Author Topic: Dresden Files: Series Timeline  (Read 395984 times)

Offline Münchner Kindl

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #555 on: January 26, 2014, 05:29:01 PM »
Quote
Harry Carpenter is born and instantly doomed to get beaten up every day of his life.

Um, why? Is something wrong about his name?  ???

Offline Tami Seven

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #556 on: January 26, 2014, 06:04:49 PM »
Um, why? Is something wrong about his name?  ???

There is/was a Sports Commentator at the BBC named Harry Carpenter.  Aside from that, and the general teasing a name like Harry might get in the U.S., I don't really know either. 
War Cry -
"Thomas doesn't fight back, not even for an instant. In the end, it's not common sense that pulls me back from the brink, or even fear of being devoured by the Shoggoth....It's the look of unshakeable trust in my Brother's eyes, even as my hands tighten around his throat."

Offline Priscellie

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #557 on: January 26, 2014, 06:08:03 PM »
It sounds like "Hairy Carpenter."  It's not a very attractive mental image. :D  Harry even makes a "poor kid" comment when Michael tells him his new son's name.

Offline Tami Seven

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #558 on: January 26, 2014, 06:10:58 PM »
I think the name Harry gets more respect in other countries than it does in the U.S.
War Cry -
"Thomas doesn't fight back, not even for an instant. In the end, it's not common sense that pulls me back from the brink, or even fear of being devoured by the Shoggoth....It's the look of unshakeable trust in my Brother's eyes, even as my hands tighten around his throat."

Offline Shecky

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #559 on: January 27, 2014, 01:28:02 PM »
It sounds like "Hairy Carpenter."  It's not a very attractive mental image. :D  Harry even makes a "poor kid" comment when Michael tells him his new son's name.

And there's the inevitable joke about "Hairy Carpenter's crack."
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Offline Sharlee

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #560 on: April 02, 2014, 04:59:28 PM »
Another couple of additions to the timeline:

- Events of Ghoul Goblin happen "weeks" after Fool Moon.  Probably not many, as there's no snow on the ground and Harry takes a dip in Lake Michigan without freezing half to death.

- Harry meets Father Forthill at some point between Ghoul Goblin and Grave Peril.  (He claims that he's never seen a ghoul before in the former, while he thanks Forthill for blessing some holy water for use against ghouls in the latter.)

I'll re-read Ghoul Goblin tonight and check again if it gets any more specific about the date.  Also there are some backstory events for other characters Harry met in that adventure, if it's appropriate to include dates for those.

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #561 on: April 02, 2014, 10:55:40 PM »
Another couple of additions to the timeline:

- Events of Ghoul Goblin happen "weeks" after Fool Moon.  Probably not many, as there's no snow on the ground and Harry takes a dip in Lake Michigan without freezing half to death.

- Harry meets Father Forthill at some point between Ghoul Goblin and Grave Peril.  (He claims that he's never seen a ghoul before in the former, while he thanks Forthill for blessing some holy water for use against ghouls in the latter.)

I'll re-read Ghoul Goblin tonight and check again if it gets any more specific about the date.  Also there are some backstory events for other characters Harry met in that adventure, if it's appropriate to include dates for those.

Great catch, thanks!  I'll add it to the timeline.

Offline Sharlee

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #562 on: April 02, 2014, 11:47:09 PM »
1917, Cairo - British Major Archibald Talbot antagonizes a trio of Egyptian-looking men at a cafe, incurring a curse upon his bloodline that will make his descendants prey to all manner of supernatural predators.  Two weeks later, he disappears.

1920 - Major Talbot's mummified remains are delivered to the British Museum, without explanation.

1946 - One of Major Talbot's grandchildren is found burned to death outside his fire-destroyed house.  It's unclear if the fire killed him, as he'd returned home from World War II with an inexplicable aversion to sunlight.

30 years before Ghoul Goblin, Sheriff Dagget is elected to his position in Boone Mill, which he'll hold without interruption until Ghoul Goblin.

1987 - Cynthia Cedar becomes a junior attache to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

1988 - Exploring ancient crypts as a tourist, Cynthia Cedar and her local guide are attacked by animated mummies.  The pair are saved by the guide's Qarin -- a guardian angel-like jinn -- which transports Cynthia safely back to her residence, and remains with her as her secret lover until Ghoul Goblin.

15 years before Ghoul Goblin, Cynthia Cedar is elected Mayor of Boone Mill, a position she'll hold for the next decade and a half.

"Weeks" after Fool Moon, Harry encounters and wounds (possibly kills) a humanoid fish-creature in Lake Michigan, which he fails to identify.  Two days later, sheriff's deputy Prescott Tremaine hires him to look into two mysterious deaths in Boone Mill, Missouri.

During Ghoul Goblin, Bob complains that he hasn't been "out" of his skull for almost a year.

During Ghoul Goblin, Harry has his first encounter with a ghoul in Boone Mill.  (Probably also his first encounters with a goblin, a naga, or a qarin, but it's not specified as such.)

