| Title | : | Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 045146379X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780451463791 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 481 |
| Publication | : | First published July 26, 2011 |
| Awards | : | Goodreads Choice Award Paranormal Fantasy and for Goodreads Author (2011) |
But being dead doesn't stop him when his friends are in danger. Except now he has no body, and no magic to help him. And there are also several dark spirits roaming the Chicago shadows who owe Harry some payback of their own.
To save his friends—and his own soul—Harry will have to pull off the ultimate trick without any magic...
Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13) Reviews
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Ghost Story feels like a volume to reboot the series before it enter a new story arc, or the next season, in the life of Harry Dresden.
“It was never too late to learn something. The past is unalterable in any event. The future is the only thing we can change. Learning the lessons of the past is the only way to shape the present and the future.”
It is not an easy task to write a follow-up to Changes, and I have a slightly pessimistic outlook on how Butcher will write a single installment for the series that’s as good—or better—as Changes. I’ve heard spectacular things about Skin Game, though, so I’ll be keeping my hopeful heart in check for that one. As for this book, I’ve heard a lot of discouraging things about Ghost Story from fans of the series, some even called it THE worst book of the series, and that terrified me because Fool Moon—the second book in the series—almost pushed me off from continuing with the series. I shudder at the thought of reading a book in the series that’s more inferior than that. But as it turns out, I found that Ghost Story was still pretty good.
“I always considered myself a loner.
I mean, not like a poor-me, Byron-esque, I-should-have-brought-a-swimming-buddy loner. I mean the sort of person who doesn’t feel too upset about the prospect of a weekend spent seeing no one, and reading good books on the couch. It wasn’t like I was a people hater or anything. I enjoyed activities and the company of friends. But they were a side dish. I always thought I would be happy without them.”
I do think it’s understandable, though, why some readers found Ghost Story, the thirteenth book in the series, so disappointing. Although murder mystery and whodunit were still at the essence of the plotline, Ghost Story felt like a different kind of book, whether that’s for good or worse, it’s up to you to decide. After all the destruction that happened at the end of Changes, it’s not a surprise that the focus on this book is targeted towards Molly, Murphy, and the side characters more than Harry. I did enjoy reading Harry’s background with Justin DuMorne very much, but it was Harry’s feelings towards his companions and vice versa that really made the book for me.
“Doing nothing is difficult. Once you aren’t busy, your head starts chewing things over. Dark, bleak thoughts appear. You start to think about what your life means.”
Ghost Story featured a lot of introspective moments, and I loved it. As I repeatedly said, more than the action scenes and practically everything else in the series, I love The Dresden Files for the characters and the continuous—though relatively slow—progress in their development. The action scenes in this book, unlike Changes, unfortunately, returned to that “too long for its own good” phase. The revelation behind the murder mystery was done well, in my opinion, but the actions that led up to it became quite boring quickly.
“Courage is about learning how to function despite the fear, to put aside your instincts to run or give in completely to the anger born from fear. Courage is about using your brain and your heart when every cell of your body is screaming at your to fight or flee - and then following through on what you believe is the right thing to do.”
I highly enjoyed reading Ghost Story. Although the tone of the book was the bleakest so far, the narrative was filled with heartfelt, sad, and at the same time, hopeful moments to counter it. Feel free to ignore my criticisms of the longevity of the action scenes; it is a recurring issue for me with this series, and I have a good feeling I’m on a very unpopular opinion side on this notion. Argh, I can’t believe I only have three—soon to be four—published books in the series to read. I am both excited and sad. I will embrace Cold Days within the next two weeks!
“Pain isn’t a lot of fun, at least not for most folks, but it is utterly unique to life. Pain — physical, emotional, and otherwise — is the shadow cast by everything you want out of life, the alternative to the result you were hoping for, and the inevitable creator of strength. From the pain of our failures we learn to be better, stronger, greater than what we were before. Pain is there to tell us when we’ve done something badly—it’s a teacher, a guide, one that is always there to both warn us of our limitations and challenge us to overcome them.
For something no one likes, pain does us a whole hell of a lot of good.”
Picture: Ghost Story by Vincent Chong
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Six months after his death, Harry Dresden returns to Chicago to solve his own murder. Can he keep his friends safe in the process?
I've got a lot to say about this. I'll cover the good points first.
The Good: Having a ghost come back to solve his own murder isn't a new idea but Butcher did a fairly good job with it here. The supporting cast, Molly in particular, developed quite a bit in Harry's absence. The new character of Fitz has potential, as does Mortimer, who I don't particularly remember. The intrigue with the faerie court is always a plus.
The Bad: I just can't stand Harry Dresden any more. He's like that friend you thought was hilarious in the sixth grade but wanted to strangle by the time you got out of high school. He's an unfunny smart ass with a "funny" quip for every situation. Worse yet, 70% of the characters in the series talk just like him. His Star Wars references are really tired and he's had no significant character development since the series began.
