u/MattBookworm8640

I’ve been binge-reading the whole series while I’m on vacation and while I really loved the first 4-5 books in the series (save for Artificial Night which was just Crossroads of Twilight level bad) the more I’ve continued on the more I’ve gradually been falling out of love with it.

I do still love the fae world-building - this really makes it stand out amongst all other urban fantasy series - and certain supporting characters like Simon and Evening have had amazing arcs (Simon has a really well done redemption story like Spike in Buffy while Evening is such a consistently fun and unpredictable villain).

The recapping though is really starting to become grating it’s taking up an increasing amount of each book, a lot of the characters are becoming parodies of themselves (especially the Luidaeg; that Poor Unfortubate Souls karaoke scene in The Brightest Fell was such cringe), the plots and character dynamics are becoming too repetitive.

I’m kinda skimming through the last few books now while my minds been mostly occupied by Dresden Files theorycrafting

I’m just curious to see if there’s a general consensus here. Ever since the main show ended the only spinoff concept I’ve ever genuinely embraced is something similar to early Fear, a story with completely new characters, fresh locations, fresh ideas for the world-building, no connections to anything TWD, etc.

I think it’s the only way realistically to inject some new life into the franchise. No more tired-out legacy characters whose stories all ended years ago. No more CRM shit, especially after how horribly that whole storyline ended in TOWL. Just a completely clean slate for the franchise in every conceivable way.

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What do my fellow Dresden fans think of this series? I’m only up to Red Rose Chain but I’m really enjoying it so far. The fae are my favorite aspect of DF and Summer Knight is probably my favorite book in this series so I love all the fascinating fae mythology October Daye incorporates. It brings in so many different fae races and callbacks to classic literature like Shakespeare and medieval/Victorian fae folklore. Seanan McGuire has a degree in folklore and it really shows!

Does the quality keep up for anyone who’s read most or all of the series? It’s not as addicting as Dresden and doesn’t quite have quite as memorable of an ensemble cast but I do love the overarching plotting it has, just like Dresden. So many minor characters and plot threads in one or more books end up coming back into play in major ways.

Tbh it’s the only female written UF series I’ve legitimately enjoyed and which hasn’t felt like paranormal romance. I just couldn’t get into Mercy Thompson, Kate Daniel’s or The Hollows, way too romancey

Just curious to see if there’s a general consensus here. If I have limited shelf space and could have just one urban fantasy series to add my shelf which would it be? Which has the deepest world-building and lore, best long-term plotting, best cast of characters, best magic system, etc?

Molly and Thomas are easily my most anticipated, they both have such fascinating background storylines that could be really fun to watch if given more focus on the hypothetical tv show. With Molly just seeing her gradually go from being an emotionally troubled teen with an identity crisis to discovering her powers and building towards becoming an increasingly powerful morally gray sorceress while at the same time navigating a deepening rift with Michael who wants to stop the magic from corrupting her.

And then with Thomas we can get tons of vampire political intrigue, explore his tragic love story with Justine, etc.

I remember seeing a while back that one of the pitches Jim got for a Dresden show was to start with the vampire war and Harry rescuing Susan. I would have really hated this approach given how all over the place it is. I really and truly believe that they should adapt each book in order starting with Storm Front which establishes the whole world and do 2-3 books a season (which would come out to around 8 seasons and that’s perfect). For season 1 I think I would mostly adapt Storm Front and Grave Peril while maybe putting elements of Fool Moon in as a subplot since it doesn’t have the same world-building depth or iconic large ensemble cast as the rest. I would also bring certain characters in earlier like Michael and Molly, and flesh out Marcone s story a lot more from the get go

I’m a bi guy and having my first ever date with a beautiful twink in an hour. I’m freaking out over whether I should kiss him at the end though. Do most gay guys expect the guy to kiss them on the first date or will that ruin things because of how it might come off as moving too fast?

It would be embarrassing if I just asked him whether I can kiss him

Do we think characters like Madison, Alicia, Strand, Daniel, Luciana might crossover into future spinoffs (and Dead City if it’s renewed for a Season 4)? Or do you think given Fear’s horrible reputation/legacy AMC is pretty much just done with that cast?

