Ghost Talkers

Mary Robinette Kowal has given us another outstanding novel. "Ghost Talkers" is an alternative-history novel set in WW1. The British and French armies have succeeded in conditioning their soldiers to report on the battlefield conditions as ghosts to mediums when they die. It has the potential of overcoming some of the fog of war for military leaders. How can the Germans overcome it?

This is a love story, a spy story, and a murder mystery. Whether you consider it science fiction or fantasy, it is a cracking good look at a society at war, with ignorance, racism, sexism, and other forms of blindness providing twists in the plot. It is also a moving tribute to the contributions of women to the war effort, with an essay by the author on her inspirations and sources. Highly recommended; this will be on my short list for Hugo nominations next year.

This book shattered my expectations -- and my heart.

Set during World War I, the novel follows the British Army's Spirit Corps, a group of mediums who take the reports of soldiers killed on the front. They have an edge, as the campaigns of Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle -- plants for the British government -- have made the world think spiritualism was bunk.

But with the guidance of a West Indian woman, Helen, soldiers are "programmed" to want to report in before they pass on, and the Spirit Corps -- thought to be merely a morale boosting team -- hold continuous, hours-long seances to gather this precious intel from the newly dead.

Our heroine is Ginger Stuyvensant, an American heiress engaged to British officer Ben Harford. She's committed to the Spirit Corps, the other mediums and the ones in their circles with the slight "sight". But not everyone is as convinced that they are valuable, and when Ginger and Ben turned up tidbits and evidence of a spy, they face considerable resistance. Still, they fight for their colleagues, and seek out the truth where ever it leads them -- and it leads to much delicious heartbreak.

All the characters are wonderfully fun, even the tertiary ones, and the setting and world are describe in enough detail to be real without overwhelming the narrative. In particular, Kowal evokes all those elements that I appreciate in novels set during wartime conflict -- race and class and gender, bittersweet love and gutting loss -- as well as including original touches that transform this expected narrative into something more ethereal and unbelievably, more poignant.

Kowal is attentive, too, to the other details that matter, like the inclusion of a character of color as one of the main characters -- a touch I appreciate, as she acknowledges that people of color were in Europe, fighting, during World War I.

So obviously, a winning read for me -- definitely a top ten of 2016.

I expected to like this book more than I did. The premise was fascinating - the spirits of the dead reporting on the circumstances of their death during WII to help the war effort. But the characters were flat - they didn't come to life on the page. The writing style on occasion seemed sophomoric -- reminding me too much of students in my high school creative writing classes, using filler dialogue or descriptive phrases accompanying dialogue (e.g. characters reddening with embarrassment, apologizing for using curse words - granted, it was the early 20th century).

My "suspension of disbelief" was also challenged too often. For example, when soldiers died, they didn't seem disoriented at all. Their spirits calmly and with little emotion reported on the circumstances of their dying, without any preoccupation on who and what they left behind or where their spirits were going. And one of the main characters, who was a ghost, was focused on finding out who murdered him, with as much feeling as someone trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle. And when we found out who the killer was -- the clues that pointed us to this revelation were very poorly developed. It could have been any of the blonde men!

Basically, the novel was primarily a supernatural mystery, more suitable for young adults than adults.
However, since the premise was very interesting, I was motivated to finish the book just to find out how the author developed it.

Ghost Talkers is a historical fantasy novel that speculates that during World War I, the British army uses mediums to gather intelligence from dead soldiers. Ginger Stuyvesant and her fellow mediums work tirelessly on behalf of the British army, channeling the dead soldiers and living through memory after memory of death. The Spiritualist force is kept a closely guarded secret, but word has it that the Germans have found out and are preparing to target the mediums, with the help of a traitor among the top brass.

I liked the idea behind Ghost Talkers, but nothing else in the book really jumped out at me. Something about it just felt a little too paint by numbers. I had a fairly easy time guessing who the traitor was (hint, the culprit is always the one you’ll least suspect), so the big twist wasn’t much of a surprise for me.