The Ugly: There comes a time in many relationships to call it quits. Harry Dresden, for us, that day is today. There was a time when the release of a new Harry Dresden book excited me like a pedophile at a pre-teen beauty pageant. I'd snap up the newest book and go after it like Amy Winehouse and a vial of crack. But those days are long gone. I've been going through the motions for the last couple of books and it just isn't working for me anymore. I keep hoping things will get better but they don't. The tediousness continues and I'm ready to move on. -
So. Good.
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I love Harry. I love Bob. I love Molly. I love the new and improved Butters. I loved seeing Daniel Carpenter. I love this series. It just is such a comfort read for me. I had forgotten how much I love this series until I started to read this book. The mystery and quest were interesting and unlike much urban fantasy, it was unique – nothing I have read before. Maybe a little of Harry Potter, but I am okay with that. One of the things that is so fantastic about this series is that there are consequences. Consequences to dying, consequences to losing loved ones, and consequences to killing. Harry is self reflective and looks back on his actions – he considers what he should have done and questions his own actions. He has regret.
This is such a rich, beautiful story. Action – of course there is action, but now too much. Some of the Dresden books have too much action in my opinion, but this one has a great balance. Some of the characters reactions to situations frustrated me, but they were reacting in a very human way. I also enjoy how Butcher revisits past baddies. In most books, the baddies die and everything is solved and the heroes move on to their next quest. Not in this world. In this world, it isn’t that the baddies don’t die, but there are reverberations – so that past decisions to take out the bad guys or remove them have caused new problems to arise.
Butcher has gotten better at describing Chicago, but I still saw some factual inaccuracies that drive my crazy. For example, when he was examining a priest’s night table he notes that one of the only earthly goods the priest owns is a King James bible, but Catholics don’t read the King James bible and in fact the Catholic bible is slightly different than the protestant bible. Minor, but I am shocked an editor or Butcher didn’t catch this. I just like being immersed in a story but when there is a glaring factual error, it takes me out of the story. However, I loved this story so much I am still giving it 5 stars.
*****
More New Updates:!!!! woohooo!!!!!!
Our GHOST STORY preview continues with Chapter 3!
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dres...
If you missed last week's post, you can check them out here:
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dres...
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dres...
We'll be posting 5 chapters in all over the coming weeks, plus video of Jim reading chapters 1-4 at the NYCC Fan Dinner last October!
**
With a little over a month remaining until GHOST STORY's release, it's time for some sample chapters!
Chapter 1:
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dres...
Chapter 2:
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dres...
In all, we’ll be posting five sample chapters, plus bonus audio of Jim reading the first four chapters at the NY Comic Con Fan Dinner! (NOTE: You should definitely read the text version before listening to Jim read. He was reading from an earlier draft, and some aspects have changed slightly.) They will be posted on the following schedule:
June 28th: Chapter 3
July 5th: Chapter 4, plus the audio for 1 and 2.
July 12th: Chapter 5, plus the audio for 3 and 4.
July 26th: Release day!
You can pre-order GHOST STORY from our store or through the Virtual Signing, which now also includes the DFRPG!
Our Store:
http://www.jim-butcher.com/store
The Virtual Signing:
http://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2011...
Also, don't forget that the Virtual Signing for Codex Alera map posters ends on June 28th, just over a week away! If you want a map signed by Jim and Priscilla, the artist, get your pre-order in soon.
http://priscellie.com/store/
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pag...
You can also download GHOST STORY desktop wallpaper here:
http://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2011...
In the month leading up to the July 26th release, we'll have even more GHOST STORY goodies for you, here at Jim-Butcher.com. In all, we'll be posting five sample chapters, plus bonus audio of Jim reading the first four chapters at the NY Comic Con Fan Dinner! It will be posted on the following schedule:
June 21: Chapter 2
June 28: Chapter 3
July 5th: Chapter 4, plus the audio for 1 and 2.
July 12th: Chapter 5, plus the audio for 3 and 4.
July 26th: Release day!
*********************New release date -- July 26, 2011
Following an in-interview announcement by Jim at MarsCon over the weekend, we’ve updated the site to reflect the new release date for Ghost Story: July 26, 2011.
Said Jim (paraphrased): “It came down to, readers could either get a half-assed story in April, or a full-assed one in July!” -
Honestly.. it did feel like a filler book. I didn't know what to expect from this book except for the major spoiler I learned a couple of books before starting this one. Sure stuff happens but barely any progress takes place. My main issue was
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Freaking bananas amazing.
Utterly brilliant, perfectly done, with a flawless audiobook narration, the best I've ever heard from
James Marsters.
One of the reasons that this book was narrated so flawlessly, I think, is that it was very recently re-done by Marsters after fans revolted when originally another narrator read this story. Marsters brought his A-game, and listening to this book was better than watching any movie. Marsters did an incredible range of voices, read with perfect inflections, and simply RUINED me for other narrators.
It was so good that I listened to almost 18 hours of audiobook in just under 3 days. Picture that, my friends.
The story... I have no words. Just flawless, woven brilliantly, and crafted expertly.
