I'm surprised there hasn't been a hype thread for the series yet, so I thought I'd be the one to do it.
What is it?
The Dresden Files is a Urban Fantasy mystery series starting Harry Dresden, a very snarky wizard in what can only be collectively described as a world of awesome. The best way to determine if you would like this series is to ask if and how much you like fantasy. Because if you like fantasy AT ALL, you will find something you like in the series.
Do you like magic systems that make sense while still remaining mystical? That's in here. Werewolves? Yup. Vampires? They come in 3 different varieties. Ghosts? Got it. Faeries? They're my personal favorite part too. Fallen Angels, Zombies, Eldritch abominations? Check, check and check. Gods? Norse, Judeo-Catholic, and a Hades is a major part of the new book coming out now. Santa Claus? Oh hell yeah, and he kicks ass.
To be honest, it'd be harder to name the mythologies that the Dresden Files has not yet incorporated or mentioned in some way. And the insane thing is, what makes this series stand out in a way above other series, is that it incorporates all these elements in a way that make sense.
Similarly, it features a huge cast of really awesome characters. At this point, after 15 books, they all have had major character development. I won't spoil anything by talking about them, but I'll say this much: I've never really seen any series do what the Dresden Files do as well as they have. You would think that after 15 books, over 14 years of publishing, that characters would stagnate. But no, they're all quite dynamic. Nor have they compromised the world they live in to get that development. And to add to that, they are just all such cool characters. Marcone is a brilliant crime lord akin to Xanatos from Gargoyles. Thomas Raith is a 'tragic vampire' figure done right if I've ever seen it (also, I just love this picture because it's true). Murphy is THE badass normal with how she is nothing but a cop with a gun, but manages to hold her own against the hordes of darkness. Michael, on top of being an awesome character, is the best representation of Christianity I've ever seen in fantasy story. And the villains, are all equally awesome.
And naturally, awesome characters + awesome setting invariably = awesome moments. There are a ton of those, as well as really funny moments (Dresden's humor improves along with the series TREMENDOUSLY) which I will not spoil for you. I will just advise you, if you manage to get to book 9, to keep an eye on a certain dinosaur.
So, if you are a fan of fantasy to ANY degree...you'll find something to like here. And more importantly, if you are a fan of awesome characters, you'll find LOTS to love here.
So whats bad about it?
Other than the massive time investment of 15 books? Well, the truth is the first few books just aren't as good. Obviously, your milage may vary, but...Okay, look I'll just tell you my journey into the Dresden Files fandom.
I was recommended the book online somewhere and decided to read through it. The prose was quite simplistic, which made the 200 or so page book for a very fast read, but I was unimpressed. I would even say that the book was less than mediocre. Not terrible, but below average enough not to be called average. But for whatever reason, a few months later, I just got the urge to read the next book. I don't know why, since I knew the first book wasn't all that great. I guess I just didn't have anything better to do, or whatever. This urge would repeat itself for the next 4 books as well, though each book was better than the last. I'd finish a book, set it down, glad to have finished it, but seeing no reason to continue it and intend to just drop the series...and then I pick up the next one a few months later on a whim. And yeah, book 2 was an improvement, from below average to average. And book 3 was just slightly better than that. And book 4 was JUST what I'd call good, but that was more because I'm a big fan of Sidhe mythology, which it featured heavily. Book 5 holds it's own no matter what your preferred mythology is, but if you like Fallen Angels, even better, but it was still not mindblowing.
Well, whatever that urge was, I thank it for keeping me at it. I hope the fact that I was a firm skeptic for more than half the series that it would reach the hype levels I heard about, the hype levels I am echoing now, is enough to counterbalance how fanboyish I sound now.... But each book really did crawl up it's way on the scale of quality, inch by inch. It earned my fanboyishness. The point I would say the series officially becomes good is book 4, but I want to stress that doesn't make books 1-3 terrible or anything. They're just not anywhere near the levels the series would later reach. You have to decide for yourself if reading a few merely okay books is worth the price for the awesomeness to come. But the series totally converted me, and I would think it'd do the same for you.
And the new one?
Skin game, if the premise is anything to go by, might be the best yet. 15 books in, the basic premise contains a huge spoiler, so I'll highlight for the newbs that don't want to be spoiled.
Now, is anyone else nerdgasming as hard as I am here?
!
Two days cannot pass soon enough
Update:
What is it?
