Harry Dresden is a wizard for hire. In a modern world, that is enough to have him laughed at by almost everyone who finds out about his profession. It gives him a funny mixture of cocky and reserved and utterly broke. Storm Front is the first book in the Dresden series.

I liked this book, the first in a series, a whole lot. Harry isn’t necessarily a good guy, he’s judgmental and often sexist. He also has a big weakness for not wanting to get anyone else into the troubles and affairs of “his world.” In fantasy terms, I call this the “Rand Complex” which anyone who’s read the Wheel of Time knows all too well. Even when he obviously needs help, he avoids it. This pits almost every woman in his life against him sooner or later. I read a lot of reviews that said all the women were weak and pathetic in this book, but I liked Murphy. She is your typical woman trying to make it in a man’s police force character, but she’s not weak by any means. The back-and-forth mistrust between her and Harry is amusing to say the least.

Storm Front is set in Chicago, but that’s not overly important to the story. You could take any city with mob connections and it would fit just as well. Having a specific setting does have the advantage of making it feel a little more real to the reader. In a fantasy setting, even one of urban fantasy, it’s nice to have a physical place to imagine while we read.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was the way he wrote wizards. There’s nothing strikingly new here, you could research them in dozens of places and see bits of the magic system Jim Butcher uses, but it’s the mind of the wizard that is so much fun. A wizard is only as powerful as he is clever, and Harry Dresden is very clever (which is really where the cocky side comes from). The first person view is perfect for this setup. Harry’s success isn’t stemmed from the fact that he is stronger than his opponents, in many cases this is the exact opposite of the truth, but he can think quick and catches his enemies off guard.

So, all-in-all, if you’re looking for deep originality and intense characters, this may not be exactly what you’re looking for, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out. It’s a fast read, and a fun one to boot. Butcher likes to beat the crap out of his protagonist and I love that. Poor ‘ol Harry gets battered pretty consistently throughout the book.

There’s also a fun television series you could check out. It’s not exactly true to the books from what I’ve seen so far, but it’s fun anyway. The actor who plays Harry does a good job with the arrogant attitude, though I don’t think he pulls off the sensitive side as well as Butcher does in the books.

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5.

Tags: book review

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