I bow down to you, oh
Jim Butcher, for creating something so magical for me to enjoy. -
This was a very uneven book, with lots of filler material. Harry lives to fight again. It's as if he never left. It's as if we're back to square one. Shoot, Jim Butcher has officially exhausted any permutations of wisdom that used to guarantee 5 stars from me. This book... such a bland book with a sugary end tacked on. One piece of advice to demanding readers; you'll enjoy the rest of this series only if you lower your expectations as much as you can.
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Even though writing is a singular task, with an author slaving away (bleeding if we listen to Hemingway) in front of a keyboard, it is also very much a collaboration – besides assistants, the writer may likely gain insight and critical input from editors, publishers, agents, fans, friends, and family. Besides his or her own personal muse there is also the influence of peers, critics and the audience. There is also the nebulous and sundry inspirations from literature, art and pop culture.
Somewhere between the publication of the eleventh book on the Dresden Files,
Turn Coat in 2009 and Butcher’s twelfth book,
Changes, in 2010, there must have been a very important, persuasive, series changing discussion or dialogue. What had been a fun but somewhat formulaic series up to Turn Coat became a thought provoking and bold, genre defining series in Changes and those paradigm shifts continue in spades in Butcher’s LUCKY thirteen novel in the Dresden Files – Ghost Story.
There is such a distinction between this work and those that precede it, a reviewer will have a difficult time appraising without laying down mines of spoilers for unwary but interested readers.
Let’s just say that Harry’s perspective is wildly altered and he’s operating with radically different magic rules.
I had, after reading Changes, opined that it was the best Dresden novel to date. And I stand by that declaration, until you read Ghost Story, which I now see as the best.
Butcher has Harry confront a panoply of complications largely without the aid of his magic. Dresden is a man of action and has frequently been able to fix problems with the brute force of his will and spells. In Ghost Story we see Harry operating from the shadows, very much out of his element and Butcher rises to the narrative challenge by laying down a tight, well written paranormal thriller.
Dresden fans will get lots of action and will see many of the recurring characters of the series. Most noteworthy is Butcher’s dynamic portrayal of Molly Carpenter and a fresh look at Butters and Morty Lindquist.
So good I want to watch old Patrick Swayze films and start the next one.
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Okay...so I'm a Dresden junkie. I got the book yesterday and finished it (this time LOL) at 1:30 this morning.
The book picks up pretty much as the last book ends and.....****************** NOTE: THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE LAST BOOK, CHANGES. I WILL BE ASSUMING THAT IF YOU ARE READING GHOST STORY YOU HAVE READ CHANGES...........
Okay, as I was saying, the book picks up pretty much as the last book (Changes) ends, though time doesn't run in death as it does here.
Don't ask me, I don't know why.
Harry having died is probably a little relieved that he might get to lay back and "rest in peace" (though his ultimate after-life disposition does concern him a bit). He's still a little preoccupied about leading everyone who cares/cared about him on what seemed pretty much a suicide mission...oh and murdering his child's mother. But hey everyone has a bad day now and then right?
Unfortunately upon arriving at "Between" (that's apparently "between life and death" though Harry never really gets a straight answer to that either.), Harry finds that he's not moving on to anything as simple and restful as hell, no there were..."irregularities" about his death.
So what else is new for Harry? Should he (or for that matter we) have been surprised or expected anything else?
Anyone who's read many of my posts knows that I am a Jim Butcher fan. And while there could be said to be some "issues" with the books it says something that none of them are "deal-breakers" for me. (For example, don't get your theology from novels...) I have read all these books (and most of the Codex Alera books, a few of those still to go). I snap up the Dresden books as soon as I can, and I recommend them. There will always be a matter of taste with any book or series of books. I enjoy Mr. Butcher's turn of phrase, I enjoy his sense of humor and I enjoy his story telling. This book has all those things and moves our main character into a situation (or set of situations) that is (are) not typical of what we've seen before.
What's good and what's not so good here? Well, on the "not so good" side there may be a bit of a feeling that things are moving a bit slowly. By that I don't mean there's a lack of action, anything but. I mean that for those of us who see the Story moving or trying to move forward there may be times that it starts to feel that we're sort of taking a couple of steps back before we move forward. (And I'm not really talking about the flashback sequences there.)Personally I thought Harry himself moved forward a bit slowly here. There were for me a few times I felt a little like I was circling, but be aware, it didn't really gripe me. The story flowed and the gaps were/are getting filled in. There is obviously a saga building. As one character says (I won't say who as that might be spoilerish) "it's one of those "it's about the journey not the destination" things".
You are going to find out a bit more about Harry's background here, get a look at a couple of things we've only seen mentioned in passing before and also begin considering things from a totally different perspective.
So...good book. Highly recommended, as a matter of fact, my highest "brain candy" recommendation.I'll list it among my favorites along with the rest of the series. I'm now awaiting the announcement of the release date for Cold Days. Pathetic huh? LOL
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Harry Dresden, wizard for hire, is dead. And he still has to save the world by discovering his killer. How is that fair?
