Dresden #13 (and isn't that appropriate): Ghost Story

[jedibuttercup]

So, I bought Ghost Story at lunch on Tuesday and had a reading party with maevebran....

I'm not going to go into any great detail, but...

If Changes was about, well, changes? This one was about closure. It was very well done, and less difficult to process than its predecessor, however... I still felt kind of grief-stricken when I finished.

Harry just said goodbye to Chicago. For now, at least. And Chicago, more or less, said goodbye to him. So many threads and characters, even some only mentioned before in short stories, were drawn together in this one. We all knew he would establish a residence outside the city eventually after his Sight started coming in during Small Favor, but still... this was very much a "passing the torch before moving to a larger stage", and it stung. *bites lip*

It's not even hard to understand why Mab let Uriel liberate him as a "ghost" for awhile: until Harry had a chance to see for himself that the Justice League was maintaining things without him, he'd never be happy leaving his stomping grounds behind. And until his nearest and dearest had a chance to really register that he was gone and not coming back, they would be hampered in that defense, and no one wanted to let Chicago devolve entirely into chaos.

I'm really not happy with the Answer to the Question, but it does make in-universe sense, and underscores a couple of things: Harry can't get rid of his new title; he now knows he can hold it without dooming himself to a "southbound train" in the end (per Uriel); and even the enemy thinks this will make him more dangerous rather than easier to turn -- attempting to make him despair is their only angle. I foresee fireworks on a much larger scale in books to come.

Still. It feels like... we just left the human-scale world behind. I hope we do continue to get glimpses back at the Justice League, but given that they all now think he's D-E-D dead, and we only get things from Harry's POV, I find that unlikely. He'll probably let things sit that way awhile to "protect" them, like he always does.

I liked where we saw some of them: Butters, Bob, Maggie, Mouse, Mister, Daniel, Father Forthill, Mort, the Leanansidhe. I was kind of frustrated with some of the others, three especially: Murphy (though I get why), Molly (I get why, but where the hell is Ebenezar, why didn't he do something for her?), and Thomas (ugh, seriously?). Though I smirked about the absence of Marcone: yeah, no chance he'll be needing closure with that guy just yet.

Hopefully the change in venues will mean more curtains being pulled back instead of more avenues closed off. But I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway. I'll probably reread it and dissect in more detail later just what I did and didn't like, and did or didn't see coming, and where I see it going, et cetera... but I want to post before LJ crashes again, so. What did you think?

Comments

[faithburke.livejournal.com]

It was waiting for me at the library yesterday afternoon and I have already read it twice. It wasn't quite the roller coaster of the last one, thank heavens, but I think it was still pretty painful. It seriously hurt to see Molly and Murphy like that, but at the same time I think it makes sense with how the characters were developed over the last few books.

I liked learning more about how ghosts functioned in Dresden-world, and the end of it was not quite expected but definitely something that has potential (I'm trying very hard to not get to spoilery in the comments). I knew from the end of Changes who pulled the trigger, but I didn't guess the second half of it.

Molly's internal subconscious made me giggle.

How long until the next one?

[anyareine.livejournal.com]

Do you think that the 'parasite' that Mab (or was it Demonreach) that was helping his body stay alive was Lash? And the whisper that he heard in his ear, saying that Mab can't change who he is, was Lash as well?

I realllly hope so. I miss her. :P

Really introspective book, I really enjoyed it. We got to see heaps of his past, and He Who Walks Behind- which I loooove.

Lea!Molly has heaps of potensial. Lea /was/ my favourite character in the book. Though Mort freakin' rocked it.

Though I'm kind of worried for Bob... why didn't Harry go check on him? He checked on everyone else.

The Maggie scene was adorable, and I loved Dresden and Mouses reunion. Uriel calling Mouse little brother, or something along the lines, was cute.

I'm actually okay with the Answer we got for the Questions. It was a nice twist, and made it a bit more understandable of how nutters Molly was acting.

My muse is pushing me to write a Lea!Maggie fic. Hahaha. That would be an awesome duo.

[jedibuttercup]

I think the Whisper was meant to be Uriel, at least if you're talking about the seven words at the end; the archangel was pretty explicit about that. But the parasite part certainly could be. There was that niggling thread about Harry's migraines that was never resolved, that could have been the brain cells Lash had been inhabiting healing through his wizard's healing factor.

Harry did see Bob, though: remember, Butters had him?

Loved the origins of Flickum Bicus and Fuego! Though-- one has to wonder what Justin knew about him before he took him in, and why he decided to train him the way he did, and what that means for Harry's future growth.

