Her Book Self

Last year, I posted my review of White Night - book nine in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files - but I didn't realize until I was writing up my review for Small Favor that it's been almost a year between books in this series for me.  Maybe because I read another Butcher book earlier this year, it didn't seem like I had been away from Dresden for quite so long, but like any reunion with an old friend, once I started reading it felt like Harry and I had never been apart.  

An early winter in the Midwest is usually nothing to question, but when snows roll in mid-autumn, Harry Dresden - the only wizard listed in the Chicago phone book - knows to suspect something sinister. Mab, Queen of the Winter Fae, calls on Harry for one of the favors he owes her and though he'd like to pick and choose which assignments to accept from her, the last place he wants to be is on the Winter Queen's bad side. Add in unexplainable magical forces, a host of fallen angels, and a missing mobster and Small Favor is another excellent entry in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.

Some fans argue that the inflation nature of the saga - baddies who keep getting bigger, stronger, and more numerous - has turned Harry Dresden into more of a superhero than an everyman protagonist, but I disagree. For one, Harry was never an everyman but his talents also never blossomed unrealistically. If anything, he's a hero who knows his limits and occasionally does manage to get his butt kicked a little. Second, along with increasing foes, Harry has stronger allies as the book series progresses. The supporting characters are often as endearing - and hilarious - as Harry himself and more often than not Harry is a team player rather than a lone ranger. Finally, despite his wizarding skills, Harry at heart is still a character to relate to. He is caring, smart, and funny and the series is as much about him growing as a person as it is about his magic.

I love that these books can thoroughly distract me from life. Filled with humor, action, adventure, and characters that I've come to genuinely care about, I know I can rely on Butcher when I find myself in that strange between book limbo phase when nothing I pick up to read strikes my fancy. Ten books strong the series refuses to run out of steam and I continue to look forward to the next entry.