Ghost Story (Dresden Files, No. 13) by Jim Butcher

 

I had a few ideas of where Jim Butcher was going to go with things in Ghost Story, and one of them was spot on. But I had no idea how he was going to get there.And getting there is quite a ride.

The Dresden Files series has become not just a story of the grey areas between good and evil, but a thesis on choices and free will and consequences - both intended and unintended.

I'm not sure I can say a whole lot more than that without giving spoilers. And this is a book that you really should walk into blind.

Here is the blurb:

When we last left the mighty wizard detective Harry Dresden, he wasn't doing well. In fact, he had been murdered by an unknown assassin.

But being dead doesn't stop him when his friends are in danger. Except now he has nobody, 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...

As for the writing elements:

• The plots (plural) are genius.
• Pacing is mostly okay, a few slow places, a few wordy bits. Nothing major.
• Prose and dialog were fine (minus the wordy bits, but really, that was only a few pages).
• Character development is... Wow. We've watched Harry Dresden grow and learn, but that process is exponentially sped up in Ghost Story.
• World-building continues to be ten levels beyond fabulous.

Jim Butcher took a series that had started to be same-old-thing to a new level with Changes, and he upped the game once again with Ghost Story. I am eagerly looking forward to book 14.

• Book Rating: Ghost Story: 10 of 10
• Series Rating: 9 of 10

1 Storm Front (2000)
2 Fool Moon (2001)
3 Grave Peril (2001)
4 Summer Knight (2002)
5 Death Masks (2003)
6 Blood Rites (2004)
7 Dead Beat (2005)
8 Proven Guilty (2006)
9 White Night (2007)
10 Small Favor (April 2008)
11 Turn Coat (April 2009)
12 Changes (April 2010)
13. Ghost Story (July 2011)

Excerpt: Ghost Story (Dresden Files, Book 13) by Jim Butcher

 

Jim Butcher has put up the first five chapters of Ghost Story. You can read them at his site:

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five

Here is the blurb:

When we last left the mighty wizard detective Harry Dresden, he wasn’t doing well. In fact, he had been murdered by an unknown assassin.

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…

I haven't decided if I'll buy this one right off the bat. If it had been made available within, say, six months of Changes, then I likely would have. But now? Fifteen and a half months later, I feel more like waiting for some of the first reviews to come in before shelling out more for an ebook than Amazon is asking for the hard cover.

I have a feeling Harry is headed towards greatness at the end of the series. The whole dying and coming back to life thing is a fairly common step towards that happening. I'll read Ghost Story eventually, since I do plan to read the rest of the series. As of now I'm undecided as to when I'll be reading it, though.

Partial Review: Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

 

There are no spoilers in this post about the book being reviewed. However, if you are not caught up with the Dresden series prior to Side Jobs, then you probably don't want to continue reading. If you've read to the end of Changes though, then you're fine.


I've been looking forward to the release of Side Jobs since I finished Changes. We were told that Aftermath, a story within the Side Jobs anthology, would begin a few hours after the conclusion of Changes.

And that was correct. Aftermath does indeed begin a few hours after the events at the end of Changes. Unfortunately, it gives us no clues about what happens to Dresden next.

I loved the story though - hearing things from Karrin Murphy's point of view was a nice change.

I'll do a complete review of Side Jobs when I've read the rest of the book. I really enjoyed Aftermath, but I'm disappointed that we'll have to wait until April when Ghost Story  is released to find out what happens to Harry Dresden. We know that Jim Butcher has planned for somewhere around 20 books, so I have to believe that Harry will find a way to survive. Or be brought back to life. Mab owns him now, she's not going to let him die.

Or that's what I keep telling myself.

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Dark and Stormy Nights - Anthology by Jim Butcher, Carrie Vaughn, Lilith Saintcrow, PN Elrod, etc.

 

I read four of the stories in the Dark and Stormy Knights anthology.

