Ghost Story (The Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher

Someone in the Dresden Files Anonymous thread said something about the new book and how Harry is weakened. The poster didn't seem too thrilled at this. Anyway, since this thread is dedicated to the new book, I'll post my reply here:

Good! Harry was getting a bit too powerful. The man could take on GODS. Heroes should have to struggle a bit more. Not saying he didn't struggle, but I think it's about time we saw him struggle upwards to the god-killer level again. More fun that way.

And I just seem to love torturing my favorite wizard!
 
My book is pre-ordered on Borders.com, with the recent news of Borders' possible death I wonder what the status of my book will be...
 
Bought my copy from Waterstones on Saturday - for the same price Amazon was offering it at with an expected arrival date in August - and just finished devouring it. As usual a great riproaring read, pacy and action packed, and at times acheingly sad. It certainly left me wanting more, and was perhaps a little lighter on resolution than I would have liked, but overall its well up there with my favorite Dresden books :D.

Waterstones appear to be matching Amazon's prices and generally releasing books a little earlier than their release date. I hope they keep it up as I prefer both the instant gratification of being able to pluck a book up and supporting a brick and mortar store.
 
Bastard said:
My book is pre-ordered on Borders.com, with the recent news of Borders' possible death I wonder what the status of my book will be...
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Just got a notification that Borders is going to ship the book, so that's good news. Hopefully it'll be the same with the rest of my pre-orders since I have quite a few.
 
I just finished Ghost Story...got it and finished it on the day of release. :D

This must be the weirdest of them all, with all sorts of major powers popping in and out.
Mab, of course, Uriel, past powerful enemies, etc. The most surprising must have been Harry's killer. And the ironic way he failed. :P

I hope the series continues (but if this is the last book, it sure was a great culmination - actually, a few culminations in one). But I'll have to wait too long...
 
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generally Butcher's been pretty good, the last couple before Ghost Story have all come out in April(s) of consecutive years... this one was a bit delayed... no time for a search, but I believe he had a quote somewhere, along the lines of "I can give you a half-@SSed version in april, or a full-@SS version in July!"...
 
It's different but very enjoyable. If you haven't read the short stories yet, I recommend reading them before you read this book.
 
Yeowza, I just now finished Ghost Story. What a wild yarn!

I've read a LOT of books since my last reread of the Dresden series, and I find that my perceptions of Butcher's writing have changed. Now his writing seems over-written, over-blown, and over-wrought -- but I still enjoy it quite a bit, if that makes any sense. He manages to make things seem so alive and urgent that I really want to know what happens next, even when the plot may feel disorganized or illogical. I'll definitely have to read this one again soon...

And for any John Glover haters, I think he did a good job. Certainly not perfect, and definitely not Marsters -- but he did much better than Marsters did with Fool Moon or Storm Front, and overall I didn't see any huge flaws. I hope Marsters is back next time, but I don't think the series was ruined by Glover's visit in any way. :-)
 
I haven't read any of this thread in case I find out something I don't want to know. I just wanted to say that I am on chapter 11 so far and I love it. After such a wait for this book I could sit and read it in one go from start to finish but I am forcing myself to take it slowly so it lasts a bit longer!!!! Long live Harry Dresden :p
 
Borders shipping

..is by camel. I'm still waiting for my book to come.

Bastard - I think most of the pre-orders you have are why Borders is closing slowly, so to speak. All these books are like, already paid for by Borders, and they're already printed (or too late to back out) on the pre-orders, from what I heard from a cashier last Saturday, they will still be getting new books in the physical stores into September. Which means most pre-orders are "probably safe."

--Brian.

(not that's on topic, but I figured I'd say something).

As to the person above who "didn't read the thread" I did and regret it. You have been warned. It isn't a plot spoiler, but someone indicated several characters that appear in the book and to me they weren't "givens". Well, Okay, one was, and I figure so was the other one, but dangit. WHERE'S MY COPY FEDEX? YOU SUCK! USPS standard shipping is faster than you and your mule cart!
 
expatrie said:
As to the person above who "didn't read the thread" I did and regret it. You have been warned. It isn't a plot spoiler, but someone indicated several characters that appear in the book and to me they weren't "givens". Well, Okay, one was, and I figure so was the other one, but dangit.
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I agree with expatrie. I had already read the book when I saw LaserWraith's post, so it didn't bug me; but it really would have ticked me off to read that if I were still waiting for the book.

LaserWraith, think you could spoiler-tag that?
 
Ag, sorry. I guess I don't have the same idea of spoilers as everyone else.

In my book, saying who did the murder is a spoiler (it ruins the mystery)...not who's in the novel. :p

My point was that I liked all sorts of threads coming together. Funny how all these major powers have been interested in Harry.

I really wish I could find more books like this series. Instead, I'm stuck with a series about a sci-fi guy who likes to kill people, another about a girl who can see ghosts and get dizzy all the time, and another sci-fi where a group of stranded marines are dying one by one.

I just want a series about a powerful magic guy who already knows about his powers (like Harry). :rolleyes:
 
LaserWraith said:
I really wish I could find more books like this series.
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I'm with you, LW. After reading Ghost Story I'm having a hard time settling back down to continue reading A Dance With Dragons.

One recommendation is Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series, which seems to get a thumbs-up from a lot of Dresden Files fans.
 
Mister said:
I'm with you, LW. After reading Ghost Story I'm having a hard time settling back down to continue reading A Dance With Dragons.

One recommendation is Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series, which seems to get a thumbs-up from a lot of Dresden Files fans.
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I've read Kate Daniels. Pretty good, though the unreliable magic and all the romance doesn't make it the best. :P

I have to say that I liked Changes a bit more (unlike some, I enjoy very powerful main characters), but Ghost Story was different from the rest in the series in a good way.
 
I finished Ghost Story and really enjoyed it.

I like the direction Butcher is taking Dresden in. I feel like he's starting to grow as a character and that this book served to give Dresden some real perspective. His lack of ability to interact with things gave him time to think that he didn't normally take. Not to mention the quite time in his grave.

On a side note, I was at his signing last night and he's a pretty cool guy in person. He said the next book Cold Days was due in June 2012 and likely to be published around this time next year. Not sure if that news is out there somewhere on the forums but thought I would share.

He also shared with us the first line of the next book. Here it is if anyone is interested.

Mab has an interesting concept of physical therapy.

At least that's really close to it. There were like 400 people there and he was kind of hard to hear. That's the gist of it though. :D
 
I'm almost done with this book, but I'm still not sure of what to think about it. Jim largely gets a pass from me, as I love his Dresden world, so I'm not disappointed, or anything, at this point. I'm just not bowled over. That could change, either direction.

I think because I'm wearing my editor's hat that I'm having a hard time catching the rhythm of the story. Jim starts about every 5th sentence with the word "and." It's annoying and it stands out. I'm going to have to go back and see if he's always done this and I just haven't noticed, or if he just didn't have time for a solid edit before this went to print.
 
Tim Marquitz said:
I'm almost done with this book, but I'm still not sure of what to think about it. Jim largely gets a pass from me, as I love his Dresden world, so I'm not disappointed, or anything, at this point. I'm just not bowled over. That could change, either direction.

I think because I'm wearing my editor's hat that I'm having a hard time catching the rhythm of the story. Jim starts about every 5th sentence with the word "and." It's annoying and it stands out. I'm going to have to go back and see if he's always done this and I just haven't noticed, or if he just didn't have time for a solid edit before this went to print.
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Sometimes I find that being too picky about smaller things, even if I can't help it, messes up an otherwise good story. Of course, maybe you are trained to look for such things (or can't help it).
 
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