Great books great show too (too bad they took it off air) ( )

I wasn't expecting much from Storm Front. I owned the book for a while, but continued to put off reading it. I see now what a mistake that was. This book was a fast paced, easy read that I just could not put down. Wizards and potions and mystery and humor, it was like Harry Potter but with the possibility of someone having sex. I'm so glad I gave this one a try and can't wait to get started on the rest of the series. ( )

Harry Dresden is a blue-collar wizard. He fights the forces of evil, but he still has to pay his bills. Dresden is working with the Chicago PD to stop of murderous wizard, before that wizard finds Dresden. Fans of the series will enjoy meeting familiar characters for the first time: Police Detective Murphy, Toot-toot (a pizza-loving faerie), Morgan (White Council's executioner), and Bob the Skull. ( )

Perfectly enjoyable urban fantasy fiction.I will definitely read the rest of this series as I get a chance. ( )

It was a fun read, but I'm a bit turned off by the angst that the hero, Harry, carries around. He has his reasons, but I prefer a more upbeat character. He seems a bit too resigned to a crappy world. This might be relieved in the next book, so I plan to read it shortly. There is a LOT of potential here for a great series & so many others have told me they like it. I've seen bits of the TV series, which was good.The setting & plot were good. It's our world with a slight twist - magic exists, but not generally believed in by most. I could almost feel it is possible. I read that Butcher got his start trying to write something similar to [a:Laurell K. Hamilton|9550|Laurell K. Hamilton|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1202585980p2/9550.jpg]'s Anita Blake, a series that we both seem to like. His take has a lot less sex & romance (at least in this book) & more of a tough detective aspect. He is a tough, down-at-the-heels detective, much like Sam Spade. He doesn't have the way with the women or the ego to go with it, though. Maybe that's my turn-off (a slight one). I think he should feel better about himself.I thought Butcher did a masterful job of painting the world & Harry, especially our glimpses into Harry's past life. He doesn't dwell on it too much, but teases with glimpses. I can see this as part of the series plot line since Harry doesn't know much about his parents. His mother died at his birth & while his father told him a lot, there is probably a lot he doesn't know plus, he died when Harry was fairly young, so there is a lot he wouldn't have said.The paranormal critters include a neat take on a vampire, fairies & a very tough demon. In this first book, we're given a look at how a good education can come in handy as well as some of the supernatural politics. We also get a glimpse of a world other than ours that intersects at odd times.All in all, an enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to the next one, but I don't HAVE to read it immediately. While it's obvious the story can continue, there are a few dangling threads I want to learn more about, there wasn't any horrible cliff hanger. I appreciate that. ( )

Entertaining and well paced, the first Harry Dresden book has its own spin on urban fantasy, a refreshing take in that it's not fallen into paranormal romance cliches. Wizard as PI works really well. Naturally there are differences when compared to the TV show but nothing off-putting in either direction. Worth following. ( )

“Do I have a great job, or what?”

My first foray into the world of magical private investigation and, my, does Harry Dresden have a job fraught with peril, rife with opportunities for grievous injury, and o’erbrimming with angry men looking to take him down. I’m one book into the series and wondering who wouldn’t become a greengrocer, under the circumstances.

Harry Dresden’s current list of problems include … well, a missing husband, a threatening mob-boss, a nasty double murder of the magically induced variety, being a suspect in the aforementioned murder himself and the target of the killer at the same time, a pissed-off member of the White Council who wants to catch him at something he can legitimately execute him for, murderous toad-demons… it amuses me to no end how quickly his initial problem (the bane of all PIs, whatever their particular talent… paying the rent) gets buried under a pile of magical mayhem.

The really great thing about this book – especially given that it’s the first of the series – is the incredibly tight plotting. There’s a significant amount of things that just keep happening to Harry, yet not one thread goes unused or unresolved. Harry himself may be fleshed out more in later books, but he instantly feels like a complete person, a captivating narrator who pulls the reader into the story and doesn’t let go. A friend of mine likes to say about a good book ‘the pages turn easily’… it applies here, in spades. Very readable, and lots of fun. ( )

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is just a wizard trying his best to pay his bills through a PI job. Sometimes he helps out the Chicago police force with those jobs that just can't be explained. When the cops call with just such a case - a gory murder that could not have happened by any means but magic - Dresden may be in over his head.

