Saturday, 6 July 2019 04:32 pm
Book Review: Storm Front
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deckardcanineWhen I first heard of Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, it didn't sound like my type. Maybe that's because I learned of the TV adaptation before the books, and there are things I'd rather see in my mind's eye than on a screen. Or maybe the bland name turned me off, tho that hadn't stopped me from digging Harry Potter. Anyway, I decided that I wanted a more informed opinion and picked up Book 1.
Unlike most fantasy series, it doesn't begin with the protagonist just discovering himself. That's because it's also a detective story in the noir tradition. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, son of a stage magician, has been a real wizard for many years already, presently serving as a Chicago-area PI for paranormal cases, which often involve fairies, vampires, or worse. Not a lucrative job in a world where most people don't believe in magic and most who do are uninterested in, if not opposed to, his services. But at least one policewoman, Lt. Murphy, can tell he's no fraud and requests or even demands his help.
In this novel, Dresden accepts two new cases in one day, and you don't need much savvy to guess correctly that they come together. First a secretive woman offers big bucks to find her husband, who dabbles in magic and may have gotten mixed up in something dark. Then Murphy wants him to explain a double homicide in a brothel that clearly didn't happen by normal means. Even he takes a while to figure out how it might work, but he knows immediately that whoever did it is too tough a customer for the police.
Alas, as the only open, experienced wizard around there, Dresden is a prime suspect, not just among the few officers who believe in his powers but among the White Council, the highest magic authority, whom he doesn't dare tell Murphy about. Many councilors think he once got away with murder rather than self-defense against a rogue senior wizard, so it doesn't take much for them to jump to conclusions. A principled yet unwise councilor named Morgan spies on Dresden, waiting to pounce at the next perceived false move. There's also negative attention from a crime lord, who hates to have anyone sniffing around a case that concerns a late employee of his. Dresden sees little choice but to work more or less alone against a powerful demon summoner, noting numerous ways his life could be over very soon.
Gritty? Now and then. Most of the time, it's tame enough for Lt. Columbo, whose voice I mentally assigned to Dresden. Sometimes it's pretty funny, thanks in part to sardonic first-person narration. And a Men in Black-like trust in tabloids.
What else can I say about Dresden? Well, between his admittedly old-fashioned gender ideas and his inability to play well with electrical machinery, I suspected he was older than he let on, but apparently it's just a wizard thing. He certainly has a shabby style, which has limited but not obliterated his dating prospects. Despite dealing with the arcane, he's not skilled at lying, and sometimes he lies when he probably shouldn't. I still like and respect him overall, partly because he can be clever when not flaking.
As a fantasy, Storm Front doesn't offer innovative premises, but it is good at presenting them in an unusual style that works. As a mystery, it doesn't invite the viewer to figure much out before Dresden does, since we lack his understanding of the world, but it lights up our minds and doesn't garner a reaction of "Really?" The action sequences are exciting, what with Dresden always at a disadvantage. Any cliches have a chemistry that lets them feel fresh enough thru the magic of genre crossing.
Well done for a twenty-something's first novel. I have now put the second entry, Fool Moon, on my wish list.
And now for something completely different: The Red Badge of Courage and Other Tales by Stephen Crane. Hey, the used-book store doesn't need that many copies cluttering the shelf.
Unlike most fantasy series, it doesn't begin with the protagonist just discovering himself. That's because it's also a detective story in the noir tradition. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, son of a stage magician, has been a real wizard for many years already, presently serving as a Chicago-area PI for paranormal cases, which often involve fairies, vampires, or worse. Not a lucrative job in a world where most people don't believe in magic and most who do are uninterested in, if not opposed to, his services. But at least one policewoman, Lt. Murphy, can tell he's no fraud and requests or even demands his help.
In this novel, Dresden accepts two new cases in one day, and you don't need much savvy to guess correctly that they come together. First a secretive woman offers big bucks to find her husband, who dabbles in magic and may have gotten mixed up in something dark. Then Murphy wants him to explain a double homicide in a brothel that clearly didn't happen by normal means. Even he takes a while to figure out how it might work, but he knows immediately that whoever did it is too tough a customer for the police.
Alas, as the only open, experienced wizard around there, Dresden is a prime suspect, not just among the few officers who believe in his powers but among the White Council, the highest magic authority, whom he doesn't dare tell Murphy about. Many councilors think he once got away with murder rather than self-defense against a rogue senior wizard, so it doesn't take much for them to jump to conclusions. A principled yet unwise councilor named Morgan spies on Dresden, waiting to pounce at the next perceived false move. There's also negative attention from a crime lord, who hates to have anyone sniffing around a case that concerns a late employee of his. Dresden sees little choice but to work more or less alone against a powerful demon summoner, noting numerous ways his life could be over very soon.
Gritty? Now and then. Most of the time, it's tame enough for Lt. Columbo, whose voice I mentally assigned to Dresden. Sometimes it's pretty funny, thanks in part to sardonic first-person narration. And a Men in Black-like trust in tabloids.
What else can I say about Dresden? Well, between his admittedly old-fashioned gender ideas and his inability to play well with electrical machinery, I suspected he was older than he let on, but apparently it's just a wizard thing. He certainly has a shabby style, which has limited but not obliterated his dating prospects. Despite dealing with the arcane, he's not skilled at lying, and sometimes he lies when he probably shouldn't. I still like and respect him overall, partly because he can be clever when not flaking.
As a fantasy, Storm Front doesn't offer innovative premises, but it is good at presenting them in an unusual style that works. As a mystery, it doesn't invite the viewer to figure much out before Dresden does, since we lack his understanding of the world, but it lights up our minds and doesn't garner a reaction of "Really?" The action sequences are exciting, what with Dresden always at a disadvantage. Any cliches have a chemistry that lets them feel fresh enough thru the magic of genre crossing.
Well done for a twenty-something's first novel. I have now put the second entry, Fool Moon, on my wish list.
And now for something completely different: The Red Badge of Courage and Other Tales by Stephen Crane. Hey, the used-book store doesn't need that many copies cluttering the shelf.