Not sure if this was posted already, but have been very busy tearing through these books (I'm on book four at the moment, almost ready for book five).

The main character is Harry Dresden and he's a wizard in modern day Chicago. He even advertises in the yellow pages. Basically take Harry Potter, make him an American, make his upbringing even more shitty, then age him some.

It's a great series if you're into a mix of fantasy and mystery (The guy is also a PI). It has it's funny parts, it's action and lays out how the "normal" world and the other planes work.

Definately recommend getting these. Book 1 of the series is titled Storm Front by Jim Butcher.

Is this what the TV series was based off of?

Yes it is what the TV show was based on. been meaning to pick these up as I have heard they are great books. was told that he doesnt use a hockey stick in the books. how sad.

Thumbs up on this series. While the first two are pretty good, book 3 begins his streak of awesomeness. Grave Peril, one of the later books, has one of the most awesome scenes I've ever seen described.

Hehe, wait till you read books 4 and 5. You just can't help but root for the guy. He's like the ultimate underdog!

And just finished book 6. Damn this series keeps getting better and better!

On book 8 now, with book 9 sitting by and this shit is still like literal crack! Can't get enough of this stuff!!!

Just finished book 9 and starting book 10. NO sign of slowing down on this one. I feel like a heroin junky with a duffle bag full of junk! The good times are here, but it's eating me knowing that eventually the good times will have to slow down and eventually end.

Working my way through 1 btw, will probably want to talk about it when its done :)

Hehe, will do. I'm really bad for giving away books and movies, but I dare not give anything from this series unless someone absolutely insists, simply due to the amount of epic win in these novels. Just started White Knight (Book 10) today. :)

Yeah, Dresden files rules. His aliera series is decent, but lacks the epic win of Harry Dresden. Still worth reading though.

Ok so book 1 done and I'm only kinda sold. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the read, but comparing it to Harry Potter is a bit much.

The thing that bothered me the most was that there wasn't any set of rules to be followed, and its possible that it just took a long time to establish the rules and the next books won't be as bad. What I mean is that every time Dresden got into trouble, and he was certainly going to die, he did some new magically ability that we didn't know he could do 3 pages before.

It also seemed to all wrap itself up extremely cleanly in the last few pages. It was a bit too convenient of an ending, and at least in Harry Potter the ending was a touch less convenient and somewhat bittersweet. Its odd the children's book has a more mature ending, but again ... like I said ... it was only the first book and I'm willing to give it a few more.

Hehe, wait for it. It gets much better.

Err, what kind of rules, rules on how magic works? Or what's ok and what's not ok to use? Kind of the fun of the series is learning all sorts of crap about the magic community, and what each groups' rules are. Usually done by having something happen, and then having him research why it happened the way it did so he can figure out how to counter it. Full Moon, in particular, is fun because of all the different ways there are to accomplish almost the same effect (werewolfish stuff)
If he's had time to prepare, he usually comes out on top, even if he didn't tell you how he prepared ahead of the incident in question. His allies?..not so much.
Oh, yeah, the neatness goes away. BAD things happen.

I don't quite recall bad or bittersweet things happening in the first book of potter, but then I only saw the movie of that....I'd put him in the category of Neal Stephenson, who, if you haven't read snow crash, cryptonomicon, and the baroque cycle, are missing seminal works of sci fi.

Just finished book 11 and still hungry for more!

This book series, if it was treated with respect to the written word, could be the next "Battlestar Galactica" with regards to drama and excitement.

I hope this guy never stops writing these books!

MUST GET BOOK 12!!!

Bin whenever I see you enthusiastic I am reminded of all the previous MMOs/Games you were like OMG OMG OMG it's the best things since sliced bread and I run the other way :p

Bin whenever I see you enthusiastic I am reminded of all the previous MMOs/Games you were like OMG OMG OMG it's the best things since sliced bread and I run the other way :p

U too!?! :p

Well, you'll only be denying yourself the pleasure of reading these books. :) The latest book has hit #1 on the New York Bestseller List!

Also just found out that they're doing a pen and paper RPG from this "Dresdenverse".

Looks pretty neat! http://www.evilhat.com/home/dresden-files-rpg/

"As Seen On SciFi" stickers on the book I just bought, eh? Was this a series?
Just finished Fool Moon and it certainly is a little darker, more realistic I guess. I am definately enjoying this series thus far.

Ok, just finished "Changes", the latest book in the series. Started Friday afternoon, finished Sunday morning LOL. When he says "Changes", Jim Butcher does NOT fuck around! :D

Oh I didn't realize connect the two (series and books and this thread) until now. I just started watching the TV series and man I love it. I may just read the books too.

