Storm Front (The Dresden Files): Difference between revisions

Storm Front
	First edition cover
Author	Jim Butcher
Cover artist	Lee MacLeod
Language	English
Series	The Dresden Files
Genre	Science fiction, Fantasy novel
Publisher	Penguin Putnam
Publication date	April 1, 2000
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Paperback) & AudioBook (Audio Cassette & Audio CD)
Pages	322 pp (first edition, paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-4514-5781-1 (first edition, paperback) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
OCLC	43892393
LC Class	CPB Box no. 1853 vol. 11
Followed by	Fool Moon

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Storm Front is a 2000 novel by science fiction and fantasy author Jim Butcher. It is the first novel in The Dresden Files, his first published series that follows the character of Harry Dresden, professional wizard.

External links

The first two chapters of the book and several MP3 clips are on the author's official website.
Review by J. K. Pelletier FantasyBookNews.com, October, 2009

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 '''''Storm Front''''' is a 2000 novel by [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]] author [[Jim Butcher]]. It is the first novel in [[The Dresden Files]], his first published series that follows the character of [[Harry Dresden]], professional [[Wizard (fantasy)|wizard]].
-==Plot==
-A woman named Monica makes an appointment with Dresden to discuss a missing persons case. This is very welcome to the financially strapped Dresden. Dresden schedules their meeting for after lunch.
-Before he can go to lunch, Dresden gets a call from Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, director of Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the Chicago Police Department.  Dresden hurries to the crime scene--a room at the Madison Hotel. Detective Carmichael, Murphy's partner, shows him the bodies of two gruesomely murdered people, intertwined in an act of passion with their hearts ripped out. The man was Tommy Tomm, a bodyguard for Gentleman Johnny Marcone, a powerful local mobster; and the woman was Jennifer Stanton, an escort from the Velvet Room--a high-priced gentleman's club. Dresden knows The Velvet Room is run by Madam Bianca, a vampire of the Red Court. On the way back to his apartment, he is stopped by a couple of men and pushed into a limo occupied by Gentleman Johnny Marcone.
-Marcone asks Dresden to back off. Tommy is Marcone's man, so he will handle it. Although Marcone's terms are generous, offering him 1,200 a day to do nothing, Dresden stubbornly refuses. They soulgaze. Dresden sees that Marcone has the cold, remorseless soul of a tiger. Marcone sees all of Dresden's strengths and weaknesses. Marcone lets Dresden out at his home.
-Dresden is just in time to meet with Monica. She wants Dresden find her husband, Victor Sells. He had been dabbling in magic and he's been missing for three days. She came to Dresden because he seemed knowledgeable about magic and she hoped he would believe her. Dresden agrees to take her case. Monica gives him a hefty cash retainer and an envelope containing a dried scorpion. It could be useful as an arcane connection to find Victor. As Monica is leaving, she suggests that Victor might be hiding at their secluded lake house.
-Dresden pays his rent and other bills with the retainer. He treats himself to a steak dinner at McAnally's, a small tavern where practitioners and other members of the magical community go to relax. While he is there, Susan Rodriguez, a reporter from the Midwestern ''Arcane'', interrogates him about the double murder. Not getting anywhere, she asks him out on a date. Dresden accepts a date with her for Saturday night at 9 PM.
-Dresden investigates the Sells' lake house. He only finds a canister of film. Hoping for more information, he enlists the help of a faerie known as Toot-toot. He asks Toot to find out what happened at this house. After consulting with other faeries, Toot relates that pizza was delivered to a group of "sporting" humans. Dresden assumes that Victor Sells is having an affair. After Toot leaves, the Warden Morgan appears. He accuses Dresden of breaking the [[The_Dresden_Files_The_Seven_Laws_of_Magic|Fourth Law of Magic]]. It's punishable by death. After a brief argument, Morgan lets him go. First, the law only applies to the enthrallment of mortals, not to faeries. Second, Toot was given a choice of taking the offering of milk and honey, thusly sealing himself in the summoning circle.
-Dresden heads home to start working on the murder case. He consults Bob, an air spirit of arcane knowledge, who resides in a skull. After a bit of potion making in his sub-basement laboratory, Dresden  meets with Madam Bianca, the owner of the Velvet Room. Seeing that Dresden is armed, Bianca accuses Dresden of killing Jennifer Stanton and coming to kill her as well. The situation quickly escalates into violence. Bianca loses their duel, which embarrasses her. She vows revenge upon Dresden for this humiliation. Bianca gives Dresden the cell number for Linda Randall, a former employee who was close to Jennifer. Dresden contacts Linda and finds out She's a limo chauffeur--and companion--for the Beckitts. They arrive while Dresden is pumping Linda for information. Getting back to work, Linda drives off with the Beckitts and Dresden's card in her pocket.
