Harry
Dresden is a Wizard for Hire, offering reasonable rates, he can help you find
lost things, perform paranormal investigations and aid the Chicago PD with
gruesome murders that can not be explained. He is the best at what he does, in
fact he is the only one who does what he does.
Storm Front
by Jim Butcher is the first book in the ongoing Dresden Files series, an urban
fantasy series that combines noir detective novels with supernatural monsters.
We join Dresden in the middle of a slow patch with work, being the only Wizard
in the Chicago area does not always mean he is in demand. But then the Chicago
PD ask for his help in a couple of very gruesome murders and suddenly Harry has
more on his hands than he wanted.
Storm Front
is a great, entertaining book that is short, action packed and never lets up.
The book takes place over a couple of days and I read it in about the same timeframe.
This is not the most original book; it relies heavily on the Noir genre and Jim
Butcher uses that to great advantage. There is no long info dumps and we are
introduced the Supernatural underworld Dresden inhabits as he moves through it
investigating the murderers. We are introduced to aspects and characters that I
believe will play a big part in the ongoing series but this could be read as an
almost stand alone book, the whole thing in tied up neatly by the end.
This is not
a perfect book though, the depiction of Women and Harry’s views towards them are
not the best, although the book is told from Harry’s perspective and I believe
it is his views on women we are reading, rather than the authors opinions. I
have also been informed that the depiction of women gets much better as Harry grows
throughout the series.
In summary
I really enjoyed this book and I couldn’t put it down. I love the idea and
found Jim Butcher’s writing to be enjoyable and easy to read. I have heard
fantastic things about the series of a whole and I will be continuing to read
the Dresden Files. Harry Dresden as a character is one I feel will grow measurably
through the books and I am looking forward to going on that journey. The world
Jim Butcher has begun to build also leaves loads of room for scope and to grow
with certain aspects touched on in this book I hope are explored more in the books
to come.
