The Dresden Files

An earlier version of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #137 (March, 2008).

“My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. ”   

Imagine a young Merlin working as a private investigator in modern day Chicago. That, in a nutshell, is the Dresden Files. The series is ‘supernatural noir’ of the sort which became very popular in the 1990s, evoking comparison with television’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, comics' John Constantine, or Laurel K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels.  The genre melds the noir detective story with iconic fantasy or horror fiction concepts such as vampires, werewolves, and magic.  Butcher’s novels firmly fit the genre, but they have their own unique feel so that they add to the genre rather than simply drawing from it.

Much like its literary fore-father, detective fiction, supernatural noir is distinguished by the strength of its main characters.  The stories are episodic and work best if the ‘detective’ who links each tale to the next is someone the reader wishes to spend time with.  They may not be likeable, indeed Sherlock Holmes became the most successful literary character to date by being quite unlikable, but they must be fascinating.  Harry Dresden is both fascinating and likable.  He is a powerful, but young wizard, skilled enough that his unusual escapes and triumphs are quite believable yet vulnerable enough that each encounter feels like a true threat. He is especially attractive as someone the 'nerd' audience can identify with, he was bullied while young, is an outsider, and drops geek references constantly. 

What sets Dresden apart from similar heroes like John Constantine or Anita Blake is his inherent decency.  Dresden is at heart a good guy, with a refreshingly mid-west morality, so John Constantine’s amorality and the sexual politics of Anita Blake are absent.  He feels protective about the weak, doesn’t jump in the sack every few pages, and is essentially honest.  Paired with that decency is a far less cynical view of the Catholic Church than one usually finds in this genre.  One of the later characters, Michael Carpenter, is one of the best examples of a ‘holy knight’ or paladin that one will find anywhere in literature.

The series is currently up to fifteen novels, a pair of short story collections, ten graphic novels, a roleplaying game, and a single season television series (there are rumors of new television series in the works).  I have read all of the novels but the most recent, Skin Game.  The early books follow a basic formula where Harry is investigating some sort of supernatural crime, or several such crimes (which turn out later to be connected).  As he more closely investigates the crime he runs into complications from Chicago’s other supernatural inhabitants and faces greater danger to himself and those he cares about.  This leads ultimately to a climax involving magical conflict.  Things are then set generally right, but complications and loose ends leave room for future plot developments. Formulaic, but like detective fiction, Supernatural Noir thrives on formula and the Dresden Files are no exception. 

Later books break from this formula as the 'through plot' becomes more prominent. There are several of these, the surface plot involves a supernatural war between wizards and vampires, which is eventually resolved in Changes, but revealing itself through the novels is a deeper plot that seems to tie the series into most of fantasy, horror, and mythology.  

The spice of the story is usually provided by the crime and the villain, Butcher’s villains are usually quite powerful, but do seem to lack the sheer verve of a grand villain such as Doyle’s Moriarty.  But they serve to highlight Dresden’s personal strengths and weaknesses. Though several are recurring, for myself none are particularly memorable.

The recurring supporting cast is far more memorable, ranging from Detective Karin Murphy, charged with investigating Chicago’s more unusual crimes to ‘Bob’, a bodiless elemental spirit that serves Dresden as advisor, friend, and confessor.  Unlike some authors, Butcher treats the secondary characters with respect and generally so does Dresden.  Recurring in novel after novel, they add to the sense of completeness that pervades Dresden’s world.   

I mentioned the short story collections above. I think Harry Dresden really lends himself to the short story format: light and quick, and usually somewhat humerous. The short stories are in some ways even more enjoyable then the novels, especially the latter novels which grow increasing grim.

I want to mention the audiobooks. The series is read by James Marsters, who played 'Spike' on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. He does a truly masterful job, a nigh perfect match of reader and material, the only comparable voice acting I can think of is Jim Dale for the Harry Potter series (who is just ever so slightly better then Marsters). In fact, I believe the novels owe a great deal of their popularity to his masterful reading of the series, which should take nothing away from Butcher's excellent prose. 

Butcher’s magic system is obviously influenced by the ‘mana’ system of GURPS and the various magical forms found in White Wolf’s 1^st edition Storyteller system.  Though it differs from the Vancian ‘fire and forget’ system of AD&D, there is still much for AD&D game masters to glean, since Butcher pays close attention to legendary and mythical magical ideas (the description of potion brewing in the first novel is particular interesting).  Adding a further twist, technology tends to fail in random and unpredictable ways when wizards and magic are about.  This clever technique acts to limit Dresden’s power and provides amusing annoyances and obstructions.  Game master’s running a modern campaign might consider adding such a weakness to preserve game balance and introduce humor to their campaigns.     

I felt an almost instant connection with this series when I first picked it up,  so it didn't surprise me to see that Butcher lists Tolkien and Brian Daley's Han Solo trilogy as major influences, two of my favorite series as a teenager and today.  When he quotes Tolkien, he gets the quotation correct from the books!

Indeed, Jim Butcher looks and talks like just about any other gamer you might see at a con or at your friendly local game shop (check out his website, http://www.jim-butcher.com/).  He peppers his books with appropriate geek culture references and some of his characters even play role-playing games themselves (which Butcher handles more realistically than I’ve yet seen in fiction).  This only adds to the reader's enjoyment of the books. 

I love the Dresden universe, it has characters that are like old friends, foes worth fighting, and I very seldom come up against logic lapses in the writing.

The Dresden Files novels:

1. Storm Front (2000)
2. Fool Moon (2001)
3. Grave Peril (2001)
4. Summer Knight (2002)
5. Death Masks (2003)
6. Blood Rites (2004)
7. Dead Beat (2005)
8. Proven Guilty (2006)
9. White Night (2007)
10. Small Favor (2008)
11. Turn Coat (2009)
12. Changes (2010)
13. Ghost Story (2011)
14. Cold Days (2012)
15. Skin Game (2014)

Dresden Files short story anthologies

1. Side Jobs (2010)
2. Brief Cases (2018)

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.