ChicagowizardHarry Dresden riposte for moremagicalmayhem in Peace Talks , the latest in fantasy authorJim Butcher’sDresden Files serial publication , which marks its 20th anniversary this class . At long last there ’s some hope that the supernatural conflict that’ve been deplume the metropolis apart might be settle — but will it last ?
Here ’s the al-Qur’an laggard — debuting exclusively on io9 today — compose , directed , and co - produced by Priscilla Spencer , work alongside Butcher . It star Jason Bernardo as Harry Dresden , Sarah Flannery as Karrin Murphy , Christopher Showerman as John Marcone , and Birgit Ludemann as Lara Raith . Butcher fans will definitely want to watch until the final stage for a big reveal ( plus , bonusSpider - Manjoke ) .
Yep , Dresden ’s already got another adventure forrader of him — titled Battle Ground , which indicate perhaps those Peace Talks wo n’t go the direction he ’d opt . Want more ? Butcher will be doing a Q&A with Spencer at 12:30 p.m. todayon his website , and you also canfollow him on Twitterand followhis news Twitterfor more Dresden Files exclusives . to boot , Spencer will be compiling chemical reaction television to the Peace Talks trailer from fans , so if you ’re so inclined , you’re able to send your magazine to[email protected]for potential cellular inclusion .
A crop of the cover of Peace Talks by Jim ButcherImage: Ace
Battle Ground is out September 29 ( October 1 in the UK ) , while Peace Talks arrives July 14 — but you do n’t have to waitress any longer to dip into Dresden ’s late . io9 has the first chapter of Peace Talks for you right here ( keep your eyes peeled for the Yoda trick ) .
https://gizmodo.com/spring-is-almost-here-and-march-is-overflowing-with-ne-1841865276
Chapter One
My brother destroy a perfectly safe run by saying , “ Justine is pregnant . ”
That kicked me completely out of my genial geographical zone , and abruptly I became cognizant of the burning in my legs , my expectant breathing . I dropped out of gear and bit by bit slowed down until I was walking . In the blue brightness of July predawn , Montrose Beach was defect . It was n’t hot yet . That ’s why I was up at oh - God - thirty .
Thomas slowed down , too , until we were walking side by side . His benighted whisker was pulled back into a ponytail . Like me , he wear an erstwhile T - shirt , sweatpants , and fink . He was one of those men who were so thoroughly - calculate that it made people check off around to see if they were being pranked .
He was also a vampire .
“ Let me get this right . You cull me up this morning , ” I said . “ We come all the elbow room down here . We did six mi in the sand and neither of us say a word . The whole city is still and quiet . We ’ve barely seen a moving motorcar . ”
“ Yeah ? ” Thomas asked .
I scowled . “ So why ’d you have to go and ruin it ? ”
His mouth twinge at the quoin . “ bad to scotch your gentleman’s gentleman clip , there , Hemingway . ”
“ Nnngh , ” I said . We had attain the end of our last lap and were almost back to the cars anyway . I stopped and turned toward the lake and breathed . The weighted singlet I was wearing twitch at something on my articulatio humeri , curb its movement , and I drift it irritably .
Far out over the lake , the blue sky had begin to lighten . Sunrise would be soon .
“ You sure ? ” I ask .
“ Very , ” he articulate .
I glanced aside at him . The ideal symmetry of his face was stretched tight with latent hostility . His eyes , which were sometimes blue , usually grey , were touch toward reflective silver grey . I knew the spirit . He was Hungry .
“ How did that go on ? ” I asked him .
He looked by at me without turning his head and elevate his eyebrows . “ Did no one ever have this talk with you ? ”
I scowl . “ I mean , were n’t you careful ? ”
“ Yes , ” Thomas said . “ And my variety are all but unfertile to boot . Happened anyway . ”
“ What come about now ? ”
“ The common , mostly . Except that the baby ’s Hunger will draw life energy from Justine . She ’s going to be fed upon continuously for the next seven and a half months . ”
I studied him . “ Is that life-threatening ? ”
He swallow . “ According to the family record , just over fifty per centum either do n’t hold up the delivery or pop off shortly after . ”
“ Hell ’s bells , ” I allege . I kept staring out at the water . Blue had given way to light blue and then to the first wash of Au . Chicago was starting to wake up around us . The burble of racket from the freeways had set out to escalate by tiresome degree . Birds in the sanctuary at the terminal of the beach were start to sing .
“ I do n’t screw what to do , ” Thomas tell . “ If I lose her . . . ”
He did n’t continue . He did n’t have to . There was a existence of botheration lodge in in that ellipsis .
“ You ’ll be all right , ” I say . “ I ’ll help . ”
“ You ? ” Thomas asked . A feeble smiling lighten up his visibility for a instant .
“ I ’ll have you know I ’ve been a full - sentence dad for well over a month , and Maggie is n’t utter yet . I clearly have excited parenting skills . ”
The smile faded . “ Right . But . . . Harry . . . ”
I put my paw on his shoulder . “ Do n’t borrow trouble , ” I said . “ There ’s peck of that going around without await for more of it . She needs taking care of . So whatever needs to bump , we ’ll do it . ”
He gaze at me for a tacit moment and nod once .
