A bad guy is missing and Dresden is being forced to find him.
Then there are more magic people involved. Summer Council, Winter Council.
So there is a lot of running around, either he is chasing someone or being chased.
The story is good enough. Not sure why it got so low rating.
It is a story about Molly and Michael and how Dresden handled his magic and his relationships.
Interesting enough for me to read the next one.
4 stars.
Hi Booklikes friends
When my daughter got married she had a destination wedding and I had four cats at home, one of which had to be sedated just to go to the vet so there was no way she could be boarded for a week … I’m sure she would have had seizures had she known we were even thinking about it. Of course, anyone who I might have trusted to look after my kitties was coming away with us for the wedding. What to do? I hired a lovely lady, “The Cat Lady” (since retired), who came in once a day to look after my kitties and bring in the mail, etc. I came home to happy, healthy and well-fed cats. At that time I was a bit envious of her job … seemed like a great way to make a living. So I’m going to give it a try while I have the safety net of unemployment insurance.
My youngest daughter, who works in PR has helped me a lot and advised me to set up an on line presence. I have made a Facebook page called, of course, Stay At Home Kitty. This weekend I am participating in a local trade show and offering three gift baskets for a draw – and wouldn’t you know it (wink, wink) some items I purchased did not make it into the baskets – so, I’m offering them as a giveaway on my FB page.
Well, there is one more Harry Dresden book sitting on my shelf and I think that after that one I will call it quits. It's not that the Dresden Files are particularly bad – I have certainly read a lot worse – and it is not that they are all beginning to seem the same, it's just that I have probably grown out of this type of literature. I'm not saying that people who enjoy these books are immature – by no means – but I guess as I have grown older my taste in literature has changed somewhat, though I still have a number of 'popular' novels sitting on my shelf that I intend on reading, and I wouldn't mind getting a few more Forgotten Realms novels (though I am not rushing out the door, or scouring Ebay for them). However as I look at the collection of books on my shelf that are slowly diminishing (but not by much mind you, though I am trying to make a habit of buying less books than I am reading – though that is not necessarily what is happening with my 'To Read' shelf on Goodreads) there isn't really all that much room for never ending series.
So, I think I should probably say a few things about 'Small Favour' though I am finding it difficult to work out what to say without actually spoiling the book. Mind you, it is not really my intention to encourage anybody who hasn't read the Dresden Files to start reading them, and I would certainly not recommend that they start at this book (there has been too much going on before that you would probably be lost if you started this far into the series). I know that there are a few people out there that trash this series on the grounds that Harry Dresden is a womaniser, but I believe I have already said enough on that subject.
What I can say about this book is that the crime boss of Chicago, Johnny Marcone, has gone missing, and when Queen Mab appears and asks Harry to do her a 'small favour' we start off by thinking that this book is going to involve the <i>fae</i>. However, as it turns out, it doesn't (and by suggesting that, people who are familiar with the series, but have not read this book, would probably have already worked it out, if they didn't know already). Butcher also introduces some creatures named the gruffs, named after, surprise, surprise, the three bully goats gruff (yes, I thought it was a little lame as well).
However, this book was a lot less soap operary than some of the others (oh, Thomas, are you really my brother?), but on the other hand much of the book seemed to orientate around three major battles (not counting the one with the gruffs at the beginning). As such, it feels that there is a battle, a pause, and then another battle. Also, there seems to be a major influx of characters from other books, not that it was confusing, it just felt that there were quite a few characters all struggling with each other for a spot in the lime light.
In the end though, I must say that I did end up enjoying this book, but since this is book nine of sixteen, I'm not in any real rush to finish off the series (if it is ever going to end that is).
Harry Dresden still owes Queen Mab of the Winter Court two favours, and now she's come to collect one. "Gentleman" Johnny Marcone, head of the Chicago underworld and newly a baron in the terms of the Unseelie Accords, has been kidnapped by forces unknown. Mab demands that Harry act as Winter's Envoy in the matter and find him.
To complicate matters, the Summer Queen is sending warriors to challenge Harry. The Gruffs (yup, like the Billy Goats of the stories) keep showing up, each bigger and more powerful than the last to fight and possibly kill the wizard. Then he discovers who actually nabbed Marcone, and things go from bad to worse. The Order of the Blackened Denarius want to make Marcone an offer he can't refuse, and make him accept one of their cursed coins. Harry needs to find them and stop them before it's too late.
My reviews of these books are probably getting fairly repetitive. I'm still listening to the audio books, James Marsters continues to be a great narrator. By now the world of the Dresden Files is full of recurring supporting characters that I like spending time with. This book has appearances by regulars like Murphy, Molly and Thomas, as well as Captain Luccio of the Wardens and the two holy knights, Michael and Sanya (whose wry sense of humour is great). It's always nice to see Ivy, the little girl who embodies the Archive and her bodyguard Kincaid. Mab is wonderfully terrifying as always, in her brief page time at the beginning and end of the book, and I found the various Gruffs in succession to be a really fun touch. The various "nickelheads", as Harry takes to calling the demonic Denarians really let Butcher cut loose with the gruesome descriptions. They clearly come in all manner of horrible and nearly invincible varieties.
I like that the books appear to take place almost in real time, with the characters changing organically. This book takes place about a year after the last one, and over the course of the book, there are several developments that could have serious consequences further down the line. Harry keeps being completely oblivious to the fairer sex, to Thomas' great dismay, but toward the end, things are looking promising for him on the romantic front.
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