it is much better this way

So now you have some free time... ha-ha-ha. Now you know how much of a sadistic wrighter Jim is to his fans, and you only need to wait two months for the next one. As a fun comedy change of pace, I suggest Fred the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes six books of funny short stories that links some paranormal friends together, thease books are light harted fun. thay give you a strong counterpoint for just how wide Urban comedy fantasy is right now and truely force you to realise how Soul Fire burns in the hart of all readers of the Dresden Files.

Giving a more balanced perspective; positives and negatives included, does definitely work better as you are letting people know whether it is right for them instead of just pitching it to everybody. One series that could do with a video like this is Discworld as it is such a vast series with so many jumping on points that are actually better than just starting at the beginning

Really enjoyed this daniel, would like to see a before you should read on the larger book sets you recommend. I feel a lot of people myself included dont want to buy into and read 4+ books if the pay off isnt really worth it. Also thanks again, your recommendations have me reading Scott lynch and Mark Lawrence's work and i couldn't be happier.

I really liked this approach more than "Why You Should Read". Even just the title makes it feel like it's about contextualizing the series rather than making a pitch. Also, I don't know if you've read it yet but I'd like to hear your thoughts on "The Magicians Trilogy" by Lev Grossman. It seems to be *very* love or hate. I don't understand why it hasn't blown up despite getting maybe the best fantasy TV adaptation I've ever seen. As an atheist that grew up with Narnia I think it's a better response to Lewis than "His Dark Materials". I found Pullman's anti-church allegory just as obnoxious as Lewis' apologetics. I know you have problems with Lewis, and I think you said in a video that you liked "His Dark Materials", so I'm really interested in what you think here. Love your videos, Rock on

Oh Hell yea. I love Harry's snark.

Literally read this exact line last night. "I'm a stunt double"

yet there is also ''I mutter off color limericks in my sleep''

"I either had to spit or swallow. I swallowed. No comments, please!"

Alright, i am buying this

The only criticism i have of this video is that he didn't mention the fantastic audio books. I'd hazard a guess these would open up the content for an even wider audience.

@John Hoskins I totally agree. James is amazing and he simply IS Dresden. I will say that while I did not like that John Glover did Ghost Stories, i did find that as a narrator, his disappeared more than James does. I fell so into the story that it felt more like my own mind reading it then someone else. (took a few chapters to get there..) James is Dresden telling you the story though, so i will always prefer that.

I just recently finished listening to Storm Front and am looking forward to the series. I did have a question regarding Marsters' performance. Do the lip smacks and heavy sighs that don't seem to match the dialogue go away or become easier to ignore? I really struggled with being irritated by them. I enjoyed the rest of his narration, pacing ,and voices but it almost seemed like he'd never worked with a studio mic prior to this reading.

@@JohnC-ts9wf he gets MUCH better. book 3 is where he really hits his stride but the second book is better than the first. (remember, this was 10 years ago. audio book recording has gotten better over the years over all)

@@JohnC-ts9wf Harmony answered this, but I will add. I believe Storm Front was one of the first books Marsters narrated. He gets INFINITELY better as the books go on. By the time you get to book 5-6, he is just fantastic. By the time you get to Changes... wow... he will make you cry the way he narrates one scene in particular. I lose it every time... In my mind, Marsters is Harry Dresden's voice. Keep in mind, he is not just narrating. He is acting the story out.

AaronArcade lol, just heard this part at the start of the grave peril audiobook. Trying to refresh them before July...and another book October, gotta do it.

This is probably one of favorite lines in the entire series. It brings a nice joke into a stressful part of the book

@@emilyecclestone8592 The half with the mansion is stressful lol, but it sets the tone to how messed up the vamps are. Changes is my favorite book.

Kinkaid aquarium nuff said

My favorite quips: 'don't disturb the wizard when he is wizardering' And 'don't you touch the literal fist of God!' From dresden and from Mouse I love: "I live with a Wizard. I cheat!"

hmm, that sounds nice read in John Hurt's cadence.

Arrynek01 and sometimes he humps back

Perfect.

Blowing up buildings is not what I would call a bump.

I represent the BPRD and I have a cease and desist order right here.

Best opening line of a book I've ever seen.

@@paulschumacher4308 While that one is my favorite, the mental/narrative peel out in Changes is my pick for best opening line.

@@alkorkrus5152 Changes is a close second, for me. Jim Butcher really knows how to grab our attention.

