Storm Front

“My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I’m a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I’m the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under ‘Wizards.’ Believe it or not, I’m the only one there.”

The wry, self-deprecating tone of the novel’s first chapter effectively introduces Harry’s attitude and profession while establishing the premise and rules of this urban fantasy series. Harry’s casual reference to supernatural realities sets the expectation that a wide variety of outlandish events, characters, and complications will be hard-wired into the narrative, and Butcher delivers on this promise. Additionally, Harry’s dry, humorous narration hints at hidden insecurities and deeper issues that lie beneath his veneer of bravado and self-deprecation.

“They had used magic to wreak harm on another, violating the First Law. The White Council was going to go into a collective apoplexy. This hadn’t been the act of a malign spirit or a malicious entity, or the attack of one of the many creatures of the Nevernever, like vampires or trolls. This had been the premeditated, deliberate act of a sorcerer, a wizard, a human being able to tap into the fundamental energies of creation and life itself.

It was worse than murder.”

At several points, Harry explains various aspects of how magic works, and this expository passage introduces the concept of “the Nevernever,” a liminal space consisting of magic and spirit that exists alongside the normal world yet is separate from it. He also explains that because magic is based on the powers of life and creation, the act of killing by magic is particularly depraved. This explanation helps establish Harry’s sense of outrage over the double murder, and his words introduce the governing body of the White Council, which plays a fundamental role throughout the novel and the entire series.