Maybe I was dead, but I was sure as hell not ready to go. I had to make sure the people who'd helped me take on the Red King were taken care of. pgs 32-33
He quickly discovers that magic and dead people don't mix. Now, instead of taking on god-like enemies with the backing of the Winter Queen, he can't even pass through thresholds without permission.
It's frustrating for both Harry and the reader. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed reading about Harry blowing stuff up until he couldn't do it anymore.
One of the things a lot of people don't understand about magic is that the rules of how it works aren't hard-and-fast; they're fluid, changing with time, with the seasons, with location, and with the intent of a practitioner. pg 179. And if you're alive or dead.
We spend a lot of time in Harry's mind and memory in Ghost Story and less time in action. Frankly, it's not as much fun as the other books in the series.
"You have entered a new world. Your old life is no more. You cannot be a part of it any longer. The wide universe stretches before you." pg 185
I also didn't realize how much I enjoyed the give-and-take of the characters in this series until the main character couldn't interact with most of them anymore.
Ghosts who weren't supermighty manifested all the time. It wasn't a question of raw power, and it never had been — it was a matter of desire. You just had to be crazy enough to make it happen." pg 550
That being said, the ending of this book was strangely satisfying. And I cried at the part with Mouse. Overall, I'm glad I read it, but I'm not of the opinion that it was the best in the series.
I would have already started on the next book but there's a wait list for the digital copy. Library user problems, sigh. -
I can understand why Ghost Story may not have been the book that fans wanted immediately after the sucker-punch that was Changes, but I firmly believe that this is what was needed - for the fans, for the story, and for Harry. This is undoubtedly Butcher's most introspective book and with a character as fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants as Harry Dresden, the scenario we're given in Ghost Story was really the only way to force the kind of decompression needed after the emotional fallout of the last instalment.
Along with being the change of pace that was needed, I just genuinely enjoyed the character development we're given in this book. We get a more intimate glimpse into Harry's past and we can see how his presence has impacted those around him. There were some beautiful, emotional scenes that stand out in a series filled with epic moments. Bring on the next! -
If I wasn't married, I'd take this character home to meet mama and her sister.
Course, they might scare him off... -
Is it too much to say I loved this? Because I loved this book. I'm not going to spoil anything here but as different of a Dresden book as that was, it was every bit as engaging and awesome as any other since Dead Beat. This book kicked ass and gave me so much to think about post-Changes. It was a much needed breath after that insane book and while this is a little bit more of an intimate plot, it was great.
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Holey Moley! At the end of
Changes when wizard Harry Dresden is shot, I thought No, Harry can't be dead - surely Jim Butcher will find some clever way to bring him back to life. But I was very wrong, Harry is dead and in this book his ghost is sent back to Chicago to prevent the death of three of his closest friends and to find out who killed him.
The Chicago Harry is sent back to is a very different one to the one he left six months before. The vacuum he created by destroying the Red Court of vampires has been filled by malicious paranormal entities and the city has become a battleground. His friend Murphy and apprentice Molly are both riddled with guild over his death and not in a good place. As a ghost Harry has none of the powers he had in life as a wizard and has to learn how to use his spirit form to communicate with his mortal friends and to prevent being devoured by other spirits. Harry being Harry comes up with various inventive ways of helping his friends in their fight against the forces trying to control their world.
This book feels like a bridge to whatever is to come next in the series. There is less action and more introspection and reminiscing on Harry's part than in previous episodes where the action was pretty much non stop. I think in some ways that was to give Harry a sense of closure of the important things in his previous life as the end of the book suggests that the next chapter in Harry's story will be very different - but hopefully no less exciting. -
When I read this the first time in 2014, it was one of my least favorite of the series.
When I read this the second time in 2020, my opinion didn't change... still not one of my favorites. -
Another solid Dresden book! I am so invested in this series by now that I am going into withdrawals when it ends.
I have noticed in the last two novels that Butcher is starting to mix up the plot nicely. I think it is just what the storyline needed. There is always a certain pace and flow you expect, and that has begun to evolve.
"I've said before that only the dead feel no pain, but I'd never spoken from experience before. Pain used as a weapon is one thing. Personal pain, the kind that comes from just living our lives, is something else."
The characters in Ghost Story were like a whos who of past books. Not all of them where in there. But, the way they were presented was different. I can't go into detail for spoiler sake. Just take my word for it."Don't be so simple. People adore monsters. They fill their songs and stories with them. The define themselves in relation to them.....even as we curse monsters, we admire them. Seek to become them in some ways.....There are far, far worse things to be than a monster."
This installment is definitely in my top 5 of the series right now. Starting the next book, Cold Days, immediately. I hesitated on starting The Dresden Files for so long. I urge you all that are doing that now to strongly reconsider. You won't regret it!