Are they still making this show? I didn't bother watching it because I thought they shut it down after the first season.

Nope, only 1 season.

Hey Bin, have you read the short stories? I am deep enough in the series that I'm starting to see references to stuff I haven't read and have to assume they are in the shorts. Kinda annoying.

oh that sucks. this show is good :(

I havent' read the shorts yet, though they are available on his site apparently. I'm waiting for his next book, due out next month I think. He's apparently planning on releasing a book every six months until approximately book 23. A far cry from Robert Jordan (even when he was a live) who's Wheel of Time series started in 19 freaking 87!

I'm halfway through the 3rd book, trying to catch up a bit before Dragon*Con (Butcher will be making an appearance). I like the stories overall, but Dresden's incessant beating himself up over this and that is starting to grate. Not sure if I'll continue much further into the series.

Ya know what Binuven, fuck you - I'm done Changes and desperate for the next one, and frankly I don't think I can wait for the next one :(
In the 3rd one he just came off fucking a lot of things up, and some serious consequences if you remember correctly. He becomes ... somber, maybe, after that. From Proven Guilty on I felt they were pretty fantastic (compared to the other series we've been discussing - the Southern Vampire Diaries, where I just want to punch Sookie and then Charlene Harris in the face while reading the latter books)

Ive only read the first book and gonna stay away from the rest. the guys a great author! I got hooked on his codex of aleria series and did nothing but read for a week straight. no laundry no cooking just read till my eyes hurt.

LOL, it's like literary crack...and heroin...and the feeling you get having great sex...put into a needle....and injected over and over again into the frontal lobe of your brain hehe. You just can't wait to get the next book...which is what I'm doing now! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Butcher is going to be at Dragon*Con this year. I'd love to be caught up by then, but I don't see that happening. Still, if I hear anything interesting from him I'll post it.

Awesomeness! He's quickly become my favorite author.

I kinda want to go LARP with him after watching the movie Role Models.

I love Role Models, hilarious movie :D
I guess I'm going to pick up this series and read it since you guys all making enough noise about it's awesomeness.

Alrighty, back from Dragon*Con, and I did make it to Jim Butcher's panel. It was a good one, with much Q&A from the crowd. I took a lot of notes, most of which seem legible, though there might be holes and points of confusion. Enjoy:

Getting Started
Butcher wrote his 1st novel at 19. "It was awful." He wrote a 2nd and 3rd and 4th, all awful. His 5th was a rewrite of the 1st and was a different sort of awful, but still awful. He went to school and got a BS in English and continued taking classes. A woman named Debbie Chester became his teacher, and she had ideas about the writing process that he didn't like at all. "Come on, I have a BS in English and what do you have, other than 40 published novels?" Butcher decided he was going to prove to her that her techniques and lessons were worthless pablum. "I'll show her!" He did everything he told her -- the outlines, the rewrites, the character modeling and so on -- down to the letter, and his proof of the fallibility of his teacher's methods turned into...Stormfront, naturally.

Codex Aleria
This started from a debate he had with another guy on an online writer's workshop. As I recall, one of them (the opponent I think) held the position that a really good idea could make a good story even through crappy writing, while a tired and crappy idea would lead to a crappy story even under skilled hands. The debate opponent offered to give Butcher a bad idea to make a story from. Butcher said, "Give me two." Butcher would then post his story to the workshop's boards for judgment.

So the two crappy ideas that formed the foundation of Codex Aleria are: a lost Roman legion (the guy giving the ideas was sick of reading stories with this as an element) and...Pokemon. Butcher worked on this and ultimately decided it was good enough to skip the boards and to seek publishing instead. He lost the bet but added another set of books to his oeuvre.

On the Dresden RPG
The game follows his writing process. It also collects all his characters and many events under one cover. "Oh good, I don't have to go to the Dresden wiki to remember my characters. [The fans] remember the details far better than I do." The rulebook apparently contains a lot of margin notes, some of which are suggestive of plot lines. Butcher said that they weren't necessarily real to the stories he's writing but that one of the guys who worked on them has an uncanny knack for intuiting connections that Butcher has yet to reveal.

A New Series?
Butcher intends to write a sort of US Marshalls in space series with a friend named Cam Banks <sp?>. It'd be an apocalyptic fantasy of sorts. He's done some work on it in the past; the protagonist has been falling out of an airship for 3+ years.