This first novel is something of a mixed bag. I liked Dresden's character and his sense of humor, though I sometimes found his first person narration awkwardly conversational. The violence was sometimes a little too graphic for me. The plot starts out pretty slowly, eventually building to a driving pace by the end. Having only read the Codex Alera series by this one, I enjoyed seeing the variety in Jim Butcher's writing. I plan to continue reading this series as well. ( )

This is another book that I wanted to like because I found Jim Butcher's characters and concepts very interesting. Unfortunately, the story was too slow for my tastes. I quickly grew bored with the book and had to force myself to finish. ( )

The first in a series, this book about a detective who is also a wizard is a typical detective story. Our hero is a man with a past, only vaguely hinted at, too few clients, insecurities about women and lots of enemies and others who question his good intentions on all sides of the laws, both normal and paranormal. What seems like a pretty bad coincidence turns out to be a reasonable part of the story. We learn a little about the author's world of magic, including his idea of how vampires work. SPOILER: The baddie is done in by his own devices. ( )

I've heard a lot about this series, and I found this book to be a good read. Poor Harry Dresden has some outright rotten days, doesn't he? I'll gradually read more of Butcher's books. He was a great voice, and magic and investigative work are a wonderful fit.

I apologize for the skimpy review. We just drove for eight hours straight (hence me reading the book in one day) and there isn't much of me left. ( )

We've been listening to the audiobooks of the Dresden Files lately. I have to say, the production values on this first one are unimpressive, but the story remains captivating. Storm Front is more in tune with traditional hard-boiled mysteries, with the obligatory down-on-his-luck detective, the constant suspicion, and seemingly separate problems that turn out to be tied together in the end.
Harry has a sarcastic, bratty sense of humor, and the world around him seems to be actively conspiring to get him into trouble, with an associated dose of slapstick comedy thrown in to lighten such events as the destruction of one's home by a toad demon. The ending came together too quickly for me - Harry turning to allies after he's just finished a monologue explaining how alone he was. Still, a satisfying conclusion, given that the character interactions and relationships necessary to sustaining the story were treated as the necessary elements they are. ( )

Wrote a review for this but it got deleted -_-. Anyway I'll try to keep this short. I stumbled onto this while doing some research and after reading it I could say that its great and I'm glad I found it.

Heres the synopsis- Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a wizard for hire. The only one of his kind heck he's even in the phonebook if you need him. However because of his profession he doesnt get much business and things get tight financially which forces him to consult with the Chicago P.D Special Investigations Unit for extra cash. When he's called to investigate a murder with paranormal undertones Harry's life quickly takes a turn from the worse the further he delves into the mystery behind the case. He encounters gangsters, thugs, vampires, demons and eventually the mastermind behind the killings. One of the things that made me turn each page was trying to find out how he's going to get out of such a predicament.

Now I'm becoming a big fan of urban fantasy; heck its even my main genre nowadays and Dresden Files is one of those books that I like. Heck it may even beat Harry Potter in my eyes (keyword being MAY). One thing it has over Potter is that it goes deep into the way spells work and how magic is done- something that Potter never explained. We see some interesting ideas like the concept of circles in spells, the importance of material things in rituals like staffs, hair, blood and names (which i'll never give out all willy nilly from now on). Heck it even explains why magic exist in the first place. Really good stuff.

Plus wizards are really badass in here. One cant look into their eyes lest he be vulnerable to their soul gaze and have their inner self and pasts exposed. Also wizards have a sight which allows them to see a world normal people cant see. Then theres the whole White Council and the Laws of Magic that govern every wizard. I mean there are no wands or broomsticks but its still really cool.

Harry is also a very likeable character, not only because its told from his perspective but he has a certain awkwardness and relatable demeanor- especially around women and hes actually a pretty nice guy. Though Harry is not all good he has commited crimes before, and he has been punished for it- or is awaiting punishment (See Doom of Damocles in the book). Plus he also seems to have a very precarious childhood and few friends he could trust.