“ Meanwhile , ” I said , “ you should believably focus on taking care of yourself so you could be there for her . ”
“ I ’m fine , ” he said , waving one hand .
“ You do n’t appear ok . ”
That made him hitch his head toward me and glare . The expression alter him . of a sudden he look less like a human being and more like something carve from marble . tempestuous , tempestuous marble . I felt my shoulder tense up in the presence of a brute I knew was genuinely life-threatening .
He glared at me , but he had to look up to do it . My older brother is right around six feet tall , but I ’m six nine . unremarkably , I have a commanding advantage when look down at him . Today , I had less than usual , since I was bear in a depression in the sand .
His voice was cool . “ pass on it , Harry . ”
“ If I do n’t , ” I demand , “ are you gon na punch me ? ”
He scowled at me .
“ Because you be intimate . I ’m all Captain Winter now . It might not go the way you take up it would . ”
He sneer . “ Please . I ’d hogtie you with your viscera . ”
I squint at him . Then I spoke carefully and slowly . “ If you do n’t take care of yourself and act like a reasonable mortal , ” I say , “ maybe we ’ll find out . ”
He scowled and begin to talk , his facial expression darkening .
“ No , ” I said simply . “ No , you do n’t get to do that . You do n’t get to go into an emo vampire angst spiral over this . Because that ’s selfish , and you ca n’t afford to think that way . Not any longer . ”
He stare at me for a while , his expression furious , then thoughtful , then disquieted .
wave rolled in on the beach .
“ I have to mean of them , ” he articulate .
“ Good man would , ” I say .
His grey-haired eye stare out at the lake . “ Everything is give way to change , ” he enjoin .
“ Yeah . ”
“ I ’m frightened , ” he say .
Something in his body terminology relaxed , and suddenly he was just my brother again . “ I ’m sorry , ” he suppose . “ That I got edgy . I . . . do n’t wish to talk vampire stuff and nonsense with you . ”
“ You ’d rather pretend we were just normal brothers , with normal problem , ” I said .
“ Would n’t you ? ” he asked .
I squinted down at my feet for a while . “ possibly . But you ca n’t ignore things that are real just because they ’re uncomfortable . I ’ll sit on you and make you take aid of yourself if I have to . But it ’s probably better for them if you do it . ”
He nod . “ Probably . I have a root in mind , ” he said . “ I ’ll work on it . Good enough ? ”
I raised both of my hands , palms out . “ I ’m not your papa , ” I enounce . Then it was my turn to frown . “ Your dad ’s side of the family lead to be an issue ? ”
“ When are n’t they an issue ? ”
“ Heh , ” I said . Silence stretched . Over the lake , the sky began to swell with the first faint banding of deep orange . It had already get to the skyscrapers behind us . The light moved steady down the buildings ’ incline .
“ Sometimes , ” Thomas said , “ I hate what I am . I detest being me . ”
“ Maybe it ’s sentence to work on that , ” I said to him . “ Is n’t really the variety of thing you require to teach to a little kid . ”
He glowered at me . Then he aver , “ When the infernal region did you get mystifying ? ”
“ Through experience , wisdom I have earned , ” I said in Yoda ’s representative . But it tickled my throat weirdly and made me start coughing . I look at with that for prospicient than I should have needed to and was straighten up again when Thomas said , his note of a sudden slopped , “ Harry . ”
I look up to see a young man approaching us .
Carlos Ramirez was of average height , mayhap of a little more than average muscle . He was filling out , get that solid grownup feeling to him , though for some reason I still ask to see a gangly Thomas Kid in his other twenties whenever I saw him . He ’d develop his dark whisker out longer . His tegument was bronze from dip and the Sunday . He walked with difficulty , limping and leaning on a boneheaded cane carved with symbols — his sorcerer ’s staff . He wore jeans and a tank top and a unaccented crownwork . Ramirez was unanimous , a proven fighter , a dear Isle of Man to have at your back , and was one of a very few people on the White Council of Wizardry whom I considered a friend .
“ Harry , ” he said . He nodded warily at Thomas . “ Raith . ”
My brother nod back . “ Been a while . ”
“ Since the oceanic abyss , ” Ramirez agreed .
“ Carlos , ” I said . “ How ’s your back ? ”
“ I know when it ’s going to rain now , ” he said , flashing me a spry grin . “ Wo n’t be dance much for a while . But I wo n’t overleap that damned chair . ”
He held up a hand . I bumped fists with him . “ What brings you out from the coast ? ”
“ Council business , ” he say .
Thomas nod and say , “ I ’ll go . ”
“ No need , ” Ramirez said . “ This is going public this morning . McCoy thought it would be good for someone you have it away to tell you , Harry . ”
I grunt and unfastened the damned angle singlet . White Council line of work , typically , give me a headache . “ What is it this prison term ? ”
“ Peace talks , ” Ramirez say .
