Ghost Story (Harry Dresden Book 13) by Jim Butcher

Rating: 4 out of 5
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 793 KB
Print Length: 497 pages
ISBN: 1841497614
Publisher: Hachette Digital (July 28, 2011)
Sold by: Hachette Book Group
Language: English
ASIN: B0057MLQWW

 Ghost Story is the latest instalment in the Harry Dresden series. In the last book Changes we were left with a cliff hanger ending. Which will make this review very short and vague as I do not want to spoil it for people who have not yet read Changes. But the events from Changes impact directly on this book.

I loved the development of Harry, Molly, Karrin, and Butters. Good or bad all the main characters in Harry’s life have been deeply effected by the events in Changes. The time between Changes and Ghost Story (Ghost Story is set 6 months after Changes) has seen some major changes with the main characters, and most of those changes are bad. In all honesty the only character who seemed to be improved was Butters, but he was not involved in the final smack down of Changes so that maybe why. I really liked Butters in this book (I have liked him in the other books as well), he really seems to have come into his own. The strength of this book I feel is the character development.

The usual Harry Dresden story elements are all there and are enjoyable but the focus of this book is Harry and him having a serious self reflection. While this was happening it didn’t feel forced or a gimmick, it blended well with the story and will hopefully provide a new direction for the series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and if you like the series you will no doubt already have this in your to be read book pile.

No LOL Cat review today (sorry) but found this clip of Jim Butcher reading an excerpt from the first chapter. Enjoy!

Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Rating 4 out of 5
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 685 KB
Print Length: 432 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 184149920X
Publisher: Hachette Digital (April 14, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B004SBMJQ0

 Side Jobs is a collection of short stories written by Jim Butcher over the life of the Harry Dresden Series. At the start of each story there is a short blurb from Butcher who talks about how the story came about, influences, and where the story sits in the Dresden world. There are some stories that were previously printed in anthologies which included a novella from Thomas’ point of view. But there were also some previously unpublished stories, including one set after the events in Changes.

Each story adds to the Harry Dresden world, insights into the main characters, and into his relationships with some of the characters. The majority also do not give away anything about what has happened in the series, however there are three stories that do. Though it isn’t necessary it would be a good idea to read this collection of stories either singularly (at the appropriate moments in the Dreseden series, each story tells the reader where in the series the stories fell) OR all of them at the end of Changes. The final story takes place after Changes and it will definitely ruin the book if you have not read it.

Most of the stories are just good fun. There is not a lot of depth or substance. But there are some with real depth, that gives real insights into the main support characters in Dresdens life. The Warrior is Michael centric; Backup is all about Thomas; Something Borrowed focuses on Billy and Georgia; and the story called Aftermath set after Changes features Karrin and Billy. These stories you really do want to read in order of the series. I actually like the Michael story the best.

The story order is as follows:
Vignette.......................Between Death Masks (5) and Blood Rites (6)
Something Borrowed.......Between Dead Beat (7) and Proven Guilty (8)
It's My Birthday, Too.....Between White Knight (9) and Small Favor (10) Heorot..........................Between White Knight (9) and Small Favor (10)
Day Off.........................Between Small Favor (10) and Turn Coat (11) Backup..........................Between Small Favor (10) and Turn Coat (11)
The Warrior...................Between Small Favor (10) and Turn Coat (11)
Last Call.....................Between Small Favor (10) and Turn Coat (11)
Love Hurts....................Between Small Favor (10) and Turn Coat (11)
Aftermath.....................After Changes

I don't really want to say anything more as I will probably give some of the story lines away. If you are a fan of the series then this collection of short stories is a must. I really did enjoy them all.

Changes (Harry Dresden Series Book 12) by Jim Butcher

Rating 5 out of 5
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 727 KB
Print Length: 448 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1841497134
Publisher: Hachette Digital (April 8, 2010)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B003CUDOYE

Changes is the 12th book in the Harry Dresden series. I hate reviewing books in as series because you can't really talk about what you WANT to talk about, otherwise you ruin it for someone else. A Buckeye Girl Reads, recently did a LOLz Cats review for the book Hard Bitten, which gave me inspiration to give it a try. It was a fun and a refreshing way to review a book in a series. Thanks buckeye girl!

So I got my hands on the 12th Harry Dresden book and I was all kinds of happy! It has been awhile since I have read a Harry Dresden book for a lot of reasons but none that are worth talking about. I must confess I love this series and have been hooked from the very first book Storm Front. So needless to say, like a chocoholic who has been denied chocolate for a day getting their chocolate back; I was pretty excited to delve back into the world of Harry and be reacquainted with all my favorite characters. If you have not yet discovered the world of Harry Dresden then get your hands on Storm Front as soon as possible, you will not regret it!

