Backup [Hardcover]

Jim Butcher (Author), Mike Mignola (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2008

Let's get something clear right up front.

I'm not Harry Dresden.

Harry's a wizard. A genuine, honest-to-goodness wizard. He's Gandalf on crack and an IV of Red Bull, with a big leather coat and a .44 revolver in his pocket. He'll spit in the eye of gods and demons alike if he thinks it needs to be done, and to hell with the consequences--and yet somehow my little brother manages to remain a decent human being.

I'll be damned if I know how.

But then, I'll be damned regardless.
My name is Thomas Raith, and I'm a monster.

So begins "Backup," a twelve thousand word novelette set in Jim Butcher s ultra-popular Dresden Files series. This time Harry's in trouble he knows nothing about, and it's up to his big brother Thomas to track him down and solve those little life-threatening difficulties without his little brother even noticing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The many fans of Butcher's Chicago-based Dresden Files series (most recently Small Favor) will enjoy this spin-off novella featuring Thomas Raith, Harry Dresden's incubus half-brother. After reluctantly attending a rendezvous arranged by his untrustworthy older sister, Lara, Raith learns that Dresden is being set up by the evil Stygian Sisterhood, but he can't go directly to Dresden's aid without revealing his part in the secret Oblivion War. Raith's resulting plan has something of a slapstick air, and the high cosmic stakes are generally played for laughs. Given Dresden's limited appearance and the significant backstory underlying the series, this is an unlikely entry point for newcomers, but Butcher clearly demonstrates that Raith, usually seen more as Dresden's sidekick, is more than capable of sustaining a story on his own. (Oct.)
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From Booklist

One of the fine supporting cast of the dark-fantasy mystery series the Dresden Files here gets his moment in the spotlight. When his sister Lara, ruler of the White Court clan, proposes a job for Thomas Raith, series star Harry Dresden’s vampire half-brother, he can’t refuse because the messenger is Thomas’ former victim and true love, Justine, and the villain involved is a new client of Harry’s. Thomas has to work without Harry noticing him, which is difficult, given how sensitive Harry’s gotten. Practiced rogue Thomas manages somehow in this satisfying novella. --Regina Schroeder

Product Details

• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean; Deluxe edition (October 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596061820
• ISBN-13: 978-1596061828
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Butcher read his first fantasy novel when he was seven years old--
the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. By the time he turned eight,
he'd added the rest of the Narnia books, the Prydain Chronicles, every
book about Star Wars he could find, a great many Star Trek novels and
the Lord of the Rings to his count.

So he was pretty much doomed from the start.

Love of fantasy, his personal gateway drug, drew him toward a fairly
eclectic spread of interests: horseback riding (including trick riding,
stunt riding, drill riding, and competitive stunt racing), archery,
martial arts, costuming, music and theater. He played a lot of role-
playing games, a lot of fantasy-based tactical computer games, and
eventually got into live-action roleplay where players beat each other
up with boffer weapons.

So, really, he can fly his nerd flag with pretty much anyone, and
frequently does.

He took up writing to be able to produce fantasy novels with swords and
horses in them, and determinedly wrote terrible fantasy books until,
just to prove a point to his writing teacher, he decided to take every
piece of her advice; fill out outlines and worksheets, and design
stories and characters just the way she'd been telling him to do for
about three years. He was certain that once she saw what hideous art it
produced, she would be proven wrong and repent the error of her ways.
The result was the Dresden Files, which sure showed *her*.

She has not yet admitted her mistake and recanted her philosophy on
writing.

Jim has performed in dramas, musicals, and vocal groups in front of
live audiences of thousands and on TV. He has performed exhibition
riding in multiple arenas, and fallen from running horses a truly
ridiculous number of times. He was once cursed by an Amazon witch
doctor in rural Brazil, has apparently begun writing about himself in
the third person, and is hardly ever sick at sea.

He also writes books occasionally.

Jim stands accused of writing the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera.
He's plead insanity, but the jury is still out on that one. He lives in
Missouri with his wife, romantic suspense and paranormal romance writer
Shannon K. Butcher (who is really pretty and way out of his league),
his son, and a ferocious guard dog.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#69 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#6 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#9 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#14 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy

#66 in Books

#73 in Books > Literature & Fiction

#6 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#9 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#14 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy

#66 in Books

#73 in Books > Literature & Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

147 of 153 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Wasted Opportunity November 8, 2008

By Lou Wainwright

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Unlike most of the negative reviewers I'm not docking stars due to cost or length. I thought the description made it clear what Backup would be, so I did not feel deceived. This is however, the first of Butcher's books to get less than 4.5 stars from me, and surprisingly it is entirely due to characterization, writing and plotting.

