Storm Front: The Dresden Files, Book 1
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Storm Front: The Dresden Files, Book 1 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 29,159 ratings
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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.

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  1. Listening Length
    8 hours and 1 minute
  2. Author
    Jim Butcher
  3. Narrator
    James Marsters
  4. Audible release date
    December 28, 2008
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Buzzy Multimedia Publishing Corp.
  7. ASIN
    B002CSL0BQ
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 8 hours and 1 minute
Author Jim Butcher
Narrator James Marsters
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date December 28, 2008
Publisher Buzzy Multimedia Publishing Corp.
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B002CSL0BQ
Best Sellers Rank #844 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#8 in Contemporary Fantasy
#10 in Urban Fantasy
#31 in Paranormal Fantasy

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
29,159 global ratings
Arrived on time.
5 Stars
Arrived on time.
While I know this is for the product and not the storyline, I will say that this book arrived on time. Pages were off. The text was not centered correctly.
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Top reviews from the United States

Margaret Markey
5.0 out of 5 stars If you don't read books (but want to), this series will hook you.
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2015
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TL;DR because if you're reading this, you probably don't like walls of text: This book hooked me even when I still hated to read. It's suspenseful, comical and sarcastic even through the serious themes, and makes relatable story arcs out of fantastic and interesting circumstances. This book helped me read more and feel better about my life. No lie.

This contains no spoilers other than the general structure of the series.

As someone who really doesn't like reading in general, I cannot stop reading Dresden. I'm about six books in, and I haven't gotten bored in the slightest.

I ordinarily hate reading. It's not that I'm bad at reading. I just hate doing it. Books I enjoyed were few and far between, and most were just tedious (and usually required in English class, and usually about people in horribly dated socioeconomic situations I just cannot connect to, dealing with problems in ways no human being would ever realistically do, with no semblance of happy ending or human strength or emotion in sight). If I was looking for a good story, vibrant world, and relateable characters, I was better off playing Bioshock: Infinite, or watching Firefly, or being unproductive in any number of non-book, generally tsked-upon ways.

Then I decided reading was an important part of life, and resolved to read more. But I had no idea where to start. I tried a few things, but nothing stuck. I legitimately struggled to finish some stories that lots of people in my demographic enjoy; even though I liked the stories well enough, I didn't care enough to stick with them.

This series is not like the others.

First of all, if you find it difficult to keep your attention on books, look into the Kindle audiobook + ebook bundle for this (it's a great value!). The voice is the smoothest dude on the block. Ladies, you will appreciate his sound. You will appreciate his sound a LOT. He's rugged and has a talent for snark that makes this book shine.

I tried this book once, actually, and had to take a second look at it. The first time, I got a little lost and couldn't tell where the mystery was going at all, so I put it down. The second time through, I read a little more actively and got hooked. Reading via audiobook helped immensely to get into it after years of hating printed story, and took away the time cost of sitting down to read - I could listen to it while working out or commuting or cleaning up or doing anything else that I found boring but required both hands and eyes. (Actually, because of Dresden, I now work out and clean a lot more than I used to....)

And now, it's not just Dresden. I've built up a reading mindset strong enough to get through that 400-page slow-paced political low-fantasy book my friend keeps raving about, or brush up on my classic Lovecraft lore. And I finally sat my tush down and finished that last Harry Potter book (I know, I'm terrible if THAT was giving me trouble....)

Let me also say that this particular book is the "weakest" of the series...which is to say, it goes from "good" to "great" to "amazing" from book to book. Even if you only SORT OF like Storm Front, you're bound to like Fool Moon, and you're sure to love Grave Peril...etc. The series, magic, and world is realistic and internally consistent, modern, timely, and...surprisingly tolerant and understanding of different demographics and beliefs. The main character learns something and grows as a person in every book. Sometimes he has bad days....

Okay, no. Every day is a bad day to be Harry Dresden.

That's the joke.

Surprisingly, the lighthearted tone, sarcasm, and relief interspersed in every hardship keeps the book from FEELING dark, though logically, you know it is. It doesn't take itself seriously enough to bring you down, but it is serious and scary enough to get you invested. It actually makes me feel better about my own life. No matter what, things will never be as bad for me as they'll be for Harry Dresden.

And I love it.
6 people found this helpful
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John E. Borst II
4.0 out of 5 stars The Beginning of an Incredible Journey
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2024
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This is a great novel for those who love a great, character driven, story with deep lore and a masterful easement into a big universe. It all starts here! Personally, I have a very hard time getting into/digesting fantasy novels. I don't like stories in which everything from the characters to the setting is bizarre or unfamiliar. This novel does NOT fall into that trap! This is a very real setting, with amazing elements gradually introduced. Before I knew it, I was deep diving into a truly fantastic setting and loving every minute of it!
One person found this helpful
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Rocky Sunico
5.0 out of 5 stars Setting the bar for urban fantasy.
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2016
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The story is told from the perspective of Harry Dresden, an actual Wizard living in Chicago. He's so official, he's actually listed in the yellow pages as a wizard for hire. His work is similar in nature to a private detective, but of course his cases involve more than just cheating spouses. Case in point, the book begins with a woman asking for help in finding her missing husband. It appears that he has recently become rather interested (or even obsessed) with things of an occult nature and she is worried for him.

