Book · 2000
Storm Front (The Dresden Files)
by Jim Butcher
Harry Dresden, Chicago's only wizard listed in the phone book, takes a double-murder case that ordinary police work can't touch.
What does Reddit think of Storm Front (The Dresden Files)?
Storm Front is the entry point into a series Reddit has mentioned 1679 times across four tracked subreddits over seven years, with 1355 different commenters weighing in. r/Fantasy carries most of it at 924 mentions, r/suggestmeabook adds 553, and r/printSF, an unlikely home for wizard noir, still logs 201. Volume peaked at 320 mentions in 2019 and has cooled since, sitting at 164 in 2025, active rather than dead. The read isn't uniform. The single most upvoted comment in the sample (↑592) is a flat complaint, and one r/Fantasy commenter answers the defense that Harry's rougher edges are intentional with a fruitcake-and-raisins comparison that isn't kind to the argument (↑228). What keeps people going past Storm Front is what happens in the gaps: readers describe Chicago and its cast evolving between books in ways that feel earned, not padded (↑227), and the "does it get better" question gets answered so consistently that non-readers can recite the response from memory (↑212).
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · the space between books where Harry's world quietly ages
- · one-liners built for quoting out of context
- · the "does it get better" refrain
- · defending Harry's early rough edges as intentional
- · urban fantasy that reaches readers outside r/Fantasy
Common praise
- + Readers single out what happens between books, describing Harry's relationships and Chicago itself evolving in ways that feel earned rather than padded (↑227).
- + Lines from the series get repeated on their own merits, with "The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault" from Blood Rites still circulating years later, filed next to catchphrases from Wheel of Time and The First Law (↑230, ↑207).
- + The "does it get better" question gets answered so often in r/Fantasy that even people who haven't opened a book can recite the response back verbatim (↑212).
Common criticism
- − The single most upvoted comment about the series in this dataset (↑592) is framed as a straightforward complaint, not a nitpick, and it outranks every quote of praise sampled here.
- − When fans argue Harry's rougher edges were written deliberately, at least one reader pushes back by comparing it to blaming raisins for a fruitcake the baker put in on purpose (↑228).
Who it's for
Start with Storm Front if you want a case-of-the-week structure that gradually accumulates a real timeline; r/Fantasy's 924 mentions suggest patience pays off more than any single book here. Snappy one-liners built to be quoted out of context are part of the package, not a side effect, so if "The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault" reads as charming rather than corny, you're in the target audience (↑207). Come skeptical of the top complaint (↑592) rather than dismissive of it; it's the highest-upvoted comment in the sample for a reason. r/printSF logging 201 mentions of a wizard-detective series says something too: readers who normally want harder science fiction still find enough plot mechanics here to stick around.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Storm Front (The Dresden Files)?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“This is my major gripe with the Dresden Files
“While I enjoy the Dresden Files overall, this particular conversation from one of the short stories was really something > “This isn’t going to work,” Justine murmured. > > “It is going to work,” I told her, keeping my tone confident. “We’ll breeze right in. The Rack will be with us.” > > Just…
“"Empty Night" from The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher.
“"Hell's Bells" - Dresden Files "Corespawn it!" - Demoncycle Series "Burn You" - Wheel of Time "Blood and Bloody Ashes" - Wheel of Time "F****** Pinks!" - Ferro (The First Law)
“Dresden Files fans often justify it by saying Harry's written that way to make a point too. And it's like saying "I don't like fruitcake because it has raisins in" and someone replying "I know you don't usually like raisins but this time the baker put them in on purpose." Sometimes you can recogn…
“I'd say the quiet developments that take place BETWEEN books of the Dresden Files. When each book is a breakneck thriller that covers a short time it would be easy to lose many slower aspects but instead the characters' lives (and the city itself) evolve in a realistic-seeming way as the series cont…
“I love seeing this asked so often. Often enough that I, who havsn't read the Dresden files, could tell you the answer. Not a knock on you, Op, just love seeing this question asked all the time. "It gets less prevalent later, but never goes away."
“"The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault." Dresden Files - Blood Rites
Convinced? Pick up Storm Front (The Dresden Files)
Readers also mention
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Storm Front (The Dresden Files) — frequently asked
Is Storm Front worth starting the Dresden Files with in 2026?+
Yes, per the numbers: the series holds 1679 mentions across r/Fantasy (924), r/suggestmeabook (553), and r/printSF (201), with mentions still at 164 in 2025 rather than dead. r/Fantasy's recurring answer to "does it get better" (↑212) suggests readers who start with Storm Front keep going rather than dropping the series after book one.
Does Storm Front's Harry Dresden improve as the series goes on?+
Reddit says mostly. The standard r/Fantasy answer is "it gets less prevalent later, but never goes away" (↑212), repeated often enough that non-readers can quote it back. Defenders of the early rougher edges get pushback too: one commenter compares the "it's intentional" defense to blaming raisins for a fruitcake the baker put them in on purpose (↑228).
What's the biggest complaint about Storm Front and the Dresden Files on Reddit?+
The top-upvoted comment in the entire tracked dataset (↑592) is a direct complaint, not a stray downvoted gripe, which makes it the single most-endorsed opinion out of 1679 mentions across the tracked subreddits. r/Fantasy debates the underlying issue enough that a fruitcake-and-raisins rebuttal (