Storm Front

The Dresden Files, Book 1

By: Jim Butcher

Narrated by: James Marsters

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I'm a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I'm the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under Wizards. Believe it or not, I'm the only one there.

With rent past due and a decent meal becoming an issue of some importance, Harry needs work, and soon. A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt. Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse. Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters to vampires, while he himself is under suspicion of the crimes.

©2000 Jim Butcher (P)2002 Buzzy Multimedia

Smack, Slurp, Swallow, Sigh---Repeat

My first Dresden book, I almost thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hard to get past the various mouth noises by the narrator, which my have been by design--I'm not sure. After I heard that first "smacking" noise I couldn't NOT hear them.

However, I really liked the overall story. Harry, the good Wizard who likes to read and has a fabulous sense of humor, and fights crime! I can see why these stories have such a large following.

If you enjoy off-beat crime/fiction with some fantasy thrown in, I recommend it.

Love the book and the narrator

Can't wait to get more Harry Dresden. James Marsters' narration is very good. Another reviewer did not like his breathy sighs, but I found them to be completely in character for Harry and not at all distracting.

good, but flawed performance

Would you consider the audio edition of Storm Front to be better than the print version?

Marster's does an excellent job of giving the story the right noir/gum-shoe feel. Like a fantasy Phillip Marlow

What was one of the most memorable moments of Storm Front?

The scene where Dresden confronts Biancha was tense and had a cinematic feel.

What about James Marsters’s performance did you like?

Marsters' acting ability was well suited to the first-person narration. He was an excellent choice. Unfortunately there were semi-frequent places where he might mess up the inflection, breathe at the wrong time- things that should have been re-recorded but made it feel like it was rushed and they couldn't be bothered. It detracted from the experience, but not enough that I wouldn't recommend listening.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, the chapter breaks were well placed for tension and length.

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to hearing more in the series, hopefully the director/editor will have done his job and not make it feel slightly low-budget or amateurish.

Goodbye credits...

My dad was looking for a new series...I'd heard good things about this one - so I picked up book 1 to evaluate - and that was going to be it. It was good, and I got a bunch of the paperbacks for my dad, the end.

Well...then there was that 3 for 2 sale...so I got 2 and 3...so I could discuss with my dad. Thing is...the series starts getting good right around book 3. I had a bunch of credits...so, fine, I'll get one more...Now I'm on the last hour of book 10, and just spent my LAST credit on book 11. Every time I tell myself this will be the last one, and every time I'm buying the next one before the one I'm on is done.

Butcher does an excellent job of catching you up on what happened in the previous book - and by "excellent", I mean he spends about 15 seconds hitting the high points - perfect. The characters in this series all just continue to grow on me - Dresden is a very lovable main character - but the other characters are just as good - Murphy, Michael, Marcone, Toot-toot, Thomas, Ivy, Kincaid, Molly - my god - I'm just realizing how long the list of characters I like is...and yeah, some of the few I listed aren't in book 1...or aren't...as important yet.

Marsters is an excellent narrator - I'd have given him 5 stars, except that he makes a few small changes throughout the series - from the voice or accent of a character to the pronunciation of a name - and in his defense, the changes are few - and they are the correct changes...

Anyway - the only real complaint I have about this series is that I go through the books so fast.

Wizard Detective Novel is a Hit

This is the first of a multi-volume series known as the Dresden Files. These novels feature Harry Dresden, a detective for hire who specializes in the supernatural. Why? Because he is a wizard himself. This piece of genre fiction was excellent. The hero is likeable in spite of a few odd affectations, and the story, while predictable, was very entertaining from start to finish. I will probably read another from this series.

The performance was a little clunky at first. the reader smacked his lips and swallowed hard too many times to go unnoticed. There was also a board tone to the reading that didn't seem quite right. After a while however these things seemed to calm down or I stopped noticing them so it wasn't a huge deal. If these things turn you off at first, keep listening it gets better.

Fun Modern Magic

What made the experience of listening to Storm Front the most enjoyable?

The reader's tone, the disclosure of magic and past without divulging everything in one book was great. Makes me interested to hear more.

Have you listened to any of James Marsters’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, this was my first. Great voice, but he really should've spit the gum out before reading. I would love to hear more of his stuff. He was Dresden's voice to perfection. Just please, lose the gum.

New Harry Dresden lover

Would you consider the audio edition of Storm Front to be better than the print version?

I wouldn't know. I haven't read the print version.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Storm Front?

Probably the battle scenes. The way Harry always seemed to have control of the situation.

What about James Marsters’s performance did you like?

He brought the character to life. He wasn't just "reading" the book. He was "acting" the book out.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end. When he thought he was going to die.

Any additional comments?

This was my first Harry Dresden book. I enjoyed the tv series so I thought I would try the books. Not like the tv show I must say. I remember a few details from the show. Bob for instance is a person who is in the skull. It seems Harry never actually sees Bob in the book. The TV Harry doesn't seem so be quite so "renegade-ish"
I will probably "listen" to all of these books over reading them.

Awesome start -- bad production.

Love the series, love James Marsters, love Jim Butcher, Harry Dresden is my favorite fictional character ever... But Buzzy Multimedia did a horrible job producing this. They left in every extraneous sound (swallows, pauses, lip smacks, etc) that I've never heard in any other production or James Marsters performance. Please re-record professionally!

Good

I liked it. I had seen the Dresden Files on SciFi a few years back, and so I picked up the book hoping it would be better and it is really good. I enjoyed it very much. I'm about to listen to it again.

the dresden files

I really really love the dresden files, got 11 books so far, listen to them over and over, funny, capturing and even tho fiction- does sound kinda real lol, I live near Chicago, so thumbs 👍 😀 👌