I think you’ve missed a major point about, ‘Dressden Vison’, in that despite his lewd thoughts, he doesn’t act on them without concern, or consent; he was born in the 1970’s, it’s not unreasonable for him to think like your horny grandpa; but his actions are all above board…
I just found your channel. Great stuff, friend. As an aspiring writer, I find your advice very helpful. I have a video idea for the future: "The Appeal of Simplicity" I often hear complex stories with a lot of characters, intricate storylines, plots that make your head scratch and question your whole life and view of the world. At the same time, stories that are quite simple and straightforward get called cliche, overdone, boring, predictable and results of bad writing. I think that simple stories are not bad stories and in the hands of competent writers, they can be very enjoyable. I also think that as a story does what the writer intended (entertain or otherwise) then it's a good story regardless of its complexity. New writers have a belief that higher complexity equates to a better reading experience. Like if their story isn't as deep as something like Dune, Foundation or Arcane it's not good. But this isn't true. Don't get me wrong, I like the intrigue and depth of Dune, Foundation and Arcane. But I also really like reading Warhammer 40,000 and Battletech novels which are (for a big/most part) fairly simplistic and trope-oriented. The bottom line is don't compare yourself or your stories to others. As long as it's enjoyable to read that's all that matters
I honestly never noticed this Dresden Vision issue. The books are very pulpy and borrow a lot from well- worn pulp genre conventions. I took Dresden's horniness to be in line with the crumgeonly PI all the dames fall for trope. Especially because Dresden sees himself that way; most of the novels being told from his POV. Dresden consistently behaves as a guy who wishes he was in a movie directed by Howard Hawks. Characters do call Dresden out for being weirdly antiquated in his behavior. This is a character that wears a trenchcoat, carries a revolver, and drives a car 3 decades too old. All because he thinks it makes him look cool. Even his much older grandfather calls Dresden out for behaving like a caricature.
2:13 Harry’s POV is not the biggest problem for possible new readers of the Dresden Files, THIS is. Showing disparaging comments and criticisms as the very first point you make without either giving context or like in this example DISCOUNTING said context entirely. Saying that Butcher writes women poorly simply because he writes how they are attractive and attractive to Harry specifically is both reductive AND disingenuous. Butcher writes the women of the Dresden Files with both Flaws as well as their various strong points and successes. There is no bigger Champion of Karrin Murphy and Elaine Mallory than Harry Dresden even and most especially when it is to his detriment. Because guess what? Women are Human too and not all of them are glorious Angels who never do any wrong and have nothing but pure thoughts. Thinking that means you are a sufferer of the “Women are Wonderful” phenomenon and you absolutely need to step back and look through your thought processes for your biases. It will help you out immensely. Also, Omnipresent? Are you freaking kidding me lol? Tell me you didn’t read the books without telling me. He writes Harry very differently when he is Single compared to when he is in a relationship and you would know that if you didn’t default to incorrect “Sexist” belief
It's definitely not a series for those easily offended. As for the "Dresden Vision" I would call it more "Red blooded straight male vision" He does what men do who are visual learners and memory makers. We take image snap shots of encounters to process information and remember it. When you describe a female to create an image for the viewer you are going to describe what you see. Women have a disadvantage compared to men in that it is incredibly difficult to hide the shape of their bodies. A baggy Tee shirt and jeans conceals a lot on guys, but still not much on women. Add to that most of the women he is interacting with are supernatural and use there looks as a tool. Either as a means of enticing men to loose their focus and resolve so they can feed on them, or as a weapon of power to throw their male adversaries of balance. Usually he notices, and then moves on to other pressing matters, as most men do. It's when he's single and not getting his libido scratched that the looks get revisited as again, men do. Its a way to remind the reader he is alone in his fight not just because he can't talk about the white council with anyone, and keep secrets to protect others, but he doesn't even have a companion to go home to to hold him and make things feel better. And as the books go on Dresden starts getting more caught up in the pressures of a world that is vastly bigger and more complex than he previously realized. Those thoughts, even when single, become passing thoughts and not dwelt on. And to be fair, he describes men as chiseled, lean, rogueishly handsome, and goes into characters' abs, chest, and biceps when they are shirtless. But there is no outrage over objectifying men. I guess this is a hot-button topic for me because I see a lot of doublestandards with it. My wife reads a lot of romance novels. Many of them are supernatural romance, and all of them are written by women. The descriptions of the male characters looking at the female characters and what they are seeing can only be called word-porn. I see many female reviewers and talk to some female readers who criticize Dresden while also praising romance novels. Calling one "The male gaze" and the other "spicy."
