DJM

The danger with any long running series like the Dresden Files is that it will fall into a formula where the variations from book to book amount to little more than moving the pieces around through the same story on different days. In contrast, Butcher continues to deliver unique stories that reveal new aspects to the universe he has created and new dangers and possibilities for the characters. The only frustrating thing, and this is not a criticism, is that the universe created over 14 books has grown so rich and complex that some books cannot contain all the characters that you would expect to see. I wanted to know where several of them were and what they were doing but I’ll now have to wait a couple of years to find out.

It’s not possible to say much of anything about the story not already included in the description. It would be too easy to include a spoiler. Suffice to say that rather than getting tedious, this series keeps me wanting more. On a side note I, too, was glad to have James Marsters back. I have to agree with those who say that he is Harry Dresden. John Glover did an outstanding job with Ghost Story but, after 12 books read by Marsters, it just wasn’t the same.

This is a very powerful book. It is clear that this experience still haunts the author.

When we approach a book like this we want to find some answers, we want to form judgments, we want to know how the tragedy could have been prevented. The reality is that there often are no answers. Sometimes events overtake us. The story is in the striving to come through the events and survive and then to live with the memories. I couldn't make a steady diet of such stories. They hit me too hard. But this story, told by one of the people who lived it, is worth the time and the credit.

Blackout and All Clear.

I liked these books, but don't start the first one unless you are prepared to listen to the second. I would listen to these books again sometime which is my primary standard for any written or audbile book. I go back to the stories I like to walk around in the world the author created. Willis created characters that I liked, that I cared about and that, overall, acted believably.

All that said, I think that these books could have benefited from better editing. Willis, at times, becomes very tedious describing the characters' angst over changing time or each others' welfare. In the second, all clear, there are stream of consciousness sections of characters who have suffered traumatic injuries and who can't keeep events and times separated. Although generally well done, these started to get so tedious that I wanted to slap some sense into the character. However, since I wanted to slap the character instead of the author, I guess Willis did a good job suspending disbelief.

The narration is superb.

I liked these books, but don't start the first one unless you are prepared to listen to the second. I would listen to these books again sometime which is my primary standard for any written or audbile book. I go back to the stories I like to walk around in the world the author created. Willis created characters that I liked, that I cared about and that, overall, acted believably.

All that said, I think that these books could have benefited from better editing. Willis, at times, becomes very tedious describing the characters' angst over changing time or each others' welfare. In the second, all clear, there are stream of consciousness sections of characters who have suffered traumatic injuries and who can't keeep events and times separated. Although generally well done, these started to get so tedious that I wanted to slap some sense into the character. However, since I wanted to slap the character instead of the author, I guess Willis did a good job suspending disbelief.

The narration is superb.

I've been reading histories of WWII and watching the documentaries for forty years or so. (If I count the High School books about WWII fighter battles it's more like 50 years.) I'd recently gone back and listened to ???The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,??? a book I hadn't read since 1970. I thought that I had a pretty good handle on the major events. Yet, time and again Beevor was able to illuminate some aspect of the events that I had either never considered or had never heard about. His skillful blending of macro historical details with first-hand accounts from soldiers' letters home made listening to the book a riveting experience. If you are interested in the history of this global conflict, it is definitely worth the two credits.

Heinlein wrote a number of "juvenile" SF in his early years. These books read/listen just fine for adults. "Tunnel in the Sky" and "Citizen of the Galaxy" are two of his best. I don't like the full cast audio format but that doesn't detract from the story. Whether you're 16 or 60, this is worth the credit.

Good story and fits well into the Dark Tower saga. I even enjoyed the "story within a story." As for the narration, I am one of the fans who wore out tapes of the first three books. I listened to them again and again for years while awaiting Wizard in Glass. It took me a while to get used to the different narrators of the later books and I never wanted to go back and hear the remakes of the first three with those narrators. As for this story, I enjoyed returning to midworld and hearing more of Roland's life before he began his quest. I hope King eventually tells the backstory through Jericho Hill.

I've been waiting for this title for years. One of my favorite Heinlein books. Somewhat similar to the John Carter/Mars stories. One I'll definitely listen to it again.

I finished listening to Ghost Story in one marathon session. Butcher has again provided an intricately woven, entertaining and satisfying story that fits neatly into the Harry Dresden universe. Nothing out of place, nothing contrived. No deus ex machina either, which I think some of us feared. Just as book twelve left me waiting for this book, so am I already anticipating books 14, 15, 16 and beyond because the story of Harry Dresden is far from over and is not growing stale.


I do want to caution those who are approaching this series for the first time. If you start here, you are not only missing out on the depth of the universe, but the ending might seem contrived. Seen with the background of the universe established over twelve previous books and a pile of short stories, the ending is anything but contrived and is completely consistent with what has gone before. Butcher does well with back story, but there is just too much ground to cover to provide an adequate backstory for the events in this book. I read and listen (over and over again) to the Harry Dresden books to walk around in the world that Butcher has imagined. Start at the beginning. It???s worth the time.

I was very pleased with the narrator. I did notice that John Glover is not James Marsters. It???s probably a good thing that they have different names so you don???t get confused. The upset over the change in narrators is ironic considering that an over-arching theme of the Dresden books is the changing nature of the world and the need for us to roll with those changes and adapt. As Harry might say, ???You deal with the way things are, Padawan, not the way you would have them.??? As I note above, I read these books to walk around in the universe Butcher has created, not to listen to any one narrator???s interpretation. I appreciate Marsters??? performance and, after twelve previous books, probably would choose it over Glover???s. Nevertheless, Glover is very talented and offers a superb narration.

I think I must have been around 12 or 13 and just starting Jr High School when my twin sister checked "Time for the Stars" out of the school library. She was disappointed that we weren't telepathic, but I was curious about the book and picked it up. It was the first of many hours enjoying the worlds of RAH. Although this was one of the series of books that Heinlein wrote for young people, it was, and still is, an engaging story for people of any age. Heinlein is at his best when describing ordinary people struggling with extraordinary situations. If you are a Heinlein fan, you won't be disappointed. As with so many of Heinlein's books, I look forward to listening to this one again.