Our collective read through of the first book in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, Storm Front, has come to an end. Thank you to Jeff for suggesting the title. Despite planning to read Jim Butcher for years, it is unlikely I would have gotten to this series any time soon without the motivation of the group read. Thank you also to those who have participated in the reading and discussion.
When we last left Harry he was beaten and bruised but not broken. And the final act of Harry’s first recorded adventure was every bit as harrowing as the first two acts had been.
Jeff and I shared questions duties on this final section of the book. Jeff’s are the better questions. 🙂
Spoilers ahead? Yes indeed.
1. Were you disappointed that we didn’t get see any more of Bianca and Harry together?
I am and yet I am not. So what do I mean by that wishy-washy answer? One of the most exciting chapters in Storm Front was the interaction between the wizard Harry and the vampiress Bianca. We learned a lot about Harry and about Bianca in that scene and I mentioned in the discussion for the first section that I was holding out hope for more of the same in future interactions. So on one hand I am disappointed.
On the other hand, no further interaction also meant that Harry did not end up in a to-the-death battle between the characters which could very well have been the case. I didn’t expect that to happen, but it well could have. Bianca is too interesting of a character to lose this early in a series and so in the end I am pleased because I have no doubts that we will see more of her in Harry’s future.
2. We finally get to see Harry go on the magical offensive in this section of the book. Any favorite action moment?
I don’t know that I have a favorite moment per se, but I did enjoy the fact that Harry was finally driven to the point where he was going to go in with all guns blazing, so to speak. Even then Harry maintains the dimensionality that he presented throughout the rest of the story as he was admittedly fearful and unsure despite his decision to take the fight to his enemy.
I guess there was a favorite moment of sorts, and that is where Harry puts his Warden, Morgan, in his place. That was highly entertaining and quite satisfying.
3. How did you feel about where Harry and Murphy’s relationship was at when the book ended?
Had I read the book when it first came out I would have been somewhat disappointed by where Butcher left them. But given that I know this is a series I know that they will have plenty of time in their future for more ups and downs in their relationship. Looking at it objectively, it is actually a pretty courageous move for Butcher to choose not to wrap up every lose end with a pretty bow at the end of the story. I was very shocked by all that Murphy had to go through in the climactic third part of the book. Wow!!! Butcher really put her through hell this first book. He beat up both her and Harry pretty good. I cannot imagine what kind of horrors he has in store for them in the future.
I guess I’m glad that Butcher didn’t end the book with the two of them having a great relationship. It would have cheapened all that they went through in the book and would not have felt authentic with the way in which Butcher established their relationship earlier in the story. Kudos to Butcher.
4. (This question morphs somewhat into Jeff’s ‘Harry and Murphy’ question, but) How did you feel about the wrap up after the climax, the brief mentions of various characters as part of Harry’s closing narration?
By and large I was okay with it. Considering how Butcher put the pedal down in the second section of the book and didn’t let off until Harry’s final battle was at an end, it would have exhausted the reader for the end to have been strung out with long resolutions tying up each loose thread. I would have loved to get a more detailed report of the adventures from Bob’s Night Out. 😉 I know it wouldn’t have worked within the rhythm of the story, but it would have been fun.
As I mentioned above, I was not disappointed in the way in which Butcher left Harry and Murphy. That being said, I am not as happy that Butcher resorted to the “Murphy doesn’t remember what happened” ploy. I am hoping that this is just what she told Harry at this point but that she actually does remember. It would make for a much more interesting partnership in the future if she was cognizant of both the realities of the danger in Harry’s world and was well aware of the decisions Harry made that led her to that point.
5. Now that you’ve seen Harry in all three acts of a story arc, what are your thoughts about him as a character, particularly in light of this being a debut novel for the series.
I touched on this a bit in an earlier question, but I am very impressed with the dimension that Butcher brought to a character who could very easily have fit into a cliched detective mold. And lest you think that is an insult, I know of many two-dimensional characters that I still enjoy very much. Instead Butcher infuses Harry with a nice balance of weaknesses and character flaws to counteract his wizardly skills and swagger. Harry succeeds and he fails. He makes some heroic moves all on his own and he also has to rely of the assistance of others to have success. He makes mistakes and he works to make up for those mistakes but he cannot simply wave his magic wand and erase the consequences of his decisions. For what could be brushed off as “merely another urban fantasy”, Butcher delivers a series opening that satisfies and shows loads of promise for future stories. The fact that this is the debut novel makes it even more impressive.
6. Any finally, a two-parter: Discuss your overall experience with the book and/or the group read and will you be reading the next book in the series?
