Search results for ""author jim butcher""

Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in.Harry has always tried to keep his nose clean where the White Council of Wizards is concerned, but past misdeeds haven't gone down well. Which places him in an awkward position. Morgan, formerly his chief persecutor on the Council, has been wrongly accused of treason. Facing the ultimate punishment, Morgan needs someone with a knack for backing the underdog, however much that someone isn't interested. Soon, Harry is working to clear the less-than-agreeable Morgan's name, hiding from the Council and bounty hunters alike and seeking the true turncoat. A single mistake may mean that heads - quite literally - could roll. And one of them might be his. Magic - it can get a guy killed.

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Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in.Harry's had worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Dodging flaming monkey poo, for instance. Or going toe-to-leaf with a plant monster. Still, there's something troubling about this case. The Producer believes he's afflicted by an entropy curse - but it's the women around him who are dying. And Harry only got involved as a favour to Thomas, his flirtatious self-absorbed vampire acquaintance. Thomas has a personal stake in the case Harry can't work out, until his investigation leads him straight to Thomas's oversexed relatives. Harry's about to discover the skeleton in Thomas's family closet: a revelation that will change Harry's life for ever.Magic - it can get a guy killed.

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Harry is the best and technically the 'only' at what he does, being the lone professional wizard PI in the Chicago phonebook. So when the Chicago PD has cases that transcend mortal capabilities, they come to him for answers. For the 'everyday' world is actually full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. Yet despite his precautions, Harry tends to stumble from crisis to drama in his dealings with the supernatural world - call it an occupational hazard. Here, he unfailingly manages to get on the wrong side of werewolf, fae and vampires alike. And that's where his own rather special powers come into play . . . These bite-sized stories are tremendously entertaining and will leave you itching to explore more of Harry Dresden's world.And as well as eight short stories, this collection will include an all-new Dresden Files novella.

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Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day. As Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry never knows what the scheming Mab might want him to do. Usually, it's something awful.This time, it's worse than that. Mab's involved Harry in a smash-and-grab heist run by one of his most despised enemies to recover the literal Holy Grail from the vaults of the greatest treasure horde in the world - which belongs to the one and only Hades, Lord of the Underworld.Dresden's always been tricky, but he's going to have to up his backstabbing game to survive this mess - assuming his own allies don't end up killing him before his enemies get the chance . . .

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You can't keep a good wizard down - even when he wants to stay that way.For years, Harry Dresden has been Chicago's only professional wizard, but a bargain made in desperation with the Queen of Air and Darkness has forced him into a new job: professional killer.Mab, the mother of wicked faeries, has restored the mostly-dead wizard to health, and dispatches him upon his first mission - to bring death to an immortal. Even as he grapples with the impossible task, Dresden learns of a looming danger to Demonreach, the living island hidden upon Lake Michigan, a place whose true purpose and dark potential have the potential to destroy billions and to land Dresden in the deepest trouble he has ever known - even deeper than being dead. How messed up is that?Beset by his new enemies and hounded by the old, Dresden has only twenty four hours to reconnect with his old allies, prevent a cataclysm and do the impossible - all while the power he bargained to get - but never meant to keep - lays siege to his very soul.Magic. It can get a guy killed.

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Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in.Business has been slow lately for Harry Dresden. Okay, business has been dead. Not undead - just dead. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work - magical or mundane. But just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise. A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses. And the first two don't count . . . Magic - it can get a guy killed.'The Dresden Files is my favourite series ever' Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind'Butcher's storytelling is satisfying on a level that's bone-deep' io9'One of the most reliable post-Buffy supernatural thriller series on offer'Time Out'Dresden has a vitality that few urban fantasy heroes can match'SFXThe Dresden Files novels begin with STORM FRONT, and continues with FOOL MOON, GRAVE PERIL, SUMMER KNIGHT, DEATH MASKS, BLOOD RITES, DEAD BEAT, PROVEN GUILTY, WHITE NIGHT, SMALL FAVOUR, TURN COAT, CHANGES, GHOST STORY, COLD DAYS and SKIN GAME.For more of Harry Dresden's adventures, check out the Dresden Files short story collections SIDE JOBS and BRIEF CASES.