I’m really dying for a Strand spinoff personally and I remember Colman saying years ago that he was pitching a Strand spinoff to AMC. I’m kinda doubtful it would happen even if AMC was interested given Colman’s rising Hollywood fame but still. He’s easily the best character on Fear (the only OG who remained consistent and interesting through all eight seasons) and one of the best TWDU characters ever. The morally all over the place Machiavellian political chessplayer. If Season 3 of DC ends with NYC being rebuilt by Negan and Maggie into a thriving ever-expanding community like New Babylon with a functioning government, military and everything I’d love seeing Strand come in and try to elevate himself through the political hierarchy

Idk I feel guilty for it in a way and a part of me feels like I’m almost not even a ‘real’ bisexual (I know it’s ridiculous, just how my mindset is). I don’t mind some very mild stubble I guess but full on beards and or mustaches just completely turn me off.

I’m kinda especially nervous about this since I just recently started dipping my feet into the gay dating scene and I’ve gone on a few dates with these really beautiful twinkish type guys. I’m just worried that if I get into a relationship with one of them and he decides to grow a beard/mustache eventually as we both get older I’ll completely lose my attraction to him and be stuck between a rock and a hard place because even if I love him I won’t be able to get over the loss of attraction (older guys as of right now with the facial hair and or facial masculinization just don’t do it for me at all). I’d obviously be keeping all of it bottled up inside me as well and giving fake compliments because I wouldn’t want to hurt him at all.

Wikipedia updated the live ratings for this season I noticed and the season premiere earned 0.297. I’m actually kinda surprised by this tbh given the rave advance reviews it’s gotten from critics. Maybe it’s a matter of too little too late though (kinda like the Erickson era of Fear, which delivered a widely praised third season but it was just too late as the damage from the awfully received first two seasons had already been done).

The show has a pretty high budget by TWD standards - the first seasons budget I believe was $72 million and I have to imagine it’s gone up since then - so this probably hurts AMC a lot.

I’m just getting so sick of Daryl, Carol, Negan and Maggie. They were already exhausted as characters by the end of TWD but it’s gotten worse with these spinoffs, there’s just nothing left to explore with them at all. Their stories have been told in full and it’s time to move on since it’s just the same old recycled shit. It’s great that Negan and Maggie have finally moved on from their conflict but it’s three seasons too late and I just don’t give a shit anymore. And even then the writers aren’t doing anything with their characters that hasn’t already been done with them in TWD.

It’s especially frustrating when I reflect on how so many promising new characters are being wasted just so we can keep focusing entirely on the legacy characters (Isabelle, Codron, Genet, Fallou, Brugel, Christos, the Scavengers, Tomasso’s crew, Okafor, Nat, etc

Just curious. I’m a gay-leaning bi guy (maybe more homoflexible idk) new to dating guys and I’ve been feeling kinda discouraged by the lack of representation I see out there - outside of fiction like Heartstopper - for bi guys who are in committed monogamous long term relationships with other guys. The few bi guys I’ve seen who are in gay LTRs on other subreddits like r/askgaybros are open and fuck women on the side

Before getting into this series a few months ago I kept seeing so many warning posts on r/fantasy and related subreddits in regards to how the first two books (Storm Front, Fool Moon) ranged from mediocre to awful and were a slog to get through. The general consensus seemed to be that Grave Peril and especially Summer Knight were when the series really hit the ground running.

Maybe it’s because I binge-read the first three books back to back and treated them almost as a single story but I had absolutely no issue getting through the first two. While I can clearly recognize in retrospect that they weren’t up to the same level of quality as the rest of the series, they were still extremely fun urban fantasy reads and Storm Front as the OG book did a great job establishing the foundation of the world-building. Fool Moon I suppose was a bit more of a waste in comparison, spending so much time on the werewolf lore when it was never really utilized again in the series (which is one of the only really disappointing aspects of the series for me) but on that same end it did a great job delving a lot more into Marcone, Murphy and Susan’s characters and even if the werewolf lore wasn’t touched on again it still technically further enhanced the world and made it feel so much bigger.

I just yesterday wrapped up Peace Talks and Battleground (read them back to back treating them as a single book unlike the rest which I spaced out) and they truly solidified how much I love this series and consider it the absolute gold standard for the UF genre. The world-building and lore are so deeply layered and feel like an example of the kitchen sink approach at its absolute best; he intertwines different world mythologies with vampires, werewolves and fae so perfectly) . The plotting is meticulously thought out and helps make for such incredible re-read value because of all the Easter eggs and foreshadowing he’s always throwing in that set up future books. On that same end I love the gradual and organic shift from street level supernatural detective noir to balls to the wall epic fantasy . And then of course there’s the wide roster of fascinating supporting characters who could easily carry their own spinoffs their backgrounds and stories are so compelling (Thomas, Lara, Molly, Michael, Marcone, Murphy, Susan, Kincaid, Luccio, Mab, Nicodemus, Rashid, Lasciel, etc)

