I have been an advocate for the Dresden Files for quite some time (here... and here... and don't forget here). At this point, I'm not sure what else I need to do to convince you people that you should read the series. What more do you people want?! Really. Go read it. You'll thank me (and by "thank me", I mean, "send in flowers, candy, and possibly stuffed armadillos").

But... don't start with this latest book, Ghost Story. I've mentioned before how the Dresden Files have done quite a good job at having standalone novels that could each serve as a good introduction to the series for first-time readers (though each book does have hints [sometimes more blatant than hints] of an over-arching plot). Later books are probably a little more complex without knowing all of the various characters and relationships, but still would be enjoyable reads. Ghost Story, however, follows from the first-ever cliffhanger ending (well, whether or not it was a "cliffhanger" is in dispute) in the series.

Harry Dresden is dead.

Yep, at the end of the previous book Changes, he was shot in the chest via high-powered rifle, without any of his normal magical protections. Sucks to be him.

At the beginning of Ghost Story, Harry finds himself in some sort of afterlife (an afterlife? the afterlife? He doesn’t really know), where he learns he must head back to Chicago as a spirit and solve his murder, otherwise some of his still-alive friends will suffer greatly (no pressure!). He does, indeed, choose to return and upon doing so, discovers (**Minor spoiler alert**), six months have passed since he was shot and killed.

Things have changed for the people he knew.

Not only does Harry learn how his death affected those around him (and some of those effects are rather substantial), but he also learns the extent to which his rescue of his daughter in the last book kind of screwed with the world. Short version: he killed off all of the Red Court of vampires (pretty nifty trick, if you ask me), which had the unintended consequence of leaving a huge power vacuum. Various nasties from both sides of the veil between life and death stand ready to fill that void. Guess where Harry finds himself? And he must deal with all of this (and more! It’s like a home-shopping network deal… return to Earth and receive all this wonderful information. But act now and you will also receive gangs of homeless kids on shooting sprees, an uber-ghost trying to make waves, and a creepy faerie godmother taking her duties to an extreme! Call now!) without the comfort of his magic.

This book is more introspective than most in the series have been. Harry does much soul-searching during his investigation (or does he? Maybe he is all soul now, being dead and all, and thus the only thing he doesn’t need to search for his soul! Oooh, what a twist!) and he gains some interesting insight into himself, how others viewed (and relied upon) him, and how his past actions have fit into the world. It makes for an interesting read.

Part of this introspection includes some flashbacks into early, key moments of Harry’s life. Some of these scenes had previously been referenced in past books, but without full details. We get more of the story of the first time Harry used magic. We get the story of the first time Harry creates magical fire. We get the story behind his magical catchphrase (catchmagic?) of fuego. These flashbacks work quite well within the book, and serve several purposes – they help with the character growth, they fit within the plot (i.e. they aren’t shoe-horned in for the sake of having a flashback), and they actually advance some of the over-arching plot for the entire series. I had made the comment during the review of the last released book, the short-story collection Side Jobs, that I would have liked to see more stories of early in Harry’s life, so it was a pleasant surprise to have these flashbacks in the latest book.

But this is still a Dresden book, so despite the introspection and soul-searching…there is still plenty o’ action. It’s still a fast, exciting read, with most chapter endings designed such that it is difficult to end there…just one more chapter! Yes, as has happened with previous books, this was read in one day. Harry’s wit and snark survived the transition to dead-ness intact (possibly enhanced, really, once he discovers how he can run through walls and other things). Many more geek references are made throughout (most amusingly, perhaps, is Harry’s attempts to figure out which of the X-Men he would be based on whatever new ghostly abilities he discovers. He can run through walls? Shadowcat! He can teleport from place to place? Nightcrawler!), including in-book answers to some of the Final 5. How can you beat that?!

The ending of the book, though, is…hmmm…interesting, I suppose I’ll say. I don’t want to give much away, but I will say that throughout the book there were certain questions I had that didn’t seem to be touched upon at all. Until the ending. And yet the ending still leaves a rather open door. It’s kind of cliff-hanger-y. Again. (Though, again, probably not a cliff-hanger if we want to get all technical and argue semantics. Which, of course, we do). Overall, it makes this kind of an odd story in the middle of the series as a whole. Quite good, certainly, but still a little odd.

In my review of the last novel, Changes, I wondered and hoped that the significance of certain events would not be downplayed. They weren’t, for the most part, but there was one major life-changing choice that Harry made in that book for which the impact has not been fully dealt with, even through this latest book. I am left wondering how this will play out, but must wait for the next book, apparently.

Still, I don’t think that anyone can claim that the series, despite being on book 13, is just “more of the same”. Progress and character development are here in spades. So do I recommend the book? Yes, absolutely. Granted, I probably would have done so even before reading it, but that thought was, indeed, vindicated upon finishing the book. But, as stated previously, if you’ve never read the series before, this isn’t the book to start with. The events discussed, of how characters have changed, the impact of Harry’s memories – well, I can’t say they will make more sense, as I think someone reading it for the first time can follow the story rather easily, but they will have much greater significance and impact for someone familiar with the rest of the series.

So the countdown has once again begun for the next book. Here’s hoping that Jim Butcher is still able to stick to his yearly schedule (despite the annoying three-month delay faced with this book). In the meantime, I suppose I’ll have to occupy my time with wondering what kind of X-Men abilities I would try to emulate, were I a ghost of a wizard sent back to Earth to solve my own murder. You never know when such a situation would arise!

   -- K. Burtt