What I've Been Reading: Ghost Story (Dresden Files # 13), by Jim Butcher
WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE DRESDEN FILES SERIES! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE SERIES AND DON'T WANT IT SPOILED, TURN BACK NOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
I love the Dresden Files series, for a number of reasons: the mix of noir-style crime plots with urban fantasy; the characters that grow and change over the series; the fact that the narrator seems to only have two gears - 'deadly serious' and 'snark'. And the fact that most books include at least one crowning moment of awesome (the series has a page on tvtropes dedicated solely to recording them all). So, yeah, you could say I'm a fan.
I first got into the series in 2006, shortly before the Sci Fi Channel started (and then canceled) the TV series based on the books. Maybe I wasn't hooked instantly, but it's safe to say that whenever a book with the name Jim Butcher and a picture of a guy holding a staff and wearing a fedora (whether it's accurate or not), I'm going to buy it at some point. That's not to say I'll get it immediately, though.
Case in point - Ghost Stories. I read the previous book, Changes, in the spring/summer of 2011, about a year after it came out (it was my last semester of college, I had more important stuff going on). And, given all the craziness that went on there - Harry accepting Mab's offer to become the Winter Knight, killing off most of the Red Court vampires, and Harry getting shot at the end (hey, I said there'd be spoilers, didn't I?), not to mention all the crap that went down in Turn Coat, I was a bit hesitant to go on.
That, and I had to read the short story collection, Side Jobs.
But, try as I might, when Ghost Story hit shelves (the day before my birthday, no less), I knew I'd have to read it. So I was happy when, Christmas day 2011, I got my own copy. And, about a month or so later, I finished it.
And I can't believe how much I missed the snarky bastard.
But Ghost Story is significantly different from the previous books. Now that Harry's essentially a ghost (getting shot will do that), he's effectively powerless, aside from being almost completely undetectable by mortals.
This is good and bad. On the one hand, it means Dresden has to learn to use what limited abilities he has, as well as learn to use his old abilities in new ways. It's also nice to see the fallout of everything that went on in the last book - a major faction in the supernatural world is gone, so now everyone's fighting for a piece of the pie. On the same note, Chicago's supernatural populace has gotten out of control without Harry there to keep things in check. Things have shifted, and nothings ever going to be the same again.
It's also nice to see some minor characters from previous books get brought back, namely Mort the ectomancer and a certain villain from a previous book (what, you didn't think I'd spoil everything, did you?).
That being said, I didn't get the same kind of urgency from this as I did from previous books. Yes, Harry needs to find out who killed him, and help his friends, and stop the bad guy. But those three plots aren't clearly connected. So, while Harry's off trying to figure out how to save the day, I kept coming back to what any of it had to do with finding out who set up his assassination, which was the main reason he came back from limbo in the first place. And, while that mystery is eventually resolved, that plot spent most of the book on the back-burner.
As for the ending, let's just say that Jim Butcher is now on my list of "Cliff Hanger-ing Bastards", and I can't wait for the next book.
So while Ghost Story is clearly a critical book to read in the series, it's not the best. For me, that's a toss-up between Dead Beat and Changes, for reasons that are pretty obvious if you've read them.
But Blood Rites still has the best opening line ever.
I love the Dresden Files series, for a number of reasons: the mix of noir-style crime plots with urban fantasy; the characters that grow and change over the series; the fact that the narrator seems to only have two gears - 'deadly serious' and 'snark'. And the fact that most books include at least one crowning moment of awesome (the series has a page on tvtropes dedicated solely to recording them all). So, yeah, you could say I'm a fan.
I first got into the series in 2006, shortly before the Sci Fi Channel started (and then canceled) the TV series based on the books. Maybe I wasn't hooked instantly, but it's safe to say that whenever a book with the name Jim Butcher and a picture of a guy holding a staff and wearing a fedora (whether it's accurate or not), I'm going to buy it at some point. That's not to say I'll get it immediately, though.
Case in point - Ghost Stories. I read the previous book, Changes, in the spring/summer of 2011, about a year after it came out (it was my last semester of college, I had more important stuff going on). And, given all the craziness that went on there - Harry accepting Mab's offer to become the Winter Knight, killing off most of the Red Court vampires, and Harry getting shot at the end (hey, I said there'd be spoilers, didn't I?), not to mention all the crap that went down in Turn Coat, I was a bit hesitant to go on.
That, and I had to read the short story collection, Side Jobs.
But, try as I might, when Ghost Story hit shelves (the day before my birthday, no less), I knew I'd have to read it. So I was happy when, Christmas day 2011, I got my own copy. And, about a month or so later, I finished it.
And I can't believe how much I missed the snarky bastard.
But Ghost Story is significantly different from the previous books. Now that Harry's essentially a ghost (getting shot will do that), he's effectively powerless, aside from being almost completely undetectable by mortals.
This is good and bad. On the one hand, it means Dresden has to learn to use what limited abilities he has, as well as learn to use his old abilities in new ways. It's also nice to see the fallout of everything that went on in the last book - a major faction in the supernatural world is gone, so now everyone's fighting for a piece of the pie. On the same note, Chicago's supernatural populace has gotten out of control without Harry there to keep things in check. Things have shifted, and nothings ever going to be the same again.
It's also nice to see some minor characters from previous books get brought back, namely Mort the ectomancer and a certain villain from a previous book (what, you didn't think I'd spoil everything, did you?).
That being said, I didn't get the same kind of urgency from this as I did from previous books. Yes, Harry needs to find out who killed him, and help his friends, and stop the bad guy. But those three plots aren't clearly connected. So, while Harry's off trying to figure out how to save the day, I kept coming back to what any of it had to do with finding out who set up his assassination, which was the main reason he came back from limbo in the first place. And, while that mystery is eventually resolved, that plot spent most of the book on the back-burner.
As for the ending, let's just say that Jim Butcher is now on my list of "Cliff Hanger-ing Bastards", and I can't wait for the next book.
So while Ghost Story is clearly a critical book to read in the series, it's not the best. For me, that's a toss-up between Dead Beat and Changes, for reasons that are pretty obvious if you've read them.
But Blood Rites still has the best opening line ever.