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Jim Butcher

Orbit Books (2011)

Jim Butcher has written a whole series of novels and short stories under the generic name of The Dresden Files, based on the exploits of Private Investigator and Wizard Harry Dresden. This anthology includes many of the short stories from the series.

In the modern world we regard wizards, witches, vampires and so on as either raving loonies or legends from the past. This is not correct. They all exist in an uneasy peace that involves not letting the humans know of their existence. Most, like the witches and wizards and even werewolves, can coexist but every now and then one will set out for advantage in the strange politics of the underworld. This will usually involve the death of humans and in Chicago, where Harry is based, he will be expected to take matters in hand. The Chicago Police have a special squad for dealing with paranormal events but their main job is to cover up the real reasons and write a report that will suit the higher ups. Nevertheless they know Harry well, and there is a suggestion of a developing love interest between him and Murphy, the cute female officer in charge of the detail.

Because of the different forms of magic used by the assorted protagonists Harry’s wizard magic is not always strong enough to get him out of trouble without serious injury.

The books read a lot like a back story for a role playing game in their collection of clues as to the whereabouts of the evil beings, then the fierce battle that will follow. Unusually this does not detract from the stories in any way because Butcher paints Harry and his associates as serious personalities, not just figures collecting points. He also goes into some detail about the spells used and the underworld politics and this rounds out the stories nicely.

They were regarded as good enough to make into a series for the Sci-Fi Channel as far back as 2007.

The book is an excellent read in the current urban fantasy genre. Don’t let the mention of witches and wizards put you off – it’s written in a way that makes them quite believable.

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This review will appear in Volume 4 No. 4 of the digital and print edition of Synergy.

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