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The Montague and Strong Detective Agency Universe
[edit]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search This article is about the series of novels and novellas that constitute the The Montague and Strong Detective Agency Universe.
| Skin Game cover | |
| Author | Orlando A Sanchez |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Deranged Doctor Design |
| Language | English |
| Genre | DetectiveContemporary fantasyUrban fantasy |
| Publisher |
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| Publication date | April 2000 – present |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & paperback)
Serial (comics and graphic novels) Audiobook (CD & MP3) |
The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, Storm Front, was published in 2000 by Roc Books.
The books are written as a first-person narrative from the perspective of the main character, 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 2020, Butcher has written 17 novels set in the Dresden Files universe, plus a number of short stories (some of which are collected in the anthologies Side Jobs and Brief Cases). 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, plus 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.
Contents
[edit]Overview[edit]
[edit]Further information: The Dresden Files groups, The Dresden Files characters, and Laws of Magic (The Dresden Files)
In the world of The Dresden Files, magic—as well as vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, outsiders, and other monsters—is real, and while the supernatural is still widely discredited, it is practiced by some members of society. Additionally, large portions of the globe (such as much of Central and South America) are mentioned as being largely under the control of supernatural factions. The White Council is an organization of human wizards, noted to wield significant economic power in the world, along with their supernatural power. Each species in the series (humans, faeries, vampires, etc.) has its own political and societal rules and organizations. The human wizards depend on the White Council, while faeries may belong to either of two Faerie Courts, or none at all. Vampires may belong to any of four vampire courts.
Harry Dresden works as the world's only "consulting wizard", accepting supernatural cases from both human and nonhuman clients, as well as the Chicago PD's Special Investigation unit. As the series progresses, Dresden takes on an increasingly important role in the supernatural world at large, as he works to protect the general public, making getting by as a working wizard and private investigator difficult for him. He finds himself facing off against an increasing variety of creatures (including other wizards), while facing the realization that his various cases may all be tied together behind the scenes and that his role might be even greater than he is willing to admit.
Publishing history[edit]
[edit]Jim Butcher decided to become a professional author at the age of 19. He wrote three novels within the fantasy genre, one of which he has classified as paranormal. He went on to describe all three books as being "terrible". In 1996, he enrolled in a writing class, where he was encouraged to write a novel similar to the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton, rather than the more traditional high fantasy that had been his focus in the past, as Butcher had previously stated that he enjoyed the Anita Blake series. Despite initial resistance, he wrote the first book that semester, closely following the instructions of his teacher, author Deborah Chester.
When I finally got tired of arguing with her and decided to write a novel as if I [were] some kind of formulaic, genre-writing drone, just to prove to her how awful it would be, I wrote the first book of the Dresden Files. —
The result was Semiautomagic, later to be retitled as Storm Front. His writing teacher declared it to be publishable, and Butcher started hunting around to do just that. Butcher failed to secure a publisher for two to three years. During this period, he completed the second novel, Fool Moon, and had made significant progress on the third, Grave Peril. Deciding to focus on agents and editors who had already published similar novels, Butcher targeted Ricia Mainhardt, the agent representing Laurell Hamilton, and submitted a copy of his manuscript. It was not accepted. Finally, Butcher met Hamilton at a convention, and was invited to lunch along with Mainhardt and a second agent, Jennifer Jackson. Mainhardt agreed to represent him, and six months later The Dresden Files was sold to ROC, an imprint of Penguin Books.
The first volume, Storm Front, was released in 2000 in paperback; the next two novels in the series, Fool Moon and Grave Peril, were released shortly thereafter, in January and September 2001, also in paperback. Subsequent novels in the series have been published annually since then up to Skin Game, published in May 2014, followed by a 6-year hiatus prior to the release of Peace Talks. Omnibus editions have been released by the Science Fiction Book Club, with each of the four volumes reprinting two or three of the novels in the sequence.
The series' first six novels were originally only published as paperbacks, but in 2007, ROC changed its strategy and began to publish hardcover reprints of books one to six. Volume six, Blood Rites, was released in July 2007. From book seven onward, each new book was directly published as hardcover and paperback both.
Orbit Books purchased the series for UK publication, and released the first novel, Storm Front in September 2005—five years after the initial US release. They then proceeded to publish two books per month. In November 2007, Orbit Books announced that they had purchased the rights to Changes, the 12th novel, as well as the 13th Dresden novel, Ghost Story.
All 16 volumes of The Dresden Files, along with the companion short-story anthology Side Jobs, have been released as audiobooks. Originally, all except Ghost Story have been narrated by James Marsters. Per a release on Jim Butcher's website on June 27, 2011, he reported that, "due to scheduling conflicts", Marsters would be unable to voice Ghost Story; instead, the narration was performed by John Glover. James Marsters returned to read the Cold Days audio book. In April 2015, a rerecorded version of "Ghost Story" read by Marsters was released. The cover art for the series was created by Chris McGrath.
