“But I am dead certain–ba-dump-bump-ching–that I’m the first guy to lead an army of spirits in an assault from the spirit-world side…and had them start off screaming, “BOO!”
~Jim Butcher, Ghost Story
As the thirteenth installment in Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files series, GHOST STORY is a haunting, humorous, and witty urban fantasy. It puts an interesting twist on death, loss, and murder mysteries without missing out on the magic, sarcasm, and determination Harry Dresden is loved for.
- Title: Ghost Story
- Series: The Dresden Files #13
- Author: Jim Butcher
- Published: July 26, 2011
- Genre: Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Magic
Summary
GHOST STORY by Jim Butcher is the thirteenth installment in The Dresden Files series and takes place six months after Harry was murdered by an unknown assassin. As a ghost, Harry returns to the living world to solve his murder, save his friends, and realize how his hometown of Chicago has changed in his absence. Without his magic and mostly invisible to his friends, he needs to learn how to interact with the world and save it, without getting devoured by wraiths himself.
Review
Despite being the bleakest novel in The Dresden Files (at least, out of the ones I’ve read so far), there’s no lack of humor interspersed throughout Ghost Story. Being a ghost doesn’t affect Harry’s dry, sarcastic wit—if anything, it just gives him more to grumble about. Butcher also does a great job of exploring grief and loss through the effects of Harry’s death on his friends (and Harry himself). As Harry learns how his absence has affected those he cares about, he also learns how important he is, not just to his friends, but the city as a whole.
I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how to feel about Ghost Story. After reading Changes a few years ago (and despairing at the cliffhanger), I was looking forward to reading the next part. However, I have to admit it didn’t quite measure up to expectations.
While Butcher handles the grim topic and Harry’s slow acceptance of his death with aplomb and there’s plenty of snark, magic, and mystery for Dresden fans, the main story arc feels rushed. Despite the focus of the novel being on how Harry discovers who killed him, Butcher spends a lot of time exploring the importance of Harry’s memories along with the typical world-ending mystery along the side.
There’s a lot to be learned about Harry’s past in this one, particularly the events that made him such a dedicated investigator. This isn’t a bad thing, and the flashbacks are handled with grace, but they also feel set apart from the main storyline. Combined with the subplots interspersed throughout the novel, it felt like the main plot was barely addressed at all until the end.
Although Harry has always done everything he can to keep his friends safe and putting them first makes sense, it did make the eventual revelation of Harry’s murderer, and the reason for his death, feel rushed. Ghost Story’s ending didn’t feel as much like a cliffhanger as Changes did, but it was a little disappointing regardless. It felt like Butcher tried to fit too much into the novel and ran out of time. He may have managed to answer all of the questions he created at the end of Changes and throughout Ghost Story itself, but it still felt like there was a lot left unanswered and the novel felt incomplete.
Despite my disappointment though, Ghost Story was intriguing. It’s always interesting to see how other authors approach ghosts. Their reliance on memories, as well as their ways of interacting with the living world and the living in general, felt new but familiar in the way the best ghost stories do.
Ghost Story feels more dystopian and a little more convoluted than the previous books in the series, but there’s still plenty of magic and Harry’s Devil-may-care attitude to make it interesting. I definitely haven’t given up on the series yet, however, I’m also not quite as excited to read the next book. I’ll approach Cold Days with wariness and hope for the best, I think.
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