Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) by Jim Butcher Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)
Book Review: Hardbitten but fun
Summary: 4 Stars
I picked Storm Front up based on the concept alone, the HP Lovecraft-ian idea of a Wizard working openly in Chicago appealing to me. I cannot say that I was disappointed by the decision.Suitably hardbitten, like a Dashiel Hammett novel, but shot through with a wry and black sense of humour, Storm Front is immensely entertaining. Punchy first person prose takes the reader directly into mind of Dresden, our real life wizard, and he is an appealing and entertaining narrator/hero. The story he tells is well crafted, suitably twisty and told at a solid pace. Packed with incidental detail and colourful supporting characters, it keeps the reader fully engaged. Best of all the fantastic elements of the story are well conceived and slot seamlessly into the real world setting.
If there are downsides to Storm Front they are minor. Some of the description of the action becomes a little confused at times, and the need to fill in the reader on a great deal of background information on Dresden's past and the rules of the world he inhabits does slow the narrative in places. The most significant criticisms are however, the lack of palpable horror in the book and the weakness of it villains. Considering that Dresden is dealing with murders involving the outward explosion of people's hearts via the use of black magic both the horror element and the threat posed by those behind events should have been stronger.
That said, this is still a great introduction to Dresden's world. I can only hope that the next book in the series is equally enjoyable.
Book Review: A good book for what it is
Summary: 4 Stars
They may not inhabit the same universe but it would seem that there's more than one wizard named Harry out there in the world of modern urban fantasy fiction. In Storm Front - Book One of the Dresden Files Jim Butcher introduces us to Harry Dresden - Chicago's only professional wizard in the phone book.It's an interesting concept. Dresden is a Wizard come Private Eye and this book plays to the conceits of both genres well. The story starts with a cash strapped Harry taking on two new cases. The first involves a very grisly double murder committed via magic while the vitims were doing the nasty together that he takes on for the police and the second is a missing persons case. They seem totally unconnected but if you know the genres you know things will get complicated very quickly.
It's not a book without flaws however (few books are). The villians are a little weak and and the PI side of the story can sometimes be a bit cliche and there is way too much backstory crammed into this first novel of the series. But unlike many series' starts it wraps up neatly and the style is good. Hopefully now all the back story is out of the way the pacing of the sequels will improve.
In spite of it's weaknesses I really enjoyed this novel. It's not high literature but it's entertaining and worth reading.
Book Review: The Dresden Files
Summary: 4 Stars
I`m sure everyone in the world is familiar with Harry Potter!!!Well in `Storm Front` we are introduced to Harry Dresden - Wizard.
Harry Dresden is the only wizard in the public eye and runs his own firm which can be likened to a private investigator - and he is even in the phone book under `Wizard`.
In the first book of the series Harry Dresden is drawn into two seemingly different cases - a police murder investigation involving magic and a woman with a disappearing husband.
But it isn`t long before Harry finds himself under suspicion from all sides and ultimately becomes the target of the murderer the police are after.
The book is well written and moves at a good pace, never going too fast or too slow and although the plots outcome is somewhat predictable to a degree it is a fantastic read.
I highly recommend this book to all fans of wizarding, magic and mystery - it is an excellent adventure.
Book Review: don't do it
Summary: 1 Stars
A friend of mine recommended this book because I like reading Terry Pratchett and having glanced at the recommendations in Amazon I bought the first three. It was a mistake. I find it difficult to encompass what I dislike about these books because I can't find any redeeming qualities! The style is plodding, the characters are 2 dimensional and constructed from hackneyed clichés. I forced myself to continue onto the second, but have given up; frustrated by the time I have wasted. I would say this is the first unintelligently written book I have read in a long time and would like to award it no stars.Book Review: A worthy addition to the Supernatural Detective genre.
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been looking for a new series to fill the void since
the Anita Blake series degenerated into porn. I came across the Dresden Files series about 6 months ago when I bought this first book Storm Front. While the first book is not as enjoyable
as some of the latter books in the series it is still a solid start and good introduction to Harry Dresden and it is worth reading the series in order. The story and the characters held my interest although it did take me a little while to warm up to Harry. If you used to love Anita Blake give Harry Dresden a try!