Three of the five Talbots of the current generation are killed during the Ghoul Goblin investigation, and Mayor Cedar's qarin lover forfeits his power and freedom to protect the youngest two.  Griswald the goblin and Ambre the ghoul are destroyed.  Harry Dresden utilizes the qarin's parting gift of power to end the bloodline curse, sparing Ella and TJ from their siblings' fate.  Mayor Cedar and Prescott Tremaine assume responsibility for the two young Talbots' upbringing.

---

That seems to be it, where dates from GG are concerned.

Note that there's one obvious dating discrepancy in the Ghoul Goblin comic: at one point, Deputy Tremaine says that Mayor Cedar was elected in '98, which contradicts Cedar's own remark that she's been running the town for 15 years.  As other commentary suggests that she ran for office very soon after returning from Egypt, it seems likely that this is a math error: Butcher must've subtracted 15 from the year when he wrote Ghoul Goblin, temporarily forgetting that it was set shortly after Fool Moon and thus, needed to be backdated a bit.


Offline Quantus

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #563 on: April 07, 2014, 01:34:02 PM »
Note that there's one obvious dating discrepancy in the Ghoul Goblin comic: at one point, Deputy Tremaine says that Mayor Cedar was elected in '98, which contradicts Cedar's own remark that she's been running the town for 15 years.  As other commentary suggests that she ran for office very soon after returning from Egypt, it seems likely that this is a math error: Butcher must've subtracted 15 from the year when he wrote Ghoul Goblin, temporarily forgetting that it was set shortly after Fool Moon and thus, needed to be backdated a bit.
Was the context specifically about the position of Mayor, or could Cedar have been referring to general Influence over the town rather than the actual elected position?
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Offline Tami Seven

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #564 on: April 07, 2014, 05:15:07 PM »
Was the context specifically about the position of Mayor, or could Cedar have been referring to general Influence over the town rather than the actual elected position?

My take was that it was an elected position right from the get-go. And Sharlee is right, there are noticeable dating discrepancies in Ghoul Goblin. Putting it into the Timeline has to take those discrepancies into account.
War Cry -
"Thomas doesn't fight back, not even for an instant. In the end, it's not common sense that pulls me back from the brink, or even fear of being devoured by the Shoggoth....It's the look of unshakeable trust in my Brother's eyes, even as my hands tighten around his throat."

Offline Sharlee

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #565 on: April 10, 2014, 06:18:54 PM »
Oh, one more I spotted:

~30 years before Dead Beat: Collin Murphy saves rookie CPD officer Rawlins from an unspecified supernatural creature in a dark alley, killing it with a shotgun full of rock salt.

Offline Sharlee

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #566 on: April 10, 2014, 06:26:09 PM »
Was the context specifically about the position of Mayor, or could Cedar have been referring to general Influence over the town rather than the actual elected position?

Considering Boone Mill's apparent size, it doesn't seem like the sort of place to have a very complicated political hierarchy.  Possibly if Cedar had owned most of the town, she might justifiably be able to claim she'd been "running" it before being elected, but it's pretty clear that the elder Talbot brother is Boone Mill's top employer and richest resident, not her.

BTW, I disregarded the blurb at the beginning of Ghoul Goblin that says it's "months" since Fool Moon, as the lack of snow on the ground makes it clear it's not winter yet.  It's not part of the actual story anyway, just an out-of-verse update for the readers, so I think we should write it off as another Covers Always Lie goof, like Harry's nonexistent hat.

Offline Quantus

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #567 on: April 10, 2014, 06:58:04 PM »
Considering Boone Mill's apparent size, it doesn't seem like the sort of place to have a very complicated political hierarchy.  Possibly if Cedar had owned most of the town, she might justifiably be able to claim she'd been "running" it before being elected, but it's pretty clear that the elder Talbot brother is Boone Mill's top employer and richest resident, not her.

BTW, I disregarded the blurb at the beginning of Ghoul Goblin that says it's "months" since Fool Moon, as the lack of snow on the ground makes it clear it's not winter yet.  It's not part of the actual story anyway, just an out-of-verse update for the readers, so I think we should write it off as another Covers Always Lie goof, like Harry's nonexistent hat.
Where is Boone mill located?  I lots of the country Winter does not equal consistent snow.  Especially since Summer gained the upper hand and caused Global Warming  ;)
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Offline Serack

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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #568 on: April 10, 2014, 07:02:04 PM »
Oh, one more I spotted:

~30 years before Dead Beat: Collin Murphy saves rookie CPD officer Rawlins from an unspecified supernatural creature in a dark alley, killing it with a shotgun full of rock salt.

NICE!
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Re: Dresden Files: Series Timeline
« Reply #569 on: April 11, 2014, 06:05:39 AM »
Oh, one more I spotted:

~30 years before Dead Beat: Collin Murphy saves rookie CPD officer Rawlins from an unspecified supernatural creature in a dark alley, killing it with a shotgun full of rock salt.

Oh, nice call!  Added!