The Dresden Files: Storm Front by: Jim Butcher

 

The subject of this review, by unfortunate coincidence, shares its name with a hate group, so whenever I refer to the title of the book, please know that it is simply a title.  I do not condone hate in any form, however, people have a tendency to overreact on the Internet.  The Dresden Files is another of those long running fantasy series that has kind of become synonymous with a particular subgenre, in this case urban fantasy.  Beginning in 2000, it started as an attempt for a young Jim Butcher to prove a writing professor wrong by following a formula and genre to a tee.  The outcome of that attempt was Semiautomagic, which would be edited and refined into Storm Front.  Two sequels would be written, Fool Moon and Grave Peril, before The Dresden Files were picked up for publication, and now twenty years later, the series is still going strong releasing the sixteenth and seventeenth novels, Peace Talks and Battle Ground, this year.  There are at least eight further installments planned in the series, and at the rate Butcher writes it is likely that the series will be finished sooner rather than later.  Spawning a massive series off Storm Front is actually an interesting achievement, as Storm Front does follow a formula and was clearly written with several boxes to tick in mind.

 

Pulp fiction refers to a specific type of short story published in pulp magazines, so named because of the lower quality pulp paper they were made from.  These magazines attracted genre writers such as H.P. Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the gumshoe detective story was a staple of the magazines.  Reading Storm Front is like reading something straight out of a pulp detective magazine, and I mean that in almost every possible way, including some of the negative ways.  Readers may find some of the casual sexism in Storm Front come across as outdated, however, as this novel is the result of trying to actively follow a genre, it may be forgiven.  It is also something that apparently future books tone down, and as Butcher includes a few strong female characters in Storm Front the reader can get the sense that the views of the main character, Harry Dresden, do not represent the views of the author Jim Butcher.  As most of the sexism is relegated to comments made by Harry and the way he thinks, it can be assumed that this is meant to be part of the character, who is written in the role of gumshoe detective, and also wizard.

 

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is the point of view, in a first person perspective, throughout the novel, and outside of his old fashioned views towards women, he really is a fun character to follow.  He has a pessimistic edge throughout the book, promoting himself as a wizard in the phone book, helping out the Chicago Police Department, and honestly being poor throughout the book.  While he is a real wizard and magic is real in the universe, with a magic system that is quite fascinating, almost an adult version of some of the magic in Roald Dahl books, people still think he’s a crank.  Butcher gives Dresden a history and makes him an outcast from the magical community for killing someone with magic, something punishable by death.  He also has the radical idea that maybe he should help people.  His relationship with Detective Karrin Murphy is playful and almost flirtatious at points, as she can actually provide him with jobs.  He also fashions himself as a gentleman and a big shot, though when making an entrance is sure to keep innocent bystanders safe.  He keeps a skull called Bob in his basement, summons a fairy to help him in an investigation, and really just wants to keep everybody safe.

 

The title of Storm Front is apt as the entire book feels like a storm slowly drawing in.  It’s a mystery novel at its heart: a pair of lovers turn up dead, their hearts exploding outward, one of them a bodyguard for Gentleman Johnny Marcone, a gangster, and the other an ex-employee of a vampire.  The reader follows Dresden as he tries to unravel various aspects of the mystery and a separate, seemingly normal, missing persons case, which of course are intertwined and eventually end up revealing something different.  Butcher’s prose is easy to read and perfectly captures the world of Chicago and magic.  It doesn’t really feel like this was ever meant to be a series, as the book ends pretty quickly and all the loose ends are well tied up.  Overall, Storm Front is a good introduction to a world, but standalone and a slave to a formula which ends up bringing it down quite a bit.  It’s also aged poorly in some aspects, but still manages to be pulpy fun which is sometimes what you need.  7/10.