The Dresden Files
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| The Dresden Files | |
| Author | Jim Butcher |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Lee MacLeod, Christian McGrath |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Detective Modern fantasy Urban Fantasy |
| Publisher | Roc (books) Dabel Brothers (comics and graphic novels) |
| Publication date | April 2000 – present |
| Media type | print (hardback & paperback) serial (comics and graphic novels) |
The Dresden Files is a series of fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher. He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago. Butcher's original proposed title for the first novel was "Semiautomagic", which sums up the series' balance of fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction. [1]
In 2007, a television series based on The Dresden Files aired for one season on the American Sci Fi Channel.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
In the world of The Dresden Files, magic is real, along with vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, and other mythical monsters. The general public that Harry Dresden works to protect is generally ignorant of magic or the large array of dark forces which regularly conspire against them. This makes it difficult for Harry to get by as a working wizard and private eye. The Chicago PD's Special Investigation unit, led by Sgt. (formerly Lt.) Karrin Murphy, regularly employs Dresden to help solve cases of a supernatural nature.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Organizations
In The Dresden Files universe, each species (humans, faeries, vampires, etc.) has its own political and societal rules, and organizations. The human wizards depend on the White Council, while the vampires and faeries belong to various courts.
[edit] Miscellaneous groups in the series
[edit] The Seven Laws of Magic
[edit] Publishing history
Jim Butcher decided to become a professional author at the age of 19. Subsequently he wrote three novels within the fantasy genre and one which he has classified as paranormal - books which the author has described as being "terrible".[2] In 1996 he enrolled in a writing class where he was encouraged to write a novel similar to the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton, rather than the more traditional High fantasy that had been his focus in the past, as Butcher had previously stated that he enjoyed the Anita Blake series.[3] Despite initial resistance, he wrote the first book that semester, closely following the instructions of his teacher, author Deborah Chester.[1]
When I finally got tired of arguing with her and decided to write a novel as if I was some kind of formulaic, genre writing drone, just to prove to her how awful it would be, I wrote the first book of the Dresden Files.
– Jim Butcher, in 'A Conversation With Jim Butcher', 2004 [4]
The result was Semiautomagic, later to be retitled as Storm Front. His writing teacher declared it to be publishable, and Butcher started hunting around to do just that.[3]
Butcher failed to secure a publisher for between two and three years. During this period he completed the second novel, Fool Moon, and had made significant progress on the third, Grave Peril. Deciding to focus on agents and editors who have already published similar novels, Butcher targeted Ricia Mainhardt, the agent representing Laurell Hamilton, and submitted a copy of his manuscript.[4] It wasn't accepted.[2] Finally, Jim Butcher met Laurell Hamilton at a convention, and was invited to lunch along with her agent (Mainhardt) and a second agent, Jennifer Jackson. Ricia Mainhardt agreed to represent him, and six months later The Dresden Files had been sold to ROC, an imprint of Penguin Books.[2]
The first hardcover volume of Storm Front was released in 2000, while the next two novels in the series, Fool Moon and Grave Peril, were released shortly thereafter, in January and September 2001. Subsequent novels in the series have been published annually since then, with the most recent novel Turn Coat published April 2009. Omnibus editions have been released by the Science Fiction Book Club, with each of the four volumes reprinting two or three of the novels in the sequence.
Orbit Books purchased the series for UK publication, and released the first novel, Storm Front in September, 2005 - five years after the initial US release. They then proceeded to publish two books per month. In November, 2007, Orbit Books announced that they had purchased the rights to the as-yet-unnamed 12th and 13th Dresden novels.[5]
Five volumes of The Dresden Files have been released as audio books, and are narrated by James Marsters.
