Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Books Completed: 50
Completion Date: March 2007
Publication Year: 2000
Pages: 322
Purchased in 2007
Book One in The Dresden Files
Second Read for the Once Upon a Time Challenge

Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost items found. Paranormal investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things--and most of them don't play too well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a--well, whatever.

There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get... interesting.

Magic. It can get a guy killed.

I know that I normally post my fantasy reviews on Twisted Kingdom, but I am just so far behind on reviews that I have to get some posting done! This will at least bring me to April, but it will not catch me up entirely.

I had been hearing a lot about The Dresden Files, but I never got around to buying anything in the series because I wanted book one, and the bookstores only ever seem to have the newest books in series. So, I waited a long time before I finally found this book in the bookstore last month. I could have ordered it online, but something else always took its place.

Right, so this a series about Harry Dresdan. He is a wizard. The fact that his name is Harry might make people think that he is copying another famous wizard series, but I think he is actually named after Harry Houdini. That's the name, right? Actually, his full name comes from famous magicians, but since I am not really up on that sort of thing, I could not tell you which magicians.

This book was entertaining. Here we have a wizard who offers his services of finding things to the general public, but most people seem to be a bit scared of him. So, he is not very busy at the best of times. When he does get a case in this book, the woman seems in quite a hurry to get away from him. It is only when the police want him that his career has any chance of paying the bills. Some of Harry's background is explained in this book, but I think there are a lot more details that can be explained in the coming books. This book talks about his family and his wizard career before he began looking for lost objects. It's an interesting tale!

One of the things I liked about this book was the humour. Take Harry and a female and you can almost expect a laugh, unless they are running for their lives, of course. (And even then...) He can find lost objects, but he cannot interact with the opposite sex. He is quite awkward at it, to be honest. Butcher also includes some of the other magical folk that we have learned to love since the time of Tolkien. Ever wondered how to catch a faery? Dresden helps you out with that useful piece of information. Never know when it might come in handy!

Next time my book-buying desires win out over my willpower to stay off Amazon, I will be buying book two to this series, so expect to see more reviews of books by this author in the coming months. I could almost say that this is sort of like J.D. Robb, just with less sex and more magic. I say that because while it is marketed as fantasy, it could easily appeal to people that are not too drawn to that particular genre.

4/5