When I
prepared my introduction to The Blog Fantastic, I had some authors and series
in mind. Books that I knew I wanted to check out or revisit. Some of those have
been a pleasure to discover or reread. A few of the books I revisited or tried
out where disappointments. One of them I didn’t even finish (consequently I didn’t
review it either). The flip side of these disappointing books is that there are
others books that pop up on my radar and inexplicably jump to the top of my
reading pile. Even better, some of those books I enjoy. Jim Butcher Storm Front, the first in his Dresden Files series, is such a book.
I’m not sure where my interest in this book came from, but it’s a good fit.
There was a distinct lack of urban fantasy in The Blog Fantastic archives.
For
those who aren’t all caught up in the Dresden
Files craze, they’re a pretty clever combination of private detective
fiction and urban fantasy (or paranormal fantasy). It’s a good mix, but
something has made this particular series very popular even in comparison to
other similar series. I don’t know why just yet, but I’m sure I’ll find out if
I keep reading past the first book. Let’s start with the setting, Chicago, the
windy city. This is the home of Harry Dresden, a wizard for hire which means
he’s essentially a private detective for hire and he specializes in cases that
deal with magic. One of his regular clients is the Chicago Police Department, most
often the Special Investigations Unit.
In Storm Front, Dresden is hired by a woman
to find her husband who happens to be a novice magician. That same day, he
receives a call from Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, his main contact at the Special
Investigations Unit, to consult on a brutal murder in which magic is suspected
to have played a role. Lately, there’s been a lot of criminal activity related
to a drug called ThreeEye which allows normal humans to see the world as
wizards would. From there, things continue to escalate and become more
complicated. Seemingly separate plot threads are linked together and the deeper
Dresden gets in his investigations of missing husband and the murder case, the
more he’s attracting attention to himself from the most dangerous people in
Chicago and elsewhere.
The
plot, especially in the beginning of the novel, follows along with PI genre
conventions. Everything sticks to that and it works pretty well as a way to
ease the reader into the more magical aspects of the book. The novel itself
becomes more enjoyable once the spotlight pulls away from some of the noir
trappings, but that never goes away entirely. And it shouldn’t. That’s part of
the formula, that’s part of what makes this enjoyable, but too much of it is a
little tiresome, especially at first. Really the worst thing about this is
Butcher’s unsuccessful attempt at mimicking the writing style of classic
detective fiction. Some of the writing techniques used in detective fiction,
like the point of view and Harry’s narration, are used successful. They’re a
great way to give the reader additional information on aspects of wizard life
and explain some of the rules of magic. That’s actually some of the most
engaging stuff in the book. I don’t particularly like Harry, at least not yet,
but I do find him pretty interesting.
The
magic was enjoyable for the most part. At times very specific. There are universal
laws that you must remember when working up a spell, yet those laws allow for
quite a bit of flexibility in the specifics. Consider the potions that Harry
and Bob (an air spirit who lives in a skull in the sub-basement of Harry’s
apartment) prepare. The specific ingredients are less important than the
essence of what those ingredients represent. What also factors in is the kind
of person for whom the potion is meant for or the general usage you have in
mind for that potion. Things can be tinkered with to achieve different results.
The
magic reminds me a little of the way it’s used in Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles. It’s more about the
ritual and the belief in what you do, rather than how you do it or the
ingredients that are used. Another aspect of the magic that I enjoyed is that
it’s something that requires careful preparation and planning. It’s not all
flash bang and wand waving. That Harry Dresden manages to be quick and
effective with his magic, often improvising on the spot, makes him a rather
interesting and believably skilled wizard. He’s obviously a powerful wizard and
I look forward to seeing him use his magic in different ways in future volumes.
I’m mostly pleased that Butcher avoids having Dresden tell us how awesome he is
without giving the character opportunities to prove it.
There is
one thing I borderline hated in the book: the characters. They were downright
awful in some parts and there are numerous cringe worthy scenes. First off, the
book has recurring passages of misogyny. It stands out because it’s unfounded in
the story or the characters. I’m not sure if the private detective genre
influenced Butcher’s writing, but it’s almost as if he’s trying to play with
the Femme Fatale archetype and doesn’t manage to do so successfully. I’m not
sure he understands the use of the Femme Fatale in noir fiction or PI novels but
you can see attempts at it here that simply don’t work. I think I’d have a hard
time writing that kind of character too, because they’re usually very complex.
Instead, the women in Butcher’s book often show stereotypical characteristics
of weak women. It makes for some unpleasantness while reading.
It doesn’t
help that the main character admits to being a chauvinist. I guess it can
appear to be a joke or sarcasm-filled narration, but only if you hold the book
at arms’ length and squint a little. Combine this with the awfully written
female characters and the result is a book that feels as if it was written
during the same decades as some of the classic of detective fictions because it
posits opinions that feel awkwardly dated. Even with his deplorable attitude
towards women, Dresden is rightfully the most interesting character in this
book. That’s not to say he couldn’t benefit from more development because as it
stands, I think he’s a good wizard and that’s about it. Well, that’s not
entirely true. He makes up for it by the end of the book when he repeatedly demonstrates
that he’s the kind of person that will stand up for what he believes is right. He’ll
even defend that selflessly but it might come off as selfishness because he’s
got a knack for being very irritable. I might be willing to concede that he’s a
nice friendly guy but he makes terrible first impression.
Even
with the noticeable problems, I enjoyed my time reading Storm Front and I think it’s a decent introduction to what I’m told
is one a great series. If nothing else, I see the potential here for an immersive
series of novels by a skilled writer. That being said, the prose is
workmanlike, but it certainly shows promise. What makes this book memorable,
however, isn’t the writing, or the plot, or the characters. It’s the small
details that help to build the world of Dresden
Files and get the reader interested not only in the ongoing narrative of
this book, but in the larger storytelling threads that Butcher sprinkles
throughout. For me, this was the kind of book that I picked up solely based on
its reputation and I’m glad I did. It’s the kind of book that you read quickly
and some of the details stick around with you a while as you think them over. The
characters, the tone, even the magic system are all familiar and it’s not too
difficult to trace their sources and Butcher’s influences. Still, Butcher
manages to give everything a distinctive flavour, a unique perspective. I’m not
blown away by Storm Front but I’m
interested at the possibilities of what the sequels could make of this series.
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