I had to stop reading for 5 minutes to get my laughing under control after that line.

ahahah!!!!! word/.

completely agree, did all audio except short stories

I thought that too, not sure if it's too on the nose to have a hot-headed, fire-loving protagonist called Dresden

Well I think they are somewhat related. Dresden the main character has a pretty big affinity to fire magic, while Dresden the city was famously firebombed in WW2 I think that's the reference.

Yeah, his last name is after actual city of Dresden - the series overall story is inspired by tv show Babylon 5 author ikes, and there's a speech there about World War 2 which Butcher was listening to while coming up with Harry's name , and he liked Dresden a lot

Nathan Literoy ah that’s cool! I didn’t know that!

Me too and I am from Dresden...

Have you read 'October Daye'? It is a supernatural PI like the dresden files but with very different themes :)

@ServentForAnubis I know I'm asking 3 years later but I'd love to know what is your top 3 or even top 5 or 10? Because clearly you have good tastes :D

Supernatural definitely took inspiration

Yes, I would say that it could be described that way but its a lot more than that too.

IMHO The Dresden Files is what every Urban Fantasy TV series wants to be but never achieves.

I have found (at least among my female friends) that there is a pretty big overlap between Supernatural and Dresden fandom.

EXACTLY!! I was a huge Supernatural fan. Dresden Files is everything I wanted out of Supernatural and so much more!!!

I was introduced to Dresden 7 years ago by my boyfriend at the the time. I fell in love with the book, and am marrying that same boyfriend in July🤷 a good book can do anything😂

When I first picked up the series White Night was the newest book and only available in hardcover. Seems that came out in 2007. So I've been reading this for almost 13 years. I've read every book at least twice, some I've read 3 times. I've read all the short stories. Only thing I'm missing is the comics as I just never got around to it. I'm so excited we get 2 books this year.

SAME!!

R C If the spurs fit...

If you read the Dresden Files backwards it's about a wizard shrugging off mystical influences, treating his body better, and building a shocking number of buildings through the power of fire; all the while distressing himself.

thats dope

Do you read the short stories collections yet?

@John Hoskins I can't imagine the long wait between Skin Game and Peace Talks. That's just brutal

@@patrimcauthon478 I haven't read the short stories yet. That's next on my list.

@@t3hj4nk, I can't remember if every short story is in the two collections. I think the one about a certain polka lover's first full day at his new job isn't collected, and it's great. Almost positive the Goodman Grey story isn't collected yet. I think my favorite short story is actually the one from Marcone's perspective, Even Hand.

@@steventhrasher3608 Day One is included in Brief Cases.

Frank Salo I completely agree!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Those got me through some long drives (45 minutes - 1 hour, each way) when I used to work at a job a couple cities away.

Yeah, I mostly stopped reading epic fantasy some time ago because I got tired of it. Urban fantasy generally is not as epic in scope, books are shorter and have definitive endings, and situations are closer to our point of view.

I'm exhausted just reading your first sentence. I get so into these when I read, the best I can do is 3-4 a week and I'm mentally exhausted.

My husband has read all of the books many many times, through the years. Knowing that I’m not a sit down and read a book kinda girl, he introduced me to the audiobooks. I LOVE THEM!!! We listened to them in the car, while out and about. Once we finished the series, I started them all over again on my own. Because of the virus and staying at home soooooooo much, i was afraid I’d become a couch potato. Thankfully having Harry, Murphy, Michael, etc. to listen to, that has Not happened. I’ve happily tackled many home projects and lots of yard work!!! 🙂🙂🙂 I average a book every two days... I’m extremely thankful that Jim Butcher created such an awesome book series, and hope there will be many more !!!!!!!!

Pizzzaa

Strong recommendation. I liked it in my first read but wasn't super engrossed till about the 4th book. At that point I bought all of them at once and read them all in a week. It's a good story that constantly gets better, is great by the fourth and just keeps improving. Singlehandedly my favorite fantasy series.

It'll be a gear grinder, for sure. One thing about Dresden is he gets his ass kicked a LOT. He's not a super-powerful wizard who pulls off a slam dunk in every book and usually wins by the skin of his teeth, or gets a draw instead of anything decisive. Very little Deus ex Narrativa.

Oh, Butcher writes SO much better than Jordan LOL

@@teleriferchnyfain I can only assume you're being sarcastic.

Andrew Halverson why no I’m not Sorry 😐

Yes, Mouse and Bob!!!!

Yep I just want to see the sisters meet. I think that will be fantastic.