A Questionable Client by Ilona Andrews is the story of the first time Kate met Saiman. We've heard bits and pieces of this story as the series has progressed, now we get the whole story. I doubt it would be that good as a stand alone story if you aren't familiar with the Kate Daniels series, but as part of the series it was a nice short story.

Even Hand by Jim Butcher is told from the viewpoint of Marcone, and I very much enjoyed the story. If you aren't going to buy the book and just have time to read one story while standing in a bookstore somewhere, this is the one you should read. In my opinion, of course.

God’s Creatures by Carrie Vaughn is a Cormac story, one I'm assuming happened long before he went to jail. He's on a solo job, and we get an idea of how he works. Or worked, I guess. It's further insight into how he thinks... the morals of a paid assassin.

Dark Lady by P. N. Elrod is a Jack Fleming story. If you like historical gangster stuff then you may enjoy this series, and this story. Imagine a vampire mixing it up with the gangsters and you've got an idea of the basis for the series.

Other stories in the anthology include The Beacon by Shannon K. Butcher, Even a Rabbit Will Bite by Rachel Caine, Beknighted by Deidre Knight, Shifting Star by Vicki Pettersson, and Rookwood & Mrs. King by Lilith Saintcrow.

Here's the blurb:

They’re the ultimate defenders of humanity—modern day knights who do dark deeds for all the right reasons. In this all-star collection, nine of today’s hottest paranormal authors bring us thrilling, all-new stories of supernatural knights that are brimming with magic mystery and mayhem.

John Marcone sets aside his plans to kill Harry Dresden to go head-to-head with a cantrev lord in Jim Butcher’s Even Hand. Kate Daniels is called upon for bodyguard duty to protect Saimen, a shifter she trusts less than the enemy in Ilona Andrews’ A Questionable Client. Cormac must stop a killer werewolf before it attacks again on the next full moon in Carrie Vaughn’s God’s Creatures. And in Vicki Pettersson’s Shifting Star, Skamar gets more than she bargained for when she goes after a creature kidnapping young girls—and enlists the aid of her frustratingly sexy neighbor.

When everything’s on the line, will these knights complete their missions and live to fight again another day? Find out in Dark and Stormy Knights!

I'm not sure how to rate an anthology, so I'm not going to try. For the most part I'm not a fan of anthologies in general. Especially a story that is an intrinsic part of a series storyline. Kim Harrison is terrible about that - making it so that if you missed an anthology piece then you are completely lost when you read the next book in the series. Charlaine Harris has done it a few times as well. Of the four stories I read, I think there is information in Jim Butcher's story that will probably be important in a future book, but I don't believe there is anything in the other three stories that would be important knowledge for upcoming books.

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Review: Changes (Dresden Files, Book 12) by Jim Butcher

 

As I finish Changes, I am floored. Literally. Changes is easily going to get a 10 of 10 from me, and it's good enough that the series will be lifted from a previous 7 of 10 to a 9 of 10.  I'm also making a note that I need to reread the series before another book comes out. I believe that Jim Butcher has stated there will be about 20 case file novels, followed by an apocalyptic trilogy. There is still a lot to go.

I'm going to do something a bit different with this review. I'm going to review the book, then give some space, and then I'm going to talk about  it, with spoilers. If you don't want spoilers then it is safe to keep reading the review portion, because I will give plenty of warning before the spoilers start. But I need to talk about what happened. It's just that kind of book.

Here is my best advice - if you are going to wait until you can buy the ebook from Amazon, then spend the time between now and then reading the first 11 books again. Changes ties up a whole lot of loose ends that I didn't even realize were loose. It's the end of a whole lot of plot arcs, some of which haven't been mentioned in so long that I'd almost forgotten about them. If you don't want to read the books again, then at least read through the plot synopsis of each book on Wikipedia. You can also read the first four chapters of Changes online at Jim Butcher's website.

