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A review by thisnursereads
The Dresden Files Series Set (Dresden Files, #1-12) by Jim Butcher
5.0
"We still hadn't learned, though, that growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you're just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something. Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There's the little empty pain of leaving something behind-graduating, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There's the big, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expectations. There's the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn't give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life as they grow and learn. There's the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens.
Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don’t feel it.
Pain is a part of life. Sometimes it’s a big part, and sometimes it isn’t, but either way, it’s part of the big puzzle, the deep music, the great game. Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you’re alive. Then it passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser, sometimes. Sometimes it leaves you stronger. Either way, pain leaves its mark, and everything important that will ever happen to you in life is going to involve it in one degree or another."
-Harry Dresden, Dresden Files, White Knight
I am one of those people that have been listening to the Dresden audiobooks for YEARS and recommend them to everyone!
My partner and I were long distance and when we were together, often on vacation, we wanted an audiobook to listen to on long rides. Somehow stumbled upon this series when searching for "best audiobooks" years ago. Once we really became devoted to the series, around book 3 or 4, we would listen to the audiobooks apart and talk about them over the phone or videochat and listen together when we were visiting each other.
It sounds silly, but around a decade later and this series holds such a special place in my heart. This series and its audiobooks continue to grow with our relationship. We listen to them together, or re-listen to books earlier in the series. We have probably listened to most of the earlier books 2-3x. We even named our dog Murphy!
If you are interested in starting this series, I tell people it takes about 3-4 books in to feel that Butcher really understands where the story is going and how the characters will develop. The beginning books aren't bad, I just don't feel they draw you in as well as the later ones do. They read like separate stories with some consistent characters. Once the storyline really starts and the novels start flowing together, you will be hooked and each novel is better than the last!..Well, I was hooked.
I'd consider the genre urban fantasy as it is set in Chicago but the magical world, the never never, is very much classic fantasy. There are SOO many characters, many fantastical and mythical and so many ways to feel about them all. My favorite character is a huge dog named Mouse that doesn't even speak but it doesn't matter, just the way Butcher is able to portray his characters makes you fall in love with them.
The series is set through the eyes of a Wizard detective, Harry Dresden, living and working in Chicago. He is such a complicated character. You love him, you hate him. He can be such a dick! But his growth doesn't go unnoticed. There are also really strong, intelligent, amazing women written throughout. Women that save Harry's ass more times than once. There is also romance and spice and heartbreak. I have felt every emotion possible throughout this series and I have truly mourned characters.
The series forces the reader to constantly question morality. Often who I expect to be the 'evil villians' of a story are turned on its head, or their background is explained and the perspective shifts drastically.
This series has been a part of my life for so long, it is hard to fully put into words how much I enjoy listening to this series. But I did and I do and I will grieve when the series ends for I will be in shock that it will not go on forever.
Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don’t feel it.
Pain is a part of life. Sometimes it’s a big part, and sometimes it isn’t, but either way, it’s part of the big puzzle, the deep music, the great game. Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you’re alive. Then it passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser, sometimes. Sometimes it leaves you stronger. Either way, pain leaves its mark, and everything important that will ever happen to you in life is going to involve it in one degree or another."
-Harry Dresden, Dresden Files, White Knight
I am one of those people that have been listening to the Dresden audiobooks for YEARS and recommend them to everyone!
My partner and I were long distance and when we were together, often on vacation, we wanted an audiobook to listen to on long rides. Somehow stumbled upon this series when searching for "best audiobooks" years ago. Once we really became devoted to the series, around book 3 or 4, we would listen to the audiobooks apart and talk about them over the phone or videochat and listen together when we were visiting each other.
It sounds silly, but around a decade later and this series holds such a special place in my heart. This series and its audiobooks continue to grow with our relationship. We listen to them together, or re-listen to books earlier in the series. We have probably listened to most of the earlier books 2-3x. We even named our dog Murphy!
If you are interested in starting this series, I tell people it takes about 3-4 books in to feel that Butcher really understands where the story is going and how the characters will develop. The beginning books aren't bad, I just don't feel they draw you in as well as the later ones do. They read like separate stories with some consistent characters. Once the storyline really starts and the novels start flowing together, you will be hooked and each novel is better than the last!..Well, I was hooked.
I'd consider the genre urban fantasy as it is set in Chicago but the magical world, the never never, is very much classic fantasy. There are SOO many characters, many fantastical and mythical and so many ways to feel about them all. My favorite character is a huge dog named Mouse that doesn't even speak but it doesn't matter, just the way Butcher is able to portray his characters makes you fall in love with them.
The series is set through the eyes of a Wizard detective, Harry Dresden, living and working in Chicago. He is such a complicated character. You love him, you hate him. He can be such a dick! But his growth doesn't go unnoticed. There are also really strong, intelligent, amazing women written throughout. Women that save Harry's ass more times than once. There is also romance and spice and heartbreak. I have felt every emotion possible throughout this series and I have truly mourned characters.
The series forces the reader to constantly question morality. Often who I expect to be the 'evil villians' of a story are turned on its head, or their background is explained and the perspective shifts drastically.
This series has been a part of my life for so long, it is hard to fully put into words how much I enjoy listening to this series. But I did and I do and I will grieve when the series ends for I will be in shock that it will not go on forever.