I enjoyed Proven guilty a lot, one of my favourites in fact. I understand why people don't feel comfortable with THAT scene. It’s not like Harry flirted with her or anything and given what Molly has been through and her history it seems not too unrealistic. I for one loved the scene with molly and the water jug.
I'd counter your note about how Jim can't right female characters. Jim is writing from a sex deprived wizard POV. Harry doesn't have access to the internet so he can't just open up porn on a whim. If you check out Codex Alera and the Cinder Spires series Jim has written female character alright. FYI this is my opinon and I can always be wrong. Not a writing wizard just a fan of books.
That thing you mentioned where we get a surprise twist only because Butcher hid that from us while in Dresden's head. This is one of my biggest problems with 1st person POV. A deep 3rd Person POV could have more plausibly gotten away with it.
Gotta respectfully disagree on Ghost Story. Everything had been building up pretty steady to Changes, and things moved so hard and so fast in that book that I felt a slowdown was needed. It also was great seeing how the world evolved without Harry there to impose his will. I’ll agree on the “All the women in his life were lost while the men were fine” point. I really wish we had seen a certain male character struggle a bit more and have to learn how to survive in the supernatural world before coming into his own. But overall, it’s one of the more memorable books for me.
Many reviewers really like Ghost Story. I'm with you. I thought the plot was weak and convoluted, making the book easily the weakest after the first few. Still, some great character moments, which is completely on brand for Butcher.
Thank you for this very thoughtful review of a series that I think gets overlooked in the modern fantasy discourse. New viewer... I agreed with you right up until the end and it's a hot button for me. Apologies for the long reply - I am writing it for catharsis, so I thank you for the opportunity - I had no idea how much I was bottling this up inside :) I loved the series through Changes and read it more than once. (I loved Codex Alera, DNFd The Aeronaught's Windlass, but thought his Spider Man novel was okay - for reference.) I loved Harry's voice, the dangerous world he was building, and the recurring character's who fought alongside (or against) Harry. I loved it for its Marvel-Comics esque universe... but this would be it's downfall I think. Post Changes the only Dresden book I enjoyed was Skin Game - LOVED that book. Other than that book I either felt I'd read it all before (but better) in earlier books or, I felt a sense of power creep. He was reaching for bigger adversaries - something true throughout the series, but now with diminishing returns. I could also feel a comic-book like sense of inconsistency - sometimes he could decimate an army of super natural baddies and other times, a single ghoul seemed a threat. Cracks were appearing - maybe the series had gone on too long? Peace Talks was bad. It laid bare the incoherence of the supernatural world, which absolutely could not hold the weight of the story Butcher was trying to tell. I was not at all bothered by it being setup and part of a two-part story, but the politics were laughable and caused me to question the entire series - had it been this idiotic all along? I think in a world where you have GOT, if you are going to do politics you must ensure the world and characters you created have the 3-dimensional facets necessary for nuance. Dresden Files is not built for this kind of story - it was bad, but I was not deterred - the series to date was a favorite, having provided me countless hours of joy. Then Battlegrounds... I could not have hated it more if I tried. It somehow made Peace Talks good by comparison. Is it bad because it's non-stop action? That's a big part of it. Additionally, Butcher's repetition and Rocky-like approach to tension (how much punishment can Harry take, how much more pain can we deliver, how often can it seem like no human could still be walking, but he's not a human he's the Winter Knight, so he gets back up and on and on and on.) I finished Battle Ground ONLY out of a sense of closure, but this marked the end of me reading Dresden, because mostly I think he's jet-pack thruster jumped the shark beyond where the series can function. In the end I am very jealous, because I wanted am 8.5/10 finish and I got a 2/10.
