Storm Front (Dresden Files, Bk 1)
Author:
Genres: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Paperback
Barbara S. (GourmetReader) reviewed on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I called my friend M today. I hated to do it, but I had to tell her that her husband was right: I DO like the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher. At the very least, I liked the first of them.
Harry Dresden is a wizard who advertises his services in the phone book. Not surprisingly, he is the only wizard in the phone book, so he gets a fair share of nut jobs calling him. This time, however, he gets two calls right after the other: one from a local detective looking for his help and another from a woman who is trying to find her husband. The detective is calling about a double murder using magic â" and Harry is the only local wizard powerful enough to do it. He is under pressure from the human police and the wizard police because they *both* think he's responsible. Along the way, there is a girl and some interesting fights and meetings with otherworldly creatures.
Initially, I thought this was a male version â" and rip off â" of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake. The whole being on retainer to the police, the adversarial relationship with some of the police force and then being a magical creature himself. After I read a few pages, I more or less got over that. The writing is more Sam Spade-like than LKH, which can be distracting at first. Again, once I got a few pages into it, that fell by the wayside and I just enjoyed the book.
The character development isn't that great but that's often true of first books. Lieutenant Karrin Murphy is fairly one-dimensional as is Dresden's love interest, Susan Rodriguez. To compare again to LKH, that was true of Dolph and Jean Claude until at least the 3rd book of the series, so I think there's hope. There are (I think) 10 in this series, thus far, so I'm sure Butcher gets better in that arena. He did well enough this time that I want to continue to read the series.
I'm a fan of series book and this promises to be one that I'll continue.
Harry Dresden is a wizard who advertises his services in the phone book. Not surprisingly, he is the only wizard in the phone book, so he gets a fair share of nut jobs calling him. This time, however, he gets two calls right after the other: one from a local detective looking for his help and another from a woman who is trying to find her husband. The detective is calling about a double murder using magic â" and Harry is the only local wizard powerful enough to do it. He is under pressure from the human police and the wizard police because they *both* think he's responsible. Along the way, there is a girl and some interesting fights and meetings with otherworldly creatures.
Initially, I thought this was a male version â" and rip off â" of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake. The whole being on retainer to the police, the adversarial relationship with some of the police force and then being a magical creature himself. After I read a few pages, I more or less got over that. The writing is more Sam Spade-like than LKH, which can be distracting at first. Again, once I got a few pages into it, that fell by the wayside and I just enjoyed the book.
The character development isn't that great but that's often true of first books. Lieutenant Karrin Murphy is fairly one-dimensional as is Dresden's love interest, Susan Rodriguez. To compare again to LKH, that was true of Dolph and Jean Claude until at least the 3rd book of the series, so I think there's hope. There are (I think) 10 in this series, thus far, so I'm sure Butcher gets better in that arena. He did well enough this time that I want to continue to read the series.
I'm a fan of series book and this promises to be one that I'll continue.
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