Book Review: Side Jobs

I love to read as much as I love to write. My father turned me on to "The Hobbit" when I was nine and I haven't stopped since. Because of my first encounter with fantasy/sci fi I'm sort of a fantasy nut...

My recent read was "Side Jobs" by Jim Butcher. This is a collection of short stories set in his world of the Dresden Files. If you haven't read these books, start at the beginning with "Storm Front". The Dresden Files themself are about a wizard detective in modern day Chicago that has some issues of him own, but has to be the white knight when it comes to innocents against the dark underworld of magic.

Personally, I've never liked mixing modern with magic, but Butcher does this combination very well. He makes the reasons for more people not knowing about magic or accepting it very plausible. And he adds quirks to everyday things that make you think.

But if you just want a sampling of his work, "Side Jobs" is a good one. The book contains 11 short stories set in his world, usually ones he's written for compilation books. The last one is a set after his last novel, "Changes" and I don't suggest you read this last short without reading the series from start to finish for it gives a lot away.

My favorite short in here is "Day Off". This is where Dresden, our hero wizard, might actually have some time to himself, but the world is out to get him. Instead of relaxing as he means too he goes from one hilarious catastrophe to another. Though Butcher does use a lot of humor to add to the horrific things Dresden gets into, this one is especially funny.

Though Dresden is the main character, and Butcher puts a lot of time an effort into him, he has very three dimensional support characters. His police friend, Karen Murphy, as one of the other characters describes as "small, but fierce", is a good example. She is up to her eyebrows in the paranormal and would back Dresden to the end, despite not wanting to believe what she sees. She is stead fast and wants nothing more then to be a good cop for Chicago. Butters is the morgue person/Dresden's doctor. He isn't meant for action, can't believe half of what Dresden tells him, but is always happy to help. (In this world technology doesn't mix well with magic and thus Dresden never wants to go to the hospital when he gets hurt...which happens a lot.) And my personal favorites are Mouse and Mister. Mister is a house cat with an attitude that is the size of a bobcat, at least. And Mouse is a giant, gentle dog who is intuned with magic (think those special Chinese dogs) and has a personality all his own.

Though I would have liked to have more stories, this is a good read, with good tension, good plots for such small stories, and good character development. I would recommend anyone looking for a good modern fantasy read to take a look at Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and this collection of short stories.