All Things Jim Butcher discussion

So, I just finished Ghost Story. Good Grief. I never saw that coming! Obviously Butcher has decided to take Dresden in an entirely new direction. I see that Cold Days will be (at least at the beginning) his story as the Winter Knight. And, it may unravel some of the curious elements in earlier books.

BUT---I *really* like this series, and a big part of why I like the books is because of all the ensemble characters. Since GS reads like Goodbye to them all, I'm not really sure I want to continue on, and I figure this is a good place to stop.

Anybody have any thoughts, opinions about whether it's worth continuing into what may be a major change in feel for the series?

Thanks.

Robin

For the love of all that is holy continue reading!!!!!

And for the love of everything that isn't holy continue reading!!!

:-)

Personally, I think of Ghost Story has the only vacation that Harry ever got. You'll hate yourself if you miss out on Cold Days or Skin Game.

I concur, keep reading. Changes was, to put it bluntly, about changing Harry, his circumstances, and his life. Keep going through Cold Days / Skin Game. Butcher seems to be hitting his paces through these novels.

Ok, thanks. I figured it was Changing Harry, but I wasn't sure if the series would continue in the vein I have grown to love.

Well things did change after Changes and Ghost Story, but the ensemble cast that you liked is still there. His interactions with them has changed a bit, and he does have some issues reconnecting with them, but a lot of that has to do with everyone's character growth. Plus you now have Mab has one of the main group of characters. :-)

Cool, thanks Mike, and everybody!

One of things Butcher has said on a number of occasions is he is a very lazy writer. There is little to nothing extraneous in his writing. As an extension of that, if a character was written about - expect to see them again unless they died. And as you can tell from Ghost Story - sometimes even death is not the end. All the characters and their interactions are growing so it won't be the same - but would you really want the series to stay static? Personally I feel that is part of the magic of the series how all of the characters grow and interact - how the major events actually have lasting impacts and ripples.

Yeah, growing is good. It just felt like "goodbye" :-)