But aside from him there are several characters that spark interest like Morgan- executioner for the white council, Murphy- detective along with Bianca the vampire pimpess ^_^

All in all its a great read, the writing style is good and witty and its very entertaining. Heck I even stopped reading Twilight to check this out.

4 and a half stars ( )

Read this one, think its okay but not all that the hype has laid out and then continue the series. The books just keep getting better. Unlike many authors of sequential books, Butcher seems to have mapped out the entire storyline in his head including minute character links. The depth of the story and the interconnectedness just grows and grows. Also you gotta love the sense of humor, laugh out loud is worth a written version rather than the overused abbreviation. ( )

This book is great! I wasn't too sure what to expect, but the books are very different from the TV series (which I liked) and better in my opinion. This is urban grittiness mixed with magic, both black and white. Harry is conflicted, funny, and talented. My kind of guy. He would definitely make for an interesting date. I'm hooked on the series now. ( )

A favorite author. Thoroughly engrossing. ( )

Think of it as Harry Potter for grownups.

Storm Front, the first book in the Dresden Files series, is a tribute to the fact that adults can be just as intrigued by the supernatural as prepubescent J. K. Rowling fans. Filled with magic spells, incantations, demons, and rogue magicians, the book does at times seem like the workingman’s answer to the famous boy wizard.

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a professional wizard working in Chicago. His specialties are lost items and advice on paranormal situations; he also works part-time as a consultant to the Chicago Police Department on crimes with supernatural elements. Dresden’s problems start when he gets a call about the particularly heinous murder of a notorious mobster. What starts out as a routine investigation becomes complicated when Dresden himself is framed for the murder. And with powerful storms buffeting the city and providing ammunition to the forces of darkness, Dresden finds himself in a race against the clock as he attempts to clear his name and identify the real killer before time runs out.

The story’s setting is largely realistic. The action occurs in and around familiar Chicago-area buildings and neighborhoods. But this is without question a fantasy novel. Chicago’s drug of choice is a substance that gives its users the ability to open their “third eye”; magic is accepted by most people as a natural, if inexplicable, part of everyday life. Dresden reports to a mysterious and rather bureaucratic body called the White Counsel, whose agents enforce the Laws of Magic.

The writing is pretty good, particularly for a debut novel, and its literary quality is more or less commensurate with other books in the genre. The first-person narration provides a fast pace to the story while giving just the right amount of humor. But the narrative is also peppered with profanity, sexual innuendos, and violence—some of it rather gruesome—in addition to, of course, lots of magic. Jim Butcher will probably not be the next Tolkein, but adult fantasy fans who enjoyed Harry Potter and are looking for something a little grittier will appreciate Harry Dresden. ( )

Not bad for an early effort. Very readable and probably not to be taken too seriously. I sometimes like a bit of pulp fiction from time to time. I'll probably try some more of these at a future date and see how Butcher's writing develops. ( )

Chicago isn't a place I willingly go, because it's just never been fun to be there. If Chicago starts being like Harry Dresden's Chicago, I will think about it a little bit harder.

Dresden, the only "out" wizard practicing in Chicagoland, has a number of problems: Making the rent; finding a date; convincing his spirit-guide-cum-computer to do its job and not editorialize about his life; avoid the Doom of Damocles that hangs over his head from a past transgression. Not to mention solve a sorcerous murder that, in the absence of other known wizards in the area, could bring down that Doom of Damocles.

All in one stormy spring weekend.

I am pleased, if unsurprised, to report that he succeeds on all counts. It's a lousy weekend, from many standpoints; how many people would want to visit the vampire madam of a high-class call girl emporium and end up with her teeth mere inches from your throat? And that's just ONE trouble he faces, and faces down.

Harry Dresden is an antidote to the general modern social tendency to make everything that happens around one Not My Fault. Harry, bless his cottton socks, things everything is All My Fault. It's a little wearing. The man needs some Ativan.

In the end, I was entertained by this book exactly enough to be agreeable and receptive to reading the next book in the series. My branch of the liberry has it, and I shall go check it out. In both senses of the word.

