Wow.
I have just decided that Jim Butcher is the god of Urban Fantasy.  His is a name I’ve seen pop up from time to time, but had never actually read any of his books.

Again I get to compare with the likes of Patricia Briggs and Karen Chance,  but now I’m comparing them to Mr Butcher, rather than holding them up as the goddesses of Urban Fantasy (though they are!).

Harry Dresden is a great character, a blend of Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon) and Dirk Gently (from Douglas Adams’s series) with perhaps just a hint of Gandalf. He’s just wonderful. 

The whole story is witty, clever and fun creating a very engrossing book, with wonderful character development and a great conclusion.

 There is obviously a whole back story, which we’re slowly drip fed throughout the book, which just adds to the mystery.  As we are in modern Chicago we don’t need to have the world created for us, but the magical elements are new and only slowly introduced, with Jim Butchers knowledge of the arcane coming through nicely.

This series promises to get better and better as it develops and we learn more about Harry Dresden [Wizard] – read it for yourself and launch yourself into urban fantasy the way it’s supposed to be.