As for my analysis of the technical parts of the book: The pacing is very well done, with so much action that I am exhausted after just reading it. There is a lot more emotion in Changes than Jim Butcher generally puts into his writing, as well. The writing and the action is always well done, and I believe there may have been more humorous moments in Changes than I'm used to seeing in a Dresden book. There were several laugh-out-loud moments, not just the smirk and chuckle you feel when Harry's smart mouth takes on a mind of it's own.

Here is the blurb:

Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.

Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it-against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry's not fighting to save the world...

He's fighting to save his child.

I thought the basic plot given in the blurb would be enough to give us a good book. But there is so much more thrown into this book. So much baggage from previous books, so many plot points coming forward from previous books, and so much action to get it all taken care of.

I think emotion has been missing from a lot of the previous books. Dresden is a man, written by a man... and Harry Dresden in the past has just dealt with whatever crap was thrown at him without thinking too hard about it. This meant that other than a few books where he had to deal with his own baggage, or where Elaine or Susan made an appearance, the Dresden books have been mostly lacking in the emotion department. Changes gives us a whole lot of emotion - Susan is back, and there is a daughter. But it's more than that. Harry's got emotions about his friends now, too. Jim Butcher has grown as a writer, and Changes is the result of that growth, I think.

Book Rating: Changes:  10 of 10
Series Rating: Dresden Files: 9 of 10

Now I will warn about spoilers. Don't read below the graphic you see below of the book, as there are spoilers past the small Changes image.




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Still here? Okay, either you've already read the book, or you haven't but really really want to know what happens. Either way... here goes.

Jim Butcher named book twelve Changes, and he wasn't kidding. Harry loses his office, his home, and the person he thought was the love of his life. He even lost the coat. And his lab. (Though, heat rises, so it's conceivable the circle may have survived. And the coin, of course.) But the point is, we are now all set for Harry's life to completely change, the Phoenix rising from the ashes, and then we get that ending. I mean, really? A while back we learned that Jim Butcher planned for about 20 books, but that was three years ago. Did he change his mind? All of that set up for everything to just... end? Nope, not buying it. Plus, there was news at one point of a contract for "unnamed books 12 and 13". Changes was 12, so he's under contract for another book. 

Besides. Mab isn't going to let him die. She hasn't gotten to play with him yet. Or, perhaps he will die and be brought back and that will somehow void the deal with Mab? No, I don't see that happening, I think we're going to have a book (or more) of him in Faerie before he figures out how to get out of the deal.  I think that at the end of the series Harry will either be Merlin, or he'll find a way to retire and have a family like Michael. Or, perhaps he'll pick up his grandfather's job at some point - though I really hope that doesn't happen.

At any rate, we've had a book entitled Summer Knight, perhaps the next book will be Winter Knight.

I'm pretty ticked that things didn't finally happen with Murphy. Talk about a huge tease.

What do we have to look forward to?

• Harry will be a servant of Mab (unless dying lets him out of the deal), does that mean he will live in Faerie? At court? Or will he be allowed to keep a place in this world, as well? Will he be required to have sex with Mab on a regular basis? And what about the second, the crazy one waiting to be the Winter Queen. Ack. We all know Harry will eventually get out of the deal, but watching him figure out how to do that will be interesting. (Unless he gets out of it by dying, but Jim Butcher never lets anything happen that easy.)
• Eventually I'm guessing that Maggie will play some sort of pivotal role, and Harry is going to wish he'd kept an eye on her. If she's of his blood then she's likely to have magic, and if she isn't properly trained she may do something to get the Wardens after her, too. Or, she may evade them and turn really bad. I'm guessing the former, and then history will repeat itself a third time.
• Karrin and Harry? We were sooo close. It's got to happen eventually. Doesn't it?
• Figuring out who is good and who is bad in the White Council, and getting that straigtened out. I also keep thinking that the Grey Council means more than just the middle of Black and White. We even got references to Tolkien in the book. And remember that Gandalf was "grey", it's a good color for a wizard, isn't it?
• General balance in the universe, with the Red Vampires gone, won't that throw off the Universal Balance?
• Thomas - is he going to stay as he is, or change back to "good", or get worse... or what? I think he's good, he wants to be good, but I'm thinking there will be a lot more challenge for him.
• Karen is poised to take up the sword now - isn't she? That will leave one sword for Harry to find someone to wield.
• Will Tilly be Dresden's new "cop" that he can go to? 
• Something will have to be done about Rudolph, too.
• The paranet is going to be bigger than we've been led to believe.
• Molly is going to be on her own a lot if Harry is living in Faerie. Is she ready for that? Will the Wardens leave her alone or will they shadow her like they did Harry? 

