Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Orbit Books)

Firstly, before I really put this novel in the review machine, I want you to know that this review will turn out slighty shorter they’re used. Couple of reasons a) The book is light, entertaining stuff but not really meant as a high profile work of SFF, so analysing the various details of the prose, themes etc would not yield incredible insights in the book b) I am kind of experimenting with the shorter format, see if I can retain the quality but reduce the time you’ve take to read it as a whole (this means I will keep the summary shorter, but my actual review will be mostly of the same lenght c) I have limited time online these days, ‘regular life’ is kicking in a higher gear as we speak and although I still plan to review consistently, I have other business to take care of as well. I do have managed to squeeze reading this book in between. It is, after giving it some thought, exactly the type of book that is easily to read between work related activities or just any activities that can categorized under the notion ‘regular life’. That might well appeal to a lot of people who have not that much time for reading to spare.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher is the first novel of a long ‘casebook’ series “The Dresden Files” that is going to span a total of around the 20 books (will be capped off with an Apocalyptic Trilogy) revolving around the character Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Chicago’s first (and only) Wizard P.I. So far nine installments of the Dresden Files have been released, with the tenth volume “Small favor” coming in April 2008. Jim Butcher began writing in the early 90’s, soon after he decided he wanted to publish his novels. In 2000 he finally struck up a deal with ROC fantasy and his first ‘Storm Front’ (the one we will be taking a further look into) was brought to the SFF scene. The series was so popular that the Sci-Fi channel picked it up as a TV series and broadcasted one season of the Dresden Files. After the twelfth and last episode of the season had been aired back in April of this year, Sci-Fi announced that it would cancel the show; so the success of the TV series was short-lived.

Storm Front is like I said the first ‘Harry Dresden’ casebook set in a “alternate” Chicago where magic is real (so magic realism) but only a few actually believe in it; it’s a first-person tale told by an irascible wizard named Harry Dresden, who regularly gives the magical establishment indigestion — and the police, the same. Harry’s regular job is that of a P.D. a private detective but he works closely with the police department of Chicago. Because when something special happens – something that is related to magical activities, they bring in Harry Dresden. At the start of this novel, the wizard is brought in on a grisly double murder commited with black magic (breaking the first rule of magic, “one shall not kill another with magic”). Seeing dollar signs, Harry is eager to dive deeper into the mysterious murder case but he does not realise that there is a lot more on stake. It is in fact, a gamble with lives at stake – even his own because the black magician behind the murder does not take it kindly that there is a wizard messing up business. And that is when things start to get… interesting. You see, magic it can get a guy killed.

As I said at the start of this review, Storm Front is meant as a light, entertaining work and it does succeed at that. It is that type of ‘witty’ novel, full of humor where you can’t help but laugh. Especially the first part -in which the general storyline of the book and the most featured characters of the novel are introduced, is great fun. Harry Dresden is a great character and despite his clumsiness – or maybe because of his clumsiness very likeable. He is well fleshed out and a round character, an interesting personality and when he has to kick buts Jim Butchers to keep him under control. Why is the latter important you ask? Well, I think it is an area where a lot of authors seem to go awry with keeping their main character in check. It would not be the first time that I read a novel where the main character ’suddenly’ finds a secret resource of power within himself, that he can tap into and defeat the bad guy(s) that way. Not the case here, the final showdown was very well thought out and realistic (although, in a way predictable but I did not mind that too much); that’s all I ask for when reading a novel of this sort. However, apart from Harry, the rest of the cast was not all that convincing realistic; the characterisation of any other than Harry seems to suffer from the first-person perspective. This does not include Mister (Harry’s cat) and Bob (a blue air spirit trapped in a skull), who were hilarious at times. It is actually these small details and remarks hidden in the dialogues that make Storm Front so much fun.
The prose was not mind blowing, but pretty much your average writing and I did not encounter any errors or inconsistencies in the prose. So that’s a plus. The style added to the overall pace of the novel (I am sure you can finish the effort in 4,5 hours or less) but was not that special either. I felt that at some point the plotline was a tad too much ‘bent’ (ie. all the stuff coming down at once on the shoulders of Harry), the ending was rushed a bit. In only a couple of pages Butcher’s notifies us of the results of other events plus the fate of the characters involved and then quickly slams the book shut. It was kind of a cliffhanger ending. Also, about two-third of the story some things began to feel a bit repetitive and tiresome, as if the story was some sort of loop of events happening one at the time.

Nonetheless, Jim Butcher succeeded in bringing an entertaining, light and witty novel to the felt, not mindblowing SFF but very likeable and hilarious at times. I do suspect that some things will begin to feel a bit repetitive at times, even more after nine novels. For now, I would rate this effort:

Seven out of Ten