The thing about the Answer... it was a twist, and I did understand why, in series context. But I have a personal, deep-set hot button about that topic: it's one of the most selfish and harmful things a person can ever do. I didn't appreciate tripping across it in my favorite book series.

It'll be interesting to see how Molly continues to progress under Lea's teachings, and who's going to take over Maggie's when she starts to manifest in a couple of years ... =)

[raiining.livejournal.com]

Stupid LJ ... (grumbles) ... took me ages to post yesterday ...


I have to admit, I didn't really feel the closure bit until the very end. There are some great monologues where Harry falls back in love with His City. I think you're right in that he's moving on to a bigger stage (which is funny when you mention Marcone, because HE'S also in Italy or somewhere when all this happens, so on a bigger stages as well. I do have to wonder when they'll meet again) and needs to leave Chicago alone for a bit.

But I do think he'll be back, and within two to three books. The Big Finale will probably be about the world, but I'm guessing Chicago will be at the heart of it. By leaving these characters get a bit of time to learn and grow without Harry there, and it'll be interesting to see where they go.

I have no idea what Murphy's doing for money, or how long the Justice League (lol, great title. Also because we're re-watching the entire series here at home. I wonder who gets to be Hawk Girl?) will stick together. Murphy might calm down a bit now, and work more with Molly, and it'd be great to see Thomas come back onto the scene, but we'll have to see. The patchwork quilt of protection spells over Murphy's house feels very much like the League just now - not really complete, easy to take down if you know where to hit.

I have to agree with you about Eb though - where the hell was he? Why couldn't be help Molly? I admit, he IS kind of a bastard, and probably only helped Harry because he's family, but Harry loved this kid and he should too. What else is going on that kept him away? And Lucio, for that matter. Are things just that far gone or are they burying their heads in the sand again?

I'm super glad Maggie is staying with the Carpenters - I was really afraid we'd lose her to the system and not get her back until she was 15 and doing the tough-girl routine like Molly. The Carpenter's will care for her and watch for any talents (interesting the Uriel doesn't seem to know if she'll manifest or not) and Mouse will guard her back. If Harry's gone for even a couple of years that will give her time to grow from a child into a real character. That'll be fun to see.

We've definitely said goodbye to the Chicago we've known and loved for the past ten years in this series - Murphy isn't getting any younger, Michael is off the stage, Daniel is part of the group and Billy is growing up and taking more of a front action role (I super missed seeing the little pup and I have to wonder the medical aspects of care for Georgia when pregnant). It'll be interesting to see what the dynamic is like when Harry see's them again.

It was also neat seeing Molly grow so much in power, to the point where's she's almost at the White Council level. Hopefully Harry's presence helped heal some of the cracks inside her, and she'll either be accepted back into the Council or able to hold her own against them before he comes back. It'd also be great if Elaine came back into the mix and helped out.


Okay, enough rambling - need to get ready for work. But I'm curious to see where this goes next. Because I think you're right in that we're moving on here, and will probably get a host of new characters (and maybe a few old - Toottoot! It'd be awesome to see you again) but I think we'll be back to the group. It'll just be different again when we do.

[jedibuttercup]

I'm pretty sure Harry will be back to Chicago at some point, too. It's just not going to be his home anymore, his dedicated territory - his turf will now be a lot larger than that.

I'm sure Toot Toot will back in the next, since we had that little bit in Changes about he and the Za Lord's Guard declaring themselves to Winter for him. And probably Marcone-- he is the Baron, after all, a power the Knight will have to deal with on Mab's behalf. =)

I wanted to cheer over Maggie, too: no putting her on a bus after all! That had worried me, a lot. There'll probably only be a handful of years before she manifests her own magic, if she has it. It's not like they'll let Harry be her master, not now, even if they just think she's the Carpenter's foster child.

Can't wait for Cold Days to come out!

[wolf-j.livejournal.com]

So ... I guess my question is: should I read it? Does the book avoid my previously expressed (http://wolf-j.livejournal.com/91878.html) concerns?

[jedibuttercup]

Do you follow lucia_tanaka at all? Huge fan who's actually been engaging in Twitter exchanges with Butcher about the character's sexism and the lack of racial realism in the series? Here's her comment about Molly in this one, which will probably address your concerns about Molly better than I could without going into too much spoilery territory:

"Molly: It's no secret that Molly has always squicked me the fuck out, being such a transparent nerd fantasy. In this book, though, it's changed my thoughts on her. I'm not sure how much, but the change is there. Will be curious to see where she goes from there."

