Preferential Treatment

[thessalian]

I am a Dresden Files fan of long standing. Not as long as some, as I believe the only reason I got into the series at all was because I bought Storm Front for dodgyhoodoo as a ... I want to say Christmas gift, but gift anyway ... a few years ago and borrowed it when he was done. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did; it didn't always work that way when I got him gifts. I wasn't hugely into The Prisoner or The Twilight Zone or that series that was sort of Ghost in the Shell meets Warcrack, but The Dresden Files I fell in love with.

My problem with Jim Butcher has nothing to do with The Dresden Files. I don't see half the misogyny and sexism and racism and all the other -isms that people have oddly only now started bitching about, which strikes me odd that it's started so recently given that this series has been a going concern for eleven years, but whatever. The half I do see doesn't offend me as much as it does some, either. I don't presume to know how much of Butcher's own worldview he puts into Harry's character, and I couldn't give a shit if he gets the layout of Chicago wrong. Dude, I used to RP in Chicago and we used to take liberties with the layout of the city all the time - it's called 'artistic licence'. (This same rationale is why I tend to giggle when dodgyhoodoo froths at the mouth about the entirely geographically unfeasible travel montage in 28 Days Later, though I can understand it more because it was filmed in London, by people who know London, whereas I don't think Butcher's spent a lot of time in Chicago.) Anyway, the books don't offend me and, for the most part, neither does the man.

I do, however, wish he'd knock off the fucking public guilt trip about the Codex Alera already.

It's pretty well-documented by now. His first love was swords-and-sorcery fantasy novels. So as well as The Dresden Files, he writes the Codex Alera series, which ... well, according to the reviews, is your bog-standard swords-and-sorcery tale along the same lines as, say, David Eddings (apparently mixed in with a bit of The Last Airbender, if you believe the back blurbs). I don't have a lot of interest in it because ... well, I've read reviews, I've read back blurbs and I flipped through the first book in Blackwells once and it didn't grab me at all. My 'high fantasy' quota is met with Eddings, Kerr and Martin (with liberal helpings of David Gaider and the rest of the Dragon Age writing team), and this didn't offer me anything new to sink my teeth into the way A Song of Ice and Fire and Dragon Age did, for example. I like The Dresden Files. It's new. Or at least, new to me. It's an interesting melange of detective noir and urban horror and it beats the snot out of the Codex, in my opinion. And given the reviews, I don't seem to be the only one.

But it's not Jim Butcher's first love, The Dresden Files. The Codex Alera is. And he will not let anyone forget it. This is the second Dresden Files novel includes not only adverts for "Other Series By This Author" the way normal books do but a two-page fucking guilt trip about "Love the Codex Alera series! It's my pet writing project, the one I'm most in love with so read it and love it as much as I do!"

Dude. It was only originally signed as a three-book thing and it got the full six books you wanted it to have, which given that some people's books didn't get so lucky should really fucking impress you. The last three each made the Times' Best Seller list, higher each time. Not to mention that you wrapped the series two fucking years ago. LET IT GO. If the people reading The Dresden Files haven't thought to pick up Codex Alera themselves on the strength of your name, they have a reason. We don't deserve being guilted with the literary equivalent of puppy-eyes just because we don't love your Big Favourite Writing Project as much as you do, or that we prefer something else - something else you wrote, FFS. If it were me, I'd be thrilled to bits that something else I wrote was capturing so many imaginations.

So seriously, why the butt-hurt? Sure, the final book in Codex Alera 'only' got to number seven on the NYT list, whereas Small Favour went straight to number two on said list. Sure, The Dresden Files has more of a following than Codex Alera ever did, to the point of the ill-fated TV show, the RPG and the comics, not to mention a 'translated into other languages' list that's getting up to Harry Potter length. (What is it with wizards named Harry? Houdini, you have a lot to answer for. Anyway.) You have written a series and people love it, Mr Butcher. Please stop browbeating us into trying to love the thing you love more than we love the thing that we fell in love with all on our own. Particularly when you fucking wrote them both.

