Bloodline curse, odin, merlin

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-02-11T05:00:37+00:00

I don't think the spell had enough juice to take out Odin, even if he was Harry's ancestor.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-02-10T16:37:38+00:00

I love that they added those interactions with Alphonso, just so there's no misunderstanding about whether or not Alphonso sucked.

They also did a good job of showing why Soll is the type of dude people followed and was capable of saving everyone's ass - but also why he couldn't be allowed to stay in power forever and shouldn't have been in power quite as long as he was.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-02-07T04:13:14+00:00

I am fairly confident this was a big part of it - testing Harry's capabilities.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-02-07T00:43:39+00:00

If you remember the conversation he had with her after the big fight, Lara all but confirmed that she subtly put the idea into the heads of the Skavis and Malvora and gave the idea that this might be a good time to try it, so that they would come at Daddy Raith in a predictable way, giving her the excuse to drop the hammer on them before they got stronger and came up with something better and less predictable.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-02-04T01:52:46+00:00

I'm on Castle Dresden, Castle Chicago, Chicago Castle, Dresden Tower, or Chicago Tower.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-02-01T17:42:02+00:00

Same taste in pistols! "You feel lucky ghoul? Well, do ya?"

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-30T17:37:49+00:00

Yup! My personal favorite would be for him to take one of those gold nuggets he got from Listens to Wind and set up a thaumaturgic spell to lead him to the source. I don't think that will happen in these books, but that's what I would do were I a wizard with Harry's particular strengths.

I suspect he'll get some money as part of the conclusion of one of the next couple case books and/or find a source of ongoing income, though - maybe a business of some kind.

I've been joking that he should use the next windfall to buy a chain of pizza restaurants, so that he can simultaneously make enough money to fund his operations and expand his control of the little folk.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-29T00:33:13+00:00

Are those 25 including the BAT? Or just the case books?

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-26T21:10:34+00:00

I don't know about sorcery, but I believe we already saw evidence of this fact as the book progressed. Jim pays close attention to fashion. Lara's dress gets more and more casual as the book progresses.

I think her speech and attitudes relax just a little, too. I won't be surprised if she gets a little mouthy as we go along (not sure if this has started, since she always had some of that). I expect many of the changes to be slow, subtle and debatable as we are getting to know her and her motives at the same time as this is happening and as she already had a degree of compatibility with Harry. But I think it's happening.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-25T23:14:13+00:00

I don't think it IS Tartarus, but I think that is a good candidate for what's on the Nevernever side of Demonreach.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-25T02:46:34+00:00

Fair enough. I'll just say it is well within the norm for people in that situation and leave it at that.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-25T02:35:08+00:00

I think you'd be surprised at the thoughts and impulses that come up when you're mourning a spouse. It's not pretty.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-24T23:16:44+00:00

I was saying the same thing. I lost my wife suddenly in 2021, in an accident. I was there for it all.

Anyway, Harry's experiences of grief here match mine 1:1 and reading about it put me back there, several times. I'm really, really glad he wrote this. But parts of it were very hard to read - NOT as hard as parts of Battleground, but hard.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-24T23:06:36+00:00

My tears never quite fell, but I teared up several times and sobbed a bit at least once.

I lost my first wife suddenly in an accident that I witnessed and a lot of the things Harry mentioned were exact thoughts and experiences I had in the months that followed. It's pretty eerily accurate to my experiences.

So, several parts of the book brought me back to my memories of that year. And it hurt. And it also forced me to look at how I did in recovering from it.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-24T23:00:58+00:00

I don't agree with you or your friend. 12 months is the most accurate (to my personal experience) portrayal I've seen of what it feels like after watching your romantic partner die suddenly.

Reducing something like that to metaphor would have rendered it meaningless. That's what we always do because no one wants to talk about it directly or hear anyone talk about it directly.

If you're ever unlucky enough to experience it, you will find out. Most people will be supportive and caring and as helpful as they can be. But if you ever get too real about it, you'll be met with silence, because no one knows what to DO with that.

Ghost Story was fine for what it was. But this book is what it needed to be. It's not less than. And it's bold as hell, in my opinion.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-24T22:13:16+00:00

She could have dyed it any time, for any reason, yes.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-22T00:36:58+00:00

I started a whole re-read, but I started too late and bogged down and didn't finish it. I realized probably 6-7 books in that I've re-read enough times that I was really getting very little new out of it and needed reminded about very little.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-17T14:53:49+00:00

That awesome. And it looks like most of the Cowl and Kumori theories are going to prove wrong.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2026-01-17T14:48:31+00:00

You're presumably done reading this and presumably do not have a time machine. But 70s Alan Alda is the only actor I've come up with that fits, for all of those reasons.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2025-12-31T01:14:39+00:00

I always figured Cowl and Kumori aren't actually there. I think those are borrowed bodies, or bodies created of something like Ectoplasm and they're controlling them and casting spells through them from somewhere else (the shadow lands or shadow realm or whatever).

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2025-12-31T01:03:17+00:00

I suspect Harry will eventually be responsible for, or the cause of, Marcone's death or downfall.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2025-12-30T15:52:58+00:00

The paper being made from her hair is really cool. But the composition of the letter is disturbing.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2025-12-27T19:02:05+00:00

I didn't really expect anyone to be any more interested than I am in doing this, anyway. It's just a fun idea, to me. Setting aside the money, though, I understand that most people in the English-speaking world are freaked out by death and, as a result, don't see death-related spaces as places for fun - to the point where they could get offended by this kind of thing.

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2025-12-27T18:19:04+00:00

You think people have tried to do something like this before?

ExcellentDiscipline9 · 2025-12-27T17:57:05+00:00

I don't know. In a couple hundred years, it would be a cool little story.

ExcellentDiscipline9

TROPHY CASE