There is an interview, here, where we're told there is a story in Side Jobs that is told from Murphy's point of view, and it picks up about 45 minutes after the end of Changes. So, maybe we won't have to wait a whole year to find out something about what happens next.


Twelve is one of those "numbers of completion", and there are a whole lot of numerological things about the number thirteen. I hope we get an idea of where things are going in Side Jobs. I don't want to wait a whole year.


Here are the books so far:

1 Storm Front (2000)
2 Fool Moon (2001)
3 Grave Peril (2001)
4 Summer Knight (2002)
5 Death Masks (2003)
6 Blood Rites (2004)
7 Dead Beat (2005)
8 Proven Guilty (2006)
9 White Night (2007)
10 Small Favor (April 2008)
11 Turn Coat (April 2009)
12 Changes (April 2010)

Book Covers: Black Magic Sanction, Silver Borne, and Changes

I'm still looking at some upcoming covers of books I'm really really anticipating:

Is this an awesome cover, or what? Black Magic Sanction, the next Rachel Morgan / Hollows book by Kim Harrison is due out February 29th. This is one of my top five favorite series. I haven't found a blurb for Black Magic Sanction yet, but there is a tag line: Apparently wicked witches do come from the west.

I guess that's a bit of a clue to what/who Rachel will be battling in Black Magic Sanction.

On March 30th we get Silver Borne, the fifth Mercy Thompson book by Patricia Briggs. The blurb for this one is:

When mechanic and shapeshifter Mercy Thompson attempts to return a powerful Fae book she'd previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.

It seems the book contains secret knowledge-and the Fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn't take enough of Mercy's attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side-leaving Mercy to cover for him, lest his own father declare Sam's life forfeit.

All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn't careful, she might not have many more to live...

I love the Mercy Thompson series, but that blurb doesn't get me all that excited. I haven't really enjoyed the "Samuel angst because he's so old" storyline, and it appears that's going to be a big part of Silver Borne. Still, I really like Mercy, and I want to see what is going on with Adam, and with the rest of her menagerie of friends, so I'll get this book as soon as it's released and I'll hope the Samuel stuff isn't too annoying.

For a while I got kind of ambivalent about the Dresden Files series, but now I'm once again anxious about the next book, Changes, wanting to read it to find out what will happen next. The Dresden series is not one of my top ten, but I'll still be getting my hands on this book as soon as it is released on April 6. And the blurb for Changes makes me that much more anxious to see what happens:

Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.


Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it-against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry's not fighting to save the world...


He's fighting to save his child.

Harry Dresden as a father? On the one hand, it's a really scary thought. On the other hand, he'd make a great father if he put his mind to it. And changed his living arrangements. And realized he needs to make some money while he's busy saving the world.

I'm guessing (from the book cover) that Harry's going to take a trip to South America in this book. I also think that I'm going to need to re-read some of this series before Changes comes out. Probably starting with the book that Harry and Susan got romantic with each other.

Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, Book 11) by Jim Butcher

Turn Coat was actually released back in April, and I wanted to read it back in April. But I didn't want to read it bad enough for a hardback price. So, I've waited until a used version was available at a price I was willing to pay.

