WWI tends to get short shrift in speculative fiction, as there's such easy inspiration to be found in the terrible evils of WWII. Mary Robinette Kowal's Ghost Talkers goes back to that earlier war, and has a feel closer both chronologically and stylistically to gaslamp fantasy inspired by the spiritualist movement of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Here, heroine Ginger Stuyvesant is a medium employed by the Spirit Corps, a sort of secret Spiritualist branch of the British Army, tasked with communicating with soldiers just after they die at the front so as to get the freshest possible knowledge of enemy (i.e., German) tactics and position.

Kowal's attention to detail is impressive; one really feels immersed in the time period and its particulars. The Spirit Corps feels so well integrated with the realistic war narrative that one can almost forget that it didn't actually exist! Ginger is also an extremely sympathetic main character, whose joys become the reader's joy, and whose pains the reader's pain. Nowhere is this more evident than in her relationship with her fiance, one Captain Benjamin Hartshorne. Curiously, however, this is also the one way that the book indirectly falters.

It's difficult to get into without spoilers, but let's just say that Ginger's work dovetails with Ben's in a way that has them working together. The depiction of the their mutual care and love, while refreshingly modern and wonderful (we should all be so lucky!), takes up so much oxygen that one can start to forget about the military plot -- which ostensibly becomes a vehicle for the love story. I enjoyed this book very much, but found myself repeatedly needing to be refreshed as to why the characters were going to certain locations, or doing certain things. I wondered for a while if it was just me having a memory problem, but found that this was not happening with other books.

Ghost Talkers's would make an excellent Hollywood war movie, of the sort that is exactly meant to use the war as a backdrop for romance. Such movies are of widely varying quality, but by and large the actual war plot matters little in all of them beyond the atmosphere and/or idea of the war, and a villain or two (either actively nefarious or simply bureaucratic) upon which to pin audience scorn. Case in point: Anthony Minghella's adaptation of The English Patient: I'm sure there was a complex war plot, but nobody remembers anything past Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas hittin' it. In a book, even a book as good as Ghost Talkers, just a touch more balance between strengths is needed. I would almost give this book 5 stars, but I have a feeling that Kowal can do even better.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galey in exchange for an honest review.)

Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Hartford, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force.
Each soldier heading for the front is conditioned to report to the mediums of the Spirit Corps when they die so the Corps can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence.
Ginger and her fellow mediums contribute a great deal to the war efforts, so long as they pass the information through appropriate channels. While Ben is away at the front, Ginger discovers the presence of a traitor. Without the presence of her fiance to validate her findings, the top brass thinks she's just imagining things. Even worse, it is clear that the Spirit Corps is now being directly targeted by the German war effort. Left to her own devices, Ginger has to find out how the Germans are targeting the Spirit Corps and stop them. This is a difficult and dangerous task for a woman of that era, but this time both the spirit and the flesh are willing…

This book was looking like a 5-star story for the first half of the book...nd then it sorted of petered away to a 4-star. Let me explain:

From the start, we are drawn into a story which follows Ginger, who works as medium for the Spirit Corps, which is a spiritualist force that collects information from the ghosts of soldiers that have died during WW1. She is engaged to a captain in the British army - who is murdered by one of their own, and so sets off to discover who is the traitor amongst them. Her search takes her all the way to the front line and back again as she tries to discover (with the aid of her dead fiancé) who the traitor is.


The first quarter of the book is the best - learning about the Spirit Corps and what they do (and what they have to deal with) was quite fascinating. This kind of thing is always going to gain traction with me as it is a little different from the norm and makes for a really good base for a story. The setting I liked as well - there are squillions of books about WW1 but this one really started off as something I had never quite read before and that was a huge bonus.

The second quarter of the book was about the death of Captain Hartford. His death, Ginger's emotions about it, how he is going to stick around and not go "beyond the veil" until he helps learn who killed him, and how that was all going to work. This was interesting but I think could have been a little shorter. It did drag on just a bit...

The second half of the book is the mystery. Which, sadly, was the least interesting part of the book. It seemed to go on and on and on, with nothing really happening. I think it could have been 50 pages shorter and still done the same job...

Overall, this was a decent story that could have been a little tighter and a far more satisfactory book for me. But I am still going to find more of this author's work and suggest that you do too!


Paul
ARH

I liked this story and the new take on WWI--soldiers being able to report to psychics. I felt that the plot could have been a little faster paced, but I think anyone who enjoys SFF and that time period would really love this book.

I absolutely loved this book - my first experience with Mary Robinette Kowal's work. Will not be my last. The book had a bit of everything a good read contains - emotion, mystery, intrigue, love, and a story that transports you to another time and place.

I enjoyed host Talkers by Mary Robinette. I love all Mary Robinette's books. I can't way for her to write her next book. Thanks for letting me read it. I'll order it for my store.

Wow.

This book is a brilliant blend of history, mystery, and supernatural thriller.

