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Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews's Reviews > Storm Front
Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)
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Both the most boring and misogynistic fantasy book I've ever read. Not a great combo!
This is my first urban fantasy book I've read, and I had a lot of hope about it being a good series. I've heard great things about it from a variety of people, and also have been told that the first book is the weakest in the series. Unfortunately, I don't think I was adequately prepared for just how bad this first book was.
The opening premise of the book is an intriguing one. You have a modern day cynical wizard detective . I like wizards, I like detectives, and I like cynical characters. What a great combination!
Unfortunately, the main character is so misogynistic throughout the entire book that it's hard to do anything other than cringe when he talks. It's not funny, it's not interesting, and it's just hard to read. And even worse than this, but the rest of the book doesn't make up for this fault because it's incredibly boring. The pacing is slow, the scope of the story is very small, the world somehow doesn't feel very well built (which is shocking given that it's taking place in a real city), and the ending doesn't feel rewarding.
I'm left scratching my head, wondering why people love this series. While I know this book is considered the weakest entry, unless this series takes a dramatic turn for the better, I'm just flat out missing something.
This is my first urban fantasy book I've read, and I had a lot of hope about it being a good series. I've heard great things about it from a variety of people, and also have been told that the first book is the weakest in the series. Unfortunately, I don't think I was adequately prepared for just how bad this first book was.
The opening premise of the book is an intriguing one. You have a modern day cynical wizard detective . I like wizards, I like detectives, and I like cynical characters. What a great combination!
Unfortunately, the main character is so misogynistic throughout the entire book that it's hard to do anything other than cringe when he talks. It's not funny, it's not interesting, and it's just hard to read. And even worse than this, but the rest of the book doesn't make up for this fault because it's incredibly boring. The pacing is slow, the scope of the story is very small, the world somehow doesn't feel very well built (which is shocking given that it's taking place in a real city), and the ending doesn't feel rewarding.
I'm left scratching my head, wondering why people love this series. While I know this book is considered the weakest entry, unless this series takes a dramatic turn for the better, I'm just flat out missing something.
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Reading Progress
2021
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Started Reading
2021
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Finished Reading
April 15, 2021
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Elena RodrÃguez
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rated it 2 stars
Mar 29, 2022 09:58AM
Thank you 🥺 I really agree with you with the fact that the main character is an asshole 😡 I hate the series because of it 🙄
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It's always so sad to see a book you love not be loved by someone else. Oh well, that's how personal taste works. Though the series does get better, it's doesn't get dramatically better, and you probably won't like the rest of the series if you hated book one.
I hope you find other books you like! Happy reading :D
Aww... that is one of the best fantansy series out there, what a shame. Still everyone got different taste.
I enjoyed this book, but my favorite urban fantasy series are The Others by Anne Bishop and the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.
I read 4 and I am still waiting for the series to get better anf for the character to be less of an asshole. I like them but not as much as others.
Unfortunate you didn’t click with it. Regarding Harry perspective on women, I can definitely see why some people are annoyed. In terms of the scope, that only seriously increases in book 4 onwards ( though could be argued 3). In terms of New York, yeah butcher actually never went to NY* when he wrote book 1, so it doesn’t feel distinct. Though the series gets a big uptick in quality in book 3 and 5. It mostly gets better subtly over time then when your at book 14 like myself you step back and think wow the massive shift in quality.* correction i meant Chicago, i had a brain fart haha.
@Dylan —NY?! I haven’t read a Dresden book in a while but wasn’t the action set mainly in Chicago? Or am I remembering it all wrong?I would say you won’t miss much if you choose to drop the series now. I read a number of them and Harry doesn’t improve all that much and since we’re stuck in his head throughout, it gets grating and repetitive fast.
Sorry I had a brain fart, yes it’s Chicago
That I would disagree, I think Harry improves dramatically. But if your problem is, how he describes women, than yeah that won’t ever change. But his growth throughout is readily apparent. This can be seen even more clearly with his relationships with a lot of the side cast evolving over time.
Maybe try another, better Urban Fantasy? My favorite is the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka. It's the best UF series out there, IMHO. The first book in the series isn't as good as the rest, but it's still damn good and the series just gets better & better as it goes on.
Wait... are you telling me that this book is supposed to be taken seriously?I mean I've been having a ball reading it, in fact I find it brilliant, but Dresden reminds me of Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes of course) daydreaming about being a private eye, the general tone of the book is like an over-the-top parody of black and white B-movies from the 1940ies, and as far as characters go, I would have bet my bottom dollar that it's a submission for the local library's 'Clichés from Sunday afternoon TV-shows'-contest.
I might love this book for all the wrong reasons apparently.
Great Youtube channel by the way!
If you want incredible urban fantasy with strong female characters try the sandman slim series from Richard Kadrey. And I agree, this book was horrific.
