Where should I start - what is his first? What to expect? James Patterson style? Vince Flynn (rip) style?

Start with the Dresden Files. Storm Front is the first book. The series is long enough that you can read it for awhile, but each book is a fairly quick read. His writing style is witty banter mixed with action/fantasy. The last 4 books or so in the series were very, very good.

I tried reading the Codex Alera because I enjoyed the Dresden Files so much, but just couldn't get into it.

Hope that helps.

Oh... where to begin...

I personally love the Dresden Files and enjoyed the Codex Alera series.

I would start out with the Dresden Files. The order is fairly self explanatory seeing as they are chronological. Butcher describes his books as Harry's worst weekend of the year. Each one usually takes place over the course of a couple of days or a week. The books are written in the first person as through Dresden's viewpoint. I believe he is 23ish when the books start and each one takes place a year later.

As said earlier, what makes the Dresden Files one of my favorite series is the witty banter and the character of Dresden himself. Also, I feel Butcher does a great job of writing his characters and allowing you to slowly get to understand them more and more as the series progresses. I can honestly say there aren't any characters in the series that annoy me.

Also, the entire Dresden Universe is fairly large, but he doesn't expose you to all of it until much later in the series. You learn a little about the universe and the magic system as you progress through the books. Also, they start off very episodic but eventually start revealing an overarching plot.

My favorites in the series are Cold Days, Changes and Dead Beat (there is a scene in Dead Beat that is one of the greatest moments ever in a book... seriously... I won't ruin it for you).

If you have any specific questions, please ask. I love talking about the Dresden Files

EDIT: Oh, and this should go without saying, but PLEASE try to stay away from spoilers. There are some great WTF moments and reveals in the books that are SO much better if not spoiled.

[This message has been edited by jlb2957 (edited 6/25/2013 1:42p).]

Start with Storm Front, book one of The Dresden Files. It's urban fantasy (wizard PI in modern day) but there is a huge epic fantasy that slowly materializes throughout the book. I would classify the writing as a fairly light, hardboiled detective story with moments of darkness. Think Spiderman in terms of tone...it never gets super, super dark but there are serious things at stake.

My personal experience with the series? The first two books are amateur hour but were obviously entertaining enough for me to continue. Quality ramps significantly in book 3 (Grave Peril) and then hits a string of such consistently good storytelling that the series has become one of my favorites of all time (currently on the 14th book).

So, if you don't happen to like the first few books (they are quick reads) I would at least read through the third and possibly the fourth before you dump it.

[This message has been edited by spag_ag03 (edited 6/25/2013 1:50p).]

Exactly. The middle of the series is nails... and then Changes comes and blows your mind away. That's not to say I didn't like Storm Front and Fool Moon... I do; but he just really hits a stride starting with Grave Peril (not to mention Grave Peril introduces one of my favorite characters in the series). Then you're at Ghost Story, which gets a lot of hate but I think that's just because of the quality leading up to it. But have no fear, after Ghost Story, you are rewarded with the almighty COLD DAYS!

BTW...once you move from book 1 to book 2, don't be surprised at the shift and new characters. They build throughout, but were necessary though poorly introduced.

But as others said...it's a great series.

Changes.... Wish I could read it again for the first time.

The great thing about my first read through the series is that I marathon'd through all 14 books, finishing about 2 weeks before Cold Days came out. By about mid-series, I was gobbling them up so quickly that they kind of blur in my memory. That means i'll probably catch a lot more the second time through.

Totally agree...I have a reading pile of over a hundred books but I've literally read these one after the another even though my intent was to space them so I'd finish the published books slower and not have to wait for the new ones (although Butcher does write like a bat out of hell).

And I actually mis-stated that I was on book 14...only at Turncoat which means I still have the (apparently) mighty Changes still to come.

The huge battle at the end of Changes has all kind of bad ass in it, including THE BEST line ever said by a secondary (not Harry) character in the entire series.

