{"id":366,"date":"2013-10-25T12:02:51","date_gmt":"2013-10-25T17:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/crywoof\/?p=366"},"modified":"2013-10-22T16:03:52","modified_gmt":"2013-10-22T21:03:52","slug":"ghost-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/crywoof\/2013\/10\/ghost-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghost Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Ghost Story<\/a><\/em> is the 13th novel in Jim Butcher\u2019s Dresden Files, immediately following after Changes<\/em>. I\u2019m going to review it a little differently than usual.<\/p>\n

Usually when reviewing a book I give a little background, and then describe the setup; then I might make some general remarks; and then I say whether I liked it, and whether it\u2019s worth reading. And I don\u2019t do spoilers. The trouble with this book (and with the series in general) is that I can\u2019t even discuss the setup without giving you spoilers for the previous books in the series. So I\u2019m going to do things backwards, and start with the general assessment.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

First of all, this is not one of Butcher\u2019s best\u2014it took six or seven chapters to really grab me and keep me reading. Part of this was due to the premise, which unavoidably led to a number of unpleasant confrontations between Harry and his friends. I could see them coming and didn\u2019t really want to read them. (In the event, they weren\u2019t as painful as I\u2019d feared.) It ends with a bang, though, as usual; and of course you\u2019ll need to read it if you want to go on to Cold Days<\/em>, which I\u2019ll write about another day. On the whole, I enjoyed it once it got moving.<\/p>\n

OK, now then:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So the big twist at the end of Changes<\/em> is that Harry\u2019s finally getting a moment\u2019s rest after having taken on and destroyed the entire Red Court of Vampires with the aid of his astonishingly varied and capable array of friends. He\u2019s tired, he\u2019s not happy with himself, he\u2019s made some bargains he\u2019s going to hate living up to, but for just a moment he\u2019s at peace. And on the last page he feels a blow, and a hole in his shirt, and there\u2019s a red splatter on the bulkhead behind him and he falls into the cold water of Lake Michigan and dies.<\/p>\n

This is why my friend Ian exclaimed, \u201cButcher, you bastard<\/em>!\u201d when he finished the book.<\/p>\n

But though dead, Harry Dresden still keeps busy, and that\u2019s the important thing: keeping busy. He\u2019s sent back to Chicago as a ghost, having been told that three of his close friends are going to die if he doesn\u2019t quickly discover who it was that killed him.<\/p>\n

And the big deal is, he\u2019s now a ghost. Hardly anyone can see him. Those he does manage to talk to don\u2019t want to believe that it\u2019s him, and don\u2019t trust him. He can go anywhere in Chicago in moments, but he has to be back in his grave by dawn. His physical enemies can\u2019t hurt him, but there\u2019s a whole host of ghostly enemies who can. His control over magic is minimal, he can\u2019t effect the physical world, he can\u2019t talk to people, and basically he\u2019s got nuttin\u2019. What\u2019s he going to do?<\/p>\n

And therein, of course, hangs the tale, and also the reason I found the opening chapters so frustrating.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one bit I especially liked. In Dresden\u2019s world, ghosts are essentially made of memories, and it is these memories that give them power. Dresden\u2019s ghost isn\u2019t Dresden himself, precisely, but rather is all that Dresden knew and remembered. Now, Harry Dresden has always enjoyed dropping pop culture references when talking with other characters. He does it in this book, too. He does it even more often than usual, in both speech and exposition\u2026.and the neat thing is, he doesn\u2019t seem to realize that he\u2019s doing it. It\u2019s as though it\u2019s easier for him to remember words he\u2019s heard than it is to make up new ones. It\u2019s subtle, to the point that Butcher might not even have been doing it on purpose, but it\u2019s there, and it works. (And now I wonder how many pop culture references I missed.)<\/p>\n

Another bit I liked is that the action in Chicago begins about six months after Harry\u2019s death, after all of his friends have had to learn to cope without him. And there\u2019s a lot to cope with. The Red Court of Vampires had been the<\/em> dominant supernatural force in Mexico and South America. Can you say \u201cpower vacuum\u201d? There\u2019s a whole host of new enemies, and the normals are being to notice that something\u2019s wrong. Harry\u2019s always been over-protective of his friends, and it\u2019s probably good for him to see them in action without him.<\/p>\n

And, of course, there\u2019s the looming question: is Harry really dead? No one\u2019s seen his body\u2026.. (Short answer: well, gosh, this is a continuing series. What do you think?)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ghost Story is the 13th novel in Jim Butcher\u2019s Dresden Files, immediately following after Changes. I\u2019m going to review it a little differently than usual. Usually when reviewing a book I give a little background, and then describe the setup; then I might make some general remarks; and then I say whether I liked it, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1131,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[23,44],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-fantasy"],"yoast_head":"\nGhost Story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ghost Story is the 13th novel in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, immediately following after Changes. 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