What I'm Reading - The Dresden Files

I've always been a major bookworm.  When I was in high school, I didn't go a single day without carrying around a book that was not for class, but for recreation.  I will admit, as I've grown older and become a much more avid gamer and a slave to what I call "my job", I've gotten out of the habit of constantly having something to read.  But it's something I have decided to remedy, and I hope to tell you all fine people about what I'm reading once a month or so!  So we're going to kick this gravy train off with a book series called The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.



This is a series of fantasy/mystery novels.  The main character is Harry Dresden, a bonafide wizard, trying to make a living as a private investigator.  Trying being a key word there.  He's not well-off in the financial department, trying to make ends meet between cases he takes on and being hired by the Chicago PD's Special Investigation unit as a consultant to help solve cases that are shrouded in supernatural elements.  At the same time, he has to deal with The White Council (the governing body of the Wizard community) always on his back for events that has happened in his past.  The Dresden Files is currently 13 books long, with a 14th in the works.

Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) 

I just got done reading Book 1, Storm Front.  It takes off with Harry receiving two phone calls in a short span - one from a woman named Monica who wants to hire him to find her husband, and the other from Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, head of the Special Investigation unit.  Two people have been gruesomely murdered by having their hearts ripped out.  Things only get crazier from there as he takes on both cases, talks to faeries, battles demons... And that's just in the first book!

As I move ahead, I know I have a whole array of plots and creatures to look forward to.  Werewolves, vampires, necromancers, fallen angels...the list goes on.  Oh!  Did I mention he has a spirit of intellect that resides in a human skull?  His name is Bob. :)

So far, I'm enjoying the heck out of it.  Only one book in, sure, but still.  I have started book 2 tonight, and can't wait for what else is in store.  Apart from the books, Dresden comes in other forms of media.  There are 4 or 5 graphic novels, and also a television series.  The TV series only lasted on season before it was cancelled.  I haven't seen it, but I know it's not supposed to be tied to the books at all.  I've read that it doesn't even draw too many story lines from the series.

A random, cool thing that Jim Butcher has done with this book series: every single book that has two words in its' title, the words have the same amount of letters.  So!  If you like mystery/crime, and you like anything supernatural, you really should check this series out.  You will not regret it.

Happy reading, Poppers!

Kerry