Storm Front

I’m just wild about Harry—Dresden, that is, Chicago’s only wizard for hire. Storm Front is the first of 20 books in the Dresden Files, a great mix of urban fantasy, noir, and pop culture references. When Harry investigates a double murder committed by black magic, he has many suspects to choose from: spirits, ghouls, vampires, and he’s always contending with the overbearing White Council of Wizards with its draconian laws and rules. Butcher’s ability to get Harry out of impossible dangers is impressive. No deus ex machina here. Harry survives by his wits and his snarky remarks. Oh, and… show more.

I must admit, I never read Storm Front or any of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. I listened to them on audiobook performed by the masterful James Marsters. However, my biggest takeaway from this book and the rest of the series isn't the depth of its characters, the impressive detail of its urban fantasy world building, nor the nail-biting blockbuster action sequences—that's all spectacular. But no, what Storm Front and all of the Dresden Files taught me was the importance of structure. Jim Butcher sticks to a particular structure that he uses in nearly each and every one of these books,… show more.

The Dresden Files aren’t technically fantasy. They are Urban Fantasy, but so what. The Dresden Files are fantastic, and everyone should read them.

For fantasy lovers, Butcher does a wonderful job building a rich world beyond his world, where Fae, Angels, Demons, and otherworldly beings struggle for dominance of the world. In the center, or perhaps a touch off-center from it all, is our lovable protagonist, Harry Dresden… An immensely powerful wizard, and a marginally reliable narrator.

Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series is one of my absolute favorites. A quirky wizard detective working on a shoestring budget and always getting into trouble is always a fun read for me. The characters and the world building are well crafted with many depths and facets. These books are what really started my love for urban fantasy.

In Storm Front I fell in love with Chicago wizard Harry Dresden, who is so hard up for business he advertises in the yellow pages. Finally a character for whom money absolutely is an object!  Harry is awesome; with his sarcasm, bravery, and huge heart, I’d take him home if I could. Who wouldn’t want a little magic in their life? The book (and the rest of the books in the series) is the perfect blend of action, darkness, and pacing broken up with snarky banter. His complex, quirky and flawed characters, along with unexpected plot twists, inspired my own… show more.

You could pick any book in the series and fall for Harry Dresden. I highly recommend starting with the first book, however, because the connection with Dresden with each new book released only deepens. Butcher does a phenomenal job of describing Dresden more through his actions and dialogue than telling the reader who he is. I’ve lost count as to how many times I’ve had a response to what’s going to happen in the coming scene because I know Dresden so well. And Butcher has a wonderfully unique talent for urban fantasy writing and clever intertwining of nearly all mythical… show more.

Jim Butcher is a genius with a sense of humour. The great joy of his Harry Dresden novels is that they are magical, fantastical, violent, intricately plotted, and laugh-out-loud hilarious, all at the same time. Harry is of course a wizard for hire whose ad proclaims: ‘Harry Dresden – Wizard. Lost items found. Paranormal investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainments.’ There are now 17 novels in the Dresden Files universe, and each of them is written with care and wit and zest and a huge cast of rich so-vivid-they-are-real characters.… show more.

The Dresden Files is an Urban Fantasy series and one of the first of this genre I read, or at least the beast I can recall. I recently listened to the entire series on audio as well. Harry Dresden speaks to me as something of a loner and yet enjoys helping people and righting wrongs. He has maybe a bit of a hero complex even if he doesn’t realize it. The characters and world Jim Butcher created feel real and relative. Harry Dresden is, on the surface, a simple man with simple goals and desires, and yet he has a… show more.

Let’s go ahead and get this one out of the way because we can’t talk magical detectives without the poster child of hardboiled detective noir colliding with fantasy. Harry is a wizard PI who also serves as a police consultant when cases dip into the supernatural. The world is filled with fantastical creatures, each sect with its own governing rules and goals, which makes for an expansive series filled with magic, mayhem, and paranormal political intrigue. For setting the bar, Harry Dresden gets top billing.

The Dresden Files may have been my first exposure to urban fantasy, and I’ve been a fan ever since. I first watched the TV show, not knowing it was a book series, and love it, so once I found out the show was based on books, of course I had to read them. Storm Front is a great introduction to the world, with a magical mystery to solve and a cast of really cool characters. These books are a huge inspiration in my own writing, with the supernatural investigations overlapping with real-world investigations, and trying to find the balance between… show more.