Would I buy one of these marvies? Nuh-uh. Good enough to read, not good enough to own. Recommended for the fans of Lord Darcy, remember him?, and of Sam Spade (if they're adventurous fans). Check them out of the library FIRST! ( )

I remember seeing commercials on the Sci-Fi Channel for the show The Dresden Files. I didn't realize it was a book series and didn't end up watching it. Now that I've discovered the books, I wish I had checked out the TV show. Maybe I would have found the books sooner.

Harry Dresden is the only wizard in the phone book in Chicago. He works as a private investigator of sorts and also aids Karrin Murphy, the head of the Chicago police equivalent to the X-Files. When Storm Front begins, Dresden needs money badly. So when he gets a request to find a woman's missing husband, he jumps at the chance to make some easy money. At the same time, the police call him in to investigate a murder of a pair of lovers who's hearts exploded from their chests. In a twist somewhat annoyingly reminiscent of the Hardy Boys mysteries, Dresden's two cases are related, leading him to a deadly showdown with an evil wizard in a burning building.

Jim Butcher has crafted a surprisingly creative urban fantasy with great characters and an interesting mystery.

This was fast moving, slightly obscure (why did everyone hate Harry? for instance), and the world is familiar but just different enough to create interest. I finished the book wanting to find out what happens next to wizard Harry. ( )

I'm not going to pull any punches. This book is a misogynistic piece of shit.

All I knew about it before I picked it up was the very basic premise—a wizard in modern-day Chicago, who works as a sort of detective—and that it had picked up quite a cult following. I was expecting to really like it, but before I got to the end of the first chapter, my eyebrows had risen to meet my hairline. I kept reading out of some misguided expectation that things would get better, that there could...more I'm not going to pull any punches. This book is a misogynistic piece of shit.

All I knew about it before I picked it up was the very basic premise—a wizard in modern-day Chicago, who works as a sort of detective—and that it had picked up quite a cult following. I was expecting to really like it, but before I got to the end of the first chapter, my eyebrows had risen to meet my hairline. I kept reading out of some misguided expectation that things would get better, that there couldn't possibly be such a sustained level of misogyny coming from both the character and the authorial voice. Oh, how wrong I was.

The main character, Harry Dresden, repeatedly tells us that he's a chauvinist, yes, and shows no signs of wanting to change that. It would have been difficult enough for me to get into a novel with such an unpalatable main character, but the level of narrative endorsement of his viewpoint nauseated me. The female characters in the book are there only to cry, seduce, and occasionally mother. Some of them are presented as having power of their own, but if you take a second glance at them, that power is always represented as secondary to male power, or a sham. Karrin Murphy is a hard-bitten homicide detective and Harry's friend, true; but she's undermined to constant references as to how "belligerent" she is, how small and lady-like her hands are, how she cries when he won't share information with her. Let me repeat that: cries. Bianca, the vampire—sorry, vampiress! must use appropriately gendered language!—is defeated because Dresden can see how she's truly ugly beneath all that fake beauty, and so she's humiliated and he can overpower her! All of them use their sexuality to get ahead—or try to, because clearly Harry is just too intelligent to fall for those silly women's wiles!

How about an explanation for the motive behind a murder:

I gestured toward the room. "Because you can't do something that bad without a whole lot of hate," I said. "Women are better at hating than men. They can focus it better, let it go better. Hell, witches are just plainmeaner than wizards. This feels like feminine vengeance of some kind to me."

Or how about one prostitute talking about another:

She shook her head. "No, no. Nothing like that. That wasn't her style. She was sweet. A lot of girls get like—They get pretty jaded, Mr. Dresden. But it never really touched her. She made people feel better about themselves somehow." She looked away. "I could never do that. All I did was get them off."

This isn't just Dresden being sexist. This isn't just showing us the thought processes of an un-reconstructed chauvinist. This isn't even just using noir tropes—because god knows there are a thousand and one ways of subverting those and reimagining them. This is holding up a clichéd, smug asshole of a main character as the kind of man every guy wants to be, and the kind of man every woman wants to fuck, as a mirror for how Butcher thinks. It's laden with sexist stereotypes that irritate me and in case you couldn't guess, it made me very, very angry.

