Has anyone else been reading these? I just finished up the latest book Turncoat this morning and i have to say that this is one of the few series i have read that never at any point started going downhill.

If you haven't checked it out I highly recommend giving the series a read. It is straight up modern fantasy and has become one of my favorite fiction series.

I've read the whole series of novels, the graphic novel Welcome to the Jungle, the short stories Backup and the The Warrior and watched the TV series that got me hooked on it in the first place. I first watched the cancelled TV series and it got me interested in the series because as is usually true, the books are better than the shows or movies based on them. I picked up the first novel in paperback and was instantly hooked. I'd have to agree about the quality of the series. Off the top of my head the only book series I can recall reading where I thought the quality stayed high were the Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony and the original run of novels set in the Battletech universe, mostly the ones written by Michael Stackpole. I read those years ago, so my opinion could change if I reread them. I think I'd still enjoy rereading all of these years later though. Even though the TV series strays quite a bit from the novels, that also is enjoyable unless you are a hardcore purist.

The only complaint I do have isn't with the series so much as the paperback publisher. I didn't want to wait for Small Favor in paperback last year after finishing the rest, so I bought the hardcover and did again this year with Turncoat on launch. I noticed now the paperback of Small Favor is using that more expensive larger format, so looks out of place on a shelf next to the previous 9. I can't understand why they'd switch this far in the series, but now I don't feel as bad about the 2 hardcovers when the rest are paperback, especially since I didnt pay much more for the hardcovers over the $10 paperback. I highly recommend the series though.

I think I've read all of them, mostly in order, and Backup and Welcome to the Jungle as well. I started maybe two months ago. Good stuff.
I really liked them all, it was very cool seeing lots of threads start coming together in the last couple of novels, and I hope there's more.
Very good, fun, fast reads, and I've always liked the "parallel universe" thing of magic existing in our world.

A couple of minor annoyances: Harry sure does say "Hells bells" a lot (although apart from that and maybe two or three F-words or S-words, there is almost no language, and no hardcore sex scenes, a welcome change [I have read some of that female author's works, with the similar concept, I can't remember her name, but the sex scenes just got old]). And too many chapters end with "And then I lost consciousness" or some variation thereof.

That said, this is one of the only current novels/series I have really enjoyed. (And I agree about Incarnations as well, except the 6th and 7th didnt really seem to fit).

I've got a couple Simon R Green books out from the library now that look similar (The Man with the Golden Torc, and Daemons are Forever, I hope they're not *too* much a Bond ripoff), I hope are good, but doubtful they'll be as good as Butcher's.

The female author you mentioned is Laurell K. Hamilton and her Anita Blake series. I have read those as well and she creates a good world but dang.... there is an excessive amount of trashy sex scenes in that series.

So far the closest I have found (as for being good books in this genre) have been the series by Charles de Lint. I think it is the Newford series? It starts with Dreams Underfoot.

I like the Dresden Files. I read the first three books fairly recently, but just haven't gotten around to anymore.

this series is one of the few where i read the first book then immediately bought the rest of the series. I am now buying the HC as they come out. He also has a fantasy series called the Codex Alera that I would recommend as well.

Simon Greene's books are good as well. I think the series i have read is called the Nightworld. I dont have one handy to check to see if that is correct though.

Definitely pick up the rest. The series maintains its excellence all the way through. I just wish Michael was in more of the books - he is a cool character.

I have looked at the Codex books before but haven't picked them up. How would you compare them to the Harry Dresden series? I'm not sure how much i want to go back to straight high fantasy after being in the Chicago wizarding world.

He has created a world in the Codex Alera where individuals are able to control/call upon elementals to aid them. The stronger the ability, the more power the elementals have. Its pure fantasy though so lots of battles, backstabbing, and the like. They center around a teenager who doesnt have a spark of ability at all who finds himself in the middle of an invasion. The 5th or 6th is coming soon and i think the first 4 are in paperback now.

It's a great series I've read them all but Turn Coat.

