Alera Ate Jim's Brain (warning: a few spoilers)

books:

	• Small Favor (The Dresden Files, Book 10) Jim Butcher Roc Hardcover, 2008 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 127 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Small Favor

Butcher continues to deliver in this latest of of his 'Dresden Files' series, with charm, wit and development that he has established.

Alera Ate Jim's Brain (warning: a few spoilers)

While some Dresden is better than no Dresden, this isn't one of the strongest. White Night was so knock-out awesome that I admit it would have been hard to top it, but JB is writing this one with his head in Alera. He's using a Tolkeinesque formula (you know: Frodo gets ring, Frodo dumps ring, and in between he fights every freakin body in MiddleEarth). In Small Favor, Harry and company race from one head-knocking battle to another, with lots of disjointed details and half-finished plot lines thrown in. There's not much character development of anybody, not even Harry himself, and our favorite characters, like Bob, Mister, Thomas, the pixy Toot-Toot, Mouse and Molly, get trotted out almost as an obligation, but spend the majority of the book in the dugout. Even Murphy is sidelined for much of the book. Kincaid and Marcone are woefully under-used, and The Archive is badly used as, for some godsawful reason, Jim elects to try to humanize her, instead of capitalizing on her terrifying abilities.

There is, however, a despair-inducing abundance of Michael Carpenter, whose presence is mercifully diluted with that of the admirable Russian, Sanya, a pragmatist who, like Harry, is able to see in shades of grey. Sanya benefits from one of the few bits of available character development, and I can't help wishing there'd been more overall.

There are some really clever plot devices, like the Gruffs, but a lot of the between-battles stuff makes no sense. Like why is Mab's malk doing her speaking for her, when she can actually use her own voice? Why is the Ultimate Gruff willing to make peace with Harry, when his predecessors have been sworn to vengence? Why is Lucio putting the moves on Harry? What's happened to Lea? And we never found out what happened to the smart, helpful dolphins when Harry exploded the aquarium wall.

I wish in the next book everyone would just wake up to discover that this one had been just a "Southfork Dream".

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small favor in a big package

There is nothing small about this read. Jim Butcher delivers big in this next book in the Dresden series. It is a must read and good luck putting it down.

Butcher does it Again!

It is absolutely amazing how a mere mortal continues to write such compelling stories without seeming to break a sweat. I am as enthralled by "Small Favor" as I was by all the others in the "Dresden Files" series.

As usual, the book takes off, right from the beginning, never letting you take a breath as one supernatural force after another seeks to take Dresden down. Quick thinking and good friends keep our hero alive, but never too far from danger.

Rarely have I encountered a series that leaves me wondering about what the main character is becoming. You can see that there is a larger plan in the works, and even his enemies are playing a large part in Harry's becoming a force to reckon with. Kudos to Mr Butcher! Well done!

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Jim Butcher delivers once again

As always, Butcher delivers a fast and fun ride. Now 10 books long, The Dresden Files shows no signs of getting stale as so many series do by this point. There is an intriguing over-arching story line, but this book, like all the others in this series, stands on its on as a good read.

I'd also like to put a plug in for the Codex Alera series also by Jim Butcher. It is a slightly different type of story, but just as much fun.

reviews: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, page 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

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