I can't recommend this enough. They completely fill in any gaps on side characters and show more of Dresden than the worst week of his year

Brief cases has the best bob tale.

Given he references Bigfoot, I'm pretty sure he has.

I liked Strange Brew. It actually got me into the novels.

@@nicademous6396 oh thats really cool its one of my biggest gripes with the series itself

Dresden Files even better. Huge fan of Mercy Thompson, just Dresden funnier and more epic

Yes, but Mercy lacks the glaring misogyny of Dresden. Jim Butcher couldn't write a female character respectfully if his life depended on it. @@hwilcox

Waiting on the library for Blood Rites myself!

I still do not understand all of the hate for Blood Rites. I like the book and enjoy all of the character growth and new central characters it provides. Fool Moon is by far the weakest of the series, imo.

I did the same thing! Dresden is the perfect foil for wheel of time

@@lathspell87 Its biggest problem is the main case isn't super exciting. The villains and people Dresden are trying to protect are all to one degree or another pretty bland, with one exception, which I think anyone who is decently far into the series could guess. The merits of the book come from the events surrounding the case, which are quite compelling and lead to quite a bit of character development from Harry.

@@demonicgrub1025 I can appreciate that, and I can appreciate the fact that some people consider it one of the weaker books. However, I don't think it comes close to something that should make someone put the entire series down. That the particular sentiment I don't understand.

Grave Peril is sadly one of the weakest books.

I will always imagine him with the hat. A hat is such a cliche detective thing, that it just has to be

It has even been comered on in the books themself. Harry thinking to himself: Maybe i should get a hat? 🤔😄

Please Mr Butcher give Harry a hat, black with silver trim and magic ;)

Best 200 hours you ever spent, wasn't it?!?!?! 🤣

And one year later, what are your thoughts?

I have been taking my time with them because I want them to last but my God I love this world and I would marry Harry in a heartbeat 😂

We haven't seen his face. What happened to the Daniel Greene without a torso?

@@deanryanmartin He completed his transformation, he has become ONE with the books

@@maximilianogranifo9650 Lol

The formulaic nature of the early books is due to the fact that at the start the series was conceived as a fusion of dark fantasy and hardboiled pulp detective novels. Dresden's narration patter and view through the lens of the male gaze, which Daniel singles out as a legitimate criticism in the video, are both also well-worn tropes of the hardboiled genre that Butcher leaned heavily on early as he developed his style. All of this became increasingly de-emphasized as Butcher improved his writing (and as Harry grew as a person and wizard) and fleshed out the world of Dresden, eventually landing in almost pure epic urban fantasy with only light noir window dressing to maintain some tonal consistency.

I have to say, the male gaze thing has always seemed a glaring point of anachronistic character in Harry, but not in the books or the plots. He never fails to suffer for it, and the women around him regularly lambaste his chauvinisms. I had always thought it a way to bring up those issues while still appealing to an audience base which includes the vastly immature. That allows for modern commentary on many age old mythology tropes. Maybe I'm too generous, but that proto-male perspective seems necessary for the noirish feel, especially when blending with such a different genre. I mean, I totally get that highlighting the male gaze as predjudicial thinking is passe and overdone as social commentary -- it gets boring inevitably, especially when we should have long-past learned such things -- but that's not this. This is all character study in its male narration. The tropes of the feminist narrative seem well established here and only the inevitable social conflicts seem touched upon, the root ideals of equality and human dignity seem firmly fixed. I think you may be mistaking a character voice for absence of thought in the writing. And I don't see it as a fair criticism.

@@willcool713 I don't think that this is necessary for noir at all. It feels a bit blunt and cheap. It fits into the tone and style of the book. I didnt take issue with it, but i am also not terribly enjoying it nor the series as a whole either.

Yeah sometimes the way Harry described Molly makes me want to throw up.

@ 11:00 (Jedi) Knight of the Cross Waldo Butters. and his werewolf girlfriends... (GO TEAM BUTTERS!)

@@NorthForkFisherman Whoa hold on there did you just hide the girlfriend(s) while just low-key spoiling the crowning moment of Skin Game in the first line of your comment? The werewolf girlfriend(s) are small potatoes compared to Butters's upgrade.

@@survivordave Can't call that a spoiler this late in the game. And let's face it...he EARNED that. And I think it was a long overdue recognition of the character's strength. It's always the little guys that surprise the hell out of you.

I felt so much joy when I read this!

Jim seems to have gotten out of his slump and we probably should expect a new Dresden book ever year, year and a half.

