Crux basically picks up where Nexus let off.
Nexus is a force in the world, with more than a million people using it, growing every day. One particularly interesting use is giving Nexus to children with autism to allow them to communicate directly mind to mind. Another is the children that were born to parents using Nexus. Interesting in both cases.
And then there was a heist.
Book 15, so the Denarians are due. In they came, and not in a way that anyone would have expected. Turns out, Mab owes Nicodemus a favor. She wants Dresden to carry it out.
Dresden is remarkably good at weaseling his way out of deals he should never have gotten himself into in the first place. This time around though? His number is up. He has to work for Mab.
Mab first job for her new Knight? Kill Maeve.
And then he was dead. Ish. .
Of course the ending of Changes couldn’t be the end of Dresden. And after Ghost Story, I think I can forgive Butcher for that cliff hanger. Mostly. :)
** spoiler alert ** Damn.
In the first chapter of Changes, Dresden learns he has a daughter. Throughout the book, he loses everything (his car, his office, his home…). He makes deals he promised he would never make.
Morgan shows up on Dresden’s doorstep and asks for his help. Things degrade pretty much exactly as you might expect from there.
We do get a third part in the trifeta of styles from the previous two books: mystery to action to political thriller. There is still plenty of the first two, but now we’re dealing primarily with the fallout of a politically motivated murder.
Small Favor combines my favorite parts of the Dresden Files: the Denarians and Knights of the Cross, Marcone, and the Fae in varying degrees. On top of that, where White Night tended towards mystery, Small Favor is straight up actions. The story hits the ground running and never really stops, right through several big set piece battles and one of the bigger finales we’ve seen (albeit not quite up to the level of Sue…).
On top of that, we get another of Butcher’s lovely twists which just drop the bottom out of a story. You think you know what’s going on… turns out you’ve missed the same huge clue that Dresden has. I’m always impressed with those.
It’s been a while since I’ve read near future science fiction that wasn’t overly apocalyptic. This was a good re-introduction thereto.
Basically, we’re a few decades in the future. Genemods and other biotechnology are known and not entirely uncommon. I’m not sure such technology will actually be available in only 25 years, but it would be interesting to live in a world where such things have come to be.
I think this is one of the first of the Dresden Files books that really feels like a more traditional mystery. (Or at least my idea thereof; I don’t read much traditional mystery). Mysterious shadowy figures and murders abound and throughout it’s unclear exactly who/what is responsible. There are a few clues for the reader that Dresden otherwise misses, but for the most part, we learn about happenings as they happen.
One really cool scene: Dresden takes advantage of the fact that you can draw energy from the surrounding environment in order to power a spell. He proceed to shoot off a pillar of fire 2-3 feet wide and 20 stories high into the night sky. Can you imagine being a mortal living in Chicago and seeing that? The best part: He didn’t even need the fire. He just needed to freeze a chunk of Lake Michigan. Love it.
Another very solid entry.
Basically, there’s black magic afoot. Fear monsters from the Nevernever are attacking a horror movie convention and it’s up to Dresden to find out why. Add to that complications with Michael’s now almost adult daughter Molly. The interactions between Molly and Dresden are weird and uncomfortable at times, but on the other hand they seem for the most part disturbingly realistic.