I also never felt much of an emotional attachment to any of the characters. Helen might have been interesting, but we didn’t get to see much of her. Everyone else felt like character types I’d seen before. Ginger was the smart and clearheaded heroine, who was going to get the job done despite the sexism of the era. Trouble is, I’ve seen that sort of character before and in more interesting iterations.

The romantic arc was something unusual and didn’t follow the normal patterns set forth in these sort of stories. For one sort of thing, Ginger’s already engaged to him at the beginning of the book, instead of meeting him part way through and falling in love on page. However, I don’t think this arc was explored as thoroughly as it could have been, and it had a potential for emotional resonance that it didn’t live up to. Then again, it’s hard to care much about a romantic arc when you don’t care about the characters.

Ghost Talkers wasn’t horrible, but my feelings towards it remain tepid. Hopefully anyone else reading it has better luck than I did.

I received an ARC of Ghost Talkers from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a book with great ideas, lots of dramatic tension, and believable magic set in rich historical context, Ghost Talkers is your book. Though honestly, any of Mary Robinette Kowal’s novels fit that description—she is the queen of historical fantasy. But does the Hugo-Award winner deliver in this new standalone? Yes and no—let’s start with the yeses.

Yes on concept. As always, Kowal’s basic idea for the book is brilliant: spirit mediums are real, working on the front lines of the Allied army in World War One to gather intelligence from newly departed soldiers. It’s haunting work, but young American volunteer medium Ginger Stuyvesant is dedicated to giving the Allies an edge—plus staying close to her British fiancée. But when he shows up at work, a murdered spirit… then the drama begins. Unable to leave because of the danger Ginger is in (he’s murdered as part of a larger plot to discover the spirit mediums’s location) and his need to find a killer, Ginger must work with him to unravel the plot and find the killer—even as they deal with the impossibility of their relationship, and fiancée Ben’s spirit gradually loses coherence. Needless to say, that emotional backdrop plus the rich (and unfamiliar, and well-researched) setting of WWI France supporting a thriller-paced murder mystery with feminist underpinnings—it makes for a great read. Yes on drama, and yes on the fun/educational/surprise-factor only historical fiction can deliver.

And yes on magic! Based again on research into the time, MRK’s spirit mediumship fits the story and the historical context like a glove: reading auras, explaining death and dying, gaining her character insight into another world of emotional auras and wandering ghosts and a dear unraveling fiancée—it’s great.

So what didn’t work as well? Of course this is just one reader reaction, but the story itself felt mechanical. Once the dead body is in place, it becomes.... Read the full review (and lots of other haunting material!) at topnewfantasy.com

This book isn't perfect... I had a couple niggling questions about some clues or how something worked by the end, but that being said, I couldn't put this book down. That doesn't happen to me often anymore - the adult in me knows better - but the characters and setting were so compelling, I really couldn't stop thinking about it, even when I was supposed to be working.
Brilliant job, Mary. I'd love a sequel when you're ready. Or a prequel, or a side story, or anything really. Well done!

I’m a fan of Mary Robinette Kowal’s alternate Regency Glamourist series, so when I found out she was writing a historical fantasy novel set during World War I, I had to check it out. While I wasn’t as engaged by this book as I have been with some of the Glamourist novels, I thought it was still a good read.

The action revolves around the activities of the Spirit Corps, a group of mediums who take reports from British soldiers who were killed in the line of duty. Ginger, an American medium, has joined the Sprit Corps to do her bit for the war effort. Her duties have the added benefit of keeping her close to her British fiancée, Ben, who is engaged in intelligence work. When the Germans discover the existence of the mediums and target their operation, it becomes clear that a traitor has betrayed the Spirit Corps. Ginger and Ben work together to track down the leak, a dangerous operation that puts their lives—and potentially their afterlives—on the line.

Kowal does a terrific job of laying out her vision of how ghosts could play a role in warfare, describing in detail the operation of the Spirit Corps and their use of spiritualism for intelligence gathering. Her ghosts aren’t just powerless shades only capable of relaying information, though. They can become poltergeists who have an effect on the physical world (although doing so risks shredding their spirit, making it impossible for them to pass on). So they also play a key role in the action at a pivotal moment of the novel.