[edit] Books in the series
Harry Dresden – Wizard
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or
Other Entertainment.
| No. | Title | Release date | Hardcover ISBN | Paperback ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Storm Front | 2000 April | 0-4514-6197-5 | 0-4514-5781-1 |
| 2 | Fool Moon | 2001 January | 0-4514-6202-5 | 0-4514-5812-5 |
| 3 | Grave Peril | 2001 September | 0-4514-6234-3 | 0-4514-5844-3 |
| 4 | Summer Knight | 2002 September | — | 0-4514-5892-3 |
| 5 | Death Masks | 2003 August | — | 0-4514-5940-7 |
| 6 | Blood Rites | 2004 August | — | 0-4514-5987-3 |
| 7 | Dead Beat | 2005 May | 0-4514-6027-8 | 0-4514-6091-X |
| 8 | Proven Guilty | 2006 May | 0-4514-6085-5 | 0-4514-6103-7 |
| 9 | White Night | 2007 April | 0-4514-614-01 | 0-4514-6155-X |
| 10 | Small Favor | 2008 April | 0-4514-6189-4 | 0-4514-6200-9 |
| 11 | Turn Coat | 2009 April | 0-4514-6256-4 | — |
| 12 | Changes | 2010 April | — | |
| Omnibus editions | Hardcover ISBN | Contents | ||
| 1–3 | Wizard for Hire | 2005 March | 0-7394-5193-6 | Storm Front, Fool Moon & Grave Peril |
| 4,5 | Wizard by Trade | 2006 March | 0-7394-6581-3 | Summer Knight & Death Masks |
| 6,7 | Wizard at Large | 2006 October | 978-0-7394-7658-1 | Blood Rites & Dead Beat |
| 8,9 | Wizard Under Fire | 2007 May | 0-7394-8344-7 | Proven Guilty & White Night |
| Audiobooks | Audio CD ISBN | MP3 CD ISBN | ||
| 1 | Storm Front | 2002 July | 0-9657-2550-2 | 0-9657-2556-1 |
| 2 | Fool Moon | 2003 August | 0-9657-2552-9 | 0-9657-2558-8 |
| 3 | Grave Peril | 2004 October | 0-9657-2555-3 | 0-9657-2559-6 |
| 4 | Summer Knight | 2007 March | 0-9790-7492-4 | 0-9790-7493-2 |
| 10 | Small Favor | 2008 April | 0-1431-4339-5 | — |
All the books are published through ROC, an imprint of Penguin Books. The Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) is reissuing the series in hardcover omnibus editions. So far, all of the audio books of The Dresden Files have been read by actor James Marsters. The first four are produced by Buzzy Multimedia Publishing. The fifth audio book Small Favor is produced by Penguin Audio. The audio books for the remaining books of the Dresden Files will be released in 2009 and 2010 from Buzzy Multimedia with James Marsters reading. Proven Guilty and White Night will be released in April 2009 alongside Turn Coat. Death Masks will be released November 2009, and Blood Rites and Dead Beat will be released July 2010.[6]
[edit] Graphic novels
In October 2007, Jim Butcher revealed on his website that Dabel Brothers would be producing a Dresden Files comic book series, similar to the Anita Blake graphic novel series:
Working together with Dabel Brothers Productions, the Dresden Files are going to be translated into a graphic novel format. The current plan is to lay out the Dresden Files storyline at the rate of one of the novels every twelve to sixteen monthly issues, with occasional side-trips and independent stories thrown in. (Ever wonder what happened in Branson the month before Storm Front? How about what somebody saw in the lake in Minnesota between Storm Front and Fool Moon? Maybe I’ll get to tell those stories now! How cool is that?)
I will be assisting with the writing of the comics, and am also involved in the design and approval of the characters, art, tone, and so on. This is an actual hand-in-hand project in which I have full creative input and influence, and I’m friggin’ giddy about it. I mean, come on! Comic books!
The four-issue mini-series called Welcome to the Jungle, ran as a prequel to Storm Front from early to mid 2008. A compilation of that run was released as a hardcover graphic novel in October 2008. Storm Front was announced as the next adaptation, by the same creative team.[7] The first issue was released in November 2008. Welcome to the Jungle was nominated for the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story.