I like the Dresden series but I find I am going longer and longer between reads. I have had Turn Coat for a while and just have yet to get to it. I don't know why though. I tried the Codex series but couldn't get into it. I may go and reread it though if I ever catch up with my to read stack.

Great series but she went too far with the sex. She has diminished it somewhat and this last book went at least a hundred pages before she started up.

Codex is a really good series. It is high fantasy and isn't as much fun as Dresden is but it's a great series.

I actually thought the last Dresden book wasn't up to his usual standards. It felt to me like he was going through the motions. There wasn't as much humor as there usually is. It was a good read and I still love the series it just didn't excite me as much as one of his adventures usually does. Comparing the last published books of each series, he felt more invested in his Codex world to me.

His next Codex book which comes out soon will be the final book in that series.

I'm extremely glad to hear that the series does not decline in quality.

I listened to the first four Dresden books on audio, which are wonderfully narrated by James Marsters. Then instead of continuing them in chronological order they put out the then current 10th book, Small Favors. And then for some reason did 8,9, and 11.

I didn't listen to any of them because I don't want to jump ahead.

They are finally releasing the fifth book later this month and I read that the final two will be out next year.

Just read "Changes" and really enjoyed it. Tied together a lot of characters that hadn't been connected in the previous books and closed some story lines. My main complaint is that it ends on a cliffhanger.

Yeah, I liked Changes a lot too, but the ending kind of irked me. Despite that, after 11 books of getting to know Dresden...

I'm hoping Butcher's already a good ways into the next book and will have it out pretty quickly. I did read a recent interview where he said that before he'd even written the first book, he had a very detailed outline of the major events of the series and how it would end. I think he said he's now expecting it to take about 22 books to tell the whole story, which would mean we're slightly over halfway through.

I am a big fan of these books! I highly recommend them.

I have most of them, but just haven't gotten around to reading them yet. I have way too many books ahead of them right now.

New book, "Ghost Story", is out next week.

The audiobook will be out about week later, on Aug. 4th. (Edit: Audible now has July, 26th, but Amazon says the 4th) I was very disappointed to learn a few weeks ago that James Marsters was not available to record this book. It's a real shame because James really had the character down.

John Glover (Smallville's Lionel Luthor) will be narrating this go around. I listened to a bit of the sample on audible's website and my initial impression isn't very favorable. He sounded nasally and whiny in the small part I heard. I'll give the full sample chapter a listen this week and decide. Maybe this will be the first Dresden book I actually read.

I agree. I now identify James Marsters voice as Dresden's. Much like identifying an actor as the character they play on tv. I tried to read Changes in book format but found that I missed the dynamic that Marsters adds to the characters, so I waited for the audiobook to be available. Very disappointed he won't be doing Ghost Story.

I've been reading these (about 6 books in, I think?) and really enjoying them. Glad to hear that they don't decline in quality the way some of these types of series seem to.

Quite the opposite in fact. IMO, the series actually gets better as it goes on.

I'm about 2 hours and I think 8 chapters into the Glover reading and so far so good. Glover's Dresden is missing some of the personality and intimacy of Marster's readings. With Marsters it felt like Dresden was telling his story to the listener over a beer at a bar, or at times through a screen in a confessional. Glover doesn't have that, yet, but otherwise it's not a bad reading at all.

Just finished Ghost Story and though I didn't find it as good as Changes, its still a worthy read.

Same here. Changes was bigger and better. It's still pretty good, but it's somewhat a departure from the main story arc.

Just finished it and agree with both of you guys. Not as good as Changes, but not a disappointment either. I'm still mulling it over.

The ghost angle was interesting, but ultimately not a great fit for a Dresden story. I found myself missing the John McClain, bloody feet, battered, bruised but still fighting Dresden. Also the ghost rules weren't clearly defined and were so flexible that it drained a lot of the tension. Butcher routinely bends or expands the magical rules in the series, but there is at least a solid foundation for the reader to orient themselves with. And besides, Dresden is the reader's guide to the world of magic and in this book he's nearly as lost as the rest of us.