Storm Front - Book One of the Dresden Files
Reviewed by: Mandy Wrangles
My first introduction to the magical crime-fighting world of Harry Dresden was through the short-lived television series – ‘The Dresden Files’, which first aired in 2007. Unfortunately, back then we only had the pleasure of hanging out with Harry for one puny season of twelve episodes. Luckily for fans like me, the TV show (aired on Pay TV’s SciFi channel) was just the tip of the iceberg. There are currently fourteen books in author Jim Butcher’s series of the same name, with another is due early this year, as well as several graphic novels.
Storm Front is the first book in The Dresden Files, and although you could probably pick the series up mid-way, I always like to read series in chronological order where possible, so this would be my recommendation.
We’re first introduced to Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden as he bemoans the lack of good, money-making jobs. Harry is a wizard. No, not the Harry Potter type; there are no pointy hats or Quiddich pitches to be found here. He’s not a faux Las Vegas showman either, pulling rabbits out of a hat. This guy lives in Chicago and has a sign about his office door that reads:
HARRY DRESDEN – WIZARD
Lost Items Found, Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other
Entertainment
Harry Dresden is wizardry for grown-ups.
After a brief, amusing introduction to Harry and his unusual life, things suddenly get busy, and very, very messy. After making an appointment to meet with the wife of a missing husband, Harry is called in to work a murder scene by his sometime-friend and occasional colleague, Lieutenant Karrin Murphy. Murphy is the director of Special Investigations out of downtown Chicago. As Harry explains, Murphy’s job is to investigate any crimes dubbed unusual. Unusual in the world of Dresden translates as Vampire attacks, troll maraudings, faery abductions of children… you know, the kind of thing that doesn’t always look good on a police report. And who else would a good cop
need as an insight into that world? Yep, a wizard – of the hopefully good kind, of course.
What Harry finds at the scene is unsettling, to say the least. Two bodies in a blood-splattered hotel room, obviously killed in the midst of, err, well – you know. The guy is a well-known henchman of the local gangland overlord and the woman is a hooker of the highly-paid variety. So were they stabbed? Shot in the midst of the climactic moment? (sorry) Nope, this unlucky couple had the hearts blown out of their chests… from the inside-out. So begins a mad trail of black-magical clues, gangland thugs, a very grumpy cop and the dark cloud of the White Council (making sure he doesn’t break the rules) hanging over Harry’s head. Could things get any worse? Well, yes, of course they could. A demon assassin, a naughty pet spirit who lives in his own skull (the fabulous Bob) and an unhappy vampire all help to make Harry’s life hell. And that’s without a couple of mixed-up potions and an unknown, thunderstorm-invoking, dark wizard who’d like nothing more than to see Harry’s own heart explode out of his chest. Phew. I won’t even mention the trouble Harry gets into without his clothes on…
Storm Front is fast, fun and furious. I loved Harry’s voice… “My head was throbbing, and my hands were shaking, but I went down the ladder to my workroom – and started figuring out how to rip someone’s heart out of his chest from fifty miles away. Who says I never do anything fun on a Friday night?”and this: “…except for the electric light of its wide, round, googly eyes as it came toward me. Its throat was working in little, undulating motions. ‘Crap,’ I said. I’m quite eloquent in times of crisis.”
No, Storm Front won’t change your life. Sure, this is pulp fiction, but pulp fiction at its best. I’d describe it as junk food for the brain… but more like a gourmet pizza than a slimy burger. Jim Butcher does a great job of mixing mortal crime on the mean Chicago streets with the supernatural. For sheer entertainment value and escapism, Storm Front will have you running back for more of Harry’s antics. Luckily for us, there’s lots more to come.
Season one of ‘The Dresden Files’ starring Paul Blakthorne as Harry Dresden is available to purchase on DVD.
Published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library
ISBN – 978 0 451 45781 3
Paperback 322 pages.
February 25th, 2011 at 7:50 am
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