I arched an eyebrow . “ What , badly ? With the Fomor ? ”
The supernatural world had been kind of topsy - turvy of late . Some madcap had superintend to wipe out the Red Court of Vampires completely , and the resulting vacuum had destabilized balances of power that were centuries old . The biggest resolution of the chaos was that the Fomor , an undersea magnate scarce anyone had speak about during my lifetime , had go up up with a retribution , taking territory from various powers and work havoc on ordinary humans — mostly the poor , migrator , people without many hotshot to resist for them .
“ A convocation of the Unseelie Accord signatories , ” Ramirez sustain . “ Every major power is get along to the meeting . obviously , the Fomor requested it . They want to break up our differences . Everyone ’s sending congressman . ”
I whistle . That would be something . A gathering of influential members of the outstanding major power in the supernatural world , in a time where stress were high and temper hot . I feel for the poor town where that little dinner party was run short to take place . In fact . . .
I feel my mouth open . “ Wait . They ’re doing it here ? Here ? In Chicago ? ”
Ramirez shrugged . “ Yeah , that ’s why McCoy direct me to recite you . ”
“ Whose dazed estimation was that ? ” I postulate .
“ That ’s the other understanding McCoy send me , ” Ramirez said , grinning . “ The local big businessman offered his hospitality . ”
“ Marcone ? ” I exact . Gentleman Johnnie Marcone , former robber mogul of Chicago ’s turnout , was now Baron Marcone , the only vanilla human being to sign the Unseelie Accords . He ’d wangle that a few years ago , and he ’d been build his great power base ever since .
“ That stunt he pull with Mab this bounce , ” I said , scowling .
Ramirez shrug and spread out his hand . “ Marcone maneuvered Nicodemus Archleone into a corner and took everything he had , without snap off a single one of the bylaws of the Accords . Say what you will about the man , but he ’s competent . It impressed a lot of people . ”
“ Yeah , ” I allege darkly . “ That was all him . Tell me that the Council does n’t require me to be our emissary . ”
Ramirez twinkle . “ Wait , what ? Oh . . . oh God , no , Harry . I entail . . . no . Just no . ”
My brother covered up his lip with one hand and coughed . I opt to ignore the wrinkle at the recess of his optic .
Ramirez cleared his pharynx before continuing . “ But they will gestate you to be the Council ’s liaison with Winter , if need , and to allow for security for the Senior Council members in attendance . Everyone will be transmit themselves under invitee - right field , but they ’ll all bring their own muscle , too . ”
“ Trust but affirm , ” I sound out . I took off the weighted vest with disgust and thresh it onto the beach . It made an exceedingly weighty thumping when it hit .
Ramirez arched an brow . “ Christ , Harry . How much does that affair weigh ? ”
“ Two - twenty , ” I reply .
He shook his header . His reflection , for a second , was probing and pensive . I ’d learned to recognize the look — that “ I wonder if Harry Dresden is still Harry Dresden or if the Queen of Air and Darkness has wrick him into her personal freak ” feeling .
I get that one a mint these days . Sometimes in the mirror .
I looked down at my pes again and meditate the ground . I could see it better as the sun grow nearer the sensible horizon .
“ You sure the Senior Council wants me to be on the security team ? ” I asked .
Ramirez nodded unwaveringly . “ I ’m heading it up . They told me I could pick my own team . I ’m pick you . I require you there . ”
“ Where you may more easily keep an oculus on him , ” Thomas murmured .
Ramirez grin and incline his read/write head . “ Maybe . Or perhaps I just want to see some more building burn down . ” He nod to me and order , “ Harry . I ’ll be in touch . ”
I nodded back . “ ripe to see you , ’ Los . ”
“ Raith , ” Ramirez say .
“ Warden Ramirez , ” my brother answered .
Ramirez shambled off , leaning on his cane , move without much grace but with considerable free energy .
“ Well , ” Thomas articulate . He see Ramirez depart , and his eyes narrowed in idea . “ It look like I ’d well get move . Things are going to get complicated . ”
“ You do n’t do it that , ” I pronounce . “ Maybe it ’ll be a squeamish dinner , and everyone will let the cat out of the bag ‘ Kumbaya ’ together . ”
He eyed me .
I appear down at my feet again and pronounce , “ Yeah . perhaps not . ”
He snort , clapped my arm , and start out walking back to the car without saying anything further . I knew he ’d expect for me .
Once he was gone , I maltreat out of the depression in the sand and picked up my weighted singlet . Then I turned and take it as the Sunday began to come up in businesslike and I could last see clearly .
I ’d been standing in a humanoid footmark .
It was well over three feet prospicient .
Once I looked , I ascertain that there was a line of them , with several yards stretch out between each one and the next . The blood line led toward the water . The rising lakeshore breeze was already beginning to obnubilate the footprints ’ outlines .
Maybe their appearance was a complete coincidence .
Yeah . mayhap not .
I sling the weighted vest over my shoulder and started trudge back to the railroad car . I had that subside tactile sensation that things were about to get hectic again .
Excerpt from Jim Butcher ’s Peace Talks reprinted by permission . Copyright Ace .
Peace Talks , book 16 in the Dresden Files serial publication , is out July 14 ; Battle Ground , book 17 , is out September 29 ( October 1 in the UK ) . you could pre - decree bothright here .
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