Harry Dresden is a professional wizard, meaning that yes, he can perform magic – such a thing does exist, along with vampires and demons and various other paranormal phenomena – and yes, he does so for a fee when you need something done.
My friend Stephanie loves this series, so I decided to give it a try. I listened to it on audio, and I’m of mixed minds about it. On the one hand, the audio production was great. James Marsters was the perfect narrator for Dresden’s wry speech. I doubt I would have finished the book if not for Marsters. Because that’s the other hand. It wasn’t that I disliked the book. I just didn’t find it particularly noteworthy. Maybe that’s just timing, since I really wanted to be reading/listening to something else (*coughbluelilylilybluecough*). Maybe it’s because I found the plot predictable in places. Maybe it’s because Dresden makes a lot of chauvinist comments, and after awhile I wasn’t quite sure if it was Dresden or the author who looked down on women.
So I’m on the fence. I feel I should give the series a further look, both since the narrator was so good and because I feel like it’s the kind of series that might improve with time. At the same time, I won’t be rushing out to collect the next book. Perhaps one day.
The Zen Leaf 
I agree that the narrator’s (and perhaps the author’s) take on women soon grows tedious. I especially became tired of descriptions of gowns that were pulled taut across full, round breasts. The noir humor was fun, though, as was the concept of a mortal wizard/detective with a Chicago office.
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Does it not get any better as the series progresses then?
Makes me a bit leery, tbh.
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I’ve only read the first title of this series; I feel like the character, at least in this title, might just be partly clueless? Maybe that’s giving too much leeway, but the concept was fun. I want to try another one.
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Yeah I’m kinda on the fence about it even all this time later. I’m considering trying a second volume, though I hope it would bring back enough memory about the second since it’s been quite a long time!
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