Ghost Story Book Club - Chapters 46-FINISH **MAJOR SPOILERS**

[eshadow]

Re: Mac and his lack of appearance...I just knew, KNEW that when he was looking for sanctuary right before the first dawn broke, he was heading to Mac's pub.  I was oh so wrong, of course, but that could have been fun!   

That would have been awesome!  I wonder if Mac would have used grammar again, but I rather doubt it 

[ninjadude853]

Okay, i got and read the book today. As always, it was AWESOME. I think my absolute favorite part was the fight between Molly and the Servitors. Actually, that whole section with Molly, from Lea's lessons to Harry's conversation with her in Denny's. Odd, since I'm not really a fan of Molly. Oh, and even though i've never seen an episode of Star Trek in my life, that mental fight with the Corpsetaker on the bridge of the enterprise was pretty damn sweet.

And of course, the resurrection itself. I'd thought that Demonreach would play a role, but i didn't think it would be so... active. I thought that maybe Harry would use the island, but i didn't expect the island itself to take the initiate to deal with Mab. Also, its "cold satisfaction" when Harry starts standing up to Mab. My god that island is awesome.

One thing that confuses me though. I understand that Harry's body was kept alive and maintained by Mab and Demonreach, but why exactly did his soul go back to it? Did Uriel send him back? or did Mab and Demonreach force it back somehow?

Other highlights include: Daniel's knife fight, Fitz in general, Harry's Flashbacks to DuMorne and He Who Walks Behind, Maggie's new home, and her new guardian (though it disappoints me that Mouse won't be hanging around with Harry anymore). And of course, Murphy's dad, the guy with the stones to hang up on an Archangel. Especially since he apparently does it regularly.

EDIT: And freaking Butters. Who the hell would of thought that Butters + Bob = BADASS

[john4200]

One thing that confuses me though. I understand that Harry's body was kept alive and maintained by Mab and Demonreach, but why exactly did his soul go back to it? Did Uriel send him back? or did Mab and Demonreach force it back somehow?

EDIT (fixed error pointed out by Snaps At Fireflies)

Harry died and his spirit left his body. Apparently his spirit was kept on hold for 6 months, then someone decided to give his spirit a chance to go back as a ghost. After that, Uriel gave Harry a choice to work for him in the between, or to go on to what is next. Harry chose to go on, which turned out to be to return to his body, so apparently Uriel sent his spirit back to his body.

A more difficult question is why Harry's spirit was kept on hold for 6 months. I'm afraid the answer is that the story Jim wanted to tell required that everyone else be 6 months along past Harry's shooting and disappearance. I suppose we could say that Uriel wanted to give Harry some perspective, and Uriel thought that was best accomplished by waiting 6 months. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[LogicMouseLives]

A more difficult question is why Harry's spirit was kept on hold for 6 months. I'm afraid the answer is that the story Jim wanted to tell required that everyone else be 6 months along past Harry's shooting and disappearance. I suppose we could say that Uriel wanted to give Harry some perspective, and Uriel thought that was best accomplished by waiting 6 months. Yeah, that's the ticket.

It's pretty simple, IMO. Uriel wanted/needed Harry to deal with Corpsetaker's attempt to come back from beyond, so he snatched Harry's soul when it became available, and dropped him back into the mix right when and where he could run across Corpsetaker's plot and foul it up. Remember that time is way more flexible for the spirit world than for reality, so that would not have been a big deal for the Spirit Spook.

LML

[dantesparadise]

One thing that confuses me though. I understand that Harry's body was kept alive and maintained by Mab and Demonreach, but why exactly did his soul go back to it? Did Uriel send him back? or did Mab and Demonreach force it back somehow?


EDIT: And freaking Butters. Who the hell would of thought that Butters + Bob = BADASS

i believe at one point it was stated that Uriel was working with Mab to use harry as a pawn.  lea being mab's proxy and that silent statue as uriel's

[LogicMouseLives]

i believe at one point it was stated that Uriel was working with Mab to use harry as a pawn.  lea being mab's proxy and that silent statue as uriel's

Well, according to Harry,

ENOUGH, said that enormous thought voice, the same one from the graveyard, but less mind-annihilating.

Eternal Silence was Demonreach's proxy. Not Uriel's.

LML

[habu987]

Crud, LML got to that DR quote before I did.

[Interitus]

Well, according to Harry, 
Eternal Silence was Demonreach's proxy. Not Uriel's.

LML

One would have to wonder, however, why Eternal Silence's mind-voice was apparently more powerful than Demonreach's mind-voice.

[Aerus Dar]

It was shouting?

[Arjan]

Some random thoughts on Ghost Story and what comes next; some of which may contradict each other.

Will Harry be able to get word out to the White Council and his friends that he is alive again?  Maybe not right away, perhaps Mab will want to use the new Winter Knight as a secret weapon on her enemies.  Perhaps HD will have to carry out a mission or two before he can get word out and go home for a visit.

Or she wants to show him off to the whole supernatural world. She did that the first time she got him.