I Really wish a competent screen writer would take a crack at The Dresden Files.

Loved the dresden books, fell asleep in the second codex alera

The first 2 or 3 books are actually pretty crappy,but stay the course and his writing had improved 10 fold by the latest book. My favorite thing is the plethora of insanely obscure pop culture references.

Just a reminder. Two new Dresden books this year, the first in July.

Here is a Q&A with him and Rothfuss

I'm on Death Masks now, I guess with all the downplaying the first few books surprised me with how good the hook was. When does the first of the two books come out this year? it'll give me something to shoot for...

July 14th.

And you rarely see a trailer for a book



Not the highest production value

Decided to post on this thread instead of the one about the 2 books for this year. I love how Butcher releases these little micro fictions.

Do not read unless you have read Battleground and the Christmas eve micro fiction

https://www.jim-butcher.com/the-good-people

I'm getting back to these after I finish my current read. I've read the first 3 books and enjoyed all of them and if those are the weakest link of the series then I'm really excited about gettin back to them.

I may need to go read a quick recap online for the first three though. It's been a couple of years since I read them. Anyone have a good link for an online recap they recommend?

Dang good Molly story, it's nice to have a couple of warm stories given where the books left off and the holidays are a perfect time for such stories.

YouBet said:

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I'm getting back to these after I finish my current read. I've read the first 3 books and enjoyed all of them and if those are the weakest link of the series then I'm really excited about gettin back to them.

I may need to go read a quick recap online for the first three though. It's been a couple of years since I read them. Anyone have a good link for an online recap they recommend?

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Some interesting links and a little about the characters you should make sure you remember. Across so many books, one of the things Butcher does best is character development. Each character he brings in is so multi dimensional. After I typed all that, I am so surprised as to how many characters we get in just the first 3 books. I also made sure I did not spoil any future things with my descriptions of the characters. Difficult to do because there are a couple of characters who don't seem that important, but turn out to be huge to the story and Dresden's life.

Before you read the Dresden files:



Storm Front: https://dresdenfiles.fandom.com/wiki/Storm_Front

**SPOILERS BELOW**

Sorry... something wrong with my spoiler tags. They don't seem to be working for the listed elements.

Below contain spoilers for the first three books

Important Characters:

• Karrin Murphy: Lieutenant in charge of Special Investigations. Met Dresden while still a patrol officer and brings him in as a consultant to assist taking down the supernatural.
• Bob the Skull: a Spirit of Intellect that Harry found in the wreckage of his fight with his foster parent. Extremely powerful. More knowledge on magic and the world than anything else. Assists harry with things but is relegated to his skull and must obey Harry because Harry possesses the skull. Also, he's a perv.
• Susan Rodriguez: A reporter for The Arcane, a local paper like the Enquirer. She tries to gather stories form Dresden and they go on their first date in this book... well, try to at least. They end up dating through Grave Peril.
• Bianca: Vampire of the Red Court and mistress of a local brothel that caters to the powerful and elite. She thinks Dresden murdered one of her girls, so she attacks him. He responds with some fancy wizardry which causes her blood lust to become overwhelming and she kills one of her own to sate it. She holds Harry responsible for this and holds a grudge that comes up in Grave Peril
• Mac: Owner of McAnally's pub. joint that many from Dresden's world frequent. The establishment is Accorded Neutral Ground and Mac has a past you don't know about. He is also a man of few words.
• Johnny Marcone: Mob boss in Chicago who is a believer in the supernatural and meets Dresden for the first time. Tricks Dresden into a soul gaze so he can size Dresden up. He respects Dresden's power and will appear in MANY of the Dresden books.
• Donald Morgan: Warden of the White Council and basically acted as Harry's PO while Harry was under the Doom of Domecles. This was basically a punishment from the White Council for breaking a law of magic: do not kill. Because it was in self defense, they ended up not killing him but instead setting the Doom of Domecles on him, which would mean his immediate death by Morgan's hands if Harry were to break another law of magic, again. This is removed at the end of the book because of his actions. Donald is an ass and will always be an ass. However, he is over a century old and one of the most powerful Wardens on the White Council, who are basically their law enforcement and soldiers.
• Justin DuMorne: Harry's foster parent/mentor. Trained Harry and his other foster child, Elaine. Find out he was raising them both to be dark wizards. When he tried to lay the psychic whammy on Harry, Harry fought back. Dumorne sent a demon after him (He Who Walks Behind, who is not technically demon, but you find out more about him later) but harry is able to defeat it. How does he do this as a teenager? RAFO. Harry ends up dueling Justin and killing him.
• Victor Sells: Main villain and dies. However, it's important that some punk somehow was able to discover sorcerer powers an how to craft the 3eye drug. How did he learn this stuff? RAFO