-The next morning, Dresden meets with Lt. Murphy. On the way, he has a run-in with a man that used a drug called "ThreeEye". This new drug has been going around Chicago. It opens the mystical Third Eye to give mundanes a brief dose of wizard "Sight". Dresden tells Murphy that he suspects the couple was murdered in a gang war by the makers of the ThreeEye drug. Tommy's death was a warning to Marcone. Jennifer was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Dresden also explains that it would take more than one warlock to cast such a powerful spell. It had to be a coven. Dresden blacks out due to lack of sleep and the head injury he sustained earlier. Lt. Murphy drives him home. Just before Dresden goes to sleep, Linda contacts him. She volunteers to tell him what he wants to know. Still dazed, he makes a date with her for Saturday at 9 PM.
-A thunderstorm awakens Dresden. He realizes that he made dates with Susan and Linda for that very night--at the very same time. Susan arrives first. While Dresden is showering, Susan answers a knock at the door. Instead of Linda, it's a toad demon. It attacks them by throwing electricity and acidic spit. After an intense battle, which destroys his apartment, Dresden and Susan escape using a potion. Overwhelmed by the experience and the magical potions (she accidentally drank a love potion before the escape potion), Susan passes out.
-Outside his apartment, Dresden is confronted by the image of the warlock who killed Tommy and Jennifer. He sent the toad-demon. He knows Dresden is involved and intends to kill him. Angry, tired, and desperate, Dresden siphons energy from the storm to send feedback through the warlock's image, hurting him and ending the transmission. Using the storm energy, Dresden explodes the toad-demon. Dresden realizes that was how the warlock did such a spell, he used the storm energy, too. Just as he thinks he's safe, Morgan reappears. Morgan tells Dresden that the White Council will convene in two days, to try Dresden for violating the First Law of Magic: the murders of Jennifer Stanton and Tommy Tomm. Morgan thinks Dresden is guilty, because he is the only wizard in Chicago who is strong enough to cast such a powerful spell. The punishment is death.
-At that moment, Lt. Murphy sends a patrol car to pick up Dresden and bring him to another murder scene--the same [[M.O.]] as Tommy and Jennifer. Susan regains consciousness and drives off. Dresden goes with the police. At the crime scene, Dresden recognizes the murdered woman as Linda Randall, his other 9 PM date. This confirms his belief that the warlock is siphoning storm energy to power his spells. Murphy found Dresden's business card in the murdered woman's apartment. She demands an explanation. To protect Murphy, Dresden doesn't tell her about Susan, the toad-demon, or Marcone. Murphy knows he's withholding evidence. She gives him until the next morning to come clean or go to jail.
-As Dresden leaves Linda's apartment, he's attacked. The attacker cuts a piece of his hair. Now, Dresden's in real trouble, since his hair can be used to direct a spell against him. His attacker was one of Marcone's men. During the scuffle, Dresden clawed his attacker. Scraping the man's blood from under his fingernails, Dresden casts a tracking spell. This blood spell leads to Marcone's club, the ''Varsity''.
-Dresden trashes the ''Varsity'' in a grand entrance. He confronts the bodyguard. Before Marcone can intervene, Dresden tells him about the stolen hair, explaining that the bodyguard had sold out Marcone, and he had arranged Tommy's and Jennifer's death. Trapped, the bodyguard tries to shoot his way out. Mr. Hendricks drills the bodyguard. There's nothing that Marcone and Dresden can learn from the corpse. And, the corpse doesn't have Dresden's hair. He believes that he's already given the hair to the Warlock. Dresden returns to Linda Randall's apartment to hunt for clues and get some rest. He finds a film canister that matches the one from the lake house. This connects the two cases. He decides to sleep on it. He knows that during the next storm, he's going to die just like Tommy, Jennifer, and Linda.
-After a night of uninterrupted sleep, Dresden is about to leave Linda's apartment, when someone enters. The man identifies himself as Donny Wise, a photographer Linda hired. He's looking for a film canister. Dresden will give him the film, if Donny spills the beans. Donny tells Dresden there was an orgy on the night the pizza delivery man caught him snapping photos on the porch. Wise photographed Linda Randall and a lot of other people. He assumes they were for blackmail. Dresden lets Donny go, but not before melting the film, in case Donny decides to try to sell the pictures for a profit.
-Dresden calls Monica. She says that she doesn't need his services, and she sounds scared. Dresden goes to Monica Sells' house. Monica confesses that Jennifer Stanton was her sister. Yes, Victor had used the energy of sex and lust to gain power and become a stronger sorcerer. Then, he began making the ThreeEye drug. The Beckitts were more than willing to finance his drug empire, to push Marcone out of the market--anything to hurt Marcone. The Beckitts blamed Marcone for the death of their daughter. But Victor could never make enough of the drug; that among other things, just pushed him over the edge. Monica explained that Victor killed Jennifer, because she had threatened to go to Marcone. Tommy Tomm died because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, Monica is worried about her children. As Dresden is leaving, Monica's little girl asks if he's one of the good guys because, "We really need a good guy."
