The Dresden Files

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, (14 books, 6005 pages)

As I was reading past reviews it occurred to me that while I reference Butcher, or the Dresden Files in comparison to other series, I never took the time to review the Dresden Files themselves. I did briefly gloss over them in my review of Butcher’s 15th book Skin Game, but this series needs a longer review. So let us look at the rest of the series.

Yes, that is a wizard with a shotgun.

Harry Dresden is a wizard, it even says so in the Chicago phone book. “HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment.” Despite this charming ad, Harry still has trouble finding work. It might be because people think he is crazy or it could be because most people believe magic is not real. With cases a rarity, most of Harry’s time is spent assisting Chicago Police Department’s Special Investigation unit and more directly Detective Karrin Murphy.


The Dresden Files are basically hard-boiled detective meets urban fantasy. It has werewolves, vampires, wizards and other beings, but also car chases, shootouts, kidnappings, and the mafia. In other words it is awesome.

The main reason I use the Dresden files when comparing fantasy series, is because Butcher got it right. In the Dresden Files the hero does not always win. In fact he routinely gets beat up, only figuring out who was behind the mayhem in hindsight or after everything is over. Magic is more of a crutch, rather than a fix all. At time magic simply doesn’t work, or screws things up further. Better yet, the characters are realistic and corruptible. They are neither saints nor devils but fall in that grey area like normal people. All of this combines to make a truly believable fantasy realm.

And that is why I highly recommend this series to everyone.

P.S. if you do not like reading books without pictures, there is also a graphic novel series for the first couple books