I’ve actually been enjoying the show quite a bit since last season; I’m surprised S2 got a lot of hate because I thought it was much better than 1 due to more Dama and Hershel, the extremely fun new character Coates, the better world-building and less Pearlie screentime (since the actor is awful). I’m loving S3 so far, the pacing and forward plot momentum is already a lot better than Seasons 1-2 combined. However I’m kinda hoping this is it and the show ends here with S3, largely so the franchise can hopefully do a complete reset but also because less is always better and I’d rather just see it end while it’s on a high. Daryl Dixon should’ve just been designed as two seasons focused on the original France storyline rather than dragging it out and turning it into an all over the place mess of a show with no real purpose or identity.

I saw one of the advance reviewers for the season say that the season ends pretty definitively and could work as a series finale so that’s reassuring

I remember how pumped I was when it was first announced to be in development by Fox a few years ago but it’s been total radio silence since then so I’m assuming plans for it fell through, which sucks because I’m dying to see this world get brought to life on the screen in all of its epicness :) I’ve never seen the original Syfy show and don’t really intend to ever check it out since I’ve heard it bears very little resemblance to the books besides the name plus it was apparently pretty low budget.
Has Jim said anything semi-recently in regards to whether there are still plans to make a new tv series?

I’ve always seen a premium cable or streaming service big budget Dresden show as like the perfect hybrid of True Blood, Buffy, Supernatural, Game of Thrones (for the politics/battles in its later era) and X Files! The thought of that plus the potential of being able to delve a lot more into the lore of the universe, make the story more of an ensemble by giving supporting characters like Molly, Murphy, Michael, Thomas, Marcone, Susan, Kincaid, etc their own major storylines and seeing the magic system fully come to life on the screen is just really making me antsy for some news

My dream is eight seasons with each season covering 3 books (since Jim said he has a planned 24 book run)

I’ve been curious about checking these books out for a while now given they quickly seem to have become a staple of the grimdark sub-genre and I love middle eastern aesthetics in fantasy like with Second Apocalypse, Rose of The Prophet and Tower of Fear. The only thing holding me back is that these are self published so I’m kinda worried about messy editing and the like. I tried getting into one other self published series in the past, Ryan Cahill’s Bound and Broken, and bailed halfway through the first book because the self-published nature of it was super apparent between the pacing issues, repetition, typos, horrible dialogue, etc.

I‘ve always been fascinated by the vast histories and mythologies of Africa so I’m dying to get some recommendations of quality fantasy books that are African-flavored!

I should probably get out of the way that I didn’t care for Rage of Dragons, which is probably I imagine the most popular example of African fantasy. I’m not a military fantasy guy so the fight/battle scenes and descriptions of formations and everything were just too repetitive and boring to me. The pacing too was often way too fast to the point where I thought not enough time was spent on the world building and character development

I remember a live action Earthsea tv series was in development with a24 a few years ago but it’s been total radio silence ever since. I’m assuming it’s either been cancelled completely or put on the back burner? I’m bummed because I’m dying to see this world get adapted for the screen so indescribably much (properly I might add, after how badly the previous two adaptions botched everything). Every aspect of it is so immersive and I can’t even begin to imagine how cool it would be to see all of it brought to life on the screen: the languages, cultures, lush archipelago backdrop, elemental magic system, rich Bronze Age historical parallels, etc. I’m imaging a lot of flashbacks and visions to Earthsea’s deep ancient history and lore too

It always gets held up on a pedestal as being a prime example of TWD at its ultimate peak but idk as someone who first started watching the show back when it originally aired Halloween 2010 and who’s endlessly re-watched the whole show, I’ve always found 5 to be extremely overrated. Out of all the seasons it’s honestly been one of the least rewatchable for me because of how inconsistent in quality I find it.

No Sanctuary was literally a live-action episode of Looney Tunes it was so indescribably cartoonish /McGyverish with no basis in reality whatsoever and filled with so many cringe-worthy plot contrivances.
The actual comic adaption of the Hunters arc in Episodes 2 and 3 was great though.

Then Grady came along and was an awful time-wasting slog. Same with that three episode ‘on the road’ arc that felt like it would never end. It should’ve gone right from the Terminus arc to finding Alexandria. Maybe one or two interim episodes (Aaron’s introduction) but that’s it.

The ASZ arc was pretty compelling but extremely rushed with only five episodes to spend on it because we wasted most of the season on badly written show-exclusive filler that didn’t go anywhere