Things I Love - The Dresden Files

By Jim Butcher

I love reading. Always have, but it has only been recently that I have started reading fantasy fiction. I had tried several times, mainly when I was lickle, to read classics such as The Lord Of The Rings and I just couldn't. I think it's an imagination issue - I find it really difficult to take the author's words and translate them in to an image in my mind. So, I've found that I get on better with fantasy that is set on Earth as this doesn't require too much of my poor mind (please don't take this as a slight on this type of fiction! I'm slighting my mind and its slight powers). One such series is The Dresden Files.

The Dresden Files is about a man named Harry Dresden. He lives in Chicago and is a Private Detective. He is also a Wizard.

But my first encounter with The Dresden Files was not with the books. It was with the TV series. Sadly the show only ran for 12 episodes before it was cancelled by the US network it was showing on. As happened with other more famous shows (*cough* Firefly *cough*), the network hadn't treated Dresden too kindly and had shown the episodes out of order. When the show was on air in the UK, we didn't have the channel that it was showing on but we had seen a trailer for it and decided to put it on our DVD rental list. The discs came and we watched. 

Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dresden_images_downloads_desktop_cast_800.jpg

And loved.

I loved Paul Blackthorne in the main role as Harry, honourable but slightly goofy. Valerie Cruz as Murphy, the brave policewoman Harry works with. Terrence Mann as Bob, the spirit of a man cursed for eternity to reside in his own skull, never to pass on. The clever twists on oft-used tropes. The humour. The relationships. The possibilities that would never be. We recently rewatched the series and the pain of the cancellation has not lessened. I have tweeted a few times with one of the producers and he has said what he would have done in series two and it made me even sadder.

Anyhoo (wipes away a tear), whilst watching an episode we saw on the credits that the show was based on the series of books by Jim Butcher. I decided that these needed further investigation. So off I went to the library.

I read the books. More than that, I ravaged them. Every page. Then I bought them all. And read them again. The TV show had been my gateway drug. 

If the TV show is a raindrop, the books are an ocean. They start relatively simply, with each book dealing with one of Harry's cases. As they go on, the characters are developed, the scope of the storylines expand and you find yourself moving from the shallows into the Marianas Trench! Characters and storylines that are mentioned, are brought back in later books. This is one series where re-reading definitely pays off. 

One of the main things that I love about The Dresden Files is the author's voice - given to us through Harry - and through him we know that Jim is one of us - a nerd!! The books are littered with Star Wars, Evil Dead and Buffy quotes, creating a real link between the reader and Harry/Jim.

Although the TV show and the books have many differences, there are several things that connect them - Harry's out of date chivalry, the adventure, the fun, Harry's self-doubt, Murphy's frustration with Harry's idiosyncrasies, a world weary Bob, the dutiful Morgan, the duplicitous Bianca, Chicago, etc!

We are currently on the 14th book and Jim Butcher has said that he is expecting to write 20-ish, with a three book, apocalyptic finale. If you would like to know, here is the list of books in order:

Image from: http://www.jim-butcher.com/

Storm Front
Fool Moon
Grave Peril
Summer knight
Death Masks
Blood Rites
Dead Beat
Proven Guilty
White Knight
Small Favour
Turn Coat
Changes
Ghost Story
Cold Days
and Side Jobs - a short story anthology.

There are audio books of each of the novels, with all but Ghost Story, being read by James Marsters (Spike from Buffy).

There are also graphic novels:

Storm Front (adaptation of the novel)
Welcome to the Jungle (an original story)
Ghoul Goblin (an original story)

If you would like more information, the best place to go is http://www.jim-butcher.com/ 

Enjoy!!