There’s one other wizard named Harry out there, but this one is no pushover trying to seek out his destiny. No, this Harry is a hardboiled wizard who lives in an adulterated city as a private detective.
In the novel series “Dresden Files,” author Jim Butcher brings you the story of Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, a vagrant wizard who deals with paranormal crimes and occasionally acts as a consultant for the Chicago Police department.
Prior to the start of the series, Dresden was placed on watch by the White Council, a governing body made of wizards that watches over mankind. His judgement came due to a mishap between him and his former mentor, resulting in the death of the latter. Being on his final strike, Dresden must prevent himself from causing more fatal incidents before the council executes him as repercussion. However, with a gruesome homicide case comes a disastrous predicament waiting to happen. Dresden must now try to balance doing the right thing for his clients, avoid a death sentence from the White Council, and fix his financial crisis all at once. Sounds troubling for a wizard-for-hire.
Dresden is known as one of the most powerful young wizards. He has a great deal of magical powers, but has very poor control of them. His most used repertoire includes the use of “battle magic,” or quick spells, by firing large blasts of flame or wind at his targets. Later on, Dresden develops finer control over his abilities, as well as learning to manipulate other elements such as gravity and water.
But magic isn’t the only thing in Dresden’s arsenal. He carries a .38 revolver in case normal need is necessary. And of course, like all known wizards, Harry also carries a staff which helps focus his energy or may sometimes be used as a blunt weapon.
Now, you won’t find children’s magic in this series. Everything here can be considered part of the “Dark Arts” in the Harry Potter universe. Drugs, murder, sex, power struggle; nothing is left out from your classic detective novels. Only, Dresden Files has a trick up its sleeve combining those elements with fairies, vampires, and demons.
So if you’re a fan of contemporary fantasy, look no further because this series is worth checking out. With book 14 “Cold Days” coming out this November, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. And if you have a case to solve, open up your nearest phone book and find Dresden under the “Wizards” listing.
Capa is the mild-mannered, culturally-confused English major of The Prospector. As an aspiring novelist he thrives to write simply for the sake of writing. Other than writing he spends most of his free time on music and video games, sometimes even combining the two. Also likes to think he’s up in the-know with technology. No, not really. Reach him at prospector.clo@gmail.com for comments and/or suggestions.
Comment Policy: Comments are welcomed and encouraged. However, the editorial board reserves the right to edit or delete, without notice, any comments submitted to the blog. For more details, see our full Comment Policy.