-Back in his office, Murphy is waiting to arrest Dresden. Dresden calls Murphy to let her know what he found out. He warns her not to open his desk drawers, because "it could be dangerous." She is still angry and no longer trusts him. Spitefully opening a drawer, Murphy discovers the scorpion. It re-animates, grows, and stings Murphy. Dresden rushes to his office to find her incapacitated by the poison. Single-minded as always, she handcuffs Dresden, when he saves her. Battling the scorpion while handcuffed to the semi-conscious Murphy, Dresden smashes the car-sized scorpion between the elevator roof and the top of the elevator shaft. Leaving Murphy in the care of the paramedics, Dresden gears up for a showdown with Victor Sells.
-Returning to the lake house, Dresden saves his own life by interrupting Victor's death ritual. An epic battle ensues, where his opponents include "an evil sorcerer...two crazies with guns" (the Beckitts), half-dozen rapidly growing scorpions, and the re-summoned toad-demon. Dresden wins, but he's trapped inside the burning lake house. Warden Morgan drags him out of the fire, saving his life. Morgan witnessed the fight with Victor. Now, he knows that Dresden is innocent, and he will testify on Dresden's behalf to the White Council.
-==Plot points introduced==
-* '''Soulgaze''': An event where a wizard locks eyes with another human (and only another human, as faeries, vampires etc. don't have human souls) and sees a piece of their souls. It is normally a daunting experience. Later books reveal that the experience is different based on the people involved. Some wizards experience the soulgaze like they would a work of art. Some hear, rather than see, the soulgaze, and some, like Dresden, see symbolic representations of who the other person is.
-*'''Laws of Magic''': A list of seven laws held by the White Council, that must be upheld by all wizards. Breaking one of these laws is punishable by death.
-*'''Sight''': The ability for wizards to see what is being looked beyond its mundane 'normal' view, and also to see the spirit, soul and true nature of persons. It's in brilliant color and will never fade from their minds, no matter how much time passes or how much it is done. This must be used carefully, or the wizard could be driven insane. Dresden refers to the experience as opening and closing "the Third Eye".
-*'''Death Curse''': Briefly mentioned is that a wizard has the ability to perform a death curse, a very powerful curse that is done using the wizards life force. Casting it always kills the wizard. It is usually done by a dying wizard and is usually leveled at the creature or creatures about to kill him.
-==Characters==
-===Characters introduced in this novel===
-{{main|List of The Dresden Files characters}}
-* [[Harry Dresden]]: The protagonist; a professional wizard; and he’s in the phone book.
-* Monica Sells: One of Dresden's clients and the wife of Warlock Victor Sells.
-* Lieutenant [[Karrin Murphy]]: Director of Special Investigations, Chicago PD.
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#Ron_Carmichael|Detective Ron Carmichael]]: Murphy's partner at SI
-* Jennifer Stanton (deceased): An employee of the Velvet Room and Monica Sells' sister
-* Tommy Tomm (deceased): A bodyguard for Gentleman Johnny Marcone
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#.22Gentleman.22_John_.22Johnnie.22_Marcone|Gentleman Johnny Marcone]]: The crime lord of Chicago
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#Hendricks|Hendricks]]: A bodyguard for Gentleman Johnny Marcone
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#McAnally|Mac]]: The owner-operator of McAnally's tavern
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#Susan_Rodriguez|Susan Rodriguez]]: A reporter at the Midwester ''Arcane'', and Dresden's love interest
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#Toot-toot|Toot-toot]]: A dewdrop faerie who helps Dresden
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#Donald_Morgan|Warden Donald Morgan]]: A law enforcement warden for the White Council, who has a mandate to aid the innocent and punish the guilty.
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#Mister|Mister]]: Dresden's 30+ pound house cat
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#.22Bob.22|Bob]]: An intelligent air spirit who resides inside a skull in Dresden's sub-basement laboratory.
-* [[List_of_The_Dresden_Files_characters#Bianca_St._Claire|Madame Bianca St. Claire]]: The owner of the Velvet Room and a Red Court vampire.
-* Linda Randall (deceased): A former employee of the Velvet Room; the Beckitt’s chauffeur; friend and sometime lover to Jennifer Stanton.
-* The Beckitts: A rich couple who provide money for Victor Sells
-* Donny Wise: A photographer for a local adult magazine
-* Victor "Shadowman" Sells: The villain of the novel; a warlock; and Monica Sells' husband.
-==''Storm Front'' in other media==
-*''Storm Front'' has been recorded as an audio book, narrated by [[James Marsters]].
-*The plot of the novel was condensed into a 90-minute prospective [[Storm Front (Dresden)|television pilot]] for the [[Sci Fi Channel (United States)|Sci Fi Channel]]. Although the television movie was not used as the pilot episode, it was edited and aired later in the first season.
-*The novel was adapted into a comic book mini-series.
-*This novel is available as a Kindle book.
 ==External links==