Book Review: Storm Front

Title: Storm Front: Book One of the Dresden Files Author: Jim Butcher Publisher: Roc Year: 2000 Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 4 stars

One sentence synopsis: Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only wizard detective, investigates a double murder committed with black magic.

A full synopsis of this book can be found on Goodreads.

A short summary of my thoughts can be found on my Goodreads review.

Spoiler Level: Low

This is a book that I would have probably never picked for myself. It was highly recommended by my brother, and as we usually share the same tastes, I thought I’d give it a shot. For my first venture into urban fantasy, I’m pretty pleased.

I have read some absolutely scathing reviews of this book, citing chauvinism, an illogical magic system, and bad humour as reasons why this book isn’t very good. I heartily disagree. While these views are not unfounded, I thought this book to be incredibly entertaining despite some of its faults.

Character

Is Harry chauvinistic? Yes. Do I think he’s a bad person? No. Do I think he’s a bad character? Definitely not.

In fact, Harry is undoubtedly the best part about this book, and here’s why: He’s sarcastic, funny, honest, and resourceful. He makes a potentially serious, run of the mill murder investigation, albeit driven by magical forces, into a humorous, yet thought-provoking character study.

His first-person narrative provides much of the comic relief which balances the heavier, darker material of the novel. While I did enjoy the plot, it’s Harry’s wise-cracking antics and unusual behaviour that steal the spotlight from the slightly predictable and simple storyline.

Does that excuse his attitude towards women? No; however, I believe that this doesn’t overshadow the overwhelmingly positive traits I saw in him, nor does it detract from the book in a substantial way.

Perhaps one of the reasons I found Harry so charming was the way he reminded me of a teenage boy. Case in point:

Stays up all night, sleeps until 3 in the afternoon
Is constantly behind on rent, does not have a steady job
Spends his days in sweatpants, cowboy boots, and a duster jacket (the guy clearly does not have things figured out)
Lack of dating experience/preoccupation with female appearances
Finds himself in situations that reflect a teenage boys dream (ex: two girls interested in him at the same time) and his worst nightmare (ex: girl sees him naked)

I’m not exactly sure how old Harry is, but he seemed immature. Perhaps this is why some readers thought his sense of humour to be a little juvenile. I didn’t mind this. I actually appreciated the fact that Harry is a bit of a mess, a bit of a kid at heart, as it leaves room for character growth in future novels.

Flaws

As for Harry’s chauvinism. While reading, I did notice several instances of this. One striking instance of this is when Harry suggests that the murder was committed by a woman. Why? Because

“Women are better at hating than men…Hell, witches are just plain meaner than wizards. This feels like feminine vengeance of some kind…”

Moreover, Harry’s narrative voice reduces every, and I mean every, female character to a sexual object. Each one is noted for their physicality, their beauty, their ultimate femininity. From quiet housewife Monica, to vampire seductress Bianca, to Linda and Susan and even his friend and co-worker Murphy.

Of all these characters, even the tough cop couldn’t escape Harry’s roving eyes. He describes her as having small, feminine hands, guesses that she has “muscular, well-shaped legs” under her pantsuit, and says her looks cast her as more of a “favourite aunt or a cheerful mother than a hard-bitten homicide detective.”

It’s unfortunate that in order to make himself feel like more of a man, he has to devalue Murphy’s role. Though the strongest female character in the novel, she still must defer to Harry. He always has to hold the position of power. He insists on opening doors for her, despite knowing

“It irritates the hell out of Murphy, who had to fight and claw and play dirty with the hairiest men in Chicago to get as far as she has...”

...just so he can uphold his values, a misconstrued sense of chivalry that actually comes across as sexism. He won’t share details of the case with her in order to protect her. Of course, when this backfires, he’s the one who has to save her.

It is most disappointing to see this when Harry himself states that

“men ought to treat women like something other than just shorter, weaker men with breasts.”

Yet, that’s exactly what he’s doing by taking away female autonomy and perceiving them as sexual objects. Even other characters point this out, calling him a “chauvinist pig” more than once. Heck, even Harry knows this about himself.

Which brings me to my next point: this character is deeply flawed. And I truly mean this as a good thing. Some examples:

He’s unsure of the right thing to do (e.g. to tell Murphy or not about his discoveries)
Is tempted by black magic to kill the bad guy
Isn’t perfect with the ladies (e.g. forgets date, demon frog thing ruins their date, typical stuff)
Shows his weaknesses (e.g. throws up not once, but twice in the novel, showing his uneasiness around gore)

Magic System

Even his magic is “flawed” as it feels more like tricks than actual magic. He uses sweeping brooms and an elevator to kill scorpions, at Bianca’s he throws a magic handkerchief to blind her with light, and he contains his potions in empty water bottles. This magic isn’t grandiose, and its resourcefulness/silliness can be attributed back to his magician father.

Despite the magic system lacking cohesive logic, it seemed to reflect Harry’s ungroomed, immature personality. So, while at points it didn’t seem like it made a whole lot of sense where the magic came from or how it was harnessed or stored, it didn’t bother me in the slightest. It was fun and entertaining and fit with Harry’s character.

However, when Harry really buckled down and got serious, he became more than just a simple magician who catches faeries, draws circles, and carries charms. The first sign of Harry’s power is when he defeats the demon. The second, when he faces Marcone at Varsity.

Both scenes were mesmerizing to read, in terms of tone and character. The storm in particular was a great setting that contributed to the intensity and horror of that scene. In both scenes, Harry’s power comes from his anger, which develops a bit of the darker side he fears within himself.

While I wasn’t completely emotionally invested into Harry’s character, Butcher did offer enough information about his past that intrigued me and made me want to know more. As the first novel in a long series of Harry’s adventures, which I hear gets even better and better, I am sure that his character will deepen even more, as well as the world of magic he introduces us to.

Supporting Characters

While I did love the character of Harry, flaws and all, Butcher’s side characters were easily one of the weakest parts of the novel. In addition to the female characters who abide by sexist tropes and lack depth, the characters of Morgan and the villain in particular were poor to say the least. I found both really cheesy.

Even though Morgan came on like a macho, tough kind of guy, every time he waltzed into Harry’s business I rolled my eyes. I literally couldn’t take him seriously. He was a dumb jock, which Butcher seemingly wanted to exploit, but I just couldn’t stand him.

The villain was worse, but thankfully only appeared at the ending of the book. He was the stereotypical bad guy, with his screeching and ridiculous shouting of “Damn you!” to Harry, which, again, I couldn’t take seriously. His control of magic made him a formidable foe, especially for the first book in a series, even though the dialogue was laughable.

Thank god for good old sex-loving Bob, the talking skull, the only supporting character I could tolerate.

Final Thoughts

I feel like I gave this book a bit of bashing, but as 4 stars indicate, I really did enjoy this book. I will definitely be continuing on with this series in the future. I highly recommend it, not just for those who love fantasy but for those who like humorous narrators. Its greatest strength was its hilarity, so to leave you all on a good note, here’s one of my favourite quotes:

“Paranoid? Probably. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that there isn’t an invisible demon about to eat your face.”

What did you think about Storm Front? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Thanks for reading!