The Dresden Files is a Urban Fantasy mystery series starting Harry Dresden, a very snarky wizard in what can only be collectively described as a world of awesome. The best way to determine if you would like this series is to ask if and how much you like fantasy. Because if you like fantasy AT ALL, you will find something you like in the series.
Do you like magic systems that make sense while still remaining mystical? That's in here. Werewolves? Yup. Vampires? They come in 3 different varieties. Ghosts? Got it. Faeries? They're my personal favorite part too. Fallen Angels, Zombies, Eldritch abominations? Check, check and check. Gods? Norse, Judeo-Catholic, and a Hades is a major part of the new book coming out now. Santa Claus? Oh hell yeah, and he kicks ass.
To be honest, it'd be harder to name the mythologies that the Dresden Files has not yet incorporated or mentioned in some way. And the insane thing is, what makes this series stand out in a way above other series, is that it incorporates all these elements in a way that make sense.
Similarly, it features a huge cast of really awesome characters. At this point, after 15 books, they all have had major character development. I won't spoil anything by talking about them, but I'll say this much: I've never really seen any series do what the Dresden Files do as well as they have. You would think that after 15 books, over 14 years of publishing, that characters would stagnate. But no, they're all quite dynamic. Nor have they compromised the world they live in to get that development. And to add to that, they are just all such cool characters. Marcone is a brilliant crime lord akin to Xanatos from Gargoyles. Thomas Raith is a 'tragic vampire' figure done right if I've ever seen it (also, I just love this picture because it's true). Murphy is THE badass normal with how she is nothing but a cop with a gun, but manages to hold her own against the hordes of darkness. Michael, on top of being an awesome character, is the best representation of Christianity I've ever seen in fantasy story. And the villains, are all equally awesome.
And naturally, awesome characters + awesome setting invariably = awesome moments. There are a ton of those, as well as really funny moments (Dresden's humor improves along with the series TREMENDOUSLY) which I will not spoil for you. I will just advise you, if you manage to get to book 9, to keep an eye on a certain dinosaur.
So, if you are a fan of fantasy to ANY degree...you'll find something to like here. And more importantly, if you are a fan of awesome characters, you'll find LOTS to love here.
So whats bad about it?
Other than the massive time investment of 15 books? Well, the truth is the first few books just aren't as good. Obviously, your milage may vary, but...Okay, look I'll just tell you my journey into the Dresden Files fandom.
I was recommended the book online somewhere and decided to read through it. The prose was quite simplistic, which made the 200 or so page book for a very fast read, but I was unimpressed. I would even say that the book was less than mediocre. Not terrible, but below average enough not to be called average. But for whatever reason, a few months later, I just got the urge to read the next book. I don't know why, since I knew the first book wasn't all that great. I guess I just didn't have anything better to do, or whatever. This urge would repeat itself for the next 4 books as well, though each book was better than the last. I'd finish a book, set it down, glad to have finished it, but seeing no reason to continue it and intend to just drop the series...and then I pick up the next one a few months later on a whim. And yeah, book 2 was an improvement, from below average to average. And book 3 was just slightly better than that. And book 4 was JUST what I'd call good, but that was more because I'm a big fan of Sidhe mythology, which it featured heavily. Book 5 holds it's own no matter what your preferred mythology is, but if you like Fallen Angels, even better, but it was still not mindblowing.
Well, whatever that urge was, I thank it for keeping me at it. I hope the fact that I was a firm skeptic for more than half the series that it would reach the hype levels I heard about, the hype levels I am echoing now, is enough to counterbalance how fanboyish I sound now.... But each book really did crawl up it's way on the scale of quality, inch by inch. It earned my fanboyishness. The point I would say the series officially becomes good is book 4, but I want to stress that doesn't make books 1-3 terrible or anything. They're just not anywhere near the levels the series would later reach. You have to decide for yourself if reading a few merely okay books is worth the price for the awesomeness to come. But the series totally converted me, and I would think it'd do the same for you.
And the new one?
Skin game, if the premise is anything to go by, might be the best yet. 15 books in, the basic premise contains a huge spoiler, so I'll highlight for the newbs that don't want to be spoiled.
As the Winter Knight, Dresden has to work for Mab...and Mab owes a favor to Nicodemus, the leader of the host of Fallen Angels. So Harry's job is to help with with a heist...Nicodemus plans to steal something from Hades itself.
Now, is anyone else nerdgasming as hard as I am here?
A fallen angel wants to start shit with the Greek God of the Underworld
Two days cannot pass soon enough
Update:
