Sunday, March 29, 2015

Annotated reading three -- Fantasy

Author: Jim Butcher                                                                


Title: “Storm front”

Genre: Fantasy

Publication Date: 2000

Number of Pages: 322 pages

Geographical Setting: Chicago, IL

Time Period: Present day

This book is number one in the Dresden Files

Synopsis: Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a Wizard who lists his services in the yellow pages. He has somewhat steady employment as a paid consultant for the police department. As jobs are not flooding in and rent is late, Dresden is elated when a missing persons case is offered to him and he is called in as a consultant on a double-homicide case. As Dresden gets more involved he starts to wonder if  the person he is supposed to find wants to find him as well. 

This book is considered urban fantasy or mystery fantasy. It definitely meets the main criteria of Fantasy which is that it must have magic or enchantment. The story line featured Good versus Evil and with the protagonist encountering and fighting both flawed humans, creatures and demons. This book was fast-paced from the beginning which is somewhat uncharacteristic of Fantasy, but it helped hold my attention. There are currently 15 books in the Dresden series and undoubtedly more to come.

My library has this book designated simply as mystery. It is a great story filled with adventure and a great writing style. There was nothing that would have led me to suggest it to someone who enjoyed Fantasy other than my now familiarity with the author and series. This book may not appeal to everyone, but I really enjoyed it and based on the summaries of other titles in the series, it only gets better!

Examples of the read-alikes are from NoveList. 

Titles that are similar include: "Moon over SoHo" by Ben Aaronvitch, "Angel's ink" by Jocelynn Drake and "Box office poison" by Phillipa Bornikova. 

Similar authors include: Steven Brust, Charles De Lint and Ben Aaronvitch.  



6 comments:

  1. I keep meaning to start reading this series, but I never have! It sounds right up my alley.

    I like that you annotated this series because it shows the wide range of fantasy fiction. At the library where I work, the old stickers that went on fantasy books showed a little cartoon wizard, and I think that is what a lot of people think fantasy always is - Lord of the Rings-esque high fantasy. The truth is, though, it's a really diverse genre that can appeal to a lot of people for different reasons.

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  2. Hi Laurie ~ I am unaware of this author and his series but it sounds enjoyable. I love wizards and detective stories. I also enjoy fast paced reads. I had to look up "Box office Poison" by Phillipa Bornikova. This book sounds like an excellent reading as well. Thanks for the great suggestions.

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  3. This was a really fun read! I enjoyed it and definitely recommend trying it.

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  4. I also love this series. Harry is likable and funny.

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