Excerpts from the September 2004 Locus

Under “Short Reviews by Carolyn Cushman” in the September 2004 issue of Locus Magazine:

Jim Butcher, FURIES OF CALDERON (Ace 0-441-12299-3, $23.95, 440pp, hc) October 2004. Cover by Steve Stone.

Butcher jumps into epic fantasy with this first novel in “The Codex Alera”, a considerable departure from his previous “Dresden Files” contemporary urban fantasy detective series. FURIES introduces a world where everyone past puberty has a fury, a magical/elemental spirit that helps them and gives them magical talents: watercrafters can heal and read emotions, firecrafters can influence others’ emotions or use fire offensively, metalcrafters are smiths and warriors, and so on. Apprentice shepherd Tavi is 15, but furyless, something unheard of, and desperate to prove himself; a search for lost sheep entangles him in an enemy invasion and an attempted rebellion. Butcher has created a fascinating world and magic system, and peopled it with some truly engaging characters–and intriguing hints of a great Destiny that awaits Tavi in future volumes, though this one is nicely self-contained for the start of a promising series.

Under “Other Rights”:

Audio rights to Jim Bitcher’s GRAVE PERIL, third in his “Dresden Files” series, sold to Buzzy Multimedia via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Agency.

New Poll on Jim-Butcher.Com

We’re introducing a new voting feature on Jim-Butcher.Com and are very excited to bring a new interactive element of the site to the fans.
As our inaugural poll, we’ve got a big one — Jim is looking for some fan feedback on where to take the Dresden Files!
Let your voice be heard! Log on and vote for who you’d like to see more of in the Dresden Files — and make sure to leave a comment to tell Jim why you want to see them there!

A Comment on the Dresden Files Release Schedule

Probably our most frequent question here at Jim-Butcher.Com is when the next Harry Dresden book is going to come out. The answer is actually very easy — they come out once a year, in August.
Jim is usually writing many months in advance of the release schedule. There’s a lot that goes on between the initial writing getting done on a book, and the book making it to print. Several rounds of editing and revisions can factor in, and since publishing is a business with paper-thin margins of profit — pun intended! — there are some very real concerns that have to go into determining how often the publisher can financially support putting another book of a series out. Not to mention, sticking to one book per series per year helps insulate the publisher against author burnout or delays — not too much of a problem in Jim’s specific case, mind, but we’re talking about the industry in general here.
So, if Jim’s going to get more than one book out a year, it will be by way of multiple different series at once. With the Codex Alera series gearing up for its first release in October — in hardcover, no less, which is a great financial step for Jim and Jim’s publisher — Jim is on the cusp of crossing over to making a “real” living as a writer — or at least as real as the writing living gets.
As fans of Jim’s work, the best thing you can do is help to demonstrate that there’s strong and plentiful demand for all of Jim’s stuff. The more selling power Jim’s series have, the more other publishers will be interested in what Jim can do for them.
So that’s the story. If you’ve finished Blood Rites, take a gander at the Restoration of Faith short story, and make sure to put Furies of Calderon on preorder at your favorite bookstore. And then look forward to August 2005, when Dresden Files #7, Dead Beat comes out!

Furies of Calderon is available for presale

The first book of Jim Butcher’s new Codex Alera series, Furies of Calderon, is available for pre-order, both through your local independent bookstore and from Amazon. While the book isn’t due out until October, now’s the perfect time to reserve your copies, and maybe even buy one for a friend for the upcoming holiday season.
This is Jim’s first hard-cover book, and really signifies a step up for Jim in the publishing world. Please join with us in making this new series from Jim just as popular as the first!
You can read more about Furies of Calderon here on this website.