I think my overall experience with the book has probably been obvious throughout these three discussions. I haven’t read very many detective stories but by and large I have enjoyed the ones I have read. Count me a fan. I am also a fan of a wide variety of detective/police shows and films from William Powell’s portrayal of The Thin Man to the BBC’s Midsomer Murders. My hope going into this story was that I would enjoy the main character and would be satisfied with the mystery elements of the story. I am not as drawn to urban fantasy novels and so my only focus with those elements was that I hoped that they would work within the private detective framework. They worked beautifully. I was impressed with Butcher’s magic system and enjoyed the fact that the supernatural/fantastic parts blended in well with the rest of the story elements rather than overwhelmed them.
I am definitely going to read more of the Dresden series, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Thanks again to all of you for your participation. Please leave links to your discussion posts below.
Previous Storm Front posts:
Week One Discussion
Week Two Discussion
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This book is a selection for the Peril of the Group Read portion of the 6th annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril (R.I.P.) Challenge. To find out more information and/or to sign up to participate, please follow the link. If you are interested in more books or films that are being reviewed as part of this event, please visit the R.I.P. VI Review Site.
Yay!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Carl, and I have to say, as the series progresses Butcher just keeps getting better…and so does Harry 😉 Love, Love, Love the fact that you are able to vividly describe the feel and characters in a book in a way I never could. Thank you 😀
Thanks Kelly. 🙂 I am glad I enjoyed the book as well. Considering how long it took me to give the series a try it would have been a bit of a bummer to be disappointed by it. Storm Front is what I would describe as a “fun book”, and I never tire of discovering books that are just a good, fun read or authors who can do that kind of book right. Kudos to Jim Butcher for what he has accomplished. I’m happy to hear (and I’ve heard it several times) that the series improves.
Yes, I always refer to the series as easy reads (finally clarified that in the Ghost Story post…lol) They’re just pure enjoyment 😀
And there is nothing wrong with that.
Thanks so much for hosting the group read. I really enjoyed this first group read (of this kind). It was such a good experience in terms of really flushing out parts of the book in ways I might not have thought about on my own. (And I still can’t believe how many group reads you had and have going right now. Wow.)
I enjoyed reading your answers, you have such a good way of expressing your thoughts. That is such a good point about Harry and Bianca, that they would have had another confrontation had they come together again in this book and that could have gotten redundant in just one book. Hopefully, she turns up again in future books and their “relationship” is explored (tentatively) as they go. I’d be tempted to read the series if only to find out what happens between them, if anything. Course, I’m tempted to read the series regardless.
I wish there had been a bit more about Murphy there at the end. A little conversation or something to get a better idea of her take on everything, whether she remembered what happened or not. I just would have liked a little more of her side of things. But I did like how her and Harry’s relationship was left, kind of back where they were and perhaps, as a result of what happened, a little more? As a working relationship I mean. Guess I will have to read more in the series to find out.
It was my pleasure Elizabeth. I’m so happy to have finally read this first book.
Yes, I’ve went a bit crazy on the group reading front, but I’m enjoying it. Its a new thing for me so I have that “new thing” enthusiasm!!!
I agree about Harry and Bianca. There is just too much potential for them to have interesting, and somewhat scary, dealings in the future. Wouldn’t want to see that kind of opportunity wasted.
I’m with you on Murphy. I would have liked to see Butcher spend just a bit more time with a face to face moment between her and Harry at the end. I did feel a bit cheated, but not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the story. I wonder if he did write something more and editors told him to change it or if leaving things the way he did was entirely his idea?
You could be right, about the end of the book. It is hard to know what might have been before editing. Or I suppose he could have wanted to leave it overly vague hoping we’d want to continue on with the series to find out more.
I imagine that is part of it as well. I do like that not everything was wrapped up cleanly as that does work well for an ongoing series to have a mess or two to carry into the next book.
I have to say I went beyond being impressed by Harry as a character and went on to kind of wanting to treat him like a little brother or something. I think it was just all those scenes where he didn’t really have anyone to feed him, or clothe him or drive him around. Heh. I’d totally spoil him if I were his older sister.
I am very interested in finding out how Harry and Murphy’s relationship will have progressed after the incidents in this book. I have a feeling Murphy remembers more than she cares to admit to Harry. But I found their slightly rumpled friendship comforting and hope for more interaction between the two.
Yes, Harry was definitely in need of some TLC, that is for sure. He is even more inept in some ways than the stereotypical bachelor.
I’m hoping Murphy remembers more than she is letting on as well (sort of like Castle this season). I am glad that theirs is not a neat and tidy partnership as it made the story much more interesting and will no doubt continue to do so.
I look forward to reading more in this series. I really enjoyed this book.
