Ghost Story: A Novel of the Dresden Files Author: Jim Butcher | Language: English | ISBN:
B004H4XI0Y | Format: PDF
Ghost Story: A Novel of the Dresden Files Description
When an unknown someone shoots him and leaves him to die, Harry Dresden hopes he might be heading to a better place. Unfortunately, being dead doesn’t make Harry’s life any easier.
Trapped between life and death, he learns that his friends are in serious trouble. Only by finding his murderer can he save his friends and move on—a feat which would be a lot easier if he had a body and access to his powers. Worse still are the malevolent shadows that roam Chicago, controlled by a dark entity that wants Harry to suffer even in death.
Now, the late Harry Dresden will have to pull off the ultimate trick without using any magic—or face an eternity as just another lost soul…
- File Size: 743 KB
- Print Length: 608 pages
- Publisher: Roc; Reprint edition (July 26, 2011)
- Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B004H4XI0Y
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,239 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #15
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction > Fantasy - #32
in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Magic & Wizards - #84
in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Contemporary
- #15
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction > Fantasy - #32
in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Magic & Wizards - #84
in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Contemporary
Jim Butcher is one of those authors I count on. Usually his books are like the reading equivalent of a weekend at a five-star hotel with a personal chef and a cabana boy. GHOST STORY was was more like a weekend at a four-star hotel with a nice dinner out. Not bad - not even close to it - just not the same superlative wonderfulness that Butcher usually delivers.
In GHOST STORY, Harry is forced into a passive role. The title is literal: he's a ghost. He can't do much of anything. He has to stand by and let other people act, or, if he's lucky, persuade them to act according to his instructions. In terms of Harry's character development and moving the series forward, I think this is exactly what Harry needs. For example: there's a sideplot with a gang of kids who are ordered to do a drive by shooting on Murphy's house. Harry ends up hanging out with the top kid, learning about his situation, and then working to change it by rustling up some caretakers and competent adult supervision. He achieves a better, more humane result than he would have found if he'd been able to jump in and fight, like he usually would.
In general, Harry is forced by his circumstances to do a lot of listening, waiting, and reflecting. Harry's always been a smart, thoughtful guy but not someone who dwells unduly on the past. I think that being forced to change his tune is good for him as a person and ultimately for the series - but, just like having Harry be so passive, it's not great for the reading experience. I think half of GHOST STORY might be flashbacks. Taking a stroll down memory lane with Harry is enjoyable...but it's still a STROLL, and Harry Dresden books are usually a lot more like, I don't know, a freight train crashing down Mount Everest.
At a time when so many sci-fi and fantasy writers produce two or three good books and then start phoning it in, Jim Butcher stands apart from the crowd. He just keeps getting more imaginative, more sophisticated and more entertaining with every new book in this series. Ghost Story is the 13th novel of the Dresden Files and it rivals White Knight and Turn Coat for the best.
I have to admit that I was somewhat skeptical that Ghost Story would work as well as some of the other books in the series. Changes, the previous installment in the Dresden Files, ended with the main character left for dead. So much of the appeal of the previous novels derives from how Dresden uses magic to combat enemies in the realm of the living that I couldn't really think of how Ghost Story could be made interesting. Leave it to Jim Butcher to turn an unlikely premise into a great read.
As it turns out, Harry Dresden's luck is not much better in death than it is in life. In fact, he doesn't get to go to the great beyond because there was something that was not right about his death. Instead, he has to return to earth as a ghost to find out who murdered him. If he fails, he learns, three people who are close to him will come to great harm. Harry returns to earth to find that the planet is deeply troubled. The destruction of the Red Court has led to a power vacuum and chaos in the supernatural world. Magical beings are attacking and destroying both each other and humans who connect with the world of magic. The stakes are as high as they have ever been.
Harry's adventures as a ghost are hugely entertaining. He is invisible and cannot communicate with others in the absence of help from Mort the ectomancer or other mediums.
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