The book also fails on pretty much every technical level I can think of: I have no idea why it's set in Chicago, or why the location was emphasised, because there's absolutely no sense of place to it. For all Butcher told us, it could all have been taking place in Seattle, or Denver, or Kansas City. The plot is silly, illogical, and by rights everyone should have been dead of Stupid within the first two chapters. The writing style displayed an absolute cloth ear for language. I'd imagine that he was trying to recreate the terse, staccato style of noir detective stories, but didn't realise that in order to do so, you need more than short, simplistic sentences. You need to be attuned to the rhythm of what you're writing, to know how to turn a handful of words to best effect, and Butcher neither knows how to do that, nor how to write realistic sounding dialogue at all.

I have not read such offensive drivel in a long, long time. Avoid ( )

Storm Front is quite possibly the best series introduction I've seen. It's sharp, engaging, and fast-paced enough that you literally don't ever want to put the book down.

First-person narration is a tough thing to do right, in my opinion, but when you've got a narrator like Harry Dresden, it's pretty hard to go wrong. Harry's snarky, sort of a goof, and always interesting. Without his first person asides and comments in the narration, the story wouldn't be nearly as interesting, I think, because Harry can seem pretty gruff and stand-offish, and it's hard to really connect with a main character like that. Unless, of course, you're in they're head, and they're telling you what wacky hijinks they went through last time they tried a love spell, or how they're just a sucker for a damsel in distress.

The supporting cast is amazing. You have Susan Rodriguez, a reporter for a supernatural tabloid who is way too talented for her paper, but too invested in reporting the supernatural to get a better gig. She's sleek, she's sexy, and she's got a way of making Harry more awkward than usual, if that's even possible. Bob is a spirit in a skull, if you can believe that, and he's sort of Harry's own version of supernatural Google, with a fetish for sorority girls and romance novels. And, my absolute favourite, Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, of the Chicago Police Department, Special Investigations Unit. Murphy's a 5-foot-nothing blonde with (as Harry points out at one point) delicate lady's hands and an attitude that can easily take on Harry's ego. She knows Harry's the real deal, and she expects him to help her, and is about the toughest, bravest, most endearingly stubborn female character I've ever had the joy of coming across.

The worldbuilding is just stellar, my favourite detail being that any sufficiently advanced technology is liable to short circuit, act up, or just start working alltogether. And, of course, the newer it is, the more likely it is that it'll freeze up in a bad way, and quickly. Harry's little basement apartment is lit with oil lamps and candles, and heated by good, old-fashioned fire. He uses a rotary telephone (which doesn't always work), and his ancient VW Beetle is no longer one colour, thanks to all the replacements he's had to make on it. My favourite little bit is when Murphy stops him at her office door while she shuts down and unplugs her computer, so he won't fry it. Priceless. The magic is all really awesome, too, and Butcher has clearly put a lot of effort into it.

As far as plot, you really can't criticize this one too much. There are enough plotlines to keep your mind busy and engaged, and all of them get resolved clearly and neatly by the end of the book. The climax and resolution happen in about 50 pages, which seems like not nearly enough time to get through all the action that needs to happen, yet it never feels rushed or forced.

Harry's life is in very real danger on a lot of fronts for most of the book, because not only does the mysterious black mage have it out for Harry once he hears about him, but he's not really on the good side of Chicago's local mob boss, and the Warden that the White Council (the Wizard governing body, as it were) assigned Harry after he barely escaped execution for killing another person with magic (self-defense was the only reason he got out of it) thinks that Harry's behind the killings going on in the city, and is more than happy to take the appropriate action if that is the case. The appropriate action, of course, being execution.

Of course, in the end, the scruffy wizard with the ridiculous coat and the barely-running junker saves the day and gets the girl. That's how these things go. ( )

Great one-night read. Set in "modern" Chicago, Harry Dresden is a detective who is also a sorcerer. Or a sorcerer who is also a detective, depending on what day it might be. I enjoyed the short-lived TV series so I thought I'd like the books, too. So far, I was right. Completely enjoyed it - it was a fast and fun read. I apprecieated the blend of sorcery and sleuthing. Definitely will be looking for the rest of the series. ( )