I really liked both Ginger and Ben and their obviously loving relationship. They make perfect partners in tracking down the traitor, working together even though they don’t always agree with each other.

World War I and the effect it had on British soldiers and society is fascinating to me. Kowal doesn’t sugarcoat how horrible the war was; there’s a particularly vivid scene where Ginger crawls through the trenches and encounters a rotting corpse, for example. Ginger and Ben’s bantering relationship helps keep those kinds of moments from overpowering the narrative, though.

Kowal does have a little fun with some of the details in her story. Ginger meets a British officer named Tolkien during her visit to the trenches near Amiens, a nod to J.R.R.’s real wartime service. She’s also a huge Doctor Who fan and inserts a version of the Doctor in each of her novels, but this is the first time I’ve caught the reference. (There’s a pretty obvious clue given.) A Lethbridge-Stewart also works in British intelligence in the book—I can’t imagine that’s a coincidence!

The ending of the novel is certainly bittersweet. I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say that the Spirit Corps ultimately prevails over the German threat, although it’s at great cost to Ginger and her friends.

I really hope that this is the start of a series, because I’d love to read more about Ginger and the Spirt Corps!

Recommended for fans of the author or anyone who enjoys ghost stories or historical fantasy novels.

An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book, despite its beautifully soothing cover, is not a pick-me-up read. But it is one of the saddest, most precious romances I’ve ever read.

Kowal’s prose is the kind that turns invisible, a window into her World War I world, where the British have found a way to use the ghosts of their dead soldiers to their advantage. The imagery of the mediums’ powers is so natural and beautiful and such a stark contrast to the otherwise grim setting, one would think this a natural adaptation to film—if only to relive the story again, new. Normally, I would wish in vain for a sequel, but this? I don’t know that I could bear it. Let this be the one perfect story of its ilk. (Though I’m happy to reconsider.)

This is a beautiful love story with a fascinating setting, and I will cry over it again and again.

The three-part harmony of “Ghost Talkers” (Tor, $24.99, 304 pages)– ghost romance, mystery, and tribute to Rupert Brooke and World War I – doesn’t sing for me. Mary Robinette Kowal has a spunky heroine channeling dead soldiers on the front lines in France, and it may be that a lot of readers will like one or more of the elements of the story. On the other hand, it may be that many wind up as unfulfilled as I was.

The United Kingdom suffered 887,858 military deaths during World War I. Few families survived without loosing a loved one. Many shell-shocked British citizens turned to Spiritualism for relief from their grief. It was hoped that a spiritual medium might open a connection to those lost in the trenches.

This historical foundation is the platform for Mary Robinette Kowal’s science fiction, murder mystery, Ghost Talkers.

Ginger Stuyvesant, American heiress, is a medium in the British Spirit Corp, a secret spiritual force that contacts recently deceased British soldiers before they pass through the veil, gathering intelligence for British High Command.

It soon becomes clear that the German’s are targeting the Spirit Corp, using they’re own mediums and traitors.

Ginger relies on the amazing power of her circle of mediums to face the spiritual battles with a resourceful courage.

One hundred years later it is easy to dismiss spiritualism as an arcane fad or a cruel hoax played on a vulnerable public.

Yet modern science’s discovery of dark matter sheds new light on the spiritual world. Dark matter. You can’t see it, feel it, hear it, smell or taste it, but scientists tell us that ninety-five percent of the stuff that makes up the structure of the universe is dark matter. So limiting our reality to what we can perceive with our senses gives us an incomplete view of our world.

When asked what is in the dark matter one scientist said, “God is in the dark matter.” If God is there, does he share the space with other spirits? Are there those among us who can see into the dark energy permeating the cosmos? Could human consciousness be stretched to receive signals from the darkness?

Ghost Talkers, takes on these questions, granting the reader a portrait of a desperate time when a view into the dark spaces gave British High Command a tactical advantage at the Battle of the Somme.

Kowal’s alternative history is immersed in turn of the century British culture, everyone knew their station; Victorian formality ruled social encounters, yet speculative practices were freely accepted in the spiritual domain.

I find Ghost Talkers to be an action packed tale spun from a vivid sense of story telling.