Storm Front (Dresden Case Files) [Paperback]

 

 

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As always, Jim Butcher grabs you and holds you until the last page. Storm Front is the first book about Harry Dresden, a wizard and private detective. This is a recovered paperback of the original. To get the most out of this series you have to read them in order. Hope this helps you:

1--Storm Front
2--Fool Moon
3--Grave Peril
4--Summer Knight
5--Death Masks
6--Blood Rights
7--Dead Beat
8--Proven Guilty
9--White Night

by Martin Harris

If Raymond Chandler had written about wizards, vampires and fairies, the result might have been something like the Dresden Files series. And it opens on a high note with the gritty urban fantasy "Storm Front," introducing us to a solid wizard hero and a complex new universe.

Business has been slow for Harry Dresden, the wizard PI, so he's eager when two new cases come at once: a missing husband, and a couple slain in the middle of sex -- their hearts exploded from their chests. Talk about a heart attack. As he tries to investigate both cases at once, he finds himself suspended between a vampire madam and a gentlemanly Mafia don.

Unfortunately, it seems the White Council of wizards also believes that he did it, and with his proximity to some nasty magics, Harry faces execution in just a few days. And as he unravels an increasingly dark web of drugs, demons and sorcery, Harry discovers that he is the next intended victim...

Ever since Laurell K. Hamilton turned to porn, I've been on the lonely long hunt for something similar in theme, but with fewer throbbing body parts. With his wizards, fae, icky vampires and demons, Jim Butcher's series fits the bill -- and exceeds it in every way.

He's got the hard-boiled noir thing down, even in modern Chicago -- dark rainy streets, femme fatales (some vampires), and a literally fiery climax. The entire book is an upward spiral of suspense, with the dual threats against Harry's life getting more intense, until it literally seems like there's no way out.

His writing strikes a nice balance between stripped-down Chanderlian prose, and detailed horror-fantasy (such as our first look at the grotesque vampire madam Bianca). But Butcher knows how to inject some dark humor and action, such as poor Harry trying to battle a toad-demon with an artificially lustful woman pouncing on him. And some nicely snappy dialogue ("Subtle and quick to anger?" "Not so subtle").

Harry Dresde himself is a great lead character -- he's wry, amusing and a little offbeat, but with some dark personal history that tends to haunt him at the wrong times. The only problem with the characters is that in this particular book, most of the human characters seem rather 2-D, compared to Bob the talking skull or Toot-toot the pizza-loving fairy.

"Storm Front" is a solid debut to a solid horror-fantasy-mystery series, with a likable lead and some nicely evocative writing. Definitely a good read, and promises more by the end.

Over the past decade, The Dresden Files has turned into one of the big success stories of the urban fantasy genre. Set in modern-day Chicago, it follows the fortunes of Harry Dresden, a wizard-for-hire who offers his services to those in need (and who preferably can pay him). Mixing up elements of the supernatural with a detective story format, the series has proven successful on both sides of the Atlantic with ten further books in the series published and a short-lived TV adaption proving a cult hit a couple of years back. Storm Front is the first novel in the series.

The perpetually cash-strapped Harry Dresden is given some financial relief when two cases land on his desk at the same time. A woman is searching for her husband, who has gone missing after becoming fascinated by the use of magic. Meanwhile, the police have called on Dresden's aid after two people are found dead in an apartment, their hearts apparently remotely exploded by magical means. It isn't long before Dresden is up to his neck in trouble, as the two cases start overlapping with the interests of the Mafia and Dresden's own unorthodox approach soon lands him in trouble with the guardians of magic, the White Council.

Storm Front is a decent debut novel. The plot clips along at a fair old pace, and as a mystery it's fairly well plotted and laid out. The characters are strong, with Harry making for an engaging protagonist and his circle of friends, allies and enemies all being an interesting bunch. There isn't a lot of 'weight' to the novel, and it feels a bit on the slight side, but there's much fun to be had here.

However, I wasn't too impressed by the Luddite diatribe we get no less than three pages in, in which all of the evils of the world are blamed on technology and progress. Yeah, it makes sense for Dresden to have those views as a wizard who can't use technology (his magical field causes computers and other electrically-powered items to fritz out around him), but it was a bit too preachy too early in the book and left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. Luckily this was forgotten within a few chapters as the story picked up and really got going. There are some other problems, though. The 'mystery' is completely solvable by the reader within the first fifty pages (you may be even be able to work it out from the plot synopsis on the back of the book), so waiting for Harry to catch up to where you are can be a bit mildly frustrating. The book is also inconsistent in its worldbuilding: after spending the first chapter or so telling us that no-one believes in magic and most of Harry's callers are pranksters thinking he's a nutter, we then learn that the police keep him on a retainer to investigate crimes and even average people on the street know not to look a wizard in the eye for too long, which seems self-contradicting. There's also the nagging feeling that you've seen this story before, with a few names and roles swapped around, on Angel. But, despite these problems (all of them hallmarks of a first time writer), the book is still reasonably fun to read. Butcher has an easy, approachable and undemanding prose style and after Dresden spends most of the book being passive and reactive to events, watching him go all Takeshi Kovacs at the end is a treat.

Storm Front (***) is a fun and breezy novel that is more of a light snack than a full meal, but still an enjoyable way of passing the time. I'll be checking out the remaining books in the series in the near future. The book is available from Orbit in the UK and Roc in the USA. A special limited edition from Subterranean Press came out a while ago and you may still be able to track down some copies online.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic read
This book was so enjoyable. Such a fun, easy read that had me flicking through the pages in a couple of days. Read more

Published 23 days ago by Sally Panayiotou

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book, there is more and better to come!
Felt the need to come back and review this first installment of the Dresden Files in case I could help persaude anyone to give it a go! Read more

Published 1 month ago by Debbie L

4.0 out of 5 stars A blistering good romp!
I was exhausted after I read this book! And for a very good reason! By the time we reach the final chapters, Harry Dresden has been chased by police, demons, vampires, the local... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Marie B. Stein

4.0 out of 5 stars so-so - a few notable flaws in the first few - but stick with it
Urban fantasy is a bit of a sideline genre for me - i don't read buckets of it, and this is a average (so far) series. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Misty

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining light read
I only read this because it was lent to me by a friend who's opinion i trust. while in the initial books harry is a basic 2d character. Read more

Published 2 months ago by P_mack@mack35.freeserve.co.uk ...

5.0 out of 5 stars great series to read
This is one of those series that you wish you could lock up author until he finishes the series and then release them all at once so you don't have to wait for a whole YEAR to get... Read more

Published 2 months ago by weelenny

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing And Fun
The first book in The Dresden Files series, of which there are thirteen, is an urban fantasy (I said I was weak) where magic is present in the sceptical scientific world. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Eden

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging
I think that it deserves 5 stars for the simple reason that from page one I was completely hooked. I could not stay away from Storm Front for long. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Jason

1.0 out of 5 stars Not my cup of tea
This is written as general review of the first 5 novels in series. Was recommended to me, but by friends who tend to like adolescent fantasy novels. Read more

Published 6 months ago by chris

4.0 out of 5 stars Great start
This was my first Harry Dresden book (I'd been put off reading them after watching a couple of episodes of the TV series which was dreadful). Read more

Published 7 months ago by Elsie

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