First off, fantastic comment. This is one of the reasons I made this video, because there is a lot to talk about over 17 books of ANY series. I knew that Dresden was divisive going into the series because of a couple different reasons, but reading the books was such an experience because it left me with a lot of feelings regarding the meta details of the story. There's plenty to say about characters and plot, but the meta details of writing decisions and the overall development of the novels was so interesting to me as a writer. I can see it's been impactful to you, too! I also agree with your comment on Battle Ground. Like, where do we go next? I have a guess, but I'm running out of ways that the series can stay grounded in Urban Fantasy as the stakes keep raising. At this point in the series, I'm living in Sunk Cost Fallacy Land. I will pick up the next book out of curiosity and due to how long I've spent with the characters, but I feel like I could stop by reading journey here and feel like I'm not lacking any closure. I almost wonder if that's how it should have happened. Maybe the series should have ended. It would have sort of been the logical conclusion. But another part of me wonders, as long as Dresden is profitable, if the series will ever end?
I think he will write until it stops selling - while I do not know for sure, I imagine that any new Dresden book is not just about that new book's sales, but also how it probably drives sales of the earlier books. Random prediction, if sales of new Dresden plane out, we will see novels featuring side-characters. Murphy the series. And yes I do think that would be the character, because of reasons :) That MIGHT get me back. @@Writing-Theory
@@philmitchell12 Three months late on this but... Butcher has set a hard limit on the number of books in the Dresden Files - 25. Twenty-two "files" (the stories we've been reading), and a final "Big Apocalyptic Trilogy" (his words). It was originally supposed to just be twenty, back when he first outlined the entire series to his writing advisor, but it's grown somewhat - partly because of the "Peace Talks/Battle Ground" book split. Things change over time and he likes the idea of the number of books in the series being the square of five. As for spin-off novels/series, the only one I've seen him mention in interviews is "Monster, LLC", featuring Goodman Gray.
@@Writing-Theory Referring to your comment about "Sunk Cost Fallacy Land", I have to disagree. The series has been clearly written to increase the stakes in each new story, as well as Harry becoming more powerful as the series goes on. Harry even says, quite often, that while he's a pretty powerful wizard in his own right, there are many who are more powerful, more subtle, more precise than he is. Hell, even Molly is better than Harry at certain things before she... well, you know. With Harry admitting that to himself multiple times in the series, it stands to reason that at some point, he will gain in power, subtlety, and precision. I mean, he's not even an adolescent in wizard-years (about 40 or so?), so I can't see him as being anywhere near as powerful as he could end up another 200+ years from now. It just makes sense to me that there is more and bigger to come, and I, for one, can't wait to find out how it all ends. I turn 60 this year, so I hope I'm around to finish reading the series. BTW, I'm on my third reading of the series as it stands right now. The next book is about halfway done, and he's said that he should be finished by the end of this year, so I figure Q1-Q2 of next year. I will start another re-read (listen, actually... James Marsters is amazing narrating the books) at the end of January at the soonest, or a month or so before the announced release date.
to be fair the two women that are close to him are in love with him, then men like butters and Michael have there own stuff, and his brother not human, so yea it does make sence.
I almost entirely agree. That Molly bit was a bit much, I just added she's a hormonal teen to that. And I wouldve stopped if it kept going. The vision is a bit much, but it also kinda makes his character and gives a possibile answer to his "chivalry." Ghost was just filler and sucked, but Butcher made it feel like Chicago needed Dresden. And for the off page stuff, a recap or a warning to read the short stories woùld have been nice. That character death in 17 had me going... uhhh what. Felt like Sirus' death in HP. Parkour
I could be wrong, but I think the objectification of women drops down as the books advance. I don't remember any example of this in the last few books, even if we consider the impossibility of any libido in Battle Ground.
If people talked in the real world like they do in Dresden Id go nuts. Hi john Hi mike How's life john? Its good mike, hows yours? Its good, say john yadda yadda ok john? Sure mike. Hey mike, yadda yadda... Its like they were 2000 words short on each book and just added names to the dialogue. I really hope it gets better after grave peril.
Just found this chanel for the writing tips, then saw a Dresden video, instant sub😊
I think you’ve missed a major point about, ‘Dressden Vison’, in that despite his lewd thoughts, he doesn’t act on them without concern, or consent; he was born in the 1970’s, it’s not unreasonable for him to think like your horny grandpa; but his actions are all above board…
Fair point! You’re right, that’s totally worth mentioning
Not to mention most if the females in the book are Supernatual Bombshells.
also dresden is alone he goes many years with no girlfreinds, so finding a girl pretty is normal.
I just found your channel. Great stuff, friend. As an aspiring writer, I find your advice very helpful.