There's no Ebenezar. But her apprenticeship has not been forgotten... and it's not a guy teaching her, either.

Overall... Harry first of all, sees how everyone's doing without him, but while it isn't perfect they are, mostly, capable of surviving and even defending the city while he takes up the Mantle. Some new people have taken up the banner, even. And he finds out more things about what's been going on and about his own past that grey things up even more.

And better yet, while -- as it turns out -- he has not earned a get-out-of-Knighthood-free pass, it looks to be a lot less boring a transition than I'd feared, too. There's a sense of onward-and-upward, and Harry finally starting to learn some important lessons.

I don't know if that addresses enough of your concerns without going into too much detail? But... I would recommend reading it, as it settled a lot of my ruffled feathers over Changes. Maybe get your hands on someone else's copy to avoid spending money on it until you know if you'll like it.

[wolf-j.livejournal.com]

Interesting. That does allay most of my concerns, actually. Thank you for taking the time to break it down for me.

And, no, I am not familiar with lucia_tanaka. I'll have to check her out.

[sulien.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I don't think Harry is as through with Chicago as everyone thinks. Remember, he's got Demonreach, out there in Lake Michigan, which I have a very strong inkling will be his personal stronghold once things start to shake out a bit.

As far as closure goes and the Justice League being able to stand on their own, I wonder if JB is going to branch off another book series, or many short stories, at the very least, focusing on them until Harry is operating primarily in Chicago again (if he does).

By the way, I've been wanting to ask you what you thought of Molly and Harry. I can't help but get a bad feeling that Molly is going to wind of being Harry's Nimuë, whether for good or ill, at some point in the future. She is most definitely in love with Harry and I can't help but wonder if that love is going to cross the line to hatred at some future point or not.

Don't know if this is a spoiler or not, but what did you think of Fitz? I couldn't help but think that JB named the character that because of the name's meaning: "son of". I've a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future.

ETA: Also, I have to wonder at what point Harry is going to be mucking about in the time stream. JB did mention that at the signing last year and it is bugging the snot out of me wondering!

[jedibuttercup]

I don't think he'll be gone for good. It just won't be his sole focus anymore. He still has the island, I know, but it's not like it's central to his city the way his apartment and office were. And I figure he'll have to spend at least the better part of Cold Days figuring out how this Winter Knight thing works. So: we got some show and tell how all the cards won't come copmletely crashing down when he's not there every day anymore.

I'd love to see more short stories about the Justice League; I'm extremely fond of Even Hand and Aftermath. He did say he'd have to write enough more of them for at least one more collected volume, right?

Since Nimuë doesn't even show up in the Merlin legends until the French cycle of stories, which are also the source of all those incesty complications I totally hate and which I hope won't show up either, I'm just going to assume Butcher won't go there with Harry and Molly. Besides, he'd have to be fascinated with her in order for that to fit, and she'd have to be putting him off in an effort to seduce more secrets out of him, and he keeps saying every time he consciously notes her attraction that he just can't see her that way. Maybe that's another reason for subbing in the Leanansidhe-- so Molly's not dependent on him anymore for her learning.

Anything could happen, I guess. But I'd never forgive Butcher for that. And his last heroes got to be happy after surviving the worldwide apocalypse. So. I'm just going to picture him sitting in his little tower on Demonreach writing each one of these books to add to the collected volumes he inherited from Ebenezar, living wizardly and at least contentedly ever after. =)

Fitz should be interesting! I liked seeing Daniel included, and a greater role for Mort and some of the lesser-known Alphas, but it was about time we had some new blood to add to our secondary cast. I'm definitely curious to see what Butcher does with him.

[sulien.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see more short stories about the Justice League; I'm extremely fond of Even Hand and Aftermath. He did say he'd have to write enough more of them for at least one more collected volume, right?

I agree, I'd love to see more stories in the vein of "Even Hand" and "Aftermath". Stories like "Backup", on the other hand, I can definitely do without. The very last scene of that story downright horrified me and put me completely off of Thomas for good.

Regarding Nimuë, I sincerely hope you're right. No, Harry isn't infatuated with Molly and loves her more like an uncle or big brother, but I just have a bad feeling where Molly is concerned, mostly due to her actions in "Turn Coat" (she's still a little too willing to futz with someone's mind).

I'm just going to picture him sitting in his little tower on Demonreach writing each one of these books to add to the collected volumes he inherited from Ebenezar, living wizardly and at least contentedly ever after. =)

That's exactly the way I'm picturing things shaking out and I sincerely hope we're right!