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars -
I enjoyed Ghost Story and found it to be a decent progression in the series. Butcher continues to improve and Dresden continues to evolve. The idea of being a ghost was genius; it's interesting to see Dresden powerless, and forced to use other skills. It switches up the dynamic of the normal conflict in the series. I especially appreciated Harry taking responsibility for his decisions to involve Molly in his fanatical fight against the Red Court. Still too many red herrings, but it's a relief to have a few major points resolved.
I'm sure I have more for a review, but just don't feel I can give it justice at the moment. Quite honestly, Butcher and his alter-ego Dresden irritate me part of the time and I can't put my finger on why. -
First read: 26-30 July, 2011.
Re-read: November, 2012
Obviously, someone who's read this far in the series is a fan. For anyone unfamiliar with Dresden, this is not the book to start with. There are lots of fascinating, cool, poignant, and funny things about this book I could go on and on about, but if you've read the book, you already know about them. I've put a spoiler-cloak on this because of the one major plot point I am going to mention, just in case someone who isn't up to speed yet is surfing reviews.
Butcher didn't disappoint me. While the "mostly dead" plot can drive me crazy at times, it's crafted well here. I kept turning the pages, eager to see how it would all turn out and sometimes wondering if Butcher really was going to sucker punch us, after all. As I (and, no doubt, tons of other fans) always suspected, Butcher could not let the plotline of Harry becoming Winter Knight go to waste. I figured either Lea or Mab would save Harry, and it turned out to be Mab. The why of Harry's shooting, however, turned out to be much more amazing than the who or the how.
It was great to see so many recurring characters again, interacting in new ways. In particular, Molly, Murphy, and Butters had me both impressed and worried.
Butcher has such a way with the narrative voice. After 13 novels, 1 book of short stories, and a graphic novel, it's almost as if Harry is someone I know, talking to me. He is one of my all-time favourite fictional characters now--flawed, noble, sweet, goofy, damaged, angry, funny, clever, complex. I really enjoyed the backstory in this one, about Harry's childhood and teenage years. All the humour and pop culture references are so much fun for us SFF geeks, too, on top of Butcher's clever use of various aspects of legend and myth.
The Dresdenverse has become a much different place since the events of Changes, and there is a lot of potential for fascinating new plots. I look forward to continuing the journey.
I'm also going to re-read Changes and Ghost Story back-to-back to look closely at how they fit together before the release of the next book.
On the second reading (6-21 November, 2012), I do think Changes and Ghost Story flow together well. -
This is the first Dresden book not narrated by James Marsters. I don’t mind the new guy (I think he even went out of his way to match Marsters’s character voices), but by this point James Marsters IS Harry Dresden. Farewell, dear performer.
For much of this book, it felt like it would be the last Dresden book. But now I see there are at least two more. So the last book ended with Harry in quite a pickle. Despite his “condition,” he’s given a quest.
Harry neglects the quest for most of the book, focusing more on a grand search-and-rescue mission. There are also a lot of flashback memories for Harry, and so a lot of the book felt slow to me. But it’s a must-read in the Dresden Files and sheds more light on the events of the previous book.
Despite the book’s overall somber tone, I got some nerdy chuckles out of it:
“There are two kinds of people in the universe, Molly,” I said. “Star Trek fans and Star Wars fans. This is shocking.”
She sniffed. “This is the post-nerd-closet world, Harry. It’s okay to like both.”
“Blasphemy and lies,” I said.
I guessed the Corpsetaker had never read Tolkien. Tasteless bitch.
“What kind of idiot are you?” Butters replied. “I might as well put on a red shirt and volunteer for the away team.”
It would require a singularly stupid man to go hang around in narrow tunnels and cramped spaces alongside a threat like that. “And I, Harry Dresden, am that man,” I stated.
I mean, go figure. You prepare your home for an assault and you don’t take zombies into consideration. I’d fallen victim to one of the other classic blunders, along with not getting involved in a land war in Asia and never going in against a Sicilian when death was on the line.
What the hell kind of Hell was this supposed to be?
Thank you, Jim Butcher, for this one:
The screen came up to light again, showing a devastated section of the city grid. No, not decimated. Had that part of the city been decimated, one out of every ten buildings would be destroyed. That’s what decimated means. Personally, I think some early-years, respected television personality got decimated and devastated confused at some point, and no one wanted to point it out to him, so everyone started using them interchangeably. But dammit, words mean what they mean, even if everyone thinks they ought to mean something else. -
I struggled to rate this book, finally deciding on 3 out of 5 stars.
I gave it three stars mainly because Ghost Story does what the other books do well. I like reading about Harry's world and the characters in it. Jim Butcher has really brought them to life in a plausible, believable world. Moreover, the action is good, and there is always a unique twist. I also liked the way Mort's character developed into a really sympathetic good guy. I also liked Molly's changes.
