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Binding: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780965725507
Edition: Unabridged
Format: Unabridged
ISBN: 0965725502
Label: Buzzy Multimedia Publishing
Manufacturer: Buzzy Multimedia Publishing
Publication Date: 1997
Publisher: Buzzy Multimedia Publishing
Studio: Buzzy Multimedia Publishing
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Storm Front Audio Book
Written By Jim Butcher
Narrated By James Marsters (Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer & Angel)
My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I'm a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I'm the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under Wizards. Believe it or not, I'm the only one there.
My ad looks like this:
HARRY DRESDEN--WIZARD
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties
or Other Entertainment
With rent past due and a decent meal becoming an issue of some importance, Harry needs work, and soon. A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse. Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters to vampires, while he himself is under suspicion of the crimes. One thing is certain, if he can't stop whoever is on this killing spree, Harry will be the next victim.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
You will enjoy the story telling style of the author. This is a great beginning to a great series. You'll connect to the characters and be intrigued by them. As soon as you finish it you will want to order the second book. Great urban adventure tale.
Rating: -
I wasn't expecting much from Storm Front. I owned the book for a while, but continued to put off reading it. I see now what a mistake that was. This book was a fast paced, easy read that I just could not put down. Wizards and potions and mystery and humor, it was like Harry Potter but with the possibility of someone having sex. I'm so glad I gave this one a try and can't wait to get started on the rest of the series.
Rating: -
This book is the first in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.
The title of my review is taken from a quote by Glen Cook on the front of the edition of this book that I read. I have to agree with him. This is a great concept, and Butcher handles it quite well in most respects.
To digress just a moment, there was a recent TV series based on the Dresden Files books - unfortunately, it lasted only one season. If you did not see it, I recommend that you buy or rent the DVD's and take a look, as the episodes are quite good. The present book is really the only one of the book series actually depicted in the TV series from what I have read. Even that episode is a little different from the book, although quite similar. I do have to say that after reading this book that the TV series followed the concept in the series very well if not all the actual stories. People who liked the TV series should like this book and vice versa.
In any case, in both the book and TV series, the main character, Harry Dresden, is a wizard who works as a private investigator on paranormal type cases. He also consults for the Chicago police in this regard. In the present book, he is involved in multiple "strange" matters that turn out to be related as the book proceeds. The title is relevant to the story in a major way as thunder storms are the source of power (helped along by lust, greed, anger and the like) that the bad wizard uses to do his dirty work - brutal murder, creating a new illicit drug and the like.
There is something for everyone here. Good wizards, bad wizards, vampires, demons, pretty girls, hard nosed cops, gangsters, a new illicit drug that lets you see visions, a little sex, a few murders and more. Don't get the wrong idea, as this is no hard to believe fantasy world nor violence fest. The author sets things up very well, so that all the magical stuff seems quite believable happening in present day Chicago and the action seems necessary (for the most part at least) and not gratuitous.
There is plenty of action, but there is not the overload (except maybe near the end) one often sees throughout books of this type. Harry Dresden is a good and likeable guy. Someone who would probably make a good friend even without his magical powers. He actually has to do a lot without using magic as well - things are never too easy for him.
The reason I gave the book 4 and not 5 stars was I did not care for the caption that the author decided he should tell readers about that was on the T-shirt that Harry puts on mid-way through the book; I don't know why the author did this as it will offend a lot of people, was totally unnecessary to the story and will even give people who think that books about wizards are "evil" something to point to to make their argument (remember the anti-Harry Potter protests?). I also thought that the final "battle" scene went on a little too long and had a few too many things going on in it as well.
Overlooking these issues that I had with the book, I liked it a lot and would recommend it to others. The author writes very well and makes a really "fantastic" plot line seem (almost) totally believable. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
Rating: -
"Storm Front" is the first in a series, and though it's one of the weakest in the series it certainly drew me in and kept me wanting more.
The series follows Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden as he tries to earn enough money to eat, keep from getting killed by the good guys, the bad guys, and the in-between guys, and occasionally saves the world. Throughout the series so far, Harry grows up a lot (one of the things I really enjoyed about the books) and we meet a fascinating cast of well-fleshed-out characters.
"Storm Front" follows Harry as he tries to figure out who's killing people with magic, before his slightly psychotic and extremely overzealous parole officer decides it must be him and separates his head from the rest of his body. There's a lot of break-neck action, an interesting mystery, and characters that I felt were very easy to relate to. There's a nice coating of humor--it's probably the best urban fantasy series I've read for making me laugh. (Discworld wins as the best fantasy series that makes me laugh.) The humor also makes the fact that Butcher puts his protagonists through the wringer, physically and emotionally, a bit easier. One of the things that first attracted me to the series was that Butcher isn't afraid to hurt Harry and others, or to let them change and grow. While he's not GRR Martin, people do get hurt, people do get mentally traumatized, and sometimes everything isn't all right.
"Storm Front" is a first book, though, and sometimes the exposition feels a bit forced and rushed. In one part the mystery hinges a bit too much on coincidence (certainly not anywhere near a Dickensian level, but some mystery buffs might be miffed). Butcher also likes taking what could be a stereotype (the spunky female cop, the quirky nerd, the rebellious teenage girl, the monster with a heart of gold) and making them into actual interesting, unique characters. The appearance of stereotype may put some people off, however.
This is my favorite urban fantasy series, so I would definitely suggest giving it a try. The first two books are more stand-alone, while in the third book the universe and cast of characters expand dramatically (and I think to the betterment of the series). Happy reading!
Rating: -
I am a huge fan of all of Jim Butchers work. The best part about Jim's books, whether it The Dresden Files or the Codex Alera, is that the each book is just as good or better than the one before it. That's an incredible accomplishment since Storm Front is so amazing. The Dresden Files are a lot of fun. And I think that is what reading should be all about.
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