So if like me you were anxiously awaiting the release of
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.