On April 4, 2015, the World Science Fiction Society announced that Skin Game, the 15th installment in the series, was a finalist for the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Skin Game had been proposed as a nominee by both fantasy writer Brad Torgersen's "Sad Puppies" and science fiction and fantasy author Theodore Beale's "Rabid Puppies" slates; both "Puppy" slates engendered some controversy in the science-fiction and fantasy community, since slate voting had not previously been a part of the Hugos. The book placed fifth in the final tally of the votes, behind "No Award".
While the cover art of each book portrays Dresden wearing a hat, in the novels themselves, he almost never does. This has become something of an in-joke between author, publisher and artist. In Changes, when his Godmother attempts to equip him with an armored helmet, he explicitly says "I don't do hats."
Bibliography[edit]
[edit]See also: The Dresden Files short fiction
| No. | Title | Paperback release date | Paperback ISBN | eBook release date | eBook ISBN | Audio release date | Audio CD ISBN | Audio length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tombyards & Butterflies | February 27th 2017 | 1544185405 | February 27th 2017 | February 13th 2018 | ||||
| 2 | Full Moon Howl | ||||||||
| 3 | Blood is Thicker | ||||||||
| 4 | Silver Clouds Dirty Sky | ||||||||
| 5 | Homecoming | ||||||||
| 6 | Dragons & Demigods | ||||||||
| 7 | Bullets & Blades | ||||||||
| 8 | Hell Hath No Fury | ||||||||
| 9 | Reaping Wind | ||||||||
| 10 | The Golem | ||||||||
| 11 | Dark Glass | ||||||||
| 12 | Walking the Razor | ||||||||
| 13 | Requiem | ||||||||
| 14 | |||||||||
| 15 | |||||||||
| 16 | |||||||||
| 17 |
| No. | Title | Release Date | Book ISBN | Audio CD ISBN | Contents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | Montague & Strong Boxset I | Tombyards & Butterflies
Full Moon Howl Blood Is Thicker | |||
| 4–6 | Montague & Strong Boxset II | Silver Clouds Dirty Sky
Homecoming Dragons & Demigods | |||
| 6 & 7 | |||||
| 8 & 9 | |||||
| — | |||||
| — |
All the books are published by ROC, an imprint of Penguin Books. The Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) reissued the first nine books in hardcover omnibus editions.
The first four audiobook versions are produced by Buzzy Multimedia Publishing, while the fifth Death Masks and following were all produced by Penguin Audio. Proven Guilty and White Night were released in April 2009 alongside Turn Coat. Death Masks was released November 2009, and Blood Rites and Dead Beat were released April 2010. The latest in the series is Skin Game which was released on May 27, 2014.
On July 22, 2019, Jim Butcher's official website and Twitter account both announced the next novel, Peace Talks, had been completed and was submitted for editing and beta review. On December 16, 2019, tor.com announced a release date of July 14, 2020 for Peace Talks. The release was scheduled to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of Storm Front. On March 24, 2020, a trailer was released that confirmed the release date for Peace Talks and announced the following book, titled Battle Ground, would be released on September 29, 2020.
Butcher is currently planning for twenty-two books in the "case files" of the series, to be capped by a further "big apocalyptic trilogy".
Other media[edit]
[edit]Influence[edit]
[edit]In the novel Fated, the first Alex Verus book by Benedict Jacka, Verus comments, "I've even heard of one guy in Chicago who advertises in the phone book under 'Wizard,' though that's probably an urban legend."
In Ben Aaronovitch's book "Broken Homes" from the "Rivers Of London" series, PC Peter Grant drinks a beer from a Chicago Brewery called "Mac's"
In Charles Stross's The Laundry Files novel "The Rhesus Chart", one of the code words uses is DRESDEN RICE; in reference to The Dresden Files and Anne Rice.
References[edit]
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- ^ Jim Butcher's website on June 27, 2011
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- ^ https://www.tor.com/2019/12/16/jim-butchers-new-novel-peace-talks-will-publish-in-2020-for-the-20th-anniversary-of-the-dresden-files/
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F17zuaRJG0U&feature=emb_logo
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- ^ "Slice of SciFi's 'Save Dresden!' campaign"
- ^ "‘The Dresden Files’ Fantasy Novels Optioned By Fox21 TV Studios For Series Development"
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- ^ "Dabel Brothers Publishing announces 'Jim Butcher's Storm Front' creative team", Comic Book Resources, July 2, 2008
- ^ Dynamite acquires Dabel Brothers titles, Heidi McDonald's The Beat, December 3, 2009
- ^ Dynamite Entertainment MAY 2010 Solicitations, Newsarama, February 24, 2010
- ^ 2017 Recipients: The Dragon Awards, DragonCon, 2017
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External links[edit]
[edit]- The Dresden Files Series at Jim Butcher's website
- Buzzy Multimedia—Publishers of the audio books
- Dresden Lives official website
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