It is 1916 and we are in the middle of the first World War. The Allies have a special, semi-secret corps operating near the front. This is a corp of mediums...ghost talkers, known as the Spirit Corps. Although most people don't believe in the ability to talk to spirits, in large part because of the back-room charlatans trying to make a buck, true mediums with the gift to talk to the dead have convinced the military of their potential.

The spirit of a soldier who dies is on a plane of existence for a short time (typically no more than a minute) and can be contacted by a true medium. Trained before going to battle the soldier is to report anything he can about the enemy ... troop strength, location, etc. There is a certain amount of finesse needed on the medium's part as the spirit, no longer held by a physical body, is no longer concerned about earthly things and often has trouble focusing long enough to give a report. The medium typically also offers to give any last messages to loved ones. Once the 'bright light' appears, the spirit departs for the afterlife and the medium is no longer able to talk with him.

One death hits particularly hard for medium Ginger Stuyvesant. The soldier who appears in her circle is her fiance - Ben Harford. Ginger does her job to get the information she can from him, which includes a little surprise - he was killed by one of his own men. And when Ben's bright light doesn't appear to take his spirit away, Ginger knows it's because he has unfinished business. Ginger begins her search into the death of Ben, with Ben as her guide, but keeping Ben focused and herself out of danger is more than slightly challenging.

Author Mary Robinette Kowal has a beautiful sense of prose and storytelling. She doesn't get caught up in her tremendous language but lets it float there in front of the reader as we delve into the story.

As for the story ... the mystery is fair. I had much of it pegged pretty early on. But I didn't care. The concept behind this is outstanding and the delivery is enchanting and the story, while not entirely surprising, is still strong enough not only to hold my interest but enticing enough to keep me wanting to turn pages.

I haven't read anything by Kowal before this, but now I want to rush out and read everything she's published.

Looking for a good book? Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal is a work of extraordinary originality and beauty and highly recommended.

I receive a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I did not see that coming. I read the first book in the author's "Glamourist Histories" series last year, and was ambivalent about it. Maybe a bit more negative than positive, actually, because when I realized this was the same author I had serious requester's remorse. But its time came, and I was instantly hooked. It's a remarkable, wonderful book.

Having forgotten everything about the synopsis by the time I started it, I was very pleased to discover that it's set in the middle of WWI, both time- and place-wise. In my experience it’s an under-used setting, and Kowal utilizes it magnificently, weaving reality with her reality to the point that this fantasy seems like the way it should have been. I believed it. World-building is something usually associated with settings that come straight out of a writer's head, but this is a beautiful example of how important it is to, if not build, recreate a historical setting for something that takes place in our very own past. <I>Ghost Talkers</i> explores war-torn France and the war-torn soldiers and mediums with painful realism.

The plot featured a murder mystery which was handled skillfully enough that I honestly had a doubt or two about the possibility of guilt where a lesser book would never have allowed it.

There's a guest appearance in the trenches that could easily have scuttled the whole thing for me, if badly handled. But it wasn't, and it didn't. Someone – I won't spoil it for you – comes onstage (so to speak), has a line or three, and departs again with absolutely no fanfare. It was well done, and it tickled me. <spoiler>A hint, because I enjoyed the description: "a lieutenant who seemed too bookish to be in a war".</spoiler>

The relationship between the main character, Ginger, and her fiancé Ben is absolutely lovely. It features realistic and enjoyable banter, well-demonstrated affection (shown, not told!), and the end of the book left me with a tear in my eye. There might have been more than one. There might have been sniffling.There was definitely powerful longing for more. It was a solid stand-alone novel, but I would be delighted if a sequel came along.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.

Title: Ghost Talkers
Author: Mary Robinette Kowal
Release Date: August 16, 2016
Publisher: Tor Books

As a huge fan of Mary Robinette Kowal’s Glamourist Histories series, I had been looking forward to Ghost Talkers ever since it was released and I’m more than happy to report that it did not disappoint.

Set during WWI, the book follows a woman named Ginger who is working as part of the British war effort in the paranormal Spirit Corps. As young men on the front are killed their ghosts report back on the German war effort, giving their deaths a true sense of meaning. But the program – which has remained secret since the beginning of the war – has come to the attention of the enemy.

Spies are set to try and strike back at the Spirit Corps. Ginger finds herself wrapped up in the search for a traitor in their midsts. Part paranormal romance, part murder mystery, and part military spy thriller, Ghost Talkers is a thoroughly enjoyable read.

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IN THE INTEREST OF FULL DISCLOSURE: REVIEW COPIES OF DARK MATTER, THE WOLF ROAD, CROSS TALK, TOO LIKE THE LIGHTNING, MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM, GHOST TALKERS, THE SECRET LOVES OF GEEK GIRLS, AND THE GEEK’S GUIDE TO UNREQUITED LOVE WERE PROVIDED IN EITHER DIGITAL OR HARDCOPY BY THEIR RESPECTIVE PUBLISHERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF REVIEW OVER THE PAST YEAR OR SO. OUR OPINIONS ARE OURS AND OURS ALONE. WE EARNESTLY BELIEVE THAT THE BOOKS ON THIS LIST DESERVE TO BE ON THIS LIST.