Book Review: Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

I am not really sure what I want to say about this book. I was super excited to get it because the end of the last book made me throw it. I think there were a lot of really fun elements that had not been in the previous books because of that fact that Dresden was a ghost the entire story. (spoiler warning) I really loved the whole thing with Uriel and that fact that Murphy's dad talks back to him. I mean I giggled for some time about that.

The sad fact is that now I am completely caught up with the entire series, so now I have to wait for the next release because there are no more for me to request at the library. Which is just very sad for me seeing as the majority of things I read are now like that.

The characters were kind of what got to me in this book. I mean there was like no Thomas at all, and I loves him and all his silly ways. I wish we had seen more of him in some way. Murphy being all paranoid kind of was depressing as well, I don't know I wanted it to be more like the fan fictions I have read (I can't believe I just said that, some one get me and MRI!) where she is at least on board with what is happening and talks to him. But she spends the entire book doubting him and I feel like she misses out on closure, but of course I also know that he is not really dead so it doesn't count.

Butters and Bob being friends on the other hand is crazy fun for lots of reasons. Molly going off the deep end is sorta not as much fun and I really wanted to  know what was happening with the Wardens. I mean I need to know what is going on with them.

Then end is what has me on the fence. This is the second cliff hanger ending in the series. I am just not sure if I am a fan of putting tension that the end of the books this way when it was never done before. I mean most of the early books wrapped up with either something funny or sort of a thought provoking idea. But this mid action stop is different, and it makes me crazy because I really want to know what happens next. I mean I am freaking out just a bit, which I suppose is better for Mr. Butcher because I now stalk his website but It makes me twitchy when there is a cliff hanger end.

I loved the book, don't get me wrong I finished it in about a day. But I am sad that I have to wait now. Also it was sorta of weird to have a book where Dresden wasn't really able to be Dresden.

Quote fo the Day

“Star Trek?” I asked her. “Really?”
“What?” she demanded, bending unnaturally black eyebrows together.
“There are two kinds of people in the universe, Molly,” I said. “Star Trek fans and Star Wars fans. This is shocking.”
She sniffed. “This is the post-nerd-closet world, Harry. It’s okay to like both.”
“Blasphemy and lies,” I said.


-Ghost Story, Jim Butcher


Just finished Ghost Story, review to come shortly.

Picture of the Day

This picture says a lot about my current mood

Quote of the day

"We still hadn't learned, though, that growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you're just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something.

Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There's the little empty pain of leaving something behind - gradutaing, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There's the big, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expecations. There's the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn't give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life they grow and learn. There's the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens.

And if you're very, very lucky, there are a very few blazing hot little pains you feel when you realized that you are standing in a moment of utter perfection, an instant of triumph, or happiness, or mirth which at the same time cannot possibly last - and yet will remain with you for life.

Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don't feel it.

Pain is a part of life. Sometimes it's a big part, and sometimes it isn't, but either way, it's a part of the big puzzle, the deep music, the great game. Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you're alive. Then it passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser, sometimes. Sometimes it leaves you stronger. Either way, pain leaves its mark, and everything important that will ever happen to you in life is going to involve it in one degree or another." 


-Jim Butcher

Dear Mr. Jim Butcher

Do you know what I did yesterday? I read Fan Fiction. Something I swore to myself I would never do again. I promised myself that I was better than that, that I was going to walk away from that stuff once and for all. I was not going to write it, I was not going to read it. I was going to read only real books and write original stories.

Get On With It!

And do you know why I stooped to that level yesterday? Because you have started taunting me with this idea of Murphy and Dresden together. At first it was fine. I mean I didn't even notice that you were working it in there for a while. Granted reading the books out of order might have added to the problem, but that's beyond the point. The point is that I finally got around to picking up "Side Jobs" and read "Love Hurts."

That was a low move. I did not appreciate seeing potential and then you dragging it from me. This is why I read romance novels, so I don't get cranky when my fantasy novels take their time getting around to the mushy stuff. But currently I am in the middle of a kick were I pretty much have read nothing but Dresden files,   Mercy Thompson series and Kate Daniels series. You are now the only one of the three holding out on me.

In the immortal words of my grandfather: "Why you make me wait?"

I will keep reading fan fiction if it takes too long and I really really don't want to do that.. (Also I blame you for opening the can of worms that is the Harry and Thomas gay couple. Because let me tell you there is some weird stuff out there with that. Fan girls don't need any help, they would have done that on their own anyway but you made it worse.)

Quotes from Dresden Files

Thomas - And I swear to you, by my own stunning good looks and towering ego, that I'm not lying to you.

