‘The Dresden Files’ Book Series Review

I’ve been reading a lot of books recently. If you listen to our Nerdcast, which you definitely should, you know that Tyler and I like to read a lot. Based on Tyler’s advice I started reading Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files about a year ago. Butcher began writing The Dresden Files back in 2000 with Storm Front and has been adding about a book a year since then, which is pretty impressive. The series has spawned graphic novels and a TV series on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Dresden Book

The Dresden Files centers on Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, a practicing (and advertising) wizard in modern-day Chicago. Over the course of the 15 books written so far, you follow Harry on his many adventures and meet the many different denizens of the world he inhabits. Butcher does an amazing job of creating a fully imagined world that intersects with our own. It is different but feels familiar and completely believable.

You get all of your standard fantasy folks here: vampires, demons, rogue wizards, ruling bodies, faeries (both big and small), and fairy tale creatures of every kind. The variety and depth with which they are constructed is staggering. Butcher really has a solid idea of what he wanted to build and he does so masterfully, using the creatures as part of the story but never forcing something in for no reason.

I recently completed the latest book in the series, Skin Game, and must say that I’m very impressed with Butcher’s growth as an author and teller of this world. The books are written as noir detective novels mostly and it’s fun to see how that style plays with the fantasy elements within the pages. I thought about writing a review for each book but after the first couple I figured most people would be tired of seeing me say, “You have to read this book!”

Butcher

I don’t think I can really recommend these books enough. If you like fantasy you won’t be disappointed; if you like noir detective novels you won’t be disappointed; if you like magic you won’t be disappointed, and if you like smart-ass, wise-cracking, take-on-any-situation heroes then these book are definitely for you. They are pretty fast reads, at one point in the series I was reading about a book every two weeks. That’s not to say they’re short but just real page turners. Also, if you drive a lot the audiobook versions are really good too.

BRAND PARTNERS
Recent Posts