Unfortunately, I think my enchantment with Harry Dresden may be coming to a close. This book seemed to manifest almost everything that I've really started to dislike about the series. The author seems determined to make Harry "The One" and in this book, wow. Harry dies, fights the bad guys as a ghost, and ends up returning to life. Jeez! (Pun intended). Divine intervention by one of the main archangels is required to move the story. I was struggling to buy the line the author was selling. Outside of that, what ever happened to the Fommor? Maybe I missed it, but wasn't there a group of modified humans led by a mysterious supernatural community that was moving in on the Red Court's former territory? The Corpsetaker was allied with them. Harry & company dealt with the Corpsetaker (thanks to Mort and Molly!) but whatever happened to the Fommor? (To be fair, I may have missed it as I struggled at points in the book).
Long story short, if you like Harry, you'll probably be okay with the book. If not, it might be too much. Just my two cents. -
Hey, I have a new booktube (youtube for book reviews) channel and mentioned the Dresden Files in my
Top 10 Spooky Reads Not Stephen King here. I hope you enjoy! Please subscribe if you do, thanks!
As usual, these later installments are really great, up the ante, and clearly show some great plotting/writing/everything you want to see in a wizard PI urban fantasy. The only exception this time is that it didn't have everything I wanted to see.
I've never been a huge fan of the trope where the protagonist loses all his powers and this was one of those. While I acknowledge Spiderman 2 was the best of the original trilogy, it still frustrated me that SM didn't have his powers most of the movie. That's what I come for!
I guess at book 13 plus novellas and short stories will make you turn to this eventually, but I still prefer my wizards to have their powers dangit!
As with SM 2, I acknowledge this was still a great installment with a pretty dang good twist at the end. It loses a little star-wise with the lack of wizard powers because that's why I keep coming back, but I also have to admit it made for a surprising ending to Changes, book 12.
It's always great to come back to Harry, I'm getting a little sad now that I'm so close to catching up with the author. It's been nice knowing I have this well of great books to turn to whenever I need a sold trustworthy standby.
4 out of 5 stars (highly recommended) -
***Please note that this review will contain spoilers from the last book in the series.***
To save his friends—and his own soul—Harry will have to pull off the ultimate trick without any magic...
This one was so good! Ghost Story starts right where Changes left off with Harry roaming around in a place that is between life and death, where he observes his friends and promptly becomes worried for them. The main thing I wanted from this book was to find out who shot Harry in the last one, and of course I also wanted to find out how he was going to be brought back to life, because we all know this isn't the last book in the series, and we can't have The Dresden Files series without Harry. Let's just say I didn't see that explanation coming.
In the last book Harry did a few things that surprised me all on behalf of his daughter and he continued to surprise me in this book as well. Ghost Story in general was a little different from the rest of the series, but I liked it, it really moved me. As always I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Review also posted at
Writings of a Reader -
Well, bless Audible's little heart. One spring morning I received this email:
"Dear Listener,
Here at Audible, we truly understand the power great performances bring to your favorite stories. And for long-running series, no matter how good a new voice may be, it can be hard to hear someone else bring beloved characters to life. So when Ghost Story: A Novel of the Dresden Files, Book 13, was narrated by someone other than series regular James Marsters, some listeners were disappointed.
We're happy to report that Ghost Story has since been re-recorded with the inimitable Marsters at the helm - and, since you're a fan of this series, we want you to have it free."
"Disappointed" didn't quite cover it.
I want to create a movie–style poster for this book, with a one–word tagline: "BOO".
Ghost Story is one of those books whose end – even if you kind of pretty much know it's coming – was still enough to rock me back on my heels. And to make me want to go back and listen to the book again, to pay attention to all those things that didn't seem to need so much attention the first time around.
This interlude teaches Harry some valuable lessons – unable to act, he learns to consider more than he's ever had the chance to do before. A valuable trait, considering what is to come.
See, this is why I tend not to write reviews of these series that I love so much. For one thing, I started reading Dresden backin the Cretaceousnot too long after it was published, before I was really in the habit of writing reviews at all. Fast forward fifteen years (!), and I've read the first books a few times each, and Harry's in my bloodstream. Harry and Molly and Mouse and Mister and old Uncle Tom Cobley and all are part of my life. While the books are (or at least can be) very different from each other, it's hard to keep all my reviews from coming out very much the same: "I love Harry Dresden, I adore James Marsters, I am in love with James Marsters reading Harry Dresden, these books are great", etc. I should look on it as an exercise in writing: how to write the same love song over and over, some fifteen times by now, and make it readable… but I don't.
Ghost Story, of course, is not your usual Harry Dresden insofar as there is a usual Harry Dresden, and so …
One review I saw mentions that the reviewer is tired of Harry Dresden, doesn't find him funny anymore.
I do. I'm not. Maybe it's partly James Marsters reading it; maybe it's not. I don't know. I don't care. I'm still having a great time after fifteen books (and this, #13, twice in seven months), and I would be very happy indeed to know that Harry and Jim Butcher and I will all get very very old together.
And then there was the famous flying broomstick incident of Wacker Drive…
Surprisingly, I think I laughed more listening to this audiobook than the others in the series. If there was any doubt that Harry Dresden and Jim Butcher are big ol' geek–nerds, this puts paid to that idea. Harry's new "superpowers" ("BAMF!" made me so very happy), and the quote he uses to prove he is himself, and the Gandalf internal monologue, and so on – so wonderful.
