Ghost Story

It took me a year and a half, but I finally made it through the last book assigned by my book club (I'm still sad it dissolved). Now that I've made it, 13 books in to The Dresden Files, I'm more stumped than ever that the dude thought this would be a good place for new readers to begin the series. There are so many things you would miss if you started here. And given that it operates as more of a direct sequel than any other book in the series, it's probably the absolute worst place to begin reading about Harry Dresden.

At the end of the previous book, Dresden died. He's sent back to solve his murder and ends up in the middle of a ghostly war along the way. Solving his murder is actually a pretty minor part of the story. It's mostly taken up by the effect his death had on the people he loved and the city he protected. And lots of strange ghost battles.

You need the history of the previous books for the emotions of this one to hit you. Murphy's overwhelming grief doesn't make as much sense if you haven't watched these two dance around each other for years. Harry's loss and subsequent reclamation of his stuff doesn't punch you as hard if you haven't seen how much he relies on it - to the point of taking it for granted. Molly's magical growth isn't nearly as impressive if you haven't watched Harry's struggles over the past few books.

And it's really Harry's growth that's the most impressive thing here. I've spent books getting annoyed at his paternalistic, protective ways. So it's great when he's actually forced to stand by helpless while Murphy and Molly fight their own battles. To see him finally acknowledge that they can take care of themselves. To watch him actually think through his problems instead of punching his way through them because he can no longer punch.

We get a much more introspective Harry in this book. And while it occasionally gets tedious, it was also refreshing to see him stop and think. There are also some fun flashbacks and references to things that make me think I ought to have read Side Jobs (the collection of short stories published right after Changes) before I read this one. Well it's next on my list now.

All in all, this book was fantastic. I doubt I would have liked it as much if it had been my introduction to the series, and I'm glad I decided to go back to the beginning. Even if it did take way longer than my initially predicted month and a half.

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