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reviewed Storm Front by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files, #1)

Jim Butcher: Storm Front (Paperback, 2000, ROC, New American Library) 4 stars

The novels of the Dresden Files have become synonymous with action-packed urban fantasy and non-stop …

Review of 'Storm Front' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

4.5 stars.

I would entitle the review "How Urban Fantasy should be written".
After reading this, I realized that this genre has been ruined by many stereotypes and the border between UF and Romance and other st isn't so clear.
I think that after I've read some UF series, I came up with the idea that they are all almost identical: the badass female protagonist (always first person POV) that alternates moments like "I'll kick your ass, you damn bastard" with others like "I go to the toilet, I put make up on my face thinking of that cool guy, I whine because I can't/...paranoic thoughts following". The cool and über-smartass alpha-and-so-on guy who inspires forbidden fantasies. The bad guy who always wants to kill the protagonist, because figured out she is special, however. The writing is a continuous sequence of "damn", "fuck", "dude" and monosyllabic sentences. I found all this so irritating. But the main critic I point to this genre is the lack of explanations. Without them, plot doesn't make sense and characters lose credibility.

After this previous "fed-up" moment, let's talk about this book.
1. I liked the writing.
2. I kind of loved Harry Dresden. He's a credible hero who isn't perfect but he's cool at the same time. He makes mistakes, he's stubborn as hell and wit.
please Mr. Dresden, run your office also in Italy!!
3. I loved Bob, even if he appeared only a few times. I hope we can see more Bob in the sequels.
4. Even if she's stubborn as hell and bitchy, I liked also Murphy because she is well depicted.
5. The plot: the reader is focused on following the detective story without any kind of s
t. Yes, there are vampires and fairies, but they are just pieces of the puzzle and their "personalities" are tricky and evil. ahem...they are not sex gods giving a nasty look at Jeaniene Frost, KM Moning, maybe Ilona Andrews

What I disliked:
- some absurd moments that left me a bit stunned, but I managed to pass over.

Eventually I really liked this first volume and I recommend it everyone.