Cover Image: Brief Cases

Brief Cases

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Member Reviews

I would recommend this book to fans of Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files. Wonderful glimpses of happenings between the books for those who know and appreciate the characters. Not really for those new to the series. Harry and his friends know that power has to be paid for in one way or another and are willing to pay the price. Love the fact that when possible, logic solves problems without magic. There's always something bigger and harder than you around. Watching the characters grow and change has been a really fun trip.

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I have a soft spot for the Dresden Files.

Heaven knows that there are certainly issues with the series, the portrayal of women being first and foremost. However, in my opinion, they still manage to be dang enjoyable.

<i>Brief Cases</i> is a collection of Dresden Files-adjacent stories that have appeared over the past couple of years. In a lot of ways the collection hearkens back to the good ol' days of the Dresden Files, before they got all serious and extra murdery. The trilogy of stories about the young Bigfoot were some of the best, in my opinion. All in all, these stories are just FUN, enjoyable reads, and while they don't continue the larger arc of the main series, they provide a great glimpse into the lives of some of the side characters: Molly, Butters and Mouse for instance.

If you are a Dresden Files fan, I would 100% recommend that you go out and read it. On shelves June 5th.

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Absolutely love the Dresden character and was excited to have a new story included here. Will always pick up Butcher's Wizard of Chicago series - even worth the occasional re-read!

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I try to find short stories from the Dresden Files books as often as I can. I love all of them. They are always interesting glimpses into Harry’s interior world but also other characters who surround him. I missed a couple stories here and there so it’s wonderful to have so many of them together.

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Containing both new and previously published short stories, this collection is a must for any Dresden Files fans!

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ARC from Netgalley.
NOTE: I have read these stories usually when they were released in other Volumes, but will amass all my reviews for the stories here. Spoilers abound.

Curses - A very short story in the Dresden Files world, this one concerning Harry trying to remove the Billy Goat curse from the Chicago Cubs. Throw in the Tylwyth Teg (a sect of the Fair Folk), their King, and a flirty Barmaid, and a love of the game, and you get this short but sweet Dresden Files story.
Recommend for anyone reading the series.

AAAA Wizardry:
Taking place between "Small Favor" and "Turn Coat", we see Warden Harry teaching a group of young wardens what he calls the 4 A's of Wizarding (though he tells them 5 actually)
Ascertain, Analysis, Assemble, Act, Arrogance, or... Figure out whether or not the threat exists, Know what you are dealing with/why/how, Gather supplies or allies needed to take on the threat, Take action and deal with it, and finally, realize that you know more than most when it comes to the supernatural, but don't let that blind you to what may be really going on.
When you think about it, Harry is teaching a lesson that is valuable to anyone.

Even Hand - Another Dresden short story, this time from the viewpoint of Marcone. He gets a visit from Justine, who has a child in her arms, explaining that she escaped from the clutches of Mag, Cantrev Lord of the Fomor. Marcone takes them into his protection. Mag attacks, is eventually killed by Marcone, and Justine is sent back to Lara Raith without the documents that she was originally sent to steal from Mag. But Marcone has learned one thing for sure... the traps he sets near his office to prevent such attacks, would, now having been field tested, definitely stop Dresden should he need to.
Overall, much like the other Dresden Files short stories I have read, this one is excellent. Recommend.

B Is For Bigfoot - This brief Novella has a comical twist and a great moral. Dresden meets Bigfoot (actually "Strength of a River in his Shoulders, or just River Shoulders) and is hired by him to help his son Irwin, having trouble at school because he is a Scion (half-human, half-not). Turns out he is being picked on by the "Bully Brothers" who are being watched and goaded by the school Coach, who is a svartalf (dark elves! Awesome!).
Dresden handles the situation with grace, getting Irwin to stand up for himself. Nice and refreshing novella. Recommend.

I Was a Teenage Bigfoot - Dresden's second case involving Irwin, the Scion half-bigfoot son of River Shoulders, deals mostly with presumed illness. The boy, now a 6 foot tall teen, has "mono", or at least that's what the doctors say. Turns out, his headmaster is using black magic to siphon off life force from him...to cure his baldness! LOL Harry stops the situation as only he can, and us readers laugh our way through another well written Dresden Files short story.
Recommend for readers of the series.

Bigfoot on Campus - This last (and hopefully not final) adventure involving Harry, River Shoulders (Bigfoot), and Irwin Pounder (Son of Bigfoot) takes place on the college campus where Irwin goes to school and plays football. River asks Harry to check in on Irwin (like he had done in the previous two short stories), but this time Harry demands payment in the form of River meeting his son in person.
Turns out to be quite a chaotic tale, as Irwin is dating Connie, a White Court vampire who has yet to know or understand her powers, yet can feed for a LONG time on Irwin due to his constitution. The climax of the story (which is being recapped to a cop as Harry spends a night in jail) is a dorm fight between River, Harry, Connie's father, a ton of ghouls, and Irwin, all while the lust of Connie's feeding has sprung up a orgy among the nearby college kids. Connie and Irwin leave with River and seem to be genuinely in love.

