Small Favor (Mini-Review)

Small Favor is the tenth book in The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. In this entry Queen Mab orders Harry Dresden to find out what happened to Johnny Marcone. What starts out as a simple favor for the faerie queen soon gets much more complicated when Harry runs into the Denarians. Will Harry be able to find Marcone while preventing the end of humanity as we know it?

In this book we finally get more of Sanya's backstory. All readers knew up until this point was that he was an agnostic Knight of the Cross who was once possessed by a Denarian. Readers finally find out how he was strong enough to get rid of a Fallen Angel and...it's disappointing. Instead of doing something interesting his backstory boils down to he thought a girl liked him and when he found out she didn't, he threw away his coin. I think Sanya's backstory should've remained more of a mystery or been better.

Ivy (aka the Archive) appears again and we learn more about her. We learn more about how she became the Archive and why Kincaid is so connected to her. All around it's very heartbreaking. It was one of the most moving parts of the book for me. Ivy has so much suffering in her past and forming human connections might make her life even more painful in the long run. But, then again, remaining apart from humanity will take a heavy toll too.

I ship Harry Dresden and Karrin Murphy so hard. This book marks another addition to why I think they love each other in a romantic sense. Harry gets a love interest in this book and Murphy tries to dissuade him from the woman. Why would Murphy care about Harry finally finding someone else? She is in a complicated relationship with Kincaid and hasn't been forward about any romantic intentions towards Harry. The only reason I can think of is that she wants something serious with Harry but is afraid of saying anything.

Murphy holds her own in this book. Though how seriously she takes her job as a cop can get really annoying. She'll be talking with Harry and she sounds like a normal person. Then she takes her job as a cop seriously beyond all reason. I can understand why she wants to prove herself as a cop. But...there is a limit. I love Murphy but her character is very inconsistent. While she's been written worse in past books, this entry is not one of her best.

Johnny Marcone is one of my favorite villains of the series. He is a criminal but he has a code to him. He is capable of cruelty but he doesn't act on instinct. Instead he plans things out. Unlike Harry, I might actually join Marcone. Marcone didn't appear much in this book but it was still fun seeing him again.

I would recommend Small Favor by Jim Butcher to fans of The Dresden Files series. I would also recommend Small Favor to those who like urban fantasy mysteries.