Me too, Kailana. I almost wish we were moving right into it, but I am enjoying the other books we are reading.
oh come on Carl if you have seen The Thin Man what about Charlie Chan?
I remember watching some Charlie Chan movies when I was a kid, but I haven’t watched any in my adult years.
I have some charlie chan dvd’s lol.
btw: who is the artist doing the dresden covers? they sure made him good looking ! lol
His name is Christian McGrath. He has done covers for several urban fantasy authors and his work is consistently great. You can find his image galleries here:
http://www.christianmcgrath.com/
Hi Carl. You are a Thin Man fan! I wish we were neighbors. I love that series. You love Cary Grant, The Thin Man, and discussing books just to mention a few. We would have so much to talk about. Hopefully I will be back online soon so we can discuss more subjects that we enjoy. Oh and I was in a bookstore the other day and saw some Gaiman. I didn’t buy them yet but you are talking me into it.
Oh yes, the Thin Man series are among my favorite classic films. I watch at least one if not several of them every year. I think Powell and Loy have perfect chemistry and Myrna Loy is one of those classic actresses that I just adore.
And Cary Grant is just fantastic. We watched Bringing Up Baby again the other day. Will be catching Arsenic and Old Lace here soon when it gets closer to Halloween.
Looking forward to you getting back online.
Just realised that I completely forgot to link up my posts for boht this and the Fragile Things posts! Whoops!
I am planning to read more in the series too – hopefully before the next RIP!
Glad you remembered. Hopefully I’ll get some free time here soon and can get caught up with everyone’s posts.
I’m sorry I simply didn’t get a chance to write a final post, because I really enjoyed the group read and I shall certainly be reading more of The Dresden Files. I said at the end of week 2 that I was curious about where Harry would draw the line at using his power if it weren’t for the White Council and, now that they are sort of off his back, I want to know what’ll happen.
I think that Murphy and Harry’s relationship had to end up on such a low-key note because they’ve been through so much they both need a breathing space. And there’s still Susan – though I think she’s more interested in Harry than he is in her, maybe?
An aside: you say you’re not as drawn to urban fantasy, but there are two good series set in London that I’d recommend. One is by Ben Aaronovitch, published here as Rivers of London (Midnight Riot elsewhere) and the other is Kate Griffin’s Matthew Swift series, starting with A Madness of Angels – slow to start but great once it gets going).
Me too.
I’m with you on Harry and Murphy. It definitely needed to not be some big climactic ending with the two of them. I just wish that Butcher wouldn’t have had her have no memory of the events. And of course maybe that will return in future books. I look forward to finding out.
Susan will be a fun character I think.
I am probably more apt to keep urban fantasy at a distance simply because of the proliferation of the stuff in the marketplace. At some point it all seems like overkill and with that comes the idea, legitimate or not, that most urban fantasy is derivative dreck. Proof against that however is of course this book which I really enjoyed, and I really liked the first book in Kat Richardson’s series. I do try to keep an open mind but with so many books to read it isn’t surprising that I don’t pick up more urban fantasy.
I haven’t read all that much urban fantasy myself though I’ve seen some fairly good reviews for the Greywalker series and think I might give them a try. I’m finishing a book at the moment that I’ve had on the go for a while – of course, now I realise that it’s The Dresden Files transferred to England, pretty much. It’s doubly annoying because, although it’s just entertaining enough to make me want to read the end, it’s completely unproofread, full of missing punctuation (except where it’s unnecessary – aargh!)
I do hate when books have a large number of grammatical and punctuation errors. Hard to get into the flow of the book.
Hi
I’m glad I picked up on your group read here – I’ve bought the first two books and I’m really looking forward to them – for that reason I’ve not read all the comments so as not to pick up spoilers.
Thanks
Lynn 😀
Yes, you definitely don’t want to read these posts if you haven’t read the first book. I’ve put the second one on my Christmas wishlist and look forward to reading it, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Loved it – thanks! Know what you mean about the ‘memory loss’ thing being a bit of a cop out! Kind of couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for Harry in this book – not because the White Council are on his case, Murphy no longer trusts him – or because he gets beaten up (a few times) – but because he seemed lonely!! Guess it’s to be expected given his occupation but he doesn’t really have friends, his peers don’t trust him and he’s single! Oh well, he doesn’t really have much time to dwell on it I suppose.
Great group read – wish I’d picked up on it sooner.
Lynn 😀
I’ll be interested to see how the events of this novel between Murphy and Dresden play out in the future novels. I can’t imagine Butcher will just let things lie.
And yes, he does seem to me to be a bit of a lonely character and I think that is some of his appeal.