I have a video idea for the future: "The Appeal of Simplicity"
I often hear complex stories with a lot of characters, intricate storylines, plots that make your head scratch and question your whole life and view of the world.
At the same time, stories that are quite simple and straightforward get called cliche, overdone, boring, predictable and results of bad writing.
I think that simple stories are not bad stories and in the hands of competent writers, they can be very enjoyable. I also think that as a story does what the writer intended (entertain or otherwise) then it's a good story regardless of its complexity.
New writers have a belief that higher complexity equates to a better reading experience. Like if their story isn't as deep as something like Dune, Foundation or Arcane it's not good. But this isn't true.
Don't get me wrong, I like the intrigue and depth of Dune, Foundation and Arcane. But I also really like reading Warhammer 40,000 and Battletech novels which are (for a big/most part) fairly simplistic and trope-oriented.
The bottom line is don't compare yourself or your stories to others. As long as it's enjoyable to read that's all that matters
I honestly never noticed this Dresden Vision issue. The books are very pulpy and borrow a lot from well- worn pulp genre conventions. I took Dresden's horniness to be in line with the crumgeonly PI all the dames fall for trope. Especially because Dresden sees himself that way; most of the novels being told from his POV. Dresden consistently behaves as a guy who wishes he was in a movie directed by Howard Hawks.
Characters do call Dresden out for being weirdly antiquated in his behavior.
This is a character that wears a trenchcoat, carries a revolver, and drives a car 3 decades too old. All because he thinks it makes him look cool.
Even his much older grandfather calls Dresden out for behaving like a caricature.
2:13 Harry’s POV is not the biggest problem for possible new readers of the Dresden Files, THIS is. Showing disparaging comments and criticisms as the very first point you make without either giving context or like in this example DISCOUNTING said context entirely. Saying that Butcher writes women poorly simply because he writes how they are attractive and attractive to Harry specifically is both reductive AND disingenuous. Butcher writes the women of the Dresden Files with both Flaws as well as their various strong points and successes. There is no bigger Champion of Karrin Murphy and Elaine Mallory than Harry Dresden even and most especially when it is to his detriment. Because guess what? Women are Human too and not all of them are glorious Angels who never do any wrong and have nothing but pure thoughts. Thinking that means you are a sufferer of the “Women are Wonderful” phenomenon and you absolutely need to step back and look through your thought processes for your biases. It will help you out immensely. Also, Omnipresent? Are you freaking kidding me lol? Tell me you didn’t read the books without telling me. He writes Harry very differently when he is Single compared to when he is in a relationship and you would know that if you didn’t default to incorrect “Sexist” belief
It's definitely not a series for those easily offended. As for the "Dresden Vision" I would call it more "Red blooded straight male vision" He does what men do who are visual learners and memory makers. We take image snap shots of encounters to process information and remember it. When you describe a female to create an image for the viewer you are going to describe what you see. Women have a disadvantage compared to men in that it is incredibly difficult to hide the shape of their bodies. A baggy Tee shirt and jeans conceals a lot on guys, but still not much on women. Add to that most of the women he is interacting with are supernatural and use there looks as a tool. Either as a means of enticing men to loose their focus and resolve so they can feed on them, or as a weapon of power to throw their male adversaries of balance.
Usually he notices, and then moves on to other pressing matters, as most men do. It's when he's single and not getting his libido scratched that the looks get revisited as again, men do. Its a way to remind the reader he is alone in his fight not just because he can't talk about the white council with anyone, and keep secrets to protect others, but he doesn't even have a companion to go home to to hold him and make things feel better. And as the books go on Dresden starts getting more caught up in the pressures of a world that is vastly bigger and more complex than he previously realized. Those thoughts, even when single, become passing thoughts and not dwelt on. And to be fair, he describes men as chiseled, lean, rogueishly handsome, and goes into characters' abs, chest, and biceps when they are shirtless. But there is no outrage over objectifying men.
I guess this is a hot-button topic for me because I see a lot of doublestandards with it. My wife reads a lot of romance novels. Many of them are supernatural romance, and all of them are written by women. The descriptions of the male characters looking at the female characters and what they are seeing can only be called word-porn. I see many female reviewers and talk to some female readers who criticize Dresden while also praising romance novels. Calling one "The male gaze" and the other "spicy."
