Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)

The Wizard of Chicago:
Storm Front (2000) introduces Harry Dresden, the only wizard listed in the yellow pages in Chicago, Illinois. The police have Dresden on retainer to help with unusual crimes, and the two bodies whose hearts have exploded from their chests definitely qualify. Dresden has no doubt that this is serious (and illegal) black magic and begins to investigate the how in order to identify the who with the help of a sex-obsessed skull named Bob. Along the way, Dresden questions a greedy faery and a very hungry vampire before battling a demon and a few scorpions. Luckily, Dresden is very good at what he does, both as an investigator and as a wizard. This humorous blend of mystery and fantasy is perfect escapist fiction. http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_Authors/Butcher_Jim.html

So Very Disappointed!:
I am an extreme James Marsters fan and was excited to know his voice is on cd. Yet when I received this cd, I tried playing it on my cd player, nothing. So I tried it on a different cd player, nope! Nothing again. My last try was on my computer, success! BUT!!!... the tracks are all out of sync, the cd doesn't play in the correct order! So buyer beware!!!

Fun romp, disappointing narration:
I love the camp, clever tongue-in-cheek and knowingly absurd (hey, I own every Dr. Who episode ever there was), so I found the premise of somewhat bumbling, hard-boiled wizard detective who is scrupulously loyal to his own morality quite appealing. The story was fun, and once I started the CD's, I had to keep listening until I was done. The only character who was a little puzzling was Harry's police contact. Why is she so unremittingly hostile, even from the very beginning? I can understand irritation when she feels he is holding out on her midway through the story, but she is unreasonably angry before and after the episode. If she has so little faith in Dresden or dislikes him that much, why continue to use him? Because of my busy schedule, I have no time to sit down and read, thus listen to audio books. I was really excited to see James Marsters as the narrater, seeing as I am an unabashed fangirl. Like others, I was somewhat disappointed. He does have Harry down pat. But there is practically no other variation for the other characters, something that is suprising with his acting ability. After some thought, I've decided that so much of what Marsters does is physical -- the smirk, the sucked in cheeks, the head tilt -- just doesn't translate onto audio alone. His voice is still lovely and the stories are still such a fun, outrageous exciting romp that I'll still collect them all. Not the absolute best, but still good enough for me to collect!

hardboiled wizardry:
For a debut novel, this is pretty good stuff. The characters are engaging enough to keep me interested, the plot moves swiftly, and the fantasy doesn't drift off into the absurd (which is fairly easy to do in this blended genre). I'm used to reading very seasoned writers, so there were a few points of irritation which I forced myself to overlook. Overall, this book is highly entertaining. Now, to address a couple of points brought up in other reviews. 1. "Harry is a chauvinist pig". No, he's actually not. Don't take words out of context (surrounding text and tone and character). 2. "The plot is formulaic." Perhaps you're thinking too much. Go read some Nietzsche instead. When we suspend our disbelief, we are entertained. (Though I admit, we all have personal levels of tolerance for disbelief.) I don't know if there are better editions out there, but there seem to be at least several typos (per book) in the Roc publications. Someone needs to flog the editor (or whoever is in charge of such things). I usually don't bother to take time to write a review, but this book deserves one. I am on the sixth book in the series now, and I am still entertained. (Butcher's writing does get slightly better as well.)

Good book:
This is a good book for a rainy day, but its not classical literature by any means.