The only wizard in the Chicago Yellow Pages
About six years ago, I heard about a series of noir detective novels starring a wizard private eye: the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Here was the kicker: the audiobooks were narrated by James Marsters, a.k.a. Spike from Buffy. I thought he was the sexiest thing ever to wear a leather duster. I would have listened to him read the phonebook. I was sold. For some reason I couldn’t get ahold of the first audiobook so I started the paperback. And a few pages into Storm Front, I was sold again. I copied two passages into my notebook at the time, so I can reproduce them now:
“It was worse than murder. It was twisted, wretched perversion, as though someone had bludgeoned another person to death with a Botticelli, turned something of beauty to an act of utter destruction.”
and
“Paranoid? Probably. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that there isn’t an invisible demon about to eat your face.”
Come on, that’s awesome, right?? Harry Dresden, the wizard private eye, is an idealistic yet cynical wiseass with a dark past and a lot of repressed anger who doesn’t know when to quit and somehow always ends up in over his head. It’s a brilliant updating of the noir archetype, and what makes it extra awesome is Jim Butcher’s skill at plotting. Somehow, he manages to up the stakes with each book so that Harry is constantly facing something unlike anything he’s ever faced before, something darker and more powerful, requiring ever more impressive feats of magic and ever darker bargains with ambiguously evil powers determined to corrupt Harry once and for all. I just finished reading the most recent book in the series, Changes
And the constantly expanding cast of supporting characters are fabulous. Some of my favorites: Karrin Murphy, the small, blond, tough-as-nails cop who sometimes hires Harry as a consultant; Susan Rodriguez, the tabloid reporter who’s open-minded about the supernatural; Johnny Marcone, the Chicago mob boss with his own code; Bob, a knowledge demon living in an enchanted skull who loves paperback romance novels; and Thomas, the vampire who SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER BUT IT’S AWESOME.
I ended up not liking the audiobooks
You have a limited amount of time, so why spend it reading about things that suck or are only kind of okay? Favorite thing EVER is not a review site. We're unrepentant fans, and this is the stuff we love. Hope you like gushing, because we're about to embarrass ourselves.
I’ve never seen the show, but I have friends who love the books, and the idea of a Hockey Stick Wizard Staff is inspired, yo.
Whoever was involved in the props and set dressing for the show is a GENIUS, seriously. Plus…Harry and sexy!ghost!Bob are quite cute together.
Sold! Like, literally sold. The TV show is sitting in my amazon cart waiting for me to find a second purchase so I can quality for super saver shipping (the books, maybe? I dunno — reading is hard.)
Sweet!!! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. I have to admit that in a recent rewatching I realized the show’s writing wasn’t QUITE as good as I remembered–but it was every bit as charming! Let me know what you think.
Oooh, delicious! These are going on my list pronto.
The books have been very popular in our house.
You know, I have wondered about these books. They’re not the sort of thing I normally read. But maybe I should! You make them sound so irresistible! Exclamation points!
They are totally irresistible!
SOLD- sounds freaking awesome.
The guy who plays Dresden has a stack of easy charm.
Jim Butcher was the guest of honor at the convention we did this weekend! I didn’t actually get the chance to meet him, but he seems like a very congenial fellow.
I can confirm that he is indeed a gracious and friendly person.