Sorry for the long break in posts--I know it's been awhile. I've been most unfortunately busy, and also reading like crazy, getting some more books under my belt to review.
The setting is Chicago, in modern times. Modern time, modern universe, pretty average book then, right?
Wrong.
Harry Dresden, the main character, is probably the only wizard registered in Chicago's phone book. He works as a private detective, solving crime with magic. Not even kidding. He also serves as a consultant with the Chicago Police Department's Special Investigations Unit.
This series is pretty long, and it's still on-going. Current books in it are: Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Night, Small Favor, Turn Coat, Changes, Ghost Story. And there's a book of short stories entitled Side Jobs. Instead of taking the time to review each book on its own, I'm going to review the series as a whole.
This series is brilliant because it has, literally, a little bit of everything. It has magic, wizards, fairies, werewolves, vampires, politics, mobs, mystery, violence, action, adventure, war, peace, humor, even romance. Seriously, if you want it in your book, you'll find it in the Dresden Files.
The main character, Harry Dresden, narrates the story in a first person storytelling mode, and you come quickly to appreciate his witty and snarky way of dealing with problems. He's frustrating, hard headed, and difficult, but, he cares deeply about people, and always wants to do the right thing (which actually becomes a struggle for him later in the series) He's an endearing narrator who's not too off-putting, and his method of storytelling fits the story being told.
From the first book, I was hooked. But I know some people have taken a little longer to get to into the series. If you start reading it, and aren't impressed, I promise you, keep going. Without going into too many spoilers, events build. Things that happen in earlier books actually end up affecting things that happen in later books.
Jim Butcher successfully creates a world that's so close to our own. It really is our world, with a couple of twists. All of the outlandish things are done in a way to make them believable, whether it be Harry's fairy godmother (in a literal sense) or *spoilers* a religious warrior who's actually agnostic in real life. *end spoilers* The seemingly outlandish things always have some sort of grounding back to the real world, so everything stays believable and the emotions are almost always relatable. Time and time again I found myself sympathizing for Harry, understanding the emotions that he's going through, even if I've never been in similar circumstances.
What really makes the Dresden Files one of my favorite series is the balance of enjoyable and thought inspiring. I like a series that makes me think. And Dresden continues to do that. The traditional problems of 'good guy vs bad guy' come up a lot, but things get twisted around sometimes, and the line gets blurry. I like that.
I know my review sounds vague, but it's hard to be specific without getting into some major spoilers, which I'm trying to avoid.
On the whole, however, I highly recommend any and all of the Dresden Files books. They're easy to read, fun to read, and if you're looking for a Sci-Fi/Fantasy-esque mystery series, this is probably one of the better ones I've seen.
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