I have a few series that I follow that have now been relegated to this status. I do want to support the authors, and I'd be willing to support them at paperback prices, but not at hardback prices. I'm not sure what the solution is - perhaps the publishers should look at publishing the paperback six months later instead of a year later? But that is the subject for a different post, I think.

Harry Dresden is a wizard. He lives in Chicago and he advertises in the yellow pages. This is another series that takes place in a hypothetical real world where humans don't know supernatural beings exist. The Dresden Files series eventually pulls in pretty much every supernatural critter out there: wizards, vampires, incubi/succubi, trolls, fairies, werewolves, ghosts, demons, skinwalkers... and many more I'm sure that I'm missing.

Turn Coat could probably be read as a stand alone, but I would not recommend it. You really need to read this series in order, I think.

Here's the blurb:

The Warden Morgan has been accused of treason against the Wizards of the White Council--and there's only one, final punishment for that crime. He's on the run, wants his name cleared, and needs someone with a knack for backing the underdog. Someone like Harry Dresden.

Now, Harry must uncover a traitor within the Council, keep a less-than-agreeable Morgan under wraps, and avoid coming under scrutiny himself. And a single mistake may cost someone his head--someone like Harry.

There is a lot going on in this book. Not only the mess with Morgan, but some stuff with Anastasia, with Harry's young apprentice, with Thomas (and Lara some, too), and of course more with whatever faction that has been causing so many problems within the Supernatural political world. Things are eventually going to come to a head, and I'm curious to see where the author takes things.

Turn Coat was good enough that I feel guilty for having bought it used. I've given the Dresden Files a 7 of 10 in the past, and Turn Coat was almost good enough for me to raise the series to an 8 of 10. Almost, but not quite. I lowered it to a 7 originally because the books were starting to just be more of the same. This book had enough different that it was not just more of the same. I'll wait for the next book, Changes, before I trust that this might continue.


Book Rating: 9 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10

The Sci-Fi channel did one season. They went away from the books in several different ways, but it was still a decent series. This is a DVD of the entire first (and only) season.











1 Storm Front (2000)
2 Fool Moon (2001)
3 Grave Peril (2001)
4 Summer Knight (2002)
5 Death Masks (2003)
6 Blood Rites (2004)
7 Dead Beat (2005)
8 Proven Guilty (2006)
9 White Night (2007)
10 Small Favor (April 2008)
11 Turn Coat (April 2009)
12 Changes (April 2010)

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden is a wizard. He lives in Chicago and he advertises in the yellow pages. This is another one that takes place in a hypothetical real world where humans don't know supernatural things exist.

This series eventually pulls in pretty much every supernatural critter out there: wizards, vampires, incubi/succubi, trolls, fairies, werewolves, ghosts, demons... and many more I'm sure that I'm missing.

Some are Harry's friends, but most are not. Most are creatures he has to fight in order to save humans. Or, often, to save himself.

These books are written by a man, where most of the books of this genre are written by a woman. And I think it makes for a refreshing change. While there is some romance, it's not an over riding theme, and what is there is more matter-of-fact than sweep-you-off-your-feet. These books are primarily about action and danger and consequences. And there is a lot of all of that.

This is also one of my top ten favorite series.

Series Rating: 7

 

Backup is due to be released this fall, and is supposed to be written from the perspective of Thomas instead of Harry.

 

The Sci-Fi channel did one season. They went away from the books in several different ways, but it was still a decent series. This is a DVD of the entire first (and only) season.



1 Storm Front (2000)
2 Fool Moon (2001)
3 Grave Peril (2001)
4 Summer Knight (2002)
5 Death Masks (2003)
6 Blood Rites (2004)
7 Dead Beat (2005)
8 Proven Guilty (2006)
9 White Night (2007)
10 Small Favor (April 2008)
11 Turn Coat (April 2009 )