Fiction Fridays: The Dresden Files

May as well start a second series of posts to go along with the previous ones, and for the sake of alliteration we shall go with Fiction Fridays. Every Friday, I'll do my best to either bring you a book review or, if I'm feeling froggy, a short piece of fiction I've written myself.

This week, though, we'll go with a book review, or maybe overview is more appropriate a term, as I'm going to cover one of my favorite series thus far: The Dresden Files.

Written by Jim Butcher, the Dresden Files as of this writing consists of 14 novels and numerous short stories (which are for the most part helpfully contained in one book called Side Jobs) and can seem like a daunting storyline to jump into. But I believe it's more than worth it for anyone who's a fan of hardboiled detectives, supernatural weirdness, or even if you just need a good laugh mixed with a good story.

Harry Dresden is a wizard. He is also a private detective living and working in Chicago. In point of fact, he's listed in the yellow pages under "Wizard". The series revolves around his various cases (in fact, at several points the books are referred to as 'case files'), whether he got them from a mortal or from some of the other supernatural players in his world.

And boy, is it filled with supernatural players. There are werewolves, faeries big and small (though don't call them faeires to their faces; they prefer to be called the Fae if you need a generic term), angels and demons, creatures from Outside, and of course vampires. Three seperate types of vampire, in point of fact.

While the books all take place in Chicago, the books avoid feeling like these things are happening there arbitrarily, as would be so easy in these types of stories. Butcher does a fantastic job of making sure we know that things are happening worldwide - the Red Court of vampires controls and preys on most of Latin and South America, for example, and the White Council of wizards' security forces are stationed around the globe and always busy. More than that, though, he gives concrete reasons why things seem to come to a head around Chicago, as well, though I won't delve into those reasons here for fear of spoilers.

These books are definitely detective drama, each one narrated by Harry in first person just like a hardboiled detective should do, and considering some of the subject matter covered they should definitely be treated as such. After all, murder is a frequent occurance in any detective story, and the focus of one story is something that amounts to a mental rape. However, the darkness is constantly leavened by humor. Harry is a very snarky person and even uses it as a fear response, returning sarcasm for threats leveled against him by creatures that he has no business fighting, much less beating as he so often does.

For example, in one of the most recent books he's visited by the Archangel Uriel (yes, an archangel visits him, and on good terms no less). He nicknames him Mr. Sunshine. Of course, this is after he nicknames the Denarians - an order of people that have, more or less willingly, joined themselves to fallen angels bound within the thirty denarii coins that Judas received as payment - the Nickelheads. And let's not even go into the running gag of buildings setting on fire around him - to the point where one of the books starts with the line "The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault."

I swear, I had to put the book back down for several minutes after reading that line.

But in addition to all of this, one of my favorite things is that one of the secondary characters named Michael Carpenter. He is one of the Knights of the Cross, an order of warriors that fight against the Denarians in particular, and other supernatural evils in general, wielding three swords that have nails worked into the hilts. Specifically, the three nails from the Cross. Everyone who wields one is called by God, most often receiving a visit from the Archangel Michael who presents them with the sword. Michael is a rarity in fiction, a Christian who is not portrayed as a joke or as someone who is ignorant or what have you. He is a strong character who's faith in God and Christ is evident for all to see. He is a caring father, a loving husband, highly respected by all who meet him - even his enemies. This isn't to say he's perfect; in one story someone kidnaps his daughter, and his fury is very real and he's only stopped by a soft word from Harry. In all, he's an incredibly human character, a strong Christian man who is nonetheless flawed, just like we all are.

Now, be aware that these books read like popcorn. Butcher is very good at the art of leading, taking you so smoothly from one chapter to the next that you don't even realize that the "one more chapter" you were going for just became about five. I love these books, and would recommend them to anyone who might enjoy the genre. And if you're not sure if you would or wouldn't, pick up Storm Front and give it a try.