I really enjoy the Bigfoot stories, and would love to see these characters make an appearance in a main Dresden Files book and not just short stories. High recommend.

Bombshells - With Dresden "gone", Molly is THE wizard for Chicago. Using Butters' place as a clean up stop, she is approached by Justine to help find Thomas, who has gone missing. Tracking him to a svartalf stronghold, and finding out that they are having a party to celebrate a treaty with the Fomor, Molly, Justine, and Andi (hot werewolf and Butters' girlfriend) get all dressed up and crash the party.
At the party, Molly and Andi go under a veil and discover that the Fomor Lord has a bomb and was going to blow it up to ruin the peace with the Svartalves, which after a fight, she disarms. Etri, the svartalf who allowed the ladies into the party, claims to owe Molly a favor, after she saves their stronghold, which she uses to release Thomas. But.... Thomas is not a prisoner. LOL. Turns out he was "feeding" on several svartalf ladies....
At the end, Lea admits to sending Molly into a trap to stop the peace from happening, but also lightens her spirits when she tells Molly that Dresden is alive again (see Ghost Story).
Another great short story from Jim Butcher!

Jury Duty - Another short story in the Dresden Files. This one shows that magic is so much a part of everyday life for Harry, that it even plays a role when summoned for Jury Duty. The story is simple: Harry gets called to serve, the trial has some inconsistency, he decides to investigate, finds that supernatural elements are involved (this case: White Court), and the case gets dismissed. Simple and straightforward. Very good read nonetheless.
Recommend.

Cold Case - WOW..... just wow..... Mab, you are a completely heartless bitch!
This short story is from the viewpoint of Molly Carpenter, the new Winter Lady. Winter Queen Mab sends her to a small town in Alaska to gather a tribute from the Miksani, a local shapeshifting tribe that lives near there. (Maeve had been lax in her duties). Arriving there, she finds 2 things: 1) Ramirez is in the area to help stop a cult who is trying to awaken an ancient enemy known as "The Sleeper", and 2) that same cult has abducted the Miksani children, who Molly must rescue so the Miksani will give their tribute.
Shutting down the cult and saving the kids, the story then takes a horrible twist. Molly, under the influence of the mantle of the Winter Lady, tries to have sex with Ramirez, but when the power and protocol of the mantle forbid it, she wakes (from having passed out) to find that she has almost killed him, shredding him with icy claws. As if that wasn't enough, Mab forces her to go collect the tribute..... which are the children she rescued... so that they may be trained to become Winter soldiers to help protect the Gate.
Story is excellent and to the point, but really rough to see Molly having to do such horrible things. High recommend

Day One - So happy to finally see Butters getting his own story!
The medical examiner, now a Knight of the Cross, tells the tale of some of his training, and the adventure of his first Calling. Stan, a homeless man that seems consumed by fear, is on a bench in the park... with an "!" over his head (apparently God speaks to you in the way you would most easily understand and for Butters that is video games. Getting him to the hospital, Butters finds that 7 other people in the hospital are all suffering from huge fear consumption. The culprit: a Baku, a modern day dream spirit made flesh by the belief of children. Trusty lightsaber of Faith in hand, Butters wins the day, but at the cost of his glasses.

A Fistful of Warlocks - This short story takes place WAY back before any of the other stories in the series. A young Warden (not yet leader of) Anastasia Luccio is on the trail of a rogue Warlock. Entering Dodge City on a creature disguised as a horse, she ends up teaming up with Venator Wyatt Earp against some necromancers in town. An epic battle takes place (as only Jim Butcher can write) and though the day is won, two necromancers escape. These are revealed to be Kemmler and his apprentice Grevane, both of which are known to readers.
Another excellent tale. Recommend.

