Of course, if your case involves werewolves, zombies, demons, or other "unusual" circumstances, it may cost you a bit extra. When it comes to the wizard's White Council, Harry Dresden is thought of as either a black sheep or a sacrificial Iamb. And no one holds him in more disdain than Morgan, a veteran Warden with a grudge against anyone who bends the rules.
But now Morga Fall under the intoxicating spell of their hex appeal… In the magical world that lies hidden beneath our own, witches and conjurers play deadly games. They know just the right spell to kill a man with one kiss—or raise him back again. Today's hottest urban fantasy authors come together in this delicious brew that crackles and boils over with tales of powerful witches and dark magic!
In Charlaine Harris' "Bacon," a beautiful vampire joins forces with a witch from an ancient line Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover -- until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her caught between humanity and the relentless bloodlust of the yampiric Red Court.
She disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her It was a dark and stormy knight, and nine dark defenders embarked upon a most perilous quest…. In this all-star collection, nine of today's Here, together for the first time, are the shorter works of 1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher-a compendium of cases that Harry and his cadre of allies managed to close in record time.
The tales range from the deadly serious to the abs IN this star-studded cross-genre anthology, seventeen of the greatest modern authors of fantasy, science fiction, and romance explore the borderlands of their genres with brand-new tales of ill-fated love.
From zombie-infested woods in a postapocalyp When an unknown someone shoots him and leaves him to die, Harry Dresden hopes he might be heading to a better place. Unfortunately being dead doesn't make Harry's life any easier. Trapped between life and death, he learns that his friends are in s Because he is no lon Mab has When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, joins the White Council's security team to make sure the talks stay civil.
But can he succeed, w Harry has faced terrible odds before. He has a long history of fighting enemies above hi The Dresden Files — Jim Butcher. Harry sets out to find the apparent serial killer, but his investigation turns up evidence pointing to the one suspect he cannot possibly believe guilty: his half-brother, Thomas. And Harry knows that if he screws this one up, people will die—and one of them will be his brother….
For once, the future looks fairly bright. But the past casts one hell of a long shadow. Mab, monarch of the Sidhe Winter Court, calls in an old favor from Harry. And everything was going so well for once…. When it comes to the magical ruling body known as the White Council, Harry is thought of as either a black sheep or a sacrificial lamb.
And none hold him in more disdain than Morgan, a veteran Warden with a grudge against anyone who bends the rules. But now, Morgan is in trouble. And a single mistake may cost someone his head. She disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it. For the vengeful Duchess of the Red Court has discovered a secret Susan has long kept from everyone—including Harry—and she plans to use it.
To prevail, Harry may have to unleash the full fury of his untapped power—and he may have no choice but to embrace the darkness within himself. And after someone puts a bullet through his chest and leaves him to die in the waters of Lake Michigan, things really start going downhill.
Trapped between life and death, he learns that his friends are in serious trouble. Only by finding his murderer can he save his friends and move on—a feat which would be a lot easier if he had a body and access to his powers. Worse still are the malevolent shadows that roam Chicago, controlled by a dark entity that wants Harry to suffer even in death. Now, the late Harry Dresden will have to pull off the ultimate trick without using any magic—or face an eternity as just another lost soul…. Her word is his command.
And her first command is the seemingly impossible: kill an immortal. It is their word of mouth that makes the story. Those fans out there are the ones that are on your side and the best marketing, I believe, you can have. Which makes the genre conventions not really applicable. That said, The Dresden Files is classified as urban fantasy, which is good enough to get people started. You introduce them to the world and then they look around for themselves and make their own decisions.
Read the interview: Jim Butcher interview, exclusively on Suspense Magazine. Happy 20th Anniversary to Storm Front! Books Urban Fantasy Magic. Dec 1 Written By Chris Well. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books in order. There's also a major villain from Harry's past, but I won't go into details and spoil it for you. At one time in my life, a shapeshifted, demonically possessed maniac crashing through a window and trying to rip my face off would have come as an enormous and nasty surprise.
But that time was pretty much in the past. I have read a few reviews in which some readers believe The Dresden Files is ridiculous because Jim Butcher puts Harry into situations that he couldn't possibly survive. But I beg to differ. As the stakes and bad guys increase, so do Harry's friends and allies. Yes, perhaps the wizard from book one would have been crushed by the baddie in book ten, but they're both at different places now.