Nuggets:

• One perp at the police department who is tripping on 3eye (which opens the third eye of anyone) calls Harry out as a wizard and says he sees that which is ahead, as well as He Who Walks Behind. Cool nugget about the Walker who Dresden "killed" when his foster parent tried to make him a thrall and Dresden ran away. This WILL come up later in the series and is a cool nugget you get in book 1, though it doesn't mean anything to you then.

Fool Moon: https://dresdenfiles.fandom.com/wiki/Fool_Moon

My least favorite of the series... and it's not that bad.

Important Characters

• The Alphas. Name of the group of werewolves (shapeshifters) who were trained by Tera West. Billy is their leader, but there many of them. They become key allies of Harry's as the series progresses, though they are suspects of his in this book for the Lobo Killings.
• The FBI agents. Again, the bad guys of the book and end up dying. However, where did they get the belts that changed them into Hexenwolfen? Comes up again.
• Detective Rudolph: ... #*$^ him. He's an ass in this book. He will just piss you off the more you see him in the series.

Grave Peril: https://dresdenfiles.fandom.com/wiki/Grave_Peril

This is where the books really start to move and is where Butcher hits his stride

Important Characters

• Michael Carpenter: Knight of the Cross. Wielder of the Sword of Love, Amoracchius, which has a nail from the crucifixion worked into the hilt. In a series with some of the best side characters in any book series I have read, Michael is the best side Character. Grave Peril is his first on screen appearance. He does not possess any particular supernatural abilities, but his sword, when wielded by a man of faith, neutralizes any supernatural upperhand an enemy might have. There are three swords, and you will meet their wielders in the later books. Michael, however, is a good man and, aside from Karrin in the later books, is Harry's closest friend and support. GOD I LOVE MICHAEL.
• Charity Carpenter: Michael's wife who is pregnant in this book. She does not like Harry at all, and you find out why in a later book. It's not just because Michael is in danger whenever he is with harry.
• Thomas Wraith: Vampire of the White Court who befriends Harry at Bianca's party and then comes to him to get his help getting Justine out of Bianca's place. He is the son of the King of the White Court of Vampires. He will be making many more appearances in the future.
• The Leanansidhe (Leah): Harry's faerie godmother who keeps trying to turn him into a hound. Harry is bound to her because he lied to her when she gifted him power to defeat his old mentor. More to that story and her character in later books.
• Justine: Thomas' date to the party who he seems to have a greater attachment to than you would think, for a succubus and his prey.
• Mavra: Black Court Vampire sorceress who teaches Bianca sorcery. Very short appearance in this book but will be making more appearances in the series.
• Ferrovax: one of the last remaining dragons, You meet him in human form at the party. Michael mentions slaying another dragon to him. Ferrovax does not come back to the story until Peace Talks

Nuggets:

• Bianca's gift to Harry is a grave at Graceland Cemetery with Harry's name on the tombstone with the words: "He died doing the right thing." This grave will come up again, in the future.
• Quick introduction to Ortega, a Red Court Lord, will make another appearance in the series which will put events in motion that lead to the best book in the series, Changes.

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Awesome. Thank you!!!!