Published in 2000, Storm Front is the first installment of The Dresden Files, a series Jim Butcher has extended over a dozen books. The protagonist is Harry Dresden, a traditional hard-edged private investigator in contemporary (or, near contemporary) Chicago. It’s all very noir: gangsters and damsels in distress and beautiful women in all roles.
The twist? Dresden is a wizard, indeed one of the only remaining powerful magicians in the world. He works as a consultant to the Chicago police department, called in whenever crimes spill over into the supernatural. The plot sits at the intersections of many worlds: the supernatural and the mundane, the legal and the illicit; and there are double-crosses and a nicely climactic showdown with the Big Bad.
That about wraps it up: it’s a nicely plotted, well-paced mystery. But, with magic!
Dresden is a solid character, but there is almost nothing surprising about him and, more problematically, little complexity to any of the various women (all attractive, some hard-edged, others manipulative, a few pure of heart).
Butcher’s grasp of magic is nicely done: it’s consistent, and it reflects a nice understanding of traditional western elemental systems.
Still, especially as a break between more demanding reads, this was an enjoyable and engrossing read.
#WhatIWishICouldDo
Plot and genre, naturally. The plot of Storm Front works: it is intricate without ever feeling forced. And, as I’ve written elsewhere, being able to so totally embrace a genre is really a freeing move for a writer, providing rails within which one can bounce around.