This series is close to an end as well. you wont have to wait many more years for a final book.

@@dbillau He had a whole lot of RL stuff going on during those 5 years (divorce, dog died, engaged, remarried, house building and moving) so I'm personally willing to give him a lot more leeway than say, GRRM or Rothfuss. He's also in the middle of another series called 'The Cinder Spires' so expect him to alternate. Dresden, Cinder Spires, Dresden, etc. That's what he did before.

@@trevorwingard Wasn't he still releasing a Dresden book every year, while putting out Codex Alera books?

Personable Person yeah, I guess that’s true. For some reason I was thinking he was releasing a book a year but I guess I was I misremembered. And Codex Alera tended to be a little longer than most Dresden books too, now that I think about it.

I'm an old-school card-carrying original NOW member feminist of the bra-burning variety. These darlings who can't handle those typical noir detectives (who seem all hardcore & womanizers but ARE NOT ) just make me want to tear my eyes out. I loved Bogey, and I ADORE Dresden LOL

I dunno 🤷 it was a bit much for me tho, whether it was because of 1st person or what you just explained, I couldnt keep reading it but a lot of fans dont mind it tho

@@Peecamarke It backs off a whole lot later in the series when it leans away from its detectivey roots. If that's your only issue I'd warrant you give it another chance, maybe skip to some of the later titles and read summaries of the rest. It's not for everybody though so I totally understand if you don't.

@@ziodice6166 thanks for the advice! 👍🏿

Book one. Frogg demon. Naked Dresden. Love potion drugged human woman and a tiny circle they sit in. And he gets an erection. What was that you said about a "noir" and "first person perspective"? It wouldn't be dishonest not to put so much emphasis on a man being sexually attracted to women. I would argue that he is described as "not having much time for this sort of thing" and it was apparently never his focus. It is, factually, out of character and placed there for no other reason than a fantasy. Anyway in the first book every, no matter how insignificant, female character is described as breathtakingly beautiful and after a while it feels like watching someone jrk off. It's ok you people love the book. I wish I didn't have the audiobook because I can't set it on fire. But please, don't try to defend it. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to mention the cupid's bow on the lips of every woman and the way the breasts of a corpse make a beautiful line when also writing a crime scene so disgusting that it makes the main hero puke. This is simply bad writing the book would be better for it being cut out. Harry Dresden is a creep and this character is normalising a hypersexual idea of masculinity that is so unrealistic, it's worrysome.

If you loved the first book then you'll certainly love the series. I believe this was his first book published so semi-understandably he gets better and better as he goes. And that's not to say the first couple books are bad....just that the second half of these books are amazing.

Always carry a pocket full of nails. Never know when it'll come in handy

How good is that? I might catch up to Dresden by May end and would need a new series to start.

It is not as dark as Dresden. But man it has incredible Battles...

@@killjoy004 In term of high fantasy, it is one of my personal favorite. I actually read it before the Dresden files and fell in love with Jim's excellent writing there. That was the first time I felt that rush to always keep reading thanks to the fast pacing of his writing. Most of the characters are well developed across the series (albeit not quite to the level of the Dresden files) and the world is very interesting, taking a lot of inspiration from Roman culture. Final good point: the series is finished and you can get all of them ! ;-)

@@tomdeboerio3639 My only dislike of Codex Alera is towards the end. I don't like swarm-type enemies at all (even if Jim Butcher still kept the strategy and cunning aspects of large scale war). Also, it's one of the few books where I wish there was more romance. Kitai and Tavi were really cool.

@@LightningRaven42 I completely hear that ! The last book lost a little of its "smart" with the escalation of power. On my side, I was already so in love with the characters that it didn't matter too much since I wanted to know more. I think my personal favorites however are the ones with the First Aleran (T3 and T4 if I remember correctly - T3 especially with the bridge defense). The introduction of that level of strategy was really surprising and amazing !

Stormfront is by far the weakest!

Oh, you'll love it then. FIrst few books are of pretty poor quality (both sound quality, editing and direction are not good), also Marsters learns on the job more and more, and he's fantastic in later books. Common advice among Dresden fans for a new readers who finished reading the series to relisten to it because Marsters brings a lot to the table.

The series picks up rather quickly. I'd say that book 2 still suffers some of the early kinks of book 1, but the supernatural threat is more interesting and is used in a more imaginative manner.

As a random voice from the internet, you're right. It's like being terrified of a rainstorm. It's a force of nature, but has purpose