How much do you plan ahead?
"There's stuff in Stormfront that won't come out until the big trilogy at the end." Butcher did this a lot: "My teacher said I had to."

Still active in MUSHes?
Not since the 90s

Research process?
It was heavy at the start especially, with Butcher hitting the metaphysical section at Borders regularly as he developed the magical process for the books. He also read a lot about criminal psychology, forensics, and police process. From there he would research the "current beastie," with werewolves especially taking up a lot of time for Fool Moon. He really got into the folklore from different locales, even consulting with local authors about the regional legendry that drove their works. Butcher recommends children's sections of libraries as a good source, since they tend to tell the story in its most basic terms.

A Teaser for Ghost Stories (the next book)
Harry Dresden gets stuck with solving his own murder. He is "sent back" but there's no body available, so he has to do it as a ghost, following all the rules thereof. This is a real pain in the ass because 1) being a ghost generally sucks; and 2) Harry is incompetent at it. As HD puts it, "Now I know why ghosts howl and moan when passing through the wall -- that stuff hurts."

Comment on the SyFy version of Dresden
"I refer to it as the Syfylis channel myself." "Could've been worse. They could've messed it up even more badly. You didn't see the first version." He did enjoy being on set and making a cameo. Apparently, the initial workup had little to do with his stories but the -- I think -- producer's son started reading the books and convinced the producer that, hey, there was good material there to draw from. /boggle

Short stories
A collection is due in October. Most of it has been published before in different places, but almost all his short stuff will be collected in this volume. It will also include a new novella that "takes place about 45 minutes after the end of Changes, but from Murphy's point of view." "Oooohhhhhhh," the crowd replied.

Bob the Skull <the crowd cheers>
During the writing of Stormfront, about 2 or 3 chapters in, Butcher's teacher asked him what was to come next. Butcher said that he wanted Dresden to talk to some kind of research assistant or teacher about what to do next. His teacher said, "That sounds good, just don't make him a talking head," alluding to the character from many a sci-fi story whose only role is exposition. But Butcher was going to show her! So he made him literally a talking head. Replied the teacher, "You think you're funny, don't ya."

The Blackstaff (spoiler)
"The Blackstaff (which I'm guessing is a literal thing -- I'm 3 chapters from the end of Proven Guilty and haven't seen it) keeps McCoy sane while he does insane things." Black magic makes a mind go bad, so McCoy needs the Blackstaff to protect his mind and soul from his own workings.

Any characters in Dresden books based on self/people JB knows? <last one is a spoiler from Winter Knight>
Bob: my inner 14 year old
Shiro: his martial arts teacher, who was descended from the last king of Okinawa. He was trained by Chinese monks who he hid among while the Yakuza looked for him. The Yakuza sent an assassin after him, which he killed. After half a dozen assassins ended up dead, the Yaks agreed to a sort of non-aggression pact.
Most women: from his wife, in various aspects. But don't tell her.
Anna: Jim auctioned off a horrible death at a con. A woman donated $3000 for cancer research, thus winning the right (This is in the next book on my list -- guess I shouldn't grow too attached to her :( ).

"My copy of Changes is defective. It doesn't have an ending. You need to write one." <has spoiler>
"Okay. Harry Dresden sets out to rescue his daughter from certain death even if it costs him his life. It did. THE END.


So...any chance for a new movie/TV series/video games...?
"Lions Gate has the rights to Dresden for 1 year, 9 months, 27 days -- not that I'm keeping track or anything."

So there's a final trilogy to end it all?
The last three books are entitled [I]Stars and Stones, Hell's Bells, and Empty Knight. Those phrases mean something, even if Harry doesn't know it.

Ivy's origin
"Maybe I'd just watched Children of the Damned -- creepy little girl seems a good idea for a character. The Archive is like a grown up Bob the Skull with greater bandwidth."

Oh yes, there's more.

What about the Kings of the Faerie? Do they exist?
They do! One has been on stage, and one has been mentioned: A Summer King in the books is the Erlking. A Winter King is....Santa Claus (who has many guises not related to the US' jolly fatman). The kings tend to be opposite in nature to their courts, so the Erlking is not at all a "nice" person, while Santa Claus is fairly personable.

About Changes (a little spoilerish)
"Harry had to decide what's important in life. Most of his material stuff got blown away. At the end of the day, the things he owns don't make him who he is."

Toot-Toot growing--too much pizza or more responsibility?
Yes, Toot-Toot has been getting bigger, and it's a bit of both. Pizza is symbolic, but if Toot-Toot has needed to do the job of a foot tall fairie, then he became a foot tall. He may grow more as Dresden gives him more to do.