Why, yes, I am a little bit pissed off at stumbling over his second 'PLEASE LOVE CODEX ALERA IT IS MY BAAAAAABY!!!' note after finishing Ghost Story, which was a completely epic roller coaster, made me laugh an awful lot even as I nearly cried a couple of times and actually ended on what might arguably be more of a cliffhanger than Changes had. It kind of threw me out of the moment, and I don't think it's advisable to do that to one's readers. I sure as hell don't like having it done to me. I like what I like. I like The Dresden Files. If he wrote something that so many people think is awesome without even trying ... well, you know what? I've been where he is. I wrote swords-and-sorcery fantasy when I started writing. It ... turned out badly. I could not avoid the cliches. I found my own voice in urban fantasy/horror. I never looked back, and I wish he could actually let go of it and be happy that what he did in the S&S vein did as well as it did, when it's not every S&S series that makes the best-seller lists at all. I wish he could just see the objective merits of what he's done instead of ramming something in which I have no interest down my throat just because it's his favourite.

Comments

[kelemvor.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I rather liked CA. It enjoyed the way that "magic" worked there, and the characterisation and dialogue is wonderful.

TBH, his guilt-tripping had as much effect on me as his apparent *-isms did on you - I read through the essays, but I'd already bought the first few books, so it wasn't going to inspire to me buy them again! However, if it's not your thing, then fair enough :)

[akari-hoshi.livejournal.com]

Woah...as a HUGE fan of Codex AND Dresden, I'm just going to say that I'm just a squeench put off by this.

Alera is a GOOD story. The first book is a bit tough to get through, but the rest...oh the rest is just so amazing.

So he puts in a "Please read my other shit" at the end of each book. Big deal. I didn't pick up Alera for the longest time. I think First Lord's Fury was the only one not out yet when I picked up the series. I don't normally read the shit at the end of books. I read the ending and I close the book and I move on. But I started to love Butcher as an author rather than just his Dresden work. So I sought out Alera.

He IS happy with Dresden. He just wants people to read the other shit too. I don't think that's unreasonable.

Maybe I'm overly protective since he's a local author, but really, lay off. He's not doing anything wrong.

[thessalian.livejournal.com]

I think you may be a smidge overprotective, yes. Look, I've got no major beef with the man or his work or even with his writing a quick little note saying, "Hey, if you liked this, why not try...?" The tone he takes when he does write that note, however, is a little offputting to me, particularly after finishing a ride like Changes or Ghost Story. I don't feel any particular qualms about saying so, since it's not hurting him personally, he's not likely to read it and it's good to vent now and then. Sorry if you were put off by the post; didn't realise it was a touchy thing. I just don't believe that I have to approve of everything an author does to enjoy the work, or that I have to enjoy everything someone does in order to call myself a fan. I couldn't get through Fevre Dream, I didn't watch Dollhouse at all, and I was disappointed in Dragon Age: Awakening (and actively disliked every bit of DA:O DLC after, say, Return to Ostagar) but I still like A Song of Ice and Fire, Joss Whedon's work in general and the Dragon Age series.

It's just that one thing. Then was the time I chose to vent. I'm sure I'll make up for it when I have my second read-through and squee later. :)

[minmorton.livejournal.com]

It's possibly the vehemence in your tone that akari's reacting to* (and vehemence sounds so very vehement in the blogosphere) - I also felt Dresden's tone was a bit 'but whyy don't you like my baby' but - the plea is published in a book = it's in my hands, I don't have to read his cries of woe if I don't want to, so I don't think I found it as irritating as you did - particularly since this habit of plugging one book in the back of another is getting such a prevalent technique in modern book marketing - it may be that the marketing team think a personal tone and appeal from the author who is so 'close to his fans' might work well - and as we have no way of knowing, I am inclined to cut him a bit of slack ...

*never met akari so I could be completely off the mark there ...

[marigoldsthorn.livejournal.com]

I don't really see the sexism either. At no point have I ever seen Harry give someone slack for being female, or imply that they were weak or incompetent for being female. In fact, he has one of the strongest female characters I have ever seen. Karrin freaking Murphy!

I too find it weird this is just popping up. Because really... it could be fucking worse. Twilight anyone?

*le sigh* I too gave the Codex Alera series a try... Not my thing. There are some nifty ideas but there's nothing to make to stand out to me.

While it is annoying... I can understand why he'd put those notes in.