Author Profile: Jim Butcher

Writer of the gritty and fantastic wizard-noir novels The Dresden Files, author Jim Butcher is currently on tour to promote the eleventh book in the series – Turn Coat. Also upcoming is the sixth (and final) Codex Alera novel, First Lord’s Fury, a series he wrote after being inspired by high-fantasy greats like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. If you enjoy humor, hard-boiled noir mystery, (modern) damsels in distress, and settings both familiar and bizarre, try one of these novels!

Storm Front: A Novel of the Dresden Files

Harry Dresden, Wizard. The only wizard in the Chicago phone books, in fact. No love potions, endless purses, or other entertainments. The first book in the series, this novel throws the reader into the adventure of a wizard-for-hire, who crosses paths with beasts human and not-so-human on a nightly basis.

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Turn Coat: A Novel of the Dresden Files

Just released is this 11^th novel in the Dresden Files series. Harry, no longer the single, sort of anarchic wizard of Chicago, is actually in a position of power – both for the White Council and for his own Paranet group of the magically gifted. Of course, in Dresden’s life, nothing stays calm and in control for very long. If you’ve never read the Dresden Files, this can be a great book to throw you head over heels into the series – though you should read the other ten first.

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Mean Streets

Several of the books that Butcher is credited with writing are because he’s written a short story included in the anthology. All of these short stories, so far, are about Harry Dresden, and while some, like “The Warrior” in 2009’s Mean Streets, have a place in between the books, many can be read out of order and out of context, to give you an idea of the style of writing. Mean Streets features short stories by other noir writers, like Thomas Sniegoski, author of the Remy Chandler series.

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Furies of Calderon

Spies, legions of soldiers, and elemental spirits of magic add flavor to the first of six Codex Alera novels. Butcher builds an unknown world with some hints of ancient Rome, and pulls the reader in with him, with intrigues, politics, and mystical mysteries. If you’ve read the Dresden books and want more, or if you’re a fan of high fantasy, try this series.

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Welcome to the Jungle

A Dresden prequel of sorts, “Welcome to the Jungle” features the wizard in a short graphic novel that comes before the events of “Storm Front.” With art by newcomer Ardian Syaf, this gives a face to Harry and his cohorts.

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