The Vord and Canum from Codex Aleria"Okay, for the Zerg -- I mean Vord -- it's a totally original idea." The Canum came from his own dog, though I didn't follow the whole process.

What does Harry think of [allegedly apocalyptic year] 2012?
"Either it'll be a bumper year for him for money and jobs or he'll wish he were somewhere else. But as far as all the end of the world stuff, it's no more end of the world than any other day."

Where did "the Ick" come from?
Butcher needed a monster, so he came up with the properties that he wanted it to have then looked up the [Mayan? Incan? don't recall] words for "dark" and "eater." He was trying to work out a pronunciation but realized that Harry would just call it "the Ick" anyway.

How Jim Butcher got kicked out of the Oklahoma School of Professional Writing.
He was asked to give a speech at an alumni function. The dean wanted Jim to "give his opinion of the school," and Jim thought he meant it.

Is Mister okay? (presumably at the end of Changes)
"He's in better shape than Harry."

More on research...
Jim just notes that for all the research he did on werewolves, he never found anything in the folklore like the Hollywood conceptualization.

What is Bob's voice based on?
Bob's character is based on a Warhammer 40K character a friend (who was Jim's "gaming Yoda") played: "Bob the Elf, Slayer of Goblins!" Fun activity (since you can't hear me say it): Raise your voice up a couple octaves, add a nasal quality, and say in your best nerdspeak "Bob the Elf, Slayer of Goblins!" That's what Jim sounded like.

Jim's start in martial arts
He gotten beaten up a lot as a kid, being smart and mouthy (sounds like a character in a certain series, really). He wanted to get into the martial arts but his father didn't like the idea. At 13, while he was riding his bike, a kid pulled a knife on him. Jim freaked out a bit and beat the kid with his bicycle. His father decided that martial arts might be a good idea after all, though nobody messed with Jim after that incident "due to me being crazeeee."

Jim's martial arts story, which I'll try to remember.
NOTE: Jim stated that his sensei looked more like Mr. Miyagi than he had any right to, and he talked in a stilted manner with a heavy Japanese accent, so keep that in mind.

So, after some years of training Jim was ready to go to college. While saying goodbye to his sensei, sensei told him, "You...have much power...but no focus! You no spar! " Jim agreed that he would resist sparring with others, and off to school he went. So he worked out regularly and resisted the challenges of others, who needled him quite a lot. Finally, he'd had enough, and agreed to spar with one of his rivals. He kept to defense, arms in close and waiting patiently until he found an opening. His opponent opened up his guard, and Jim threw a straight punch into the gut. His opponent had been inspiring, and he immediately doubled over, threw up, and waved Jim off. Jim apologized profusely (say, "It's alright" in your best laryngitic voice), and the needling stopped.

While Jim was visiting home he told his teacher the story.
Sensei: You threw...incorrect punch!
Jim: What do you mean? I hit him once, and it was the end of the fight...
Sensei: No, you through incorrect punch. If you had thrown correct punch...he'd have been killed! Now get on floor so I can show you correct punch!

-Thor

Thormir, that was awesome - thank you.

Now as for Anna - who the hell is that? I can't remember to be quite honest with you.

Quite welcome. It's possible I heard her name wrong, but that's what I thought I heard. Oh, I wonder if it's Anna Valmont who first appeared in Death Masks...

Oh, he also said that he had ideas for about 20 case files before the final trilogy. Anything more than that, and "you'll know that my daughter has decided on graduate school."

Thormir, that was awesome - thank you.

Now as for Anna - who the hell is that? I can't remember to be quite honest with you.
I'm reading White Night now and figure I shouldn't get too attached to Anna Ash...

I am starting book 4 these books are good for a quick read.

finished the series last night bought the collection of short stories to read saturday on the plane home. Good series I really like it now to find something else to fill my time!

Got a tablet for Xmas and download Nook app and all the DResden books after watching the show and reading this thread.

HOLY CRAP!!! in 8 days I have plowed through the first 4 books (I used plowed because I have worked roughly 50 hours during the same time span)

I love these books!!!!

I just finished the Codex Aleria, and while different (and slow to start unlike Dresden) they were fantastic.

Good to hear Kel, yea it was slow until about halfway though the first book but once it took off it was as good as his Dresden stuff, honestly Butcher is this generations Margret Weis.

Just finished the 4th book, and halfway through the 5th. Butcher is good at getting me emotionally invested in his characters.