Meme time...

[prisoner_24601]

Stolen from noneko and cavortingmonkey...

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

I had three books piled on top of my monitor, so I picked the most entertaining quote of the three:

"I have your permission to come out?"

"Yup," I said, "For the purposes of this mission only. And don't waste time prowling around in women's locker rooms again."

Incidentally, the above quote comes from the book Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (it's the third book in the Dresden Files series). If you're a fan of the modern fantasy genre in the spirit of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the first three non sucky Anita Blake books, I'd highly suggest checking the books in the Dresden Files out. It's a series about a wizard named Harry who lives in Chicago and kicks a ton of ass. It's kind of what the Anita Blake novels should have been. The main character is very entertaining, and the author does a good job integrating fantasy elements into modern day fiction.

Jim Butcher is like the anti-Laurel Hamilton. Everything that she does wrong in her books, he does right. Go read him. I'm currently re-reading the series, and it's just as good the second time through.

Also, for those of you too lazy to actually read the books, a series based on the books is coming out on the sci-fi channel in January 2007. If they do as good of a job on this series as they did on the new Battlestar Galactica, it's going to be awesome.

Comments

[prisoner--24601.livejournal.com]

I think one of the reasons I like the Dresden Files so much is because while there are similarities to other urban fantasies, unlike the Anita Blake books, Harry's actions actually have consequences.

For example, Harry has this thing where he likes to rescue the damsel in distress, and for two books you think "Hmm... this a sue flaw, that's really a virtue masquerading as a flaw" until book three where he ends up rescuing the damsel but at a huge cost not only to himself, but to basically the entire magical community.

Sure he has has magical powers, but they come at a nasty price that takes a huge toll on his life, especially his romantic life in a rather realistic way. In the last book, he and another character that has been a possible romantic interest from the first book (Murphy) actually sit down and have an honest to goodness real discussion about what kind of obstacles stand in the way of a love affair between a wizard and a mortal. And in the series there are at least two points where most authors would have done the "Love conquers all" thing, and Jim Butcher has taken the more interesting and less traveled road of not letting love be enough to overcome everything.

Over the course of the series, Harry (and some of the other characters) actually grow and change the way that real people do. And when something really bad happens, there is a period of recovery, but the main character moves on and gets over it, which is also refreshing to see.

So to me, those kinds of elements are what separate this series from the other urban fantasies I've read. And I admit, that a lot of why I like this series comes down to personal taste (I like the style he writes in for instance).

[winterfox.livejournal.com]

It does sound promising, and I trust your taste, but ultimately, I guess urban fantasy's not necessary my cup of tea. I'll probably try the second book, though, when I'm through with the rather big pile I've bought.