The first thing to remember when reading a book is that you have to go into the story with an open mind. The world you find in the pages of a book is a place where anything (literally anything!) can happen. I do have a hard time going into something with an open mind. I enjoy Jim Butcher’s books, specifically his Codex Alera series. That’s why I’ve had such a hard time finally opening the pages of the Dresden Files (It’s another world that I couldn’t see falling into the beautiful writing of the Codex Alera). But now I have and I must say that I’m quite impressed. I’m completely open minded when it comes to genre, but for some reason I fell that every writer should stick to a certain genre at the very least. Jim Butcher is very quickly changing my mind about this (and yes I know that both the Codex Alera and the Dresden Files fall technically into the same genre! But one is pure fantasy, the other is modern fantasy. Writing both takes talent.)
The book I read so grudgingly was Storm Front, and despite my preconceived notions, it was a truly wonderful book (and yes Chew I know I should trust your taste in novels more.). Here is a quote from the first chapter that made me realize that I was going to love this book:
“Science, the largest religion of the twentieth century, had become somewhat tarnished by images of exploding space shuttles, crack babies, and a generation of complacent Americans who had allowed the television to raise their children.”
I learned long ago that you find truth in books among the well spun fiction. Now the reason I loved this book as much as I did was because of the reality I saw (not something I normally look for in books, just for the record). Here is how I generally saw the book (giving a little away as possible):
Harry Dresden is a wizard living in Chicago, who is barely getting by. He makes his living as a sort of private detective and police consultant. His bitter, sarcastic and generally the type of guy you don’t know whether to laugh at or pop in the face. When he consults for the police department he work with Detective Murphy (short, blond, very hardcore female detective) who deals mostly in mysterious and unexplainable murders (she’s like a special homicide detective). Dresden is her ‘ace in the hole’ on these cases. She tries her best not to ask to many question about how Dresden does what he does (and fails, because after all, she is human). Then there is Bob, who is an elemental who lives in a skull in Dresden’s lab. He’s a pain in the ass, he gets into tons of trouble when Dresden lets him out, so Dresden never lets him out. Bob is basically the potion’s master of the book, he knows all the recipes and Dresden just doesn’t have the memory for all of that.
Dresden is working two cases in this book, one is for the Police Department and one is for a very frightened and fidgety woman who wants to find her husband. The case that Dresden is working on with Detective Murphy is a gruesome murder of two individuals (one of which has ties to the mob). The murders very obviously involve black (or dark) magic, which Dresden knows quite a bit about. Now there are a few obstacles in Dresden’s way (one of which is Morgan, a warden for the White Council, who has it in for Dresden).
Now one little spoiler for you, these cases become intertwined at some point in the novel, but that’s all I’ll say. Other than that you’re going to have to read to find out. There is mystery, one very sexy and dangerous situation, fairies and lots of magic. This book is worth the read, and that’s something that I will guarantee on my own reputation. Pick it up, give it a try, and I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more information, but I feel it would spoil the enjoyment of reading the book.
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