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: Arcane Noir
Summary: 4 Stars
Reminiscent of 'Cast a Deadly Spell', Butcher has combined the incisive, descriptive writing style of greats like Hammet and Chandler with the wildness and fantasy of the best speculative fiction writers of today. I highly approve, and chewed through this volume in a matter of hours. The magic system is firmly grounded, intricate, interesting, and still... magical. Dresden is charmingly blemished and there are enough unexplored angles (Like He Who Walks Behind) that I'm already looking forward to the next book in the Dresden Files. So get writing, Jim. (:Book Review: Lightweight but well executed murder/magic
Summary: 4 Stars
Harry Dresden is a new entry in what seems to be an emerging murder/{insert supernatural feature here} genre. Murder/vampire, murder/magic, etc. Storm Front plays out as a more or less straightforward detective murder mystery, except that the protagonist doesn't go to some buddy in the back of a bar for help--he goes to the talking skull in the basement! He needs informants, he summons faeries. And so on.Restrained and well written. A fine effort for a first novel. Could have been far cornier than it turns out to be. I'd expect Butcher's books to evolve into more complex works in the future.
If you enjoy this novel, you might want to get your hands on the "H Philip Lovecraft" movies that ran on HBO. A non magic using detective in a magic-using quasi art deco 30s-40s world. "Cast a Deadly Spell" and "Witch Hunt."
Book Review: Finally a detective with a magical fantasy spin.
Summary: 5 Stars
If you've been looking for a detective who taps into the realms of magic to do his sleuthing, then you've found him in Harry Dresden. Hopefully this is just the start of a long series. Not only does it have a sympathetic hero but an ensemble of helpers to rival Joss Whedon's Buffy/Angel TV series creations. From demons to faeries to cops you will truly enjoy this gang of enemies and helpers. The book also combines the hardboiled and the whimisical much as does Buffy which often switches from the comic to the horrible within seconds. The characters are wonderful and the plot well constructed with seemingly unrelated plot lines coming together at just the right moments. Like the other reviewers I also want to know when the next one is coming out. I'll be looking forward to them from now on.Book Review: The perfect mix of hardboiled and fantasy fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
Take traditional hardboiled fiction, give it a mind bending preternatural twist and you have Storm Front, the first book in a new series with the potential to send author Jim Butcher to the top of the gumshoe sub-genre of horror/fantasy fiction. Harry Dresden, the series' protagonist, is everything that's great about the hardboiled anti-hero, with a twist: He's a wizard trying to make a living working practical magic in a modern world that's foolishly rejected the supernatural in favor of science and technology. Part average guy, part renaissance man, Harry's got a dark side, a wicked sense of humor and a deeply rooted, personal code of honor that drives him to risk everything to fight the supernatural forces preying on his clients, an attitude that puts him at constant, dangerous odds with both the bad guys and the authorities alike.
In Storm Front, when a routine murder investigation turns out to be anything but routine, the police reluctantly turn to Harry for help. But a case that started as a way to pay the rent soon gets complicated for Harry when he's forced to cross paths with the Chicago mob and a mysterious figure known as the Shadowman, drawing Harry into a web of black magic and danger.
Already under the Doom of Damocles (a form of probation placed on him by the White Council who oversee the ethical use of magic in the world of the mundane) Harry himself falls under suspicion and is forced to risk execution to solve the mystery and stop the Shadowman, before the killer takes another victim.
Storm Front is a riveting, action packed roller coaster of a novel, a damn good mystery with compelling characters set in a rich alternate reality universe where anything can happen. There's a little something for just about everyone here from black magic and the Chicago mob to vampire madams, demons and the fey.
I enjoyed this novel immensely and am looking forward to the next in the series.
Book Review: When's the next one due!
Summary: 4 Stars
Finally, I've found myself another series to covet that contains some of my favorite things: magic, fairies, vampires, a likeable hero and just the right mix of humor, action and gore! Harry Dresden's like a lot of us. He struggles to pay his rent, his love life bites, he lives with a cat and his wisecracking attitude often lands him trouble. Oh, and he just happens to be a wizard and shares his basement with a talking and meddlesome skull named Bob.
Harry makes his living doing things like helping the general public find their keys and/or lost spouses and also works with the local police department on their "weird" cases. Just when things are looking really bleak money-wise Harry's business starts to pick up in a big way. He's asked to investigate a gruesome double homicide on the same day that he receives a call from a woman willing to him pay big bucks to locate her husband.
During Harry's investigation he calls in help from a cool little fairy named Toot-toot and draws the attention of the White Council - a group who exist to ensure that magic is not misused. Years earlier Harry disobeyed one of their laws and had the "Doom of Damocles" placed upon him and if he is caught using black magic again, no matter how dire the situation, he will be put to death. And, as if all that weren't nerve-wracking enough, Harry has also ticked off a mob boss and a vampiress!
This is a fast-paced, action packed read that I didn't just couldn't put down because Harry is such a likable guy. He's a true good guy who you really want to see win. His terrific sense of humor remains intact whether he's facing down a bloodsucking demon or going through one of life's most humiliating (and extremely humorous) dates. Harry's next adventure can't come too soon for me!