Ghost Story/Dresden Files spoiler thread!
Jul. 27th, 2011 03:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperSo if like me you were anxiously awaiting the release of 
jimbutcher
This isn’t a proper review post–I’m behind enough on my reviews that the proper review post will be a while–but I wanted to go ahead and get this up so that it’d be timely! So hit me with your discussion thoughts, y’all!
But if you haven’t read Ghost Story or any Dresden at all, for the love of god, stand back and stay out of the comments. For here be spoilers OH MY YES.
Oh my that was good. A much quieter and more introspective book than Changes, which was entirely appropriate, yet with the delightful Harry Dresden voice we’ve all come to know and love.
Mort was awesome, as was Sir Stuart, AND! AND! AND! Getting to see Murphy’s dad!
I quite liked that Ghost Harry, forced into helplessness by his bodily state, was also forced to confront the ramifications of the previous book. This made the pacing a little weird for me, what with interpersing flashbacks with current action, but it was still IMO very appropriate given the nature of the plot.
I went HEE at “Gandalf never had this kind of problem”, immediately followed up by “He had exactly this problem, actually, standing in front of the hidden Dwarf door to Moria”, and then Harry telling the reader, “I guessed the Corpsetaker had never read Tolkien. Tasteless bitch.” BWAHAHAHA.
WOO the backstory on He Who Walks Behind! \0/ That was one of my favorite bits of the whole story, especially how it was interwoven with Harry telling the story to the Leanansidhe.
MISTER! Mister’s okay! And he totally saw Ghost Harry and aw!
Thomas! AUGH! Poor fucked-up Thomas. :|
How awesome was Bob vs. Evil Bob? Pretty damned awesome. And especially so that Bob is currently in the hands of Butters, who appears to have picked up a huge dose of awesome himself. GO BUTTERS!
And oh oh oh Murphy. Oh god. She’s going down a darker road and I really hope she gets to see living Harry again soon.
And OHMIGOD poor Molly! WAUGH. I loved Bridge of the Enterprise as the representation of the inside of Molly’s head, and Science Molly versus Captain Molly, but I had NOT seen it coming that Harry had in fact arranged to have Kincaid come and shoot him. And that Molly had been instrumental in making it happen. OH HONEY. And double that what with Harry unwittingly echoing the last thing he’d said to her before that happened. AUGH.
It was pretty clear the first time Harry’s body was described as “unavailable” that he’d be getting it back soon enough, and it was equally clear that Mab actually had it–no way no how is Harry getting out of being the Winter Knight that easily. So there was no surprise there. But I did quite like that Uriel held his seven words until Harry woke up in Mab’s clutches. NICE.
I TOTALLY teared up when Uriel took Harry to see little Maggie at the Carpenter’s house, where she was under the protection of Mouse. Sniff. :~)
And I let out an audible happy sigh when I was done. No, not as earthshattering as Changes–but it didn’t need to be.
Mirrored from annathepiper.org.
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no subject
Date: 2011-07-29 02:54 pm (UTC)And poor Molly and poor Murphy and auuuuugh.
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Date: 2011-07-29 04:05 pm (UTC)And when I thought about it, it occurred to me that damn, this Harry is so totally a different Harry from the one in Storm Front. And I am in awe of how the character has matured and grown, and in awe of Jim Butcher for sustaining a series for 13 books and having Harry develop as a character in such a substantial way. Not just Harry, either; all the other members of the cast have similarly grown.
Except Bob, maybe. But then, Bob is a constant of the universe. XD
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Date: 2011-07-29 06:10 pm (UTC)I wonder how Harry will be able to -- will he be able to? -- fit back into the lives of everyone else now.
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Date: 2011-07-29 05:47 pm (UTC)I'm about a third of the way through it so far, but it's not really grabbing me like most of his books. I'm enjoying it, but I think the level of angst and the oppressive levels of DOOM! are starting to be wearing on me. I would have preferred it if this book was quieter and more intimate after the intensity of Changes. But I guess that isn't Mr. Butcher's style. ;)
But so far I'm loving what's going down with Molly. I think she's being a mighty fine actress rather than the nut case that everyone thinks she is. I'll be curious to see if I'm right or wrong on that one. ;) Oh, and the bit with Mister was SO AWESOME. That's actually what I've been noticing about this book. It's the very tiny little moments that impress and please me rather than all the heavy big stuff.
Just to be clear, I am assiduously not looking up, so as to avoid spoilers. ;) So feel free to reply, but keep it to generalisms, though anything before Chapter 20 is fair game. ;)
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Date: 2011-07-29 06:02 pm (UTC)I am so glad Mister got some camera time in this one!
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Date: 2011-07-29 06:10 pm (UTC)I think this series has given me adrenal fatigue.
EDIT: Heh! So right after sending this I picked up the book and started to read and there was this very lovely, quiet, introspective scene of Harry remembering his first deliberate act of magic. *chuckles* Nice timing, that. ;)
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Date: 2011-08-13 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-08 11:08 pm (UTC)That bit with him getting his magic back by calling on the memory of his first deliberate act of magic was probably my favorite moment of the book.
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Date: 2011-08-08 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-13 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-13 12:17 am (UTC)