Backup: A Story of the Dresden Files
| File:Jim Butcher Backup Cover.jpg Backup: A Story of the Dresden Files | |
| Author | Jim Butcher |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Mike Mignola |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Dresden Files |
| Genre | Fantasy/Mystery |
| Publisher | Subterranean Press |
Publication date | October 31, 2008 |
Published in English | October 31, 2008 |
| Pages | 80 |
| ISBN | 1-59606-182-0 |
| OCLC | 255623137 |
| Preceded by | Small Favor |
| Followed by | Day Off |
Backup: A Story of the Dresden Files is a novelette set in The Dresden Files universe, Jim Butcher's continuing series about wizard detective Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. This book is unique in that the story is told from the of view of Thomas Raith, Dresden's older half-brother. Harry Dresden appears briefly as a minor character.
Plot summary
Thomas Raith discovers that his younger half-brother, Harry Dresden, has taken a case that could cost him his life.
Lara tells Thomas to meet a courier with the latest intel on the Oblivion War, and learns from Justine that the Ladies of the Dark River, aka The Stygian Sisterhood, are in town. Lara and Thomas are the only Venatori, Oblivion combatants, in the White Court. To complicate things, the Sisterhood corralled Harry Dresden into looking for a kidnapped child, in order to increase knowledge of one of the Old Gods, in order to give it strength. The deity of the Stygians gains power from the knowledge and belief in its existence. The more people who know about the deity, the greater its power. Part of Thomas’ duties as a Venator is to obliterate all knowledge and talk of the Old Gods and Demons. Thomas cannot tell Justine and Dresden about the Oblivion War.
Using a tracking spell, Thomas locates Dresden near the Pavilion in Millennium Park, and is lured into an ambush by one of the Sisters, and is hit with an illusion to change Thomas' appearance. Thomas kills the ghouls, but the Stygian escapes. In over his head, Thomas goes to Dresden's apartment to consult Bob and have the illusion removed. Thomas asks for Bob's help, and reveals the Oblivion War, as Bob is not mortal, on the condition that Bob never tell Dresden. Thomas relates the perilous knowledge about the Old Gods and Demons. At a certain level of human awareness, these Old Gods and Demons can return to the mortal world. Dresden’s client is a member of one of the many factions working to restore that awareness. When Dresden locates the kidnapped child, he will also find a grimoire, the Lexicon Malos. As a warden, Dresden is honor bound to give the book to the White Council. The Council would then almost certainly publish the grimoire, as they did the Necronomicon, in order to weaken its apparent magic. The publication would raise the human awareness to the point where the Old Ones could re-enter the world. If Thomas can find the grimoire before Dresden, he can save Dresden's life - but only with Bob's help. Bound by his word, Bob must help Thomas save Dresden while never revealing the true identities and motivations of the factions.
Bob speculates that the Stygian didn't kill Thomas because Dresden would sense Thomas' death in her aura. Thomas realizes that she cast the illusion on him, hoping that Dresden would mistake him for the kidnapper and kill him. After locating Dresden, Thomas snatches in Lexicon ahead of him, and then jumps into the role of a bloodthirsty cultist just as Dresden bursts through the door with the Stygian in tow. Disguised by the Stygian's illusion, Thomas threatens to harm the child tied to the altar. The Stygian is surprised. Dresden hits Thomas the cultist with a blast that blows him across the room. After a brief fight, Thomas flees, locating the Sister later and fatally feeding on her. Thomas then visits Dresden, who laments about the recent case and how he was hoodwinked and bilked out of his fees.
Plot points introduced
- Oblivion War: It is "an ages-old silent war" (p. 25) being waged for the memory of mankind. Thirsting for power, many arcane factions are trying to rekindle mankind's awareness of the Old Gods and Demons. The Venatori oppose all the factions working for the return of the Old Ones. They are actively trying to keep humans from remembering those malicious beings. The Old Gods and Demons gain power from mankind’s knowledge of and belief in their existence. The more people who know about them, the greater their power. At a certain level of awareness, the Old Gods and Demons can return to the mortal world. For over five thousand years, the Venatori strategy has been to obliterate all knowledge and talk about the Old Gods and Demons, thereby consigning the Old Ones to oblivion.
- Venatori: (Latin: hunters; single: Venator) An ancient organization waging the Oblivion War on behalf of mankind. They fight to ensure that the Old Gods and Demons are forgotten, so they cannot re-enter the mortal world.
- Venatori Umbrorum: an ancient society of about two thousand magic practitioners dedicated to fighting evil. They were founded by the original Venatori as an information gathering unit and a smokescreen for the genuine Venatori activities.
- The Stygian Sisterhood: aka The Ladies of the Dark River. One of the enemies of the Venatori in the Oblivion War. They are human women who accepted supernatural psychic enhancements to acquire arcane and physical powers. They want to bring back various Demon-Goddesses via the publication of a ritual guide called the Lexicon Malos.
- The Prosthanos Society: They are humans, living in the Baltic area, who accepted supernatural physical enhancements to acquire arcane and physical powers.
- Ghouls: They are the cheap muscle for hire of the supernatural world. They are strong, fast, vicious, and hard to kill. A ghoul is killed by shattering the spine or destroying the head.
- The Brothers Grimm anthology of fairy tales - The reason Mab and the faeries weren't forgotten and went the same way as the Stygian sisterhood was because of the anthology. Links to the book "Cold Days" in which Dresden finds a signed copy in Mab's Castle.
Introduced characters
- Michelle Marion: A regular salon customer, the daughter of Illinois Senator Marion, and Thomas’ lunch.
- The Stygian: a member of the Stygian Sisterhood whose mission is to make sure that Dresden finds the Lexicon Malos.
Backup in other media
Backup is included in the anthology book Side Jobs.