Well, now I have officially read all the published Dresden Files books and have to wait for the next one like everyone else. That makes me kind of sad. Thankfully, Jim Butcher writes quickly!
I had an interesting perspective on this book, since I've read up through Skin Game but the stories in this book only covered up to the period between Changes and Ghost Story (don't read this if you haven't read at least through Changes, or else follow the Wikipedia guide for this book, which tells you when each of the stories takes place). I wouldn't say that any of these stories really added a lot to the overall progression of the series arc, though if you read them in chronological order along with the rest of the books in the series, you might get a few early hints about things to come (especially with regards to the Fomorians who show up after Changes). By and large, these stand outside the main sequence of the series -- probably because Butcher wrote a heck of a lot of them in response to requests for anthology pieces (many with predetermined themes).
As I was reading these stories, I realized that I like the longer format of the novels -- complete with bits and pieces of series arc -- better than shorter pieces. I like the hints of connection to something larger, the detailed investigations, the final battles. I always appreciated the funny bits in the novels, and that element was still here in the stories (and was sometimes the main focus, in fact), but I guess I want a little more depth. That's not a problem with the writing, by any means; it's a feature of the short story format in general, and probably why I tend to read more full-length fantasy novels than anything else. I'm guessing that's why my favorite one was "Aftermath," which is actually told from Murphy's point of view. She gathers allies and does an investigation and has to draw upon her resources and information she's gleaned from Dresden over years of working with him. Plus, we get a sense of what is going on in the world at large after the events of Changes. The structure of that one is a little more like the longer novels, at any rate.
That's not to say I didn't find these fun, because I did. Harry is still Harry, complete with a smart mouth (some of what he said in the story about Billy's and Georgia's wedding was going a little far, even for Harry...) and a desire to do the right thing. The writing is interesting to see. I read the first 15 books in a very short period of time. While we saw a progression in Butcher's writing skills in those books (with the series really picking up around book 3), it's perhaps even more dramatic here. The first story *is* a little rough; Butcher has hit his stride in the later pieces. There was definitely enough here to remind me of the novels I love, that I wanted to keep reading.
A couple of little things bothered me. First, two of these stories were about Georgia (a recurring character who also happens to be a werewolf) getting kidnapped from her own apartment and two involved Murphy being under the influence of a love spell or potion. Second, while I thought, overall, that the stories from Thomas's and Murphy's points of view were good, Murphy's internal thoughts were quite similar to what Dresden's would have been. Only instead of focusing on being tall like Harry is, Murphy was rather fixated on being short -- she was having the same sorts of thoughts about herself that Dresden always had about her. This may be a bias on the author's part -- he was similarly fixated on size in the Codex Alera books. I guess it was just more noticeable here because it got repeated a lot due to the short story format.
However, I will say that the action/fight scenes in "Aftermath" are some of the best ones in the books. I know nothing about martial arts, guns, etc., but the action seemed entirely reasonable based on the circumstances. I felt like Butcher had really thought through the battle mechanics beforehand.
This book is really more for Dresden Files fans than for anyone else. I would not recommend it as a starting point for the series. You'll learn a lot more about the wizards' White Council, vampires, werewolves, the Fae, recurring characters, and more through the full-length novels. But once you are familiar with those elements, if you want more and aren't patient enough to wait for novel #16, this collection should be a fun way to pass the time. While I was a little annoyed by one or two aspects, overall, I'm glad I bought this book and I'm looking forward to more novels and stories in the Dresden universe.
Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files
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