Storm Front

Oh so good. Wonderfully read by James Marsters, who brings the character of Harry Dresden to life so well. His timing is impeccable. Even if you have read the book, it is worth buying the audio version, it adds an extra dimension - and for fast readers, it prolongs the pleasure! This is the first of the Harry Dresden novels and introduces the Wizard Private Investigator and several of the characters who will continue to be developed in subsequent books in the series. The world-building is fascinating and makes perfect sense, the plot is ingenious and pacing is just right. Harry himself is instantly engaging and this first book establishes him as the underdog who just won't give up when it comes to protecting those more vulnerable than himself - but always with a wry sense of the absurd. Warning; you may well be hooked on the series so be prepared to be dragged in to Harry's world and fork out for the next audiobooks - 16 I think, with more to come. Hooray!

Having watched the complete series 1 on DVD of "The Dresden Files" multiple times, I felt I needed more. I therefore bought the first book in the series to see what it was like in it's original Jim Butcher incarnation.Storm Front centres on the life of a modern day wizard, Harry Dresden. Dresden lives in Chicago in the present day. Whether it was the real Chicago or an alternative reality we aren't told. With his cop friend Murphy he attempts to solve crimes using his knowledge of magic. Many characters then get introduced, some of which also appear in the TV series.Comparing this book to the TV episode of the same title, I would say the TV series is lighter but just as enjoyable. The book and the series stand independently as great entertainment. I notice a few subtle differences between the two mediums. The book's White Council becomes High Council in the TV series. Bob the skull gets upgraded from spirit filofax to central supporting character and there are more flashbacks to Harry's childhood in the TV series.I only gave the book four stars because I felt the character portrayed in the book was slightly soul-less, in that he didn't seem to do anything apart from magic. I would have expected him to have a hobby or a vice or something at least. Without something like that the main character of the book seems a little one dimensional. Perhaps this is one reason they modified the story for TV, for instance introducing more flashbacks of Harry as a child, and made Bianca the vampire more of a femme fatale.Nonetheless the characters are engaging and the pace is steady. I was gripped throughout the storyline. The book is somewhat dark and violent so more aimed at adult readers. The main character, Harry, seems a bit of a drop-out. At one point he refers to himself as a "blue-collar wizard", which paints a vision and reminded me of a maverick cop. The scene where he makes an entrance to the club owned by the mob boss by blowing the front door off it's hinges with magic was more Dirty Harry than Gandalf.Overall I would recommend this book if you like magic and fantasy and you aren't looking for a teen romance. The "twilight" series covered that genre pretty well. I preferred reading this book after seeing the TV episode because the book fills in more details that the TV episode had to gloss over and tame down for primetime.I would say the book easily stands on it's own as an exciting romp into fantasy, and I like the fact that it is a series so there is more to read after enjoying this book.

An enjoyable book. I would only recommend it to get into the series though which gets fantastic. Each book is better than the previous with the one exception of ghost story which was just different but still good. By book 3 I was hooked.

A unique concept...but thoroughly enjoyable.

love this set of books, read in order to get the best from these books, thay are fun