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Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in.Harry has faced some terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. It comes with the territory when you're the only wizard in town. But in all Harry's years of supernatural sleuthing, he's never faced anything like this: the spirit world's gone loco. All over town, ghosts are causing trouble - and not the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone is stirring them up to wreak havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he might just wind up a ghost himself.Magic - it can get a guy killed.

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The fate of the Cinder Spires may be decided by crossed swords in the next exhilarating fantasy adventure in the New York Times bestselling series of noble families, swordplay, and airships.For centuries the Cinder Spires have safeguarded humanity, rising far above the deadly surface world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses rule, developing scientific marvels and building fleets of airships for defence and trade.Now, the Spires hover on the brink of open war.Everyone knows it's coming. The guns of the great airship fleets that control the skies between the last bastions of humanity will soon speak in anger, and Spire Albion stands alone against the overwhelming might of Spire Aurora's Armada and its new secret weapon--one capable of destroying the populations of entire Spires.A trading summit at Spire Olympia provides an opportunity for the Spirearch, Lord Albion, to secure alliances that will shape the outcomes of the war, and to that end he dispatches privateer Captain Francis Madison Grimm and the crew of the AMS Predator to bolster the Spirearch's diplomatic agents.It will take daring, skill, and no small amount of showmanship to convince the world to stand with Spire Albion--assuming that it is not already too late.

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The fate of the Cinder Spires may be decided by crossed swords in the next exhilarating fantasy adventure in the New York Times bestselling series of noble families, swordplay, and airships.For centuries the Cinder Spires have safeguarded humanity, rising far above the deadly surface world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses rule, developing scientific marvels and building fleets of airships for defence and trade.Now, the Spires hover on the brink of open war.Everyone knows it''s coming. The guns of the great airship fleets that control the skies between the last bastions of humanity will soon speak in anger, and Spire Albion stands alone against the overwhelming might of Spire Aurora''s Armada and its new secret weapon--one capable of destroying the populations of entire Spires.A trading summit at Spire Olympia provides an opportunity for the Spirearch, Lord Albion, to secure alliances that will shape the outcomes of the war, and to that end

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To say I loved this book would besuch an understatement. It''s a great, intensely fun, quick read that satisfiedmy Dresden Files itch in a year during which I''m not sure we''ll get a new novelin the series. - KirkusAwar is raging between the vampire forces of the Red Court and the White Council- a war that the wizards are losing. So desperate are the Council that they''vedragooned the experienced and the outcast to reinforce their thinning ranks ofWardens. One of these draftees is one Harry Dresden, Chicago''s onlywizard-for-hire and a guy who''s long been looked upon with suspicion by thesupernatural authorities. Now, he''s one of them, and his first big mission as aWarden is a doozy: take a small team of greenhorns to a frigid town in themiddle of nowhere to rescue a handful of mortals who''ve been targeted by the RedCourt. The question is, why exactly are these particular mortals so crucial tothe outc

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The fate of the Cinder Spires may be decided by crossed swords in the next exhilarating fantasy adventure in the New York Times bestselling series of noble families, swordplay, and airships.For centuries the Cinder Spires have safeguarded humanity, rising far above the deadly surface world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses rule, developing scientific marvels and building fleets of airships for defence and trade.Now, the Spires hover on the brink of open war.Everyone knows it's coming. The guns of the great airship fleets that control the skies between the last bastions of humanity will soon speak in anger, and Spire Albion stands alone against the overwhelming might of Spire Aurora's Armada and its new secret weapon--one capable of destroying the populations of entire Spires.A trading summit at Spire Olympia provides an opportunity for the Spirearch, Lord Albion, to secure alliances that will shape the outcomes of the war, and to that end he dispatches privateer Captain Francis Madison Grimm and the crew of the AMS Predator to bolster the Spirearch's diplomatic agents.It will take daring, skill, and no small amount of showmanship to convince the world to stand with Spire Albion--assuming that it is not already too late.

