The Dresden Files

The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, Storm Front—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are written as a first-person narrative from the perspective of 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. As of 2021, Butcher has written 17 novels set in the Dresden Files universe, as well as a number of short stories (some of which are collected in the anthologies Side Jobs and Brief Cases; Others remain on his website). The series has also been released in audiobook format, narrated by James Marsters. Other works set in the same fictional universe include graphic novels (several new stories in addition to adaptations of the first two novels), and The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game. In 2007, a television series based on the novels aired for one season on the American Sci-Fi Channel. Plot summary In the world of The Dresden Files, magic is real—alongside vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, outsiders and other monsters—while both it and the supernatural are widely discredited. Additionally, large portions of the globe (such as much of Central and South America) are largely under the control of supernatural factions. These supernatural monsters are loosely countered by the White Council, an organization of human wizards noted to wield significant economic power in the world, along with their standing in the supernatural realm. Each species in the series (humans, faeries, vampires, etc.) has its own political and societal rules and organizations, acting as another counter on each-other and maintaining the masquerade. The human wizards depend on the White Council, while faeries mostly belong to either of two Faerie Courts, or none at all (Wyldfae). Vampires predominately belong to any of the four vampire courts. Other non-human creatures from a range of mythologies make appearances.