He went with her to court. Maybe the next thing is an endless series of audiences with Mab on het throne and he sitting somewhere below her. Those formal meetings can be very tiring

[rbette1299]

Dresden was shot in the chest near his heart by someone who does not miss. So there was some major heart damage. If the blood circulation was maintained by a beating heart, then Mab must have healed his heart almost instantly. And Mab was apparently providing "breath". If she can do all that, then causing the heart to beat is trivial. On top of that, the freaking tree can somehow magically grow conduits into Harry's blood vessels. If the tree can magically do that, it should be easy for it to also circulate the blood. Either way, there is no need to involve Lash to circulate the blood. If Butcher does write Lash into there for no good reason, then it is just lame. I hope he does not.

The problem with saying one of the Denerians is responsible for whispering to Dresden is the simple fact nothing they do qualifies as cheating. They exist in balance with the Knights and are free to maim, deceive, kill, and subvert to their black heart's content. Another reason to exclude the Denerians is because something so subtle would not really be practical at that moment and time for them. If they wanted him dead and managed to get that close to him, then why waste the breath? Just bash his head in and be done with it. As for Lash specifically, assuming that she even survived giving up her 'life' for Dresen, what would she gain by getting Dresden to kill himself? The entire purpose of the Shadow of Lasciel is to subvert Dresden so he will take up the coin; killing him would be quite counterproductive.

The truth is that Uriel's care to avoid saying the Fallen's name makes it clear who he is talking about. Think about how in Small Favors, Mab takes great care to refer to the archangels by titles and not by names, even cautioning Dresden about saying Uriel's name. How in Changes, the Erlking warned Dresden about the consequences about saying Mab's name a third time. To put all that it into context, the idiom "speak of the Devil" is more than just a turn of phrase in the Dresdenverse, and quite literal in this moment and time. It was the Prince of Darkness cheating in Small Favors that dragged Uriel into the story, and it seems the Prince of Darkness cheating in Changes dragged Uriel back in again.

[raidem]

The thing is though if the whisperer was Satan and not Lasciel, when did Lasciel show her presence in GS as has been established by WOJ?  Another thing could Mara, the chick with Justine, have picked up Lasciel?

[ninjadude853]

One would have to wonder, however, why Eternal Silence's mind-voice was apparently more powerful than Demonreach's mind-voice.

I think that was just because Harry was in spirit form when he heard ES's mind voice, and had a physical body when he heard Demonreach's. Or maybe it was because he was actually on the island when he heard Demonreach's.

[Snaps At Fireflies]

Harry died and his spirit left his body. Apparently his spirit was kept on hold for 6 months, then someone decided to give his spirit a chance to go back as a ghost. After that, Uriel gave Harry a choice to return, or to go on to what is next. Harry chose to return, so Uriel sent his spirit back to his body.

That's not correct.  Harry's options when standing before the doors were to go back to Jack Murphy's Precinct (and take a job there), or the door of darkness that was What Comes Next.  Harry chose What Comes Next.   It just so happened that What Came Next for Harry was   More Life.   As they said, Death is a very gray spectrum of states.  He was technically dead in that his spirit was out of his body, but his body was sustained.  This says, (To me anyway), that he was only Mostly Dead.  That he still had the thread of connection to his body through his soul, and could thus come back, thanks to Mab and Demonreach's efforts.  That for all practical purposes he WAS a ghost, but they said several times that he wasn't a normal ghost.  My opinion is that due to the Fallen One cheating, this opened up several options for Uriel to employ, that are normally off limits.  Such as Harry getting a 2nd chance at life.  This makes sense, since the outcome of the Fallen cheating was Harry's death...in order to balance everything...Uriel would be given an option, with the final outcome of Harry being alive again.    7 words for 7 words,  a Life for a Death.   The Balance is maintained.

[mreeez]

That's not correct.  Harry's options when standing before the doors were to go back to Jack Murphy's Precinct (and take a job there), or the door of darkness that was What Comes Next.  Harry chose What Comes Next.   It just so happened that What Came Next for Harry was   More Life.   As they said, Death is a very gray spectrum of states.  He was technically dead in that his spirit was out of his body, but his body was sustained.  This says, (To me anyway), that he was only Mostly Dead.  That he still had the thread of connection to his body through his soul, and could thus come back, thanks to Mab and Demonreach's efforts.  That for all practical purposes he WAS a ghost, but they said several times that he wasn't a normal ghost.  My opinion is that due to the Fallen One cheating, this opened up several options for Uriel to employ, that are normally off limits.  Such as Harry getting a 2nd chance at life.  This makes sense, since the outcome of the Fallen cheating was Harry's death...in order to balance everything...Uriel would be given an option, with the final outcome of Harry being alive again.    7 words for 7 words,  a Life for a Death.   The Balance is maintained.

I concur and was just about to post something similar. Harry assumed 'What Comes Next' was judgment and either the elevator up or down. He had no clue that what came next was the return to his sustained body.