Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)

Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) Review

Interesting, with a quirky wit, the book starts very strong. It's told in first-person, from the perspective of Dresden himself. Dresden is a hardened wizard, and Chicago resident, openly advertising his services in the phone book.

At 322 pages I flew through the book. This was its one weak point. At least for me. I'm of the class of readers that enjoys reading strongly developed magic systems in my fantasy, which are therefore complicated and can be time-consuming to absorb. Yes, I loved Lord of the Rings--which has no apparent rules--but that is because of how well developed everything else is. Not because of magic. Dresden's magic is what my ill-informed mind conceives of as "typical" magic. (Feel free to correct me, my esteemed witches and wizards.) Using circles, blood, potions made of strange concoctions (including motor oil and bus tickets... Huh?), talismans, and of course force of will. I won't say that it wasn't enjoyable, in fact some of the battles rocked the cool element, but there were other times where the use of bread and honey to catch a faery was cute, but just didn't seem to catch my interest. (However the following, interplay of dialogue was fantastic.) Yes, it is a current day book, so it probably works well within that context, and for at least the first book, magic was not the driving factor...it was the murder mystery.

With some interesting characters in the form of an animated skull possessed of an air spirit and a ridiculously amusing faery by the name of Toot (short for a beautifully long rolling of syllables that, by Harry's own admission, he would not share--names are power and he wouldn't share without good reason. Yeah, I know, it's an excuse. But it WAS funny.).

Butcher really sticks it to Dresden in this first novel: he has to deal with smooth, business-minded mafia, a haunted past, juiced-up magical law enforcers, a seductive vampire, a black mage that walks in the shadows, and to top it off: Dresden gets his apartment trashed and has to fight off a demon--naked! All the while with overdue rent.

As Butcher's first published novel, this doesn't read like a first book...so something went obviously right. Go check it out.

What did you think? Have you read the book? I'm onto the 2nd one now, but it's not catching my attention as much as the 1st did. Come visit me on my blog: [...]

Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) Overview

Storm Front
Unabridged CD-MP3 Audio
Written By Jim Butcher
Read By James Marsters/Spike of Buffy and Angel

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:

YOUR CD PLAYER MUST BE MP3 COMPATIBLE TO PLAY THIS CD!

MP3 audiobooks on compact disc can be played on CD players that support MP3 technology and on any personal computer that has Microsoft's Media Player or similar software

My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I'm a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I'm the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under Wizards. Believe it or not, I'm the only one there.
My ad looks like this:

HARRY DRESDEN--WIZARD
Lost Items Found.
Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses,
Parties or Other Entertainment

With rent past due and a decent meal becoming an issue of some importance, Harry needs work, and soon. A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse.

Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters to vampires, while he himself is under suspicion of the crimes. One thing is certain, if he can't stop whoever is on this killing spree, Harry will be the next victim

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