In the same day, Lieutenant Murphy of the Chicago Police Department reaches out to Dresden to help with an unusual investigation. The case involves the unusual death of a man and a woman in mid-coitus - but somehow their hearts have been exploded from within their bodies. The potential magic that could do something like this worries Dresden given he knows how dangerous it is. And if he is to figure out what had been used, he'll most likely have to gather the same ingredients and components to cast the spell. And merely being in possession of such items could risk his tenuous status with the White Council that oversees all use of magic.

As a first person perspective book, it's rather important that the central character is one that the reader can appreciate or even like. And Harry Dresden is probably not the poster boy for this given his dry humor and sardonic wit. But he's actually rather endearing in a scruffy kind of way since he's really just a guy doing his best given some pretty unusual circumstances. It takes a certain kind of nerve to publicly advertise that one is a wizard. You can imagine all the less than series job offers that he gets as part of all this. And yet he perseveres on.

Beyond that, another great part of the book is the rather well thought-out magic system. A lot of books like to gloss over this side of things and just have the characters wave their arms or say a single magic word in order to perform miraculous feats. Given this story is told directly from Harry's perspective, we also follow along the complex thought processes of a wizard and his little explanations of how magic works in this reality. Thus we have all these different cases like tapping raw forces for spells versus careful preparation of power for future use. We have potion that can do any number of things and we have artifacts of varying potency. And because everything makes sense given the clearly defined internal logic, the end result is pretty impressive.

The book combines all the challenges of a humorous but not asinine protagonist, a magic-fueled fantasy novel, and a good old fashioned detective mystery in one witty package. And just getting any one of those elements to work well is difficult. To get all of them to work together and execute a story that isn't just coherent but actually pretty compelling, well I'm all the more impressed. I've been known to dabble in writing and I can't imagine how Jim Butcher manages to get all this done.

And not only does this book establish this little world of that Dresden lives in, but it also provides a number of potential story elements that we all want to look into further. The fact that Harry Dresden is under some sort of probation with the White Council or how Chicago has a rather prominent vampire running a sort of harem are all interesting stories on their own. And you know that time and time again we're going to want to explore these side stories and thus further expand Harry's world.

Beyond a good story though, the book is really defined by the strength of its characters. And our main players like Harry and Lt. Murphy and all the others are pretty interesting in their own right. And this is just the first book - I know that there's a heck of a lot more to learn about all of them and future adventures are going to expand on these different back stories.

A whole new world has opened up for me now that I've finally gotten started on The Dreden Files with Storm Front and I'm pretty excited to read about more of Harry's misadventures. I'll still have to juggle different books that I've committed to read but it's fair to say that the priority rating of this series has bumped up several notches.
16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Raphael Palaria
5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to the series
Reviewed in Brazil on March 13, 2023
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The writing is straight to the point, characters are colourfull and it's action pack, a great intro to the series
One person found this helpful
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Maritza Ramos
5.0 out of 5 stars Urban Fantasy with so much wit, fun and imagination
Reviewed in Mexico on August 5, 2022
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This was just an amazing and pleasant surprise. Not really the book I would have chosen, hadn't it been from a fantasy booktuber whom I admire so much. All this coming from me, so much into cozy mysteries and classics... This is a detective-wizard in Chicago, year 2000, advertised on the yellow pages, a true gentleman, witty, resourceful and getting himself into so much trouble. This is action-packed, humour-packed, so much fun !
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Christine
5.0 out of 5 stars Adult Harry Potter
Reviewed in Canada on March 6, 2022
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The book is pure entertainment, nothing deep, and fast-paced. It's a quick read and great escapism. The book is both standalone and an introduction to the world of Harry Dresden. Other books in the series add to the world building and characters, once introduced, tend to pop up in future books as well. At the same time, each story is complete in itself. Fun, with no compulsion to read the next one. This is a series you leave and come back to when you're in the mood.
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Paul J Bygrave
5.0 out of 5 stars A truly magical murder mystery with a lead it's sometimes slightly hard to love.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2022
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Storm Front follows wizard PI Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden as he investigates a double murder performed with magic.

The concept of a wizard private detective is a lot of fun in and of itself. Harry Dresden is a (mostly) fun character to follow, compellingly carrying us through the story whilst also displaying a snarky sense of humour. The magic system seems solid and the displays of magic are all great. The mystery is compelling and the stakes continuously rise throughout, making for a very tense experience.

Now, my few problems ... Yeah, they're with Harry. He's not totally awful—like I said, he's a fun narrator—but he's also a self-confessed chauvinist who thinks of women largely in terms of needing to protect them. When one of the lead characters is a badass female police lieutenant, you can see how this is a problem. Harry also takes this protective instinct to downright stupid levels and keeps a lot of vital information to himself for no good reason.

I'd recommend this book to fans of both fantasy and detective stories. Despite my problems with the protagonist, I love this book and think it's a ton of fun.
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Robrecht Hendrickx
4.0 out of 5 stars Good quality reading pleasure
Reviewed in the Netherlands on July 19, 2022
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Finished in a day or two. Reads like an express train. Glad I discovered it and wil be reading the sequals.
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