Horror Bound Revisited: Storm Front
Well, well, well…what do we have here? It’s SUMMER in El Paso, Texas…and I decided that since we’re all stuck in quarantine, I’d read and review stuff I’ve read since…you know…no new movies in theaters…since…we’re…oh man this is a really sad time…Erm…pardon my grieving. Where was I? Oh, right, book review! So, I don’t usually review books, but since we’re stuck and got nowhere to go, I filled up my Amazon Fire tablet and decided ‘Screw it, let’s read!’ I decided I’d start with a series I have always loved and found amusing, but where to begin? Well, I went right back to book one to start it all over again. Without further ado, here’s my Horror Bound Revisited review for…
Storm Front was written by Jim Butcher and is the first book in his incredible The Dresden Files series of novels. A lot of you out there reading this must be like ‘yeah but bro, this is a fantasy series…FANTASY!!!’ and for the most part, you’d be correct. But there are some serious horror and supernatural elements in every one of the books in this series. In fact, there’s also a lot of blood, gore, and creepy as hell moments that happen that qualify this as a horror series as well. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, let’s talk about Storm Front first.
Meet Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden…the only Wizard openly practicing magic in modern-day Chicago that you’ll find in the Yellow Pages, under Wizard (he’s the only listing). He finds people, objects, and works as a consultant for the Special Investigations Unit of the Chicago PD. He cracks wise, he’s surly, and he’s kind of a chauvinistic bastard at times (that old-world chivalry just won’t die in him). He has a dark past that is following him around, and at any moment could be killed by a death curse that a mysterious council of Wizards have over his head if he breaks any of their laws (you hear more about that as the books progress). Our story really begins when he gets called in to investigate a mysterious murder where…I won’t ruin what happened, but it’s gory as f*ck and the imagery Butcher gives us made even me gag a little. Also, Harry has a separate job going on where he has to find a housewife’s missing husband, and he may be practicing dark magic. All in a day’s work for our hero.
The story unravels in an exciting and entertaining way, all told through the perspective of Harry Dresden. He explains how the magical world works, he goes up against demons, an amazingly funny and adorable fae named Toot, a black mage who can literally make your heart explode, the very council of Wizards he’s sworn to protect and Chicago gangsters. If that doesn’t spell trouble for our Wizard with the mostest, then I don’t know what does. Oh, and he has to fight off giant scorpions…you’ll see when you read it.
What we get in this first novel is a series of events that introduces us to this amazing character and an amazing world that is filled with magic, comedy, action, and supernatural horror. The supporting cast is incredibly well written and the imagery that Butcher uses in this first book is awesome. I highly recommend you check it out and there’s no better time to get into it, as the next two books in this series are coming to us later this summer. Check it out!
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