My housemate, the dear Ori Shifrin, is always on my back to read books by authors he likes. One particular author who gets Ori all giggly and embarrassed like a school girl is Jim Butcher. And because Ori rarely ever leads me astray with one of his recommendations, I thought I’d give Jim Butcher a go.
 
That was 7 years ago. The book was Storm Front and it was bloody fantastic. Butcher introduces us to Harry Dresden, a full time Private Investigator who just so happens to be a full time wizard as well. His expertise is in finding those things you thought you’d lost forever. But, in a world where people would rather believe in UFOs, Stephen Hawkins and Jesus Christ, good old magic (you know, wards and spells and bolts of fire) simply don’t cut the mustard. Inevitably Harry is forced to take any work that knocks on his door, even if that means dealing with the Chicago police force (and the Special Investigative Unit) on some of their spookier, gorier and nastier cases.
 
As the series progresses, Harry’s life goes from bad to nasty to rock bottom. Friends around him start to die, other wizards start to turn against him and he pisses off a range of nasty critters including werewolf’s, vampires and fairies.  
 
So yeah, it’s basically a bit like Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake series – just cooler.
 
Death Masks – Book 5 of the Dresden Files – is the coolest of the bunch. There’s really no point in me reviewing it in any detail coz if you haven’t read the other 4 you’ll have no idea whatI’m talking about. Still, it’s worth me pointing out that it features a whole host of brilliant shit, everything from:
  • Harry’s duel with a Vampire;
  • Harry’s confrontation with a very evil bastard named Nicodemus, leader of the Denarians;
  • Gangsters;
  • A cool Japanese Knight with a flaming sword;
  • The Shroud of Turin;
  • Sexy babes; and, as you’d expect…
  • A sex scene with the sexy babe.
Over the last few years Butcher’s first person writing style has become more and more confident. Harry feels less of a Mary Sue and more of a three-dimensional character, someone whose desperately trying to find some sort of purpose behind the things he does. That’s not to say that Harry wallows in his angst, he doesn’t have the time what with all the evil and death and blood and magic wards and demons. But, Butcher has found away of incorporating some depth into his work while also keeping the plot racing along at a breathless pace.
 
The only thing that started to annoy me about the books is how Dresden is always put through the physical wringer. He’s basically the Bruce Willis of wizards, normally ending the novel with something broken, or punctured or torn. He stumbles through each scene bloodied and bruised, eating very little and sleeping even less. And while the point is made that as a wizard he can take plenty of shit, it started to become something of a cliche.  I just wish Harry went through one novel where he didn’t end up as a punching bag. 
 
But that’s really the only irritation. Butcher has created a pretty cool character in the form of Harry Dresden. He also given us an interesting supporting cast, such as Bob the spirit and Murph the detective who runs the Special Investigation Unit, and Susan Harry’s sort of ex-girlfriend. Then there are the hints to Harry’s past – the mysterious death of his parents. Finally, there’s the sense that the magical world Harry has experienced and knows so well is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many secrets yet to be revealed.
 

At the moment there are 8 Dresden novels out in the bookstores with a 9th on the way. And from what I hear, Butcher plans to write 23 in the series… which to me sounds like overkill.

 
But, if he’s able to keep up the quality as evidenced by Death Masks, then I’m quite willing and able to follow Harry Dresden through to the apocalyptic end.