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A compulsively fast-paced fantasy adventure, set in Alera, a 'great world in which any reader can get lost' (SF Site)For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water and metal. But now, Gaius Sextus, First Lord of Alera, grows old and lacks an heir. Ambitious Lords manoeuvre to place their Houses in positions of power, and a war of succession looms on the horizon.Far from city politics in the Calderon Valley, young Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans' most savage enemy - the Marat - return to the Valley, his world will change. Caught in a storm of deadly wind furies, Tavi saves the life of a runaway slave. But Amara is actually a spy, seeking intelligence on possible Marat traitors to the Crown. And when the Valley erupts into chaos - when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies - Amara will find Tavi invaluable. His talents will outweigh any fury-born power - and could even turn the tides of war.'Butcher has created a wonderful new world of fantasy...This first book in the series introduces all the main characters and the creatures and events that make Alera a great world in which any reader can get lost' --SF Site

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Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard PI. Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. But he's forgotten his own golden rule: magic - it can get a guy killed. Which didn't help when he clashed with unknown assailants with his murder in mind. And though Harry's continued existence is now in some doubt, this doesn't mean he can rest in peace. Trapped in a realm that's not quite here, yet not quite anywhere else, Harry learns that three of his loved ones are in danger. Only by discovering his assailant's identity can he save his friends, bring criminal elements to justice, and move on himself. It would just be easier if he knew who was at risk. And had a (working) crystal ball. And access to magic. Instead, he is unable to interact with the physical world - invisible to all but a select magical few. He's also not the only silent presence roaming Chicago's alleys. Hell, he put some there himself. Now, they're looking for payback.

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HARRY DRESDEN IS BACK AND READY FOR ACTION, in the new entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files.When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, joins the White Council's security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago - and all he holds dear?

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Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in.Harry has no friends on the White Council of Wizards, who find him brash and undisciplined (and they may have a point). However, now vampire wars have thinned out the wizards a little, they need him. So before he can blink, he's assigned to investigate rumours of black magic. Harry's other problem is an old friend's daughter - all grown-up and in trouble already. Her boyfriend insists he's innocent of something resembling a crime straight out of a horror film. This first impression turns out to be . . . well, pretty accurate, as Harry discovers malevolent entities feeding on fear. All in a day's work for a wizard, his dog, and a talking skull named Bob.Magic - it can get a guy killed.

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Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in.A series of apparent suicides rings alarm bells with the police, and Harry is hired. At the first crime scene he hits pay dirt, discovering an unmistakable magical taint. There's also a message especially for him, and it ain't pretty. The 'killings' will continue if Harry can't halt his tormentor, but the evidence implicates his half-brother, which just doesn't add up. Unfortunately Harry's digging around attracts some powerful vampires with a stake in the result. Soon, whichever way he turns, Harry will find himself outnumbered, outclassed and dangerously susceptible to temptation. And if he screws up, his friends will die.Magic - it can get a guy killed.

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A wickedly fun urban fantasy anthology from the perspective of the villains lurking in the shadows of some of the best fantasy series.

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For centuries, the people of Alera have relied on the power of the furies to protect them from outside invaders. But the gravest threat might be closer than they think.Tavi has escaped the Calderon Valley and the mysterious attack of the Marat on his homeland. But he is far from safe, as trying to keep up the illusion of being a student while secretly training as one of the First Lord's spies is a dangerous game. And he has not yet learned to use the furies, making him especially vulnerable.When the attack comes it's on two fronts. A sudden strike threatens the First Lord's life and threatens to plunge the land into civil war. While in the Calderon Valley, the threat faced from the Marat is dwarfed by an ancient menace. And Tavi must learn to harness the furies if he has any chance of fighting the greatest threat Alera has ever known . . .

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