 days to try it and then he has to return it to the church. But Marcone never tells Harry who the girl is, so we still don't know the story there. I really enjoy this book, and I'm a little sad that it's over, but I'm interested to see what RoShawn thinks of the short stories that are coming up. Here are the links to the ones we're doing. Two can be read for free on Butcher's website, the last is part of a collection you have to buy: Restoration of Faith (takes place before Storm Front): http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/side-jobs/restorationB is for Bigfoot (takes place between Fool Moon and Grave Peril): http://amzn.to/2FQKocHVignette (takes place between Death Masks and Blood Rites): http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/side-jobs/vignette/Also, I want to leave you all the link to check out the new Dresden Files RPG project called "Friends Like These" that Megan Tolentino is doing on her podcast The Redacted Files! "A local SCA event is interrupted by the appearance of a dragon. Luckily Kringle’s Seneschal, a Warden of the White Council, the Erlking’s Huntsman, and a US Marshal are there to save the day.****This campaign contains major spoilers through White Night, and minor spoilers through Cold Day.***" Listen here http://www.theredactedfiles.com/?p=3840Thanks so much to you all for listening, and I will see you soon with the next installment!