I enjoyed Proven guilty a lot, one of my favourites in fact. I understand why people don't feel comfortable with THAT scene. It’s not like Harry flirted with her or anything and given what Molly has been through and her history it seems not too unrealistic. I for one loved the scene with molly and the water jug.
I'd counter your note about how Jim can't right female characters. Jim is writing from a sex deprived wizard POV. Harry doesn't have access to the internet so he can't just open up porn on a whim. If you check out Codex Alera and the Cinder Spires series Jim has written female character alright. FYI this is my opinon and I can always be wrong. Not a writing wizard just a fan of books.
That thing you mentioned where we get a surprise twist only because Butcher hid that from us while in Dresden's head. This is one of my biggest problems with 1st person POV. A deep 3rd Person POV could have more plausibly gotten away with it.
Gotta respectfully disagree on Ghost Story. Everything had been building up pretty steady to Changes, and things moved so hard and so fast in that book that I felt a slowdown was needed. It also was great seeing how the world evolved without Harry there to impose his will. I’ll agree on the “All the women in his life were lost while the men were fine” point. I really wish we had seen a certain male character struggle a bit more and have to learn how to survive in the supernatural world before coming into his own. But overall, it’s one of the more memorable books for me.
I think you make some good points! I can respect that view on Ghost Story
Many reviewers really like Ghost Story. I'm with you. I thought the plot was weak and convoluted, making the book easily the weakest after the first few. Still, some great character moments, which is completely on brand for Butcher.
Thank you for this very thoughtful review of a series that I think gets overlooked in the modern fantasy discourse. New viewer... I agreed with you right up until the end and it's a hot button for me. Apologies for the long reply - I am writing it for catharsis, so I thank you for the opportunity - I had no idea how much I was bottling this up inside :)
I loved the series through Changes and read it more than once. (I loved Codex Alera, DNFd The Aeronaught's Windlass, but thought his Spider Man novel was okay - for reference.) I loved Harry's voice, the dangerous world he was building, and the recurring character's who fought alongside (or against) Harry. I loved it for its Marvel-Comics esque universe... but this would be it's downfall I think.
Post Changes the only Dresden book I enjoyed was Skin Game - LOVED that book. Other than that book I either felt I'd read it all before (but better) in earlier books or, I felt a sense of power creep. He was reaching for bigger adversaries - something true throughout the series, but now with diminishing returns. I could also feel a comic-book like sense of inconsistency - sometimes he could decimate an army of super natural baddies and other times, a single ghoul seemed a threat. Cracks were appearing - maybe the series had gone on too long?
Peace Talks was bad. It laid bare the incoherence of the supernatural world, which absolutely could not hold the weight of the story Butcher was trying to tell. I was not at all bothered by it being setup and part of a two-part story, but the politics were laughable and caused me to question the entire series - had it been this idiotic all along? I think in a world where you have GOT, if you are going to do politics you must ensure the world and characters you created have the 3-dimensional facets necessary for nuance. Dresden Files is not built for this kind of story - it was bad, but I was not deterred - the series to date was a favorite, having provided me countless hours of joy.
Then Battlegrounds... I could not have hated it more if I tried. It somehow made Peace Talks good by comparison. Is it bad because it's non-stop action? That's a big part of it. Additionally, Butcher's repetition and Rocky-like approach to tension (how much punishment can Harry take, how much more pain can we deliver, how often can it seem like no human could still be walking, but he's not a human he's the Winter Knight, so he gets back up and on and on and on.) I finished Battle Ground ONLY out of a sense of closure, but this marked the end of me reading Dresden, because mostly I think he's jet-pack thruster jumped the shark beyond where the series can function.
In the end I am very jealous, because I wanted am 8.5/10 finish and I got a 2/10.
First off, fantastic comment. This is one of the reasons I made this video, because there is a lot to talk about over 17 books of ANY series. I knew that Dresden was divisive going into the series because of a couple different reasons, but reading the books was such an experience because it left me with a lot of feelings regarding the meta details of the story. There's plenty to say about characters and plot, but the meta details of writing decisions and the overall development of the novels was so interesting to me as a writer. I can see it's been impactful to you, too!