"I'd hate to find out that the universe really wasn't conspiring against me." 

"When I burst out laughing at you, do you think you'll be offended?"

Just because you aren't paranoid, doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face.

I'm sorry I did you just say a cult of porn star sorceresses?

Book Review: Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

I picked up the next book in the Harry Dresden Files novels from the library. I think I am starting to enjoy the series all thought I still have issues with the portrayal of women in said books. Anyway lets dive right into this book.

The book starts off with Harry being really low on money because recently he hasn't had any jobs with the police department. The last book left a back stink on the relationship between Harry and Murphy the detective he normally works with. He has an argument with one of the women who locally is a practitioner of magic. She is asking about a a kind of magic that is beyond her and Harry says no he wont help her. After that Harry gets called by Murphy to come look at a crime scene. Very quickly we find out that the crime was commited by some kind of werewolf.

This is the part in the book where I went "Yay! Werewolves!" Anyone that knows me know that I have a preference for werewolves because they are the more epic of monsters out there. In this book there are several kinds of werewolves. First there is a kind that is a Human that simply learned how to change into a wolf. They are still a human but now they have a wolf like form they can take one. Second is a human that makes a deal with a demon to get a magical belt that turns them into a wolf, draw back is in this one the belt is evil and makes the person slowly turn into a demon. There is another kind where its the animal spirit in a human body and they never transform. Then there is the final version where the person is cursed to turn into a wolf-like-demon on every full moon. And we get to play with them all in this book.

I am not going to ruin the plot but lets just say shit gets crazy. Once again I would like to point out that I seriously doubt if Harry can run from a monster when 24 hours earlier he had the shit beaten out of him. I am just trying to be realistic about this. Also why are there so many women that are that hot hanging out around him, of does harry just have really low standards. I we got Susan who seems to love Harry for some reason. Murphy who can't figure out if she wants to shoot him or not. Then in this book there is Tera who may or may not be a wolf that figured out how to become a human and spends a lot of it being half naked and graceful. I dont know. Then the female FBI lady is all predatory. I am seriously starting to worry about Jim Butcher and his relationship history.

I vote read it.

Book Review: Strom Front by Jim Butcher

So my boyfriend is crazy about this one video game podcast. When I say crazy I mean super crazy. He has told me that if Day 9 tells him to dump me he will. The guy is really funny to say so myself. I dont really get half of what he is saying but he gets on tagents that have nothing to do video games and that makes my day most of the time.  See Video:

 

So when Day 9 said that he really loved the Dresden Files books and that everyone should check them out my boy friend told me to pick him up a copy of the first book at the library.

I had heard of the series before, even read a couple short stories that had been published in an anthology. I had also watched the sci-fi television show on netflix out of boredom about two months ago. I knew pretty much what I was getting into.

The books follow a man named Harry Dresden, who is the only openly practicing wizard in Chicago. He functions has a police consultant and a private investigator. The stories play out in a very film nior kind of way. Harry sucks when it comes to women and yet in each book there is a new woman for him to drool over, not to mention the nice police lady that is a constant character. He drive a very old VW Bug and has a bad reputation with breaking any and all technology he comes in contact with.

I am just going to say this, I looked at the back cover, Mr. Butcher is not what one would call overly masculine. Yet his hero is supposed to be this epicly tall man with great looks who doesn't know anything about women and yet gets them in bed all the time. The books in that respect play out like a wet dream he wrote out for himself and every other magic geek that ever dreamed of something similar.

On the other hand the stories are good. I like the way the mystery worked out and I enjoy the sense of humor that is given to each scene. I do feel that one too many chapters ended with a line that was always roughly: Who says I never have fun/do something interesting/get out on Friday. I did feel just a bit like Harry was way too hurt and sleep deprived to have functioned normally by the time the book was over. Why is it that heroes never get to take a decent nap? What do all these authors have against naps?

I like the book. I really do. The magic and demons and what not are pretty much where I like them to be. I just had a lot of time to nit pick because the first book has also been turned into a graphic novel/comic book, whatever. I picked up the first half of the comic first because it was what they had at the library. So I spend the first half of the book comparing the two, and frankly I enjoyed the comic a
lot more, not sure why. Then again the book was funnier. I am torn.

Final Verdict: On the fence really. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I think the way the women are portrayed as strong but still constantly as sex objects might be what is getting to me. I recommend it but be prepared for a lot of talk about long legs, and I mean a lot.

Also for those interested here is a link to Day 9's website, for further information about him and Starcraft.http://day9fan.com/