Listening Length 8 hours and 1 minute
Published 2008
My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I'm a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I'm the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under Wizards. Believe it or not, I'm the only one there.
With rent past due and a decent meal becoming an issue of some importance, Harry needs work, and soon. A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt. Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse. Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, …
My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I'm a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I'm the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under Wizards. Believe it or not, I'm the only one there.
With rent past due and a decent meal becoming an issue of some importance, Harry needs work, and soon. A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt. Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse. Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters to vampires, while he himself is under suspicion of the crimes.
©2000 Jim Butcher (P)2002 Buzzy Multimedia
Reread. Fun to see how the famous wizard started. His flaws are more flagrant once you've read several books from the Dresden Files.
Reread. Fun to see how the famous wizard started. His flaws are more flagrant once you've read several books from the Dresden Files.
Very much enjoyed it.
Think I found a plot hole, but it didn't detract from the fun. Nice, fast moving adventure, and if you like wizards in modern times, this one is for you. Obviously.
Very much enjoyed it.
Think I found a plot hole, but it didn't detract from the fun. Nice, fast moving adventure, and if you like wizards in modern times, this one is for you. Obviously.
Enjoyed this one. The series should be quite good. It got a little more dark than I would have liked, but still good.
Excellent use of description, great characters and the plot was okay.
As far as series about an inside-man having knowledge of unseen forces and abilities to control them, I've been spoiled by [a:Charles Stross|8794|Charles Stross|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1355510574p2/8794.jpg]'s LAUNDRY FILE series; deep, rich, and always successful in its attempts to be funny. I know this is Butcher's debut novel, so I can look past the prose and the pacing enough to acknowledge its heart and see the possibilities. I read that fans say the books get progressively better, and I have no trouble believing that. But if the greasy, shallow, and inconstantly vain aspects of Dresden's personality persist too much longer without any positive character development, I'm afraid The Dresden Files won't even hold their place on my quick-read-between-good-books pile.
As far as series about an inside-man having knowledge of unseen forces and abilities to control them, I've been spoiled by [a:Charles Stross|8794|Charles Stross|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1355510574p2/8794.jpg]'s LAUNDRY FILE series; deep, rich, and always successful in its attempts to be funny. I know this is Butcher's debut novel, so I can look past the prose and the pacing enough to acknowledge its heart and see the possibilities. I read that fans say the books get progressively better, and I have no trouble believing that. But if the greasy, shallow, and inconstantly vain aspects of Dresden's personality persist too much longer without any positive character development, I'm afraid The Dresden Files won't even hold their place on my quick-read-between-good-books pile.
The only complain i have about this book is, other than some very blatant gramatical errors, some of the action scenes were filled with unnecessarily long descriptions of harry Dresden's feelings, etc. i wouldn't have minded reading them, except they could have been placed before or after an action scene. When things are being blown up, burnt down, and demons trying to drag people into never never land, i don't care how the main character is feeling....I want action!
Oh, and I guessed who the killer was at the beginning of the book. Usually, I enjoy being right, but I also like a book that has a twist that'll throw me completely off balance.
I plan on reading the entire series, though.
The only complain i have about this book is, other than some very blatant gramatical errors, some of the action scenes were filled with unnecessarily long descriptions of harry Dresden's feelings, etc. i wouldn't have minded reading them, except they could have been placed before or after an action scene. When things are being blown up, burnt down, and demons trying to drag people into never never land, i don't care how the main character is feeling....I want action!
Oh, and I guessed who the killer was at the beginning of the book. Usually, I enjoy being right, but I also like a book that has a twist that'll throw me completely off balance.
I plan on reading the entire series, though.
What a fun read! I heard nothing but good stuff about the Dresden files, so I decided to take one along on vacation for reading. I was highly entertained by it. It's definitely a fast read, and it makes me want to find out a lot more about the past of Harry Dresden, the White Council, and how magic works in Harry's time.
What a fun read! I heard nothing but good stuff about the Dresden files, so I decided to take one along on vacation for reading. I was highly entertained by it. It's definitely a fast read, and it makes me want to find out a lot more about the past of Harry Dresden, the White Council, and how magic works in Harry's time.
Enjoyable quick read, a mix of urban fantasy and (not very scary) horror.
There are a lot of differences from the "Dresden Files" TV-series, so if that's what you're looking for you're likely to be disappointed.
Enjoyable quick read, a mix of urban fantasy and (not very scary) horror.
There are a lot of differences from the "Dresden Files" TV-series, so if that's what you're looking for you're likely to be disappointed.