I also agree with your comment on Battle Ground. Like, where do we go next? I have a guess, but I'm running out of ways that the series can stay grounded in Urban Fantasy as the stakes keep raising. At this point in the series, I'm living in Sunk Cost Fallacy Land. I will pick up the next book out of curiosity and due to how long I've spent with the characters, but I feel like I could stop by reading journey here and feel like I'm not lacking any closure. I almost wonder if that's how it should have happened. Maybe the series should have ended. It would have sort of been the logical conclusion. But another part of me wonders, as long as Dresden is profitable, if the series will ever end?
I think he will write until it stops selling - while I do not know for sure, I imagine that any new Dresden book is not just about that new book's sales, but also how it probably drives sales of the earlier books. Random prediction, if sales of new Dresden plane out, we will see novels featuring side-characters. Murphy the series. And yes I do think that would be the character, because of reasons :) That MIGHT get me back. @@Writing-Theory
@@philmitchell12 Three months late on this but...
Butcher has set a hard limit on the number of books in the Dresden Files - 25. Twenty-two "files" (the stories we've been reading), and a final "Big Apocalyptic Trilogy" (his words). It was originally supposed to just be twenty, back when he first outlined the entire series to his writing advisor, but it's grown somewhat - partly because of the "Peace Talks/Battle Ground" book split. Things change over time and he likes the idea of the number of books in the series being the square of five.
As for spin-off novels/series, the only one I've seen him mention in interviews is "Monster, LLC", featuring Goodman Gray.
@@Writing-Theory Referring to your comment about "Sunk Cost Fallacy Land", I have to disagree. The series has been clearly written to increase the stakes in each new story, as well as Harry becoming more powerful as the series goes on. Harry even says, quite often, that while he's a pretty powerful wizard in his own right, there are many who are more powerful, more subtle, more precise than he is. Hell, even Molly is better than Harry at certain things before she... well, you know. With Harry admitting that to himself multiple times in the series, it stands to reason that at some point, he will gain in power, subtlety, and precision. I mean, he's not even an adolescent in wizard-years (about 40 or so?), so I can't see him as being anywhere near as powerful as he could end up another 200+ years from now.
It just makes sense to me that there is more and bigger to come, and I, for one, can't wait to find out how it all ends. I turn 60 this year, so I hope I'm around to finish reading the series. BTW, I'm on my third reading of the series as it stands right now. The next book is about halfway done, and he's said that he should be finished by the end of this year, so I figure Q1-Q2 of next year. I will start another re-read (listen, actually... James Marsters is amazing narrating the books) at the end of January at the soonest, or a month or so before the announced release date.
to be fair the two women that are close to him are in love with him, then men like butters and Michael have there own stuff, and his brother not human, so yea it does make sence.
I almost entirely agree. That Molly bit was a bit much, I just added she's a hormonal teen to that. And I wouldve stopped if it kept going. The vision is a bit much, but it also kinda makes his character and gives a possibile answer to his "chivalry." Ghost was just filler and sucked, but Butcher made it feel like Chicago needed Dresden. And for the off page stuff, a recap or a warning to read the short stories woùld have been nice. That character death in 17 had me going... uhhh what. Felt like Sirus' death in HP.
Parkour
Has the last book been released?!?
The next book is supposed to come out this year, but it’s not the last book!
@@Writing-Theory
Very much doubt that. The website has Butcher done with half the writing, so probably 2025.
what do you mean how wizards operate? isn't Dresden the only wizard in the phone book? :) FOMOR - fear of missing out revisited
I could be wrong, but I think the objectification of women drops down as the books advance. I don't remember any example of this in the last few books, even if we consider the impossibility of any libido in Battle Ground.
If people talked in the real world like they do in Dresden Id go nuts.
Hi john
Hi mike
How's life john?
Its good mike, hows yours?
Its good, say john yadda yadda ok john?
Sure mike. Hey mike, yadda yadda...
Its like they were 2000 words short on each book and just added names to the dialogue. I really hope it gets better after grave peril.
I think the criticism of the "Dresden Vision" is off base. and not just from you i have heard other reviewers bring up the same.
I didn't like Ghost Story my first readthrough. I have since loved it on all my rereads.
@15.48 .. spoilers .. jeez
Short stories?
Really?
I wish the TV series was better and stuck around a bit longer.
17 books is a big investment for a mid tier fantasy.
Thanks for saving me time. Easy pass.
yes I have been caught in the hole of waiting for the next book .. but ..