For those who don’t know Harry is a wizard. His adventures started way back in Storm Front when he was a lowly private eye helping people with supernatural type problems, at that time he also consulted with the police to supplement his income. Fast forward 12 books and Harry rarely gets to do basic detective work anymore. He works on bigger picture stuff like fighting for man kind, his friends, and sometimes saving the planet.

So this book follows the usual Harry adventure formula of non stop thrill ride. It careens from one battle to another with barely a pause. The level of battle does seem to vary from mundane to titan throw downs. The action is fast paced and seems to have somehow been ramped up compared to the earlier books. The last battle scene can only be described as EPIC.

I think though this was the first time we see Harry really struggle, both mentally, physically, and even magically. This time he couldn’t just beat his chest and say “I am Harry. I am here to smite thee evil bastard”. It did make a nice change to show that Harry had limits, and how he dealt with this realization. Don’t get me wrong I normally love Harry’s sense of humour, witty repartee, and absolute belief that he will win; but it was also a refreshing character development to see Harry tested. What would he do going up against an opponent bigger, badder, stronger, and quicker witted then him?

This book is aptly named as Changes, there are some pretty big revelations that happen in this book (in the brief down times from annihilating baddies). A lot of previous story threads seem to fall into place, or make sense and we get to learn new things. I will be interested to see how these revelations change the direction of Harry’s story, his friends, and the over arching story of Harry saving the world. Are these good or bad changes? I guess we need to wait and find out.

Then we get to the ending and......OMG. It’s all you can say really. I got to the end and thought “are you kidding me? You stop there? You are leaving me hanging like this?”. I literally could not handle it and my finger automatically hovered over the "purchase" button in the kindle store, so I could buy and download the next book immediately. But I took some deep breaths, stepped away from my ebook reader, and said “focus, your world will not end if you do not start reading the next book immediately”. If you guessed that was an epic fail on my behalf you would be right. I now have the next book on my ereader ready to go. I have zero patience.

Edit - Apparently I do not have book 13. Looks like I got the Anthologies book Side Job, I didn't read the blurb closely as I didn't want to ruin the book for myself. Book 13 is due out later this year. Oh well at least I have the anthologies to tide me over. Boo :(

If you are a fan of Harry Dresden this is a must read for the big story revelations alone. All the usual ingredients that you love about the series are here and you will not be disappointed.

Extras

Not sure if the Harry Dresden Series is for you? Check out the Harry Dresden series sample chapters at Jim Butchers website.

Turn Coat by Jim Butcher (Dresden Series Book 11)

Rating 5 out 5

Note: If you have not read the other ten books there maybe small (tiny) spoilers in this post. I have done my best not to reveal any major plot developments or give anything for those who have read the series but not this book yet.

Harry is back. When Warden Morgan collapses bloodied and bruised begging Harry for assistance in proving his innocence, Harry accepts. Only thing is Morgan is accused of killing a White Council member and the evidence is pretty strong. Not only that but there is a super nasty creature in town that seems to be focused on Harry. Can Harry prove Morgans innocence in time before he is sentenced to death?

Wow another roller coaster of a book. While a lot of other series start getting a little stale by around book ten The Dresden series I feel is one of the few exceptions. This one is pretty much explosive from start to finish with only a few moments to catch your breath,and have a laugh before Harry is off destroying something new (to be fair he is usually only destroying something to save someone).

“Up until that moment, I’d been labouring under the misapprehension that the splitting pain in my skull would be the worst thing to happen to me today”

This book focuses more on the White Council and we learn a lot about the inner workings and the politics surrounding the Council. For me the White Council seems to operate somewhere between a Democracy and Monarchy from what I could see, so would that make it a Demoarchy? The White Council is not as simple as I first thought it was.

There was no Michael in this story which is disappointing. I really like Michael and thought he was the ying to Harry’s yang. Molly though seems to be developing nicely and will be an interesting character over the next books. As always Moose is there being a strong and silent presence, while occasionally being the smartest being in the room. I really enjoyed learning more about Morgan, that perhaps he is not completely the mean bastard he seems to be, or at the very least there is a reason why he is.

Finally the ending left you thinking "Oh my leaping gragoyles in red knickerbockers!". Okay maby not quite that phrase, but you get the picture. I am not kidding the ending was probably the best of the whole series.

I am not sure if Jim Butcher has every book planned out (a la JK Rowling) or wether he has a bigger picture that he ties his stories into. Either way if he can keep up the same enjoyment level I do not think I will ever get tired of this series.

Extras

For a sample chapter of Turn Coat head over to jim-butcher.com . You can also find sample chapters to all his books.

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