Small Favor

The tale begins when a magical force concentrates energy and blows up a building in Chicago. The city's only wizard, Harry Dresden, is drafted into action by canny portions of the Chicago PD. In his chatty first-person style, author Butcher describes a modern world filled with hidden but active esoteric creatures, forces, and societies--vampires, for example. James Marsters, who has narrated other installments in Butcher's Dresden Files series and who appeared in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," is eerily right for this audiobook. If any negative criticism applies at all, it is that sometimes he speaks so softly that traffic noises would drown him out. Listen to his version of Bob, the apparition in a skull. It's spot-on. D.R.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

February 18, 2008
Intricate yet accessible plotting and near-Arctic winter weather mark the 10th Harry Dresden adventure from bestseller Butcher (after 2007's White Night
). A friendly snowball fight opens the Chicago-based wizard-detective's latest tale, but it's not long before a host of more dangerous foes are out for Harry's blood. A missing human mobster is said to be seeking greater influence among Chicago's extranormal population, but the true threat proves both more subtle and of much greater consequence. Butcher smoothly manages a sizable cast of allies and adversaries, doles out needed backstory with crisp efficiency and sustains just the right balance of hair's-breadth tension and comic relief. Encounters with a series of increasingly dangerous “Billy Goats Gruff” unfold with particular cleverness, and key developments involving Sgt. Karrin Murphy, Harry's reluctant police liaison, will intrigue seasoned fans as well as newcomers attracted by last year's TV adaptation of the series.

June 15, 2008
Turn out the lights, light a few candles, summon up a nice thunderstorm; you're in for an enthralling performance as James Marsters once again guides us through the dangerous streets of Chicago. This time there's even more difficulty than a wizard named Dresden can handlehow did he know that the "Small Favor" he agreed to do for Mab, Queen of the Winter Sidhe, could lead to so much trouble? Although Butcher had originally planned to write more of the "Swords and Horses" stories he grew up loving, somewhere along the way he met Harry Dresden, and these magical tales have netted a galaxy of fans. Just published in hardcover and already a best seller, "Small Favor" shot to the number two slot on the "New York Times" best sellers list, and number one on the "Publishers Weekly" list; it also made it to number one at Borders and Barnes & Noble.

"Captain's Fury" is the fourth book in the "Codex Alera" series, which chronicles the life of a young man named Tavi, now captain of the First Aleran Legion. His job is to forge an alliance between invading Canim warriors and the people of Alera. With "Codex Alera," Butcher made a successful crossover from mass market to hardcover; this made it to number 17 on the "New York Times" extended best sellers list. Although literally worlds apart, these two series show the talent a gifted author has in creating believable and entertaining characters. For the Dresden fans, it was lucky that Butcher met Harry first, as there's always a need for someone to take care of those things that go bump in the night. Kate Reading does not succeed in trying to do the deep voice thing on the "Captain's Fury" audio, for this is a sword and sorcery tale, where most of the characters are men. Nevertheless, both series are highly recommended for all public librariesbut if there's only room for one, you just can't beat the great performance that Marsters lends to the Dresden Files.Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville

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