If you take away the fantasy elements, Storm Front is at heart a noir detective story, complete with many stock characters common to the genre. There's the hardened cop, the jaded hero, hired thugs and even a few femme fatales. While this all sounds very predictable and tedious, Butcher pulls off an entertaining story, one I didn't want to put down. The action of the story comes across so clearly that Dreseden's Chicago comes to life.
The one reason I picked up a copy of Storm Front was The Dresden Files series on the SciFi Channel. Often when books are made into television or movies something is lost (especially with the SciFi Channel). Since I'm really enjoying the tv show I was a little reluctant to pick up the books. After the mess they made of LeGuin's Earthsea I expected Butcher's books to differ from the series, but I was pleasantly surprised. Sure there are differences from the book-- some I like, some I don't-- But I'm impressed by how much the overall tone of the writing translated into the series.
My Recommendation
If you only know Harry Dresden from the SciFi Channel series you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of Storm Front by Jim Butcher. It's an entertaining read that will pull you further into the Harry's world. I know I'll be picking up the other titles in the series.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Published by Roc
336 pages
Storm Front is available at Amazon.com
I reviewed Storm Front from my own personal library