Dare I say it Harry has "learned" things? Through his nearly constant trials and tribulations, he's become a stronger magic user, more adept and emphatic? But no, that may be going a bit too far. The prime rule of combat wizardry is simple too: Be prepared. At least he's nailed down his wardrobe game Going forth to do battle with the forces of darkness is one thing.
One final thought, in the other books in this series, I felt like things were getting worse and worse for our intrepid hero.
But, as readers discover in this entry, there may be a silver lining on all those clouds after all. And all I have to say about that is: it's about time! Action start right from page one when Harry was attacked in the backyard of Carpenters while he was playing with Carpenter family.
He was attacked by summer faeries. After that Harry got called by Murphy on a crime scene where Johnny Marcone was kidnapped with use of some heavy duty magic. If that is not enough Winter Queen Mab wants Harry to rescue M this book was absolute madness from start to the very end.
But thats only the start of this amazing story. With every passing year Harry is getting more powerful. And that is also his biggest fear. It is one of the reason that he never back down when it comes to help people with his magic. Never succumb to darkness. During the course of his life if Harry has earned some dangerous enemies who would love to see him dead, he has also got true friends in Murphy, Michael and Thomas who would do anything to keep him alive.
This true friendship is one of the biggest strength of these books. This is an amazing read. View all 8 comments. Jul 15, Steven rated it it was amazing Shelves: read-in , reread , urban-fantasy-paranormal , read-in , favorites. Loved it.
Jul 23, Luffy rated it it was amazing Shelves: 5-star , dresden. Giving a book 5 stars doesn't mean it's perfect. It's just that though I use it with a discriminative, fair, and remunerative sense of dosage, I know there are 2 farcical sides to this particular coin. First, for how long do I wait before ceding to impulse and rate a book 5 stars. Secondly, what do I do if, a week after giving Small Favor 5 stars, I chance on a book 10 times better? Cheerfully, those issues are non sequitur in my mind.
Small Favor began slowly, embracing its pulpish roots and fl Giving a book 5 stars doesn't mean it's perfect. Small Favor began slowly, embracing its pulpish roots and fleshing out its friendly universe where beings thrive even in places called Nevernever. I thought the musings of the Dresden Files, which earned my respect and interest by hitting on core metaphysical ideas, has been impotently pruned, in Small Favor, down to self help level. However, I underestimated Jim Butcher, and from the middle of the book to the twist of the last step, I was regaled with rich storytelling of the like that am grateful for.
Definitely 5 star material. View all 7 comments. Nov 28, Marielle rated it it was amazing Shelves: e-books-own. Dresden always makes me feel good! Nov 01, TS Chan rated it really liked it. The quality of these later Dresden books has been consistently pretty darn excellent. Even in the midst of so much action, character development was not once sacrificed.
Harry really found himself going against major league in this one - the Faes and the Denarians. Another thoroughly enjoyable instalment! May 07, Michael Britt rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Charities face snapped up and she said, her voice suddenly very clear and distinct, "No.
Charity stood up, her face blotched with tears, creased with strain, her eyes sunken with fatigue and worry. She stared at me for a long moment and then said, "Families stay, Harry. Oct 14, Dylan rated it it was amazing Shelves: fiction , fantasy. After that, advice about fire goes to the heart. This is not applied to Small Favor SmF , that gap is filled with this novel. This novel felt like a direct sequel to Death Mask DM which is great because DM is the best novel compared to books The character work but just better executed.
I think this is partly due length of the series. Like of course the same characters in book 10 are more interesting than their book 5 counterparts. Furthermore, an easier summary would be taking the character work from Proven Guilty and inserting the plotting of Dead Beat and DMs, this is what Small Favor does extremely well.
Plot I loved the plot, it's honestly the best crafted in the series by far. I have very few complaints in general. But during the moment it contains a weird tonal dissonance. You go from Michael dying to this Gruff resolution. Though by itself I thought the Gruff resolution was genius.
It's only that your emotional state and then you get comedic as hell moment. Both are fantastic isolated, just oddly stitched. Which is most likely the wrong intended reaction. I guess because of a lot of what happened prior you really when a character stays dead because of the plot.
Firstly, this novel is very action-packed. Sometimes people view it as a critique, some as praise for me just a choice by the author and depends on how it is executed. One of the greatest strengths of SmF is that it never felt like it was meandering. At times your kind of hoped it meandered, though that my bias of loving my slice of life A LOT, like a beginning snowball fight, was cute, it a fun, reflective and depicting those joyous aspects of life.
