Rain's first encounter with the Dark Man reminded me of a nightmare I'd had some years ago, where I dreamed that a sinister looking shadowy figure was standing over my bed, staring down at me. I recall asking in the dream, in a small, terrified voice, "Who are you?" without reply. I'm certain that I had it before I first read "Rain of the Ghosts".

[SPOILER] Of course, we find out later that the Dark Man isn't so malevolent after all. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Thu, Aug 6, 2020 9:16:41 pm EDT from 68.231.65.221

Thank you, she's doing fine and has plenty of family that looks after her.
It's just a combined concern over the pandemic and time itself.
Matthew
Insert Inspirational Quote Here:________
posted @ Thu, Aug 6, 2020 9:14:48 pm EDT from 73.158.223.17

MATTHEW> Sorry to hear, Matt. Hope your granny's holding up.
Algae
"This never happened, but it always is." -Sallustius.
posted @ Thu, Aug 6, 2020 3:04:48 pm EDT from 86.45.213.181

So covering chapters 4, 5 and 6 this post. And...well let me get some personal thigs off my chest first.
So my last grandmother is celebrating her 90th this year, and a huge family get together was planned as far back as January. Unfortunately the pandemic means that this would be impossible to do safely. Thinking about this and these chapters does bring to mind the preciousness of time and family. It kind of made these chapters harder to get through than I expected.

After chapter four the next few chapters really soak into the grief of the characters, and I'm glad that we were able to see it through multiple character's perspectives. I especially felt Charlie's reaction, trying to be the supportive friend not just for his closest friend but probably for the family he's known his whole life. One note I'd like to bring up is how it's expected for the parents to have to be the strong ones yet we see the trouble Iris goes though internally. Not just the loss of her father but having to arrange a funeral, a wake while running an inn. I've known plenty of people in retail who weren't able to get time off to deal with family issues, this sort of thing really hits close to home.

These are the chapters where the more supernatural really starts to show up, we get a better sense of our narrator and the fact that he is omniscient. Rain's own power (which was briefly hinted at in chapter 3) truly starts to manifest as well as the hints of her precognitive dreaming ability (which we'll see in more detail in the next book). I think it's interesting that despite Rain being the most vocal about wanting to leave the Ghosts, in her dream it's Charlie that's the most vocal. It sorta hints that his desire to leave may be as great or even greater than her own.

There isn't as many hidden references in these chapters (besides the introduction to Ariel) so instead I'd like to offer this linguistic question. For those who don't know, the Spanish language and its verb conjugation differs depending on country to country. Spain Spanish has an entirely different verb conjugation from the Spanish commonly spoken in the Americas. And there both different from the Spanish spoken in Cuba. So which do you think is more commonly used in the Ghosts? American or possibly Cuban? Or any other variant?
Matthew
Insert Inspirational Quote Here:________
posted @ Thu, Aug 6, 2020 7:53:18 am EDT from 73.158.223.17

6th!
Matt
posted @ Wed, Aug 5, 2020 5:29:23 pm EDT from 24.107.111.141

5th
Demona May - [realdemona at yahoo dot com]
Real Living Insane Gargoyle....
posted @ Wed, Aug 5, 2020 4:23:05 pm EDT from 72.28.178.46

Fourth.
Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka
posted @ Wed, Aug 5, 2020 1:21:51 pm EDT from 70.186.146.21

Badb, Macha agus Morrigan
Algae
"This never happened, but it always is." -Sallustius.
posted @ Mon, Aug 3, 2020 1:01:41 pm EDT from 86.45.213.181

Second.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Aug 3, 2020 8:42:55 am EDT from 68.231.65.221

One Ring to rule them all...
Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]
posted @ Mon, Aug 3, 2020 1:38:15 am EDT from 76.243.192.93