And: I mean, go figure. You prepare your home for an assault and you don't take zombies into consideration. I'd fallen victim to one of the other classic blunders, along with not getting involved in a land war in Asia and never going in against a Sicilian when death was on the line.
AND a Pink Floyd reference: "How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?" Well done, sir.
"There are two kinds of people in the world, Molly: Star Wars fans, and Star Trek fans. This is shocking." Look, Mister Wizard, you can identify who's what on the Old Trek bridge, so just you shush.
(I still wonder why Harry never saw Firefly, though. Maybe because it didn't last long enough on tv and his VCR/DVD player tends to malfunction – ?)
But there was also, kind of obviously, a lot of heart–string–yanking (nothing so gentle as tugging here). There is a really lovely story about that time Justin DuMorne gave Harry a baseball glove … and then a few minutes later he relates the fact that Justin trained him how to shield himself by throwing fastballs at him. Damn. As if I needed another reason for my heart to bleed for the very young Harry.
I should, I suppose, take a step back and acknowledge that, much as I do love Marsters, these aren't perfect narrations. Take, for example, the phrase "sleeping quarters"; emphasis on the wrong word changes the meaning rather a bit. That sort of thing happens now and then, as with most narrators. But then I need to take that step forward again and reiterate that I really don't care. It's not perfect; it is more enjoyable than I would ever dare to expect.
Harry says, Girls don't flock to the guy who drives the old car, reads a lot of books, and kicks down the doors of living nightmares.
Harry, you've been hanging out with the wrong women. -
Harry Dresden for President! (This week anyway!) I really enjoyed this story. It was pretty interesting watching Harry in ghost form trying to save his friends without a body!
I love Dresden's character. He is prepared to throw down against an angel when he thought she was going to take one of his friends, he defends the weak and powerless, and will do anything for those he loves and for the majority of the time it is this character trait that gets him into so much trouble. He has always been a strong believer in doing the right thing and managed to avoid crossing the moral line until the previous book.
The pay off comes in these books now as we have a long history of getting to know Dresden's friends, who are as quirky and diverse as Dresden himself.
The highlight of this book for me was looking into the inside of Bob's skull- home! Recommended for all Dresden fans. Read the previous twelve first though! -
3 stars. Reread. Not nearly as good as the last few books. Onto the next!
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I do love Harry Dresden, don't get me wrong, but he's a ghost solving his own murder in this book? Seriously? I'm supposed to take this seriously?
this guy is more believable...
I mean, I get that this book and world is fantasy, but.... It's not just that, it's also just really really lame. Like, been done - too many times - and not well - lame.
And, that's not the only problem I had with this particular book in the series. It was also incredibly boring. Harry was introspective. Introspective!!! That's just not Harry. He's a goofball. A wise-cracking, act-first think-later kind of guy. That's his charm. I mean, I get why. He had to see the fall-out from his decisions of the last book, but it was boring to read. Plus, it didn't actually change anything. He ended up where he started. Plus, after all of that introspection, he never actually truly understood why what he did to Molly was so very wrong. He still didn't quite get it.
The only two bright spots while trudging through this book were Bob & Butter's relationship - which was awesome and fun, and Molly's transformation - which was scary.
I can't wait to get to the next book where Harry is back to himself again. I will think of this one as a bump in the road.
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No matter how much I love Harry Dresden but a bad book is a bad book.
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http://www.rantingdragon.com/ghost-st...
Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has been a lot of things in his life: friend, enemy, apprentice, teacher, guardian, avenger, victim, and lover; not to mention shot, stabbed, bruised, and beaten. But dead? That’s a new one in his book.
When an unknown killer puts a bullet through Harry’s chest and leaves him to die in the cold waters of Lake Michigan, Harry thinks it’s all over. But even dead, he can’t seem to catch a break. Without a body, his powers, or any way to interact with anyone, Harry is sent back to the mortal world to solve his own murder. And if he fails, three of his friends will experience unbelievable agony and torment. It’s a literal race of life and death, and Harry’s not the only specter in Chicago. There are those who remember his habit for knocking off the bad guys and who are itching for some payback. It’s a game for keeps, and Harry has to pull off the ultimate trick—without magic. If he can’t… he will face eternity as just another lost soul.
Pushes the limits of Harry’s worlds
Ghost Story pushes and expands the boundaries of The Dresden Files, especially in the worldbuilding. The novel takes Harry to a new place—a place where he cannot use magic to simply smash or burn his way through his problems. While not technically a new physical location, the metaphysical and magical rules have changed—for the rules of being a ghost are largely dependent upon the ghost itself. Where before the reader saw what happens to spiritual constructs when they go up against the mortal world from the mortal side of things, now they get to see the flip side: what happens when you cannot physically interact with the world without running the risk of oblivion. It’s a definite shift in the setting of the series—and it only gets more twisty and mind-blowing from there.