To get to my assessment, Butcher is so incredible at balance. The action sequences rarely feel it goes for too long. It's full-on action and in the midst of it, but he spreads out these moments where characters just reflect what has transpired. This can be in the middle action and afterwards. Another aspect of what makes novel pacing so incredible is the Carpenter household which captures that feeling of a home.
The characters are so dynamic and so well realised. Molly, Charity, and Michael are just great people. How the novel uses that environment to create interesting conflict is something I have to commend. You know in Death Masks one of my favourites scenes was the treehouse with Molly I think that or roof?? Environment-Theme Though Proven Guilty might have the best atmosphere. No other novel made use of the environment as effectively as SmF.
Some characters are figuratively buried in snow. They are isolated, cold and far removed from society. This is perfectly illustrated by the view spoiler [ character named Ivy The Archive. She a girl, without going too in-depth is consistently trapped by the system. She wants that childhood, she wants to her own choice, they a free-will debate, regarding its ethically wrong to keep her secluded but is for the greater good?
In the book, she is literally trapped, tortured and in particular, her hair shaven off. That might not seem super significant but look at her situation. Here she was not given that choice, so she was forced to be the archive not a person and keeping that long hair is what some girls do. That aquarium scene is one of my favourites in the series because of what that represents for Ivy.
I love that concept in general, the Dune Saga one of my favourite series explores that aspects similar to here. That character having her childhood is stripped from her because of what she is and the lack of guidance makes it more tragic. In Ivy case, she has people like Dresden and Kincaid to guide her.
That final chapter with her was a very emotional charged chapter. They are also just little moments where Butcher excels. Furthermore, above I talked about the Carpenter household, that place has such a cosy, warm and innocence it is cuddling a toy bear. In contrast, the novel has this cold and brutal feeling throughout, so they both compliment each other so well. It feels like a safe haven for our heroes. You could argue that Dresden house has that feeling but I am inclined not to believe that as much.
I am not sure how to articulate why exactly? Dresden household feels more like a workstation with Bob below, Dresden always thinking about the job and taking priority and has a coldness to it. It's not even that feel like a home but conveys a different type. It might be because Dresden interprets its much differently than his home, which creates that sense of comfort. Thinking about that aspect more, it might be because of certain religious undertones.
It's no secret that the Carpenter households are Christians. It might be the feeling of faith that makes the connection of that house resonate. Whenever Michael appears, the discussion of the nature of faith is explored. But it's further examined here than any other Dresden novel so far. This is what makes the conversations with Michael so interesting because there is a consistent back and forth of ideology.
They are other characters for sure, just more involved with the Carpenter household. The screaming at God in that small chapel. Murph wielding an angelic sword etc.
Anyways I really like how Faith is explored and the environment is used, all service to develop these wonderful characters. Characters The character this time around is so compelling.
Everyone almost has something to do that I think is worth noting. The biggest surprise was the Thomas focused nature of the first half. Because even though White Night is technically his novel, I expected more Thomas. Here we deliver upon that view spoiler [ firstly begins with the conversation in the Monster Truck.
They are always a theme of temptation surrounding that character and here it's tested. Especially after WN, we know Justine is relatively normal but is a double agent, they are madly in love but cannot be together. How he views that scarf is quite tragic and he has those human moments of restraint, but those short outbursts feel nature.
Then we add the coin to the mix, we already have Dresden almost falling to temptation especially at the beginning of the novel here it's tested. When you see Thomas looking upon the coin or just his manner of dialogue you know that their pain in it. The lust aspect regarding the Women looking like Justine was another demonstration of his character. Which is a prevalent aspect of his character. Dresden kinda views the applicability of faith, where Michael perceived it in a radically different light.
Lost and helplessness is a big part of his character in the novel, though not having that much screen time is executed so brilliantly some of my highlights are just view spoiler [ really after the stuff that occurred in the aquarium, the conversation inside the house was beautiful.
Dresden admitting some of his feeling about the loss of Lash was excellent and the whole twist about the staff.
Of course, him in the end, just so good. At least a proper antagonist, not a side antagonist. If you thought he was great in Death Masks, here he is even worse in a good way. I love this dude dialogue, he just carries a scene and he just has a ton of depth to him.
They a lot you can discuss like his family is one. She slowly becoming one of my favourite characters, the more she appears.
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