Zoo Day:
The newest tale in the series, taking place after "Skin Game", takes only the simple task of Harry taking his daughter Maggie out for a day at the zoo, with Mouse in tow of course. Shown through the points of view of Harry, Maggie, and Mouse, we see three sides to the same tale, seeing everything going on, even under the veil.
Harry takes Maggie to the zoo and they have fun, but a demon-summoning warlock breaks up the fun, causing Maggie and Mouse to have to wait in a cafe for him, until he can neutralize the danger. Unbeknownst to him, Maggie has her own problems to deal with that Harry can't see. Haunts, or spirits that possess children, escape the view of adults. They want to attack and test Maggie, trying to turn her to their ghoulish cause. She takes them on with surprising power and defeats them.
Unbeknownst to the humans, Mouse has the hardest day of them all. Using his "breath" (which is described as sort of an influencing using his protective magic and soul), Mouse is keeping the animals happy and doing tricks. He is aware of the warlock and the haunts, but knows that they are both being manipulated by Mouse's Shadow. This powerful negative force (much like Harry's Shadow, which we've seen a few times in previous books) is the antithesis of Mouse, the yin to his yang, and can only be dealt with by Mouse.
Everything works out in the end, and all have a good day, but the story does a great job of showing the reader that even parenting will never be normal in Harry Dresden's life. LOL

Brief Cases (much like Side Jobs) is vital for the Dresden experience. READ THIS BOOK! Especially if you are a fan.

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Another excellent item in his series! Three of these short stories/novellas have been previously published in the volume “Working for Bigfoot”, but it was good to read them again. All of these stories focus on the characters, rather than the action (although each story has some nice action sequences). These characters were minor in the previous books, but they are fleshed out here, becoming fully human (or not, in one case). I like knowing more about them, especially Maggie and Mouse.

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An excellent collection from Butcher. I've seen about half of them before in their original anthologies, but they're perfectly re-readable which I think is a pretty good sign. The interesting between-the-main-story information is excellent, and the little burbs of information that Butcher includes before each story are particularly unique and useful. Giving context to short stories is often a bit questionable, and he does an excellent job working with such a large canon already.

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I normally don't care for short stories, but there are a few authors who can charm me into liking their teasers. Jim Butcher is one. Part of this is because before each story he includes some backstory- where the short fits into the Dresden World and why it works with the greater stories. Some of these stories fill gaps between books and answer other questions. He just seems to make them flow right.

Brief Cases also includes stories from the perspective of Marcone, Molly and Mouse, Luccio, and Butters, which was awesome. There was also a teaser about how Butcher wants to write a series about Luccio, which would be AMAZING.

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In this definitive collection of stories, we are welcomed back to Harry's world while we eagerly await Peace Talks (hint, hint). Enjoy and reminisce!

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Received a copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Honestly? I liked it a lot.

I’ve read most of these stories before — in many cases I bought an anthology solely because there was a new Harry Dresden book on it — but this collection is a nice combination of tales of the wizard Dresden and his friends (and enemies) complete with introductions to each one, plus a brand new story that includes viewpoints from his daughter Maggie AND her dog, Mouse.

The other stories tell about his apprentice Molly both before and after she became a near-goddess, his old boss in her Wild West days fighting zombies with Wyatt Earp, crime boss John Marcone’s dealings with a supernatural threat, ME and polka enthusiast Butters’ first quest as a Knight, and several tales of Dresden including all three of the Bigfoot stories. But really, all of the stories are about Dresden one way or another.

It can seem like a long wait in between Dresden books these days, but little glimpses into his world and his characters like this help.

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In some ways I like the short stories that Jim Butcher writes in the Dresden Files universe almost more than the main novels because they allow for that alternate point of view or reflections about Harry and the world around him that aren't possible in the main story. Much like Side Jobs before it, Brief Cases offers several short stories from Harry's first person point of view that fill in the gaps between novels without introducing anything vital if a reader of the main series were to skip them. Where this collection shines however is in the roughly half of the stories that take place from the point of view other "minor" characters from the Dresden universe. Luccio, Butters and Marcone but especially Molly all shine in their first person narratives and the characters will benefit from this look inside their motivations, fears and feelings when encountered again in the main series. The story that makes this compilation truly shine though is the final entry "Zoo Day" the well worked retelling of the same day from three characters' points of view was beautifully executed and really highlights that even though Harry may be a wizard that has seen it all doesn't mean that Harry sees all that's going on.

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It was great to revisit the world of Harry Dresden. I appreciate the deeper look into supporting characters and events that shape the main stories.

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Reading this just reminds me how much I miss Jim Butcher's Dresden series! I'm hoping against hope this is a prelude to him going back to it, and giving his loyal fans the next chapter in Harry's story!

The new short included here was wonderful in particular! We, like Harry were just getting to know Maggie, and to see a story in Mouse's voice? INCREDIBLE.!!

An amazing, flawless collection from one of my favorite authors! More please!!

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Each story in the urban fantasy collection is preceded by a brief note from the author. It’s fascinating to think that the school bully, the cute girl in class, or the mean teacher could actually be some supernatural villain. And could that big kid who is being hassled at school actually be Bigfoot’s half-mortal son? I liked most of the stories, but I felt (with disappointment) that those with female protagonists weren’t as.interesting or well written..

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