More Dresden Files on the way

Filed by: Darren on May 9, 2007 at 20:38
Filed In: Books

I learned by way of a recent Publisher's Lunch e-bulletin that Roc Books in the US has bought books #12 and #13 in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series.

I dropped Darren Nash of Orbit Books (Butcher's UK publisher) a line, and he confirmed that Orbit have already signed up books #9 through #11 and that #12 and #13 probably wouldn't be too far behind...

Speaking as a big Dresden fan - books and TV series both - I think that's great news. And I also think that there ought to be enough in the way of open story arcs and plot development in the first eight books to sustain the development of the series into the next five and hopefully beyond. As long as neither Butcher nor his editor start thinking that anything goes because he's got a TV deal - as long as the writing stays sharp and the action scenes stay fast and furious - then the risk of the law of diminishing returns setting in and ruining things should be minimal.

Which is more than can be said of some long-running series. I thoroughly enjoyed the first six or seven books in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. I thought they were well-written, sexy, action-packed, intelligent and above-all interesting takes on the modern-day vampire hunter mythos (and the earliest installment was published in 1994, - two years after the Buffy movie, but three years before the TV show hit TV screens, in case you were rolling your eyes already).

But then Hamilton's books started degenerating into little more than supernatural soft porn, with what seemed like minimal plot and not much in the way of character development to speak of either, and I just gave up reading them.

Hell, I'm no prude, but I generally want to get more from the fiction I read than just titillation and the occasional wise-crack. So when it got to the point where the sex-scenes were dominating the books rather than adding colour to them - becoming the point of the books, or so it seemed - then that was it for me. 'Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter' I was interested in. 'Anita Blake, Vampire Shagger'... not so much.

Incidentally, I read the first two of Hamilton's Merry Gentry books and they're even worse (or even better, depending on your point of view and preferences, of course...) so I've given the latest four of those a miss as well...

I admit, they might have improved drastically in the past couple of volumes... but then I wouldn't know. If you've read them and they have got a whole lot better recently, let me know, would you?

Edit 10.05.07 Dave Hebblethwaite sends me a link to John Grant's review of the second Merry Gentry book on Infinity Plus. Nice to know I'm not alone...

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8 Responses to 'More Dresden Files on the way'

Joe on May 9th, 2007 10:21 pm

Yeah, I also noticed she seems to be developing a touch of the Anne Rice mentality when fans and critics had a go at how she has let the writing slip on the series, which ain't a good sign. Great news about the new Jim Butcher Dresdens though - saving the new one to start on my trip down to sunny Bristol for the comic con this weekend since it fits the bag a lot easier than the new Scott Lynch (which is as terrific as I hoped so far). Book Group loved Locke Lamora, BTW, so suspect my copy of the sequel is going to be in demand when I've finished with it.
Ariel on May 10th, 2007 6:36 am

Glad you're enjoying the new Lynch, mate. Jo is about 50 or so pages from the end... I have to be very careful what I say at the moment. Spoilers are punishable by 'the death of a thousand hurt looks' in our house... :)
Ed on May 13th, 2007 11:54 am

First 8 are available from Play in a 3 for £15 deal

http://www.play.com/Books/Book.....Promo.html
Lizzy on May 14th, 2007 6:40 am

I started a thread about sex in books on Mark Chadbourn's forum for the same reason. I just read a book with a sex scene in it that served no purpose other than being a gratuitous sex scene.

It's got to have a reason to be there, for plot and character. Do authors think it sells more books?

I'd also like a bit more humour thrown in for the sex scenes too, more Bridget Jones's big knickers please
Ariel on May 14th, 2007 10:23 am

I reckon you're right there Lizzy. And if it's hilarious sex scenes you're into, check out Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged. I'll say no more, but the scene in question had me in stitches...
Yatterings » Dresden Files on May 14th, 2007 11:24 am

[...] Ariel over a The Genre Files has this rave piece about the Dresden Files books and tv show. My wife is a fan but I've yet to succumb. I expect this to happen fairly shortly if Ariel is also a fan. Posted in Books on May 14th, 2007 RSS 2.0 Trackback. [...]
Sayuri on January 5th, 2008 6:03 am

Butcher himself has said numerous times that he plans to write 20 Dresden novels then a final apocolyptic trilogy. So plenty more for a while.
Darren on January 6th, 2008 8:42 pm

20 Dresden Files novels? Excellent! I'll look forward to the day when I can sit down and read 'em all in one stretch.