Characterization - Thomas is awesome. His character arc has been great, and the scene with him, Harry, the race, and the water bottle from "Dead Beat" is probably my favorite of the series. So what do we learn about him now that we are in his head? Nothing new. Nothing about his relationship with his sister, his girlfriends, his clients or even his brother. Honestly, he seems less interesting and intelligent to me now than he did before.

Writing - Thomas's voice...is Harry's voice. Sure, different in some details, but the tone, the rhythms, the wise cracks, they were all Dresden-esque. Far more than genetics would be able to explain. I felt like it was lazy. You could have swapped Harry and Thomas's role in the story, and a significant amount of the internal dialog would not have had to be rewritten.

Plotting - So we get the first Dresden Files story from a non-Harry point of view. That's exciting, I can't wait to see what we learn that we haven't been able to see before. Who is in the story? Thomas, Lara, Justine, Mouse, Bob, Harry, Villian du jour. Not a particularly new cast of characters, eh? Where does the bulk of the exposition take place? Harry's basement, talking to Bob. Where do we go in the Dresden universe, Thomas's apartment and Harry's apartment. What do we learn about Harry from this new POV - he's noble, too trusting, and a really really powerful mage. There is a new major supernatural conspiracy, but it is unrelated to Harry, extremely non-time specific, not particularly threatening compared to most of Harry's cases, and is unlikely to show up again.

So all in all I was hugely disappointed. I expected to walk away from this novella with a different perspective on Thomas, Harry, their relationship, their priorities, the White Court, what it is like to be a Vampire-in-exile, something. But no, there wasn't anything new. That scene from Dead Beat I reference above did a much better job making me empathize with Thomas than every description (or illustration) of "His Demon" in Backup.

Was it awful, of course not. I enjoyed it in parts, and the humor was well done, but there wasn't anything there I'm going to take away with me.

34 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars From a monster's POV October 23, 2008

By Renee C. Mulhare

Format:Hardcover

I'll confess right up front that I am an unabashed fan of Thomas Raith, Harry Dresden's psy-vampire half-brother, and when I first heard about this book, I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough. As short as it is, it's a great read, and it gives the reader a glimpse into the mind of a character who is far more than the mere pretty face he may pretend to be. We get a first-hand sense of Thomas's struggle to keep his literal inner demon-symbiote in check, and of his concern for his little brother. And we also get some stunning if deceptively small revelations about the world in which they both live and work and fight to keep the things that go bump in the night in check. The illustrations by legendary graphic novel artist Mike Mignola more than complete this great little book!

47 of 58 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a lot for the price October 27, 2008

By Timothy Fitzgerald

Format:Hardcover

I have to admit I pre-ordered my Backup from Subterranean Press way back in January when it was announced at Bucher's site. Therefore, I was gouged the full $20, but even at the reduced Amazon price this is still overpriced.

I really felt it was a rip-off in many ways: The novella is actually 70 pages, NOT 80 as it has been listed. Even within that, there are MAYBE 55 actual pages of story (and even then it is a very small book in size so translated to regular HC or PB it would be even less), thanks to blank pages before chapter breaks and the Mignola illustrations (which are kinda "eh", they don't offer much).

An average Dresden Files book is about 400 pages in large HC format and usually you can get one for $15 around release thanks to Amazon pre-order pricing, so the fact that Backup was more expensive than a full Files books is just a joke.

People complained about "Welcome to the Jungle" because it was a Graphic Novel/Comic, but there is definitely more story and, I think, more text in that story than this one, not to mention the nice art and little extras at the end.

The story itself is good. I like Thomas, and being a fan of the Dresden books it was a nice supplementary tale. There is some good information about Thomas and "Oblivion War" that would never have been revealed in a Harry-centered tale, but it is (at least at this point) of no real consequence to the Dresden Files main story. If I was rating it just based on the story, I would have given it 4 star review, but unless you are a hardcore Dresden fan, it is NOT worth the price of admission.

Id recommend borrowing it from a friend for 40 minutes, that is about all it will take to read. Between this and the short-story anthologies, I am starting to feel a bit annoyed at the cost of minor side stories to the Dresden Files. $15 for this, $10 for a short story anthology (x4 now) with ONE minor Dresden tale, it is just too much for too little. Stick with the main Files books, they are worth the money.