I love Harry.

[cairistiona]

No, not that Harry, although HP's cool.  But the Harry I love is Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional Wizard Private Investigator and the hero of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series.  Why do I love him?  For the obvious reasons: he's a good guy, brave but knows when to run screaming like a girl, wears a wicked cool black leather duster, drives a battered Volkswagen Beetle.  But even more than all those things do I love him for his ever so sarcastic wit, which produces gems like this conversation he has with a Chicago crime boss in "Death Masks":

"Mister Dresden," he said.  "And Miss Rodriguez, I believe.  I didn't realize you were an art collector."

"I am the foremost collector of velvet Elvii in the city of Chicago," I said at once.

"Elvii?" Marcone inquired.

"The plural could be Elvises, I guess," I said.  "But if I say that too often, I start muttering to myself and calling things 'my precious,' so I usually go with the Latin plural."

*gigglefits*

If you're looking for a good Halloween read, I highly recommend Jim Butcher's books.   Lighthearted horror-drama-comedy... hordramedy? Is that anything like a horcrux?  Oops, sorry.  Wrong Harry...

Comments

[suzll.livejournal.com]

Teehee!!!! That's awesome in about five different ways *g* I'll have to check them out sometime!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

I think you'd love those books... they're not high literature by any stretch of the imagination, but just good fun guilty pleasure reading. *g*

[dreamflower]

I absolutely adore the Dresden Files! I so seldom read conventionally published fiction anymore, and most such authors let me down after about the third or fourth book in a series, but I've read all of the Dresden books, and eagerly await the next one.

I think it's because he treats his characters the way fanfic writers treat theirs: he's not afraid to hurt them or traumatize them (h/c anyone?) but he clearly respects them too. I also love Harry's geekery, all the quotes from Star Wars and LotR and so forth...

And yes, his wit is a wonderful part of it all. And it didn't hurt a bit when I heard that Mr. Butcher is pro-fanfic!

I even went looking for some Dresden files fic, and found some really good ones! (Including a couple in which Harry P. meets Harry D. It had to happen, didn't it?)

Yep. Harry Dresden is great!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Yay, another fan! I confess I've only discovered him about 6 months ago--normally I do *not* read anything like horror and vampires and zombies etc, but his books are so lighthearted and Harry's such an unequivocally "good guy", even though he makes mistakes and choices that bite him, they're just terrific books. And he drinks Coca-cola! What's not to like. *g*

And um, yes, I thought I was hard on Aragorn but I've got nothing on what Jim does to poor Harry. It gets a little over the top sometimes, but hey, he's a wizard, so I guess he can take a little more than the rest of us regular non-wizardy types.

I've not tried any of the fanfic yet... still working my way through the series (I just finished "Death Mask" and have read a couple out of order after that but I'm trying to read them in order now). I find that when I'm watching a current television show or reading a current series, I don't really want to read fic, because I'd rather get the writer's original vision first before reading any departures from it, or speculations on where the story will go, character backstories, etc.

[dreamflower]

Well, I did finish all of the books before I started checking out fic, but I admit what got me started on them was a Dresden Files fanfic I saw in a Yuletide a year or so ago-- it was short and caught Harry's personality without really giving anything away.

And then some on my flist started mentioning it in their posts, so I just HAD to check it out.

No spoilers, but the books do get darker and harsher as they go (kind of like that other Harry), but just when you think poor Harry can't go on-- he does! Takes a licking and keeps on ticking! And Jim Butcher still manages to maintain the light-heartedness and faith at the heart of the stories.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

No spoilers, but the books do get darker and harsher as they go (kind of like that other Harry), but just when you think poor Harry can't go on-- he does! Takes a licking and keeps on ticking! And Jim Butcher still manages to maintain the light-heartedness and faith at the heart of the stories.

I have noticed the ever-growing darker tone, yes, but that's really to be expected as the battle gets more and more intense. I think it's what I actually like most about it--despite the fun, there's a definite story arc going on and lots of plot machinations and all those fun things you'd expect. And yes, that faith at the heart of it... I really appreciate that element. Somehow, though Harry can seem quite cynical, at heart, he's really not. He has a heart full of mush, really! Very loveable guy. I always feel like giving him tons of hugs at the ends of all the books.

[ellynn-ithilwen.livejournal.com]

brave but knows when to run screaming like a girl

Ok, this just made my sleepy rainy grey morning! *lol*

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

You might like these books. There's a lot of humor in them just like that. :)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

A number of the 'other half' of my FL - the Buffyverse friends, are big fans. Mainly because the audio books are read by James Marsters. Up until now I'd never really thought about what the books were about - your snippet has certainly wetted my appetite.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

I rarely do audio books because my attention wanders off too easily and I miss important details, but these are definitely fun reads, whether you use your eyes or your ears. I imagine the audiobooks are great fun.

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Hee, hee! It's amazing how mainstream anything LOTR's is now!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

It really is. :)

[estelcontar1.livejournal.com]

ROTFLMAO! That is a total riot. It's just the kind of dry wit I enjoy to bits. If I weren't sure Harry's books were not for me I would rush to buy this one.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

I would say, if there were ever a book in this genre that you *might* enjoy, it would be the Dresden files. But I think even the humor wouldn't help overcome the fact that there are icky bits throughout. So I'll just share the really funny parts like this with you now and then. *g*

[estelcontar1.livejournal.com]

Yaaaaaaaaaay! Thank you. I'll take you up on that. *g*