The Dresden Files is a contemporary fantasy/mystery series (at the moment there are 14 books, with a dozen short stories and a couple of novellas) written by Jim Butcher. It follows the first person narrative of one private investigator and wizard Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, as he recounts his investigations of supernatural disturbances in modern Chicago.
Now, I must confess, I'm a bit obsessed on this series. I actually follow Jim Butcher's forum, awaiting any and all news on future work. I have the admittedly mediocre Dresden Files TV series on DVD, as well as the comics, and even the RPG rule books.
The first book, Storm Front, was my first exposure to one of my now favorite genres, urban fantasy. The series admittedly starts out a little slow, coming across as a superficial urban fantasy with a dash of a hard-boiled detective mystery, but believe me, the more you read, the better it gets. Not only does Butcher's writing improve, but as the series progresses, we see Harry's life become increasingly more complicated, his opponents become stronger and scarier, the odds steeper, and the circumstances more dire. Harry, along with a grow cast of supporting characters (both friends, foes and those in between) become more evolved and complex, making the whole universe seem more real.
I like to think of Harry Dresden as the Spider-man of the supernatural world. Not only does he follow the maxim "with great powers come great responsibilities", but like the famed wall crawler, he keeps getting shit on and beat up (not just physically, but also mentally ans spiritually) on a regular basis. Still he moves forward, clinging onto his humanity and moral compass, no matter what it cost him.
And oh boy, does it cost him...
Recommend trying Andrew Vachss' books. Dresden files often seem like lighter hearted, urban magic knockoffs (by no means bad, and a lot of fun) but Vachss' are significantly grittier and a lot more true to life (and partly based on his own experiences in Africa and Chicago). I'm looking forward to the new Dresden, but recommend you look into Vachss, though I did find that they tended to put me in a darker state of mind.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip! Vachss' "Burke" series seems interesting, and seeing as I'm a quick reader, I love long series. I'll definitely look into it.
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