Plot games
A longtime reader of Butcher’s, I have come to expect the labyrinth of plot twists which he throws into his books. However, even though I was expecting the idea of plot twists, the specifics of most of them proceeded to blow my mind. Butcher is one of those authors who will plant a small but crucial detail in the second book of a series, but said detail won’t become relevant until book eleven. The twists in Ghost Story definitely reflect this mindset, and even though the story is ultimately about Harry’s experiences, the overall plot of the series gets thrown for some loops, too.
Secondary characters with primary problems
Due largely in part to the protagonist’s inability to affect most of the world, much of the novel revolves around the secondary characters. While the previous novel (Changes) was, in Butcher’s words, “building up the model city of Tokyo and then finally [getting] to strap on the Godzilla suit and knock it all down,”[Source] Ghost Story is the true game changer of the series. In the time between Changes and Ghost Story, secondary characters had to step up to the plate, and in Ghost Story, many of the true changes in character are revealed. Some characters have taken turns into despair while others have found their element and come into their own. Yet others have lost themselves, making deals and doing deeds they never would have contemplated before. All of these come together in the novel, with some truly awe-inspiring character development.
A gorgeously flawed protagonist
Harry Dresden, until recently, has been seen as somewhat of a proverbial white knight. Sure, he has his taints of darkness, but they pale in comparison to his more idealistic traits. In Ghost Story, however, Harry has the time to spend on reflection and realizes that he may have become what he had always fought against. And yet, if given the chance to go back and redo his choices, Harry realizes that he would make the exact same decisions—and to hell with the consequences. (Incidentally, that’s sort of what happened because of his choices, but that’s neither here nor there.) This mule-headed stubbornness to stick by his own decisions—even when he knows that they were morally wrong and largely unjustifiable—makes for a beautifully flawed protagonist, something I love to see in any book.
Heart-wrenching and tear-jerking
While reviews are personal reactions by their very nature, they are often more detached and objective in delivery—at least, that’s what I attempt to do in my reviews. But I wouldn’t be doing this novel justice if I didn’t throw in my personal reactions. At any rate, Ghost Story is the most emotionally wrenching novel I have read to date. The cliffhanger at the end of Changes left me a gibbering idiot for hours after I finished it, but the sheer emotional weight of Ghost Story makes Changes pale in comparison. Butcher’s writing truly made me feel for the characters, for what they were going through, and, in total, I spent probably about a third of the book in tears. Some of the twists left me gaping at the pages in stunned horror, but always turning the page to find out what happened next. The climactic sequence at the end of the novel had me crying, sitting in stunned silence, and ready to throw the book at the wall in anger, all in equal measures. The plights of the characters, these characters who I’ve grown up with since I was thirteen, truly grabbed at my heartstrings, and yanked on them a number of times. Some novels have been able to leave me staring at the page, but none of them have ever pulled so much of an emotional reaction from me. And that ability to draw such reactions from a reader is, in my opinion, the definition of truly great writing.
So, why should you read this book?
For newcomers to the series: you can read this book… But, you won’t understand a lot of it. Even with the previous novel, a newcomer to the series could read it and not be totally lost. But there has been so much backstory and worldbuilding over the first twelve books in the series which comes into play in Ghost Story that a new reader would probably be overwhelmed. Butcher himself said that Ghost Story is “the LEAST stand-aloney book of the series” and that “skipping ahead to it will get [a new reader] a lot of stuff that is inexplicable.”[Source] So, as with any series, I recommend you begin with book one. In this case, Storm Front. This series has been in the works for over ten years, and Butcher’s writing style has greatly improved since he began. While there isn’t a review for Storm Front on The Ranting Dragon, I urge readers to make it to book four (Summer Knight) before deciding to continue with the series or to drop it, as things really begin to pick up speed there.
Now, for those who have read along since the beginning and made it through to the end of Changes? I’m probably preaching to the choir. Because in my mind, how can you not read Ghost Story after that cliffhanger? That being said, if you have stuck with the series but haven’t yet picked up Ghost Story, I strongly urge you to do so. The tone and setting are completely different from the rest of the series, and the worldbuilding and character developments are simply breathtaking. Harry’s world is put through its paces, and I personally cannot wait to see where book fourteen, Cold Days, leads us. -
Nope. I didn’t like this one. Slow as F. A total
Slogfest. I mean there were a couple of interesting surprises but even the narrator of the audiobook sounded bored this time around.
It felt like Butcher decided to masquerade this installment as a self help book with a tinge of religious undertones. “Harry visits the Midnight Library”. A Dickensesque review of ones life and mistakes. Blah. 😩
Look, I get that not every Dresden book is gonna reach the level of Changes and others, but I honestly expected more here after so many home runs! 🤷🏻♂️
Anyways, time to take a Harry break - I think - and dig deeper into some other series. More Grim Dark please!
So three stars - barely - mostly because it’s a Dresden Book for hell sakes - and no matter what - I will ALWAYS be a huge fan!
⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
