The Dresden Files

[Steerpike]

If you've ever wondered what magic would look like in real life, I'd say Harry Dresden presents a pretty good idea.

For those of you who don't watch the SciFi Channel or visit bookstores regularly, the Dresden Files are a series of novels by Jim Butcher about Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, the world's only professional wizard-for-hire. And just to put this out there, the show based on the books really sucks. The books are much better.

The books are dark and violent, so they're not exactly good material for bedtime stories for your kids. They combine elements of fantasy with action cinema and film noir. The supernatural is everywhere in the world, but most people don't believe in it. Harry has set himself up as a paranormal investigator in Chicago and attempts to protect innocents from what goes bump in the night. Among his enemies are vampires, werewolves, demons, sorcerers wielding black magic, and hostile ghosts.

An interesting aspect of the books is how thoroughly Harry's world is fleshed out. Woven seemlessly into the narratives are snippets of exposition on the workings of magic and supernatural creatures. Much of this is delivered via Harry's assistant Bob. Bob is an air spirit who inhabits a human skull and reads trashy romance novels. But I digress. The point is that Harry's world comes alive because it's so clearly defined. Even magic has rules, and the world adheres to them.

This is an incredibly important aspect of being a credible performer: verisimilitude. You have to be consistent and able to quantify you reality if you expect anyone to suspend their disbelief long enough to be entertained.

Aside from the fact that the books are gripping and action-packed, they have a lot to teach in how to juxtapose magic and superstition with the world of the 21st century. Try them. You might like them.

 

[tally-ho]

nice, what tricks are on it? Just kidding. I've heard of these books, but have never read them. I guess I'll go pick one up and see if I enjoy it. I like your reviews of books that aren't actual magic tricks, as I am always searching for something good to read. And seeing as you enjoy lovecraft and greene, some of my favorite authors, Im guessing I will not be dissapointed by these.

 

[Steerpike]

You'll want to start with Storm Front seeing as that's the first book in the series. It introduces the essential major players. Harry Dresden himself, of course, Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, Warden Morgan of the White Council, Bob, Susan Rodriguez, etc.

There's also some of the best magical exposition. I especially like Jim Butcher's take on the significance of circles in magic. He also touches on the True Name principle, soul gazing, and the third eye.

 

[Randy]

There are no tricks on it. It's a Fantasy Novel about a Wizard who works as a consultant for the Chicago PD.

Storm Front is good but it's a stand alone to the rest of the series. Also the Sci Fi channel version sucked ass and pretty much played all the episodes completely out of order and dumbed down Harry's intellect and detective skills.

 

[Steerpike]

There are no tricks on it. It's a Fantasy Novel about a Wizard who works as a consultant for the Chicago PD.

You read the first sentence and then posted, didn't you?

Also the Sci Fi channel version sucked ass and pretty much played all the episodes completely out of order and dumbed down Harry's intellect and detective skills.

What do you expect from a channel that produced a TV movie titled "Anaconda vs Python" and replaced MST3K with a professional wrestling show?

 

[tally-ho]

What do you expect from a channel that produced a TV movie titled "Anaconda vs Python" and replaced MST3K with a professional wrestling show?

such a shame, to get rid of MST3K. I have a feeling that these threads of this sort that you post tend to be ignored by anyone under 20. It's a shame really, that most will skip over something if it is a book, and the rest will leave after they realize it doesn't have any tricks.

 

[Steerpike]

Sometimes I think it's better that the rabble don't listen to me. The kind of knowledge I possess could be dangerous in the hands of an idiot.

Besides, the more of these rabble that continue to blow mommy and daddy's money on new custom decks and card tricks, the fewer of them will ever go pro. That means less competition and more money for me.

 

[tally-ho]

Sometimes I think it's better that the rabble don't listen to me. The kind of knowledge I possess could be dangerous in the hands of an idiot.

Besides, the more of these rabble that continue to blow mommy and daddy's money on new custom decks and card tricks, the fewer of them will ever go pro. That means less competition and more money for me.

very true.

 

[visualartist]

Sometimes I think it's better that the rabble don't listen to me. The kind of knowledge I possess could be dangerous in the hands of an idiot.

Besides, the more of these rabble that continue to blow mommy and daddy's money on new custom decks and card tricks, the fewer of them will ever go pro. That means less competition and more money for me.

True that.
Im under 20 though and have read two of the novels so im guess im one of those rare cases?And I actually did see that(your point) when I was reading the books.
Im just not very articulate enough to make a post like yours.

 

[toyrobot]

I've been meaning to read these, as I actually liked the show on SciFi. True I didn't have the books to compare it to or anything, but I thought the show was fun.

The whole thing reminded me of White Wolf's RPG products with a mystery / detective undercurrent (which is fine with me, I adore Mage), but hearing that there may be a tad more depth to it in novel form has me sold.

 

[Steerpike]

The books certainly have better characters. In the show, Susan Rodriguez makes only one appearance, and she's surprised to learn that supernatural things exist.

In the books, she's Harry's gal-pal, a reporter for the Arcane (a tabloid), and does[ believe in the supernatural. So much so that she actually has dedicated her career to learning more about it and bringing it to public awareness.

That's just one example.

Also, Bob is much more entertaining as a sex-obsessed wise-cracking skull than as a pale, gangly twit.

 

[Randomwrath]

We'll see, with these books. My to-read list has suddenly and unexpectedly gone from one or two books to around fifty, so I'm not really looking for anything else at the moment (being the son of a librarian probably helps). Though there is the tiny hope that, one day, I might be able to see past the yards of yarns and the towers of tomes lying around in my house, and when that day comes, these books shall be considered. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Randy]

I've been meaning to read these, as I actually liked the show on SciFi. True I didn't have the books to compare it to or anything, but I thought the show was fun.

The whole thing reminded me of White Wolf's RPG products with a mystery / detective undercurrent (which is fine with me, I adore Mage), but hearing that there may be a tad more depth to it in novel form has me sold.

The show had to do things out of order for budget reasons, from what I remember is that they did it because the "first" episode had more SFX in it than the rest.

The main reason the books are better is mainly due to better characterization, better plotting and better order. Trust me, even for those who have read the books, the TV series was incredibly confusing. One episode he is dating a waitress, the next he's dating this other other chick. One episode he has a cat, the next he doesn't. It just went on from there.