[edit] Novelettes
Backup: A Story of the Dresden Files is a novelette set in the Dresdenverse, but narrated by Thomas Raith, Harry's half-brother. In the novelette, Harry is in danger and is unaware of it, and Thomas runs interference for Harry, trying to protect Harry without him realizing it. The novelette was published on October 31, 2008 by Subterranean Press.[8]
[edit] Short stories
- "Restoration of Faith" (short story)
- "Publicity and Advertising" (vignette)
- "Something Borrowed" (short story), published in My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (October 3, 2006, ISBN 0-312-34360-4)
- "It's My Birthday, Too" (short story), published in Many Bloody Returns (September 4, 2007, ISBN 978-0-441-01522-1)
- "Heorot" (short story), published in My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon (December 26, 2007, ISBN 978-0312375041)
- "Harry's Day Off" (short story), published in Blood Lite (October 21, 2008, ISBN 1-4165-6783-6)[9]
- "The Warrior" (short story), published in Mean Streets (January 6, 2009, ISBN 978-0451462497)[10]
Upcoming:
- Untitled short story, to be published in Strange Brew
[edit] Other Media
[edit] Television
The Dresden Files was adapted to television in 2007 by the Sci-Fi Channel, and was cancelled after one season.
[edit] Role Playing Game
Jim Butcher has spoken openly about a pen and paper role-playing game in development based on the Dresden Files universe. The game is being produced by Evil Hat Productions for a future commercial release.[11][12]
As of January 2008, the project went into an early alpha phase of testing.[13] However, a firm release date has yet to be established.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "The Wizard interview with Jim Butcher". Wizards Harry.com. http://www.wizardsharry.com/dresden5.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ a b c Butcher, Jim (2004). "How'd Jim Get Published?". Jim-Butcher.com. http://www.jim-butcher.com/jim/. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ a b Whiteside, Lee (2007). "A Conversation With Jim Butcher" (PDF). ConNotations 17 (2). http://www.casfs.org/ConNotations/Volume_17/ConNotations_17-02.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ a b McCune, Alisa (2004). "A Conversation With Jim Butcher". The SF Site. http://www.sfsite.com/08b/jb182.htm. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Pagan, Bella (November 7, 2004). "More, more, more Dresden Files!". Orbit Books. http://www.orbitbooks.net/2007/11/09/more-more-more-dresden-files/. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Dabel Brothers Publishing announces "Jim Butcher's Storm Front" creative team, Comic Book Resources, July 2, 2008
- ^ "Jim Butcher and Orson Scott Card Sold Out on Publication!". Subterranean Press. 2008-11-02. http://subterraneanpress.com/index.php/2008/11/02/jim-butcher-and-orson-scott-card-sold-out-on-publication/. Retrieved on 2008-11-03.
- ^ "Amazon: Blood Lite". http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Lite-Anthology-Presented-Association/dp/1416567836/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1219691159&sr=11-1. Retrieved on 2008-08-25.
- ^ "Amazon: Mean Streets". http://www.amazon.com/Mean-Streets-Jim-Butcher/dp/0451462491/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1219691089&sr=11-1. Retrieved on 2008-08-25.
- ^ "Dresden Files RPG - News and Press". http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com. Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
- ^ "The Game's the Thing Podcast". http://www.thegamesthething.com/index.php?post_id=204567.
- ^ "Dresden Files RPG - Evil Hat Interview and Playtest Update". http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/2008/01/11/evil-hat-interview-and-playtest-update/. Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
[edit] External links
- The Dresden Files Series at Jim Butcher's website
- Christian McGrath — Series cover artist
- Buzzy Multimedia — Publishers of the audio books
- The Dresden Files RPG — a role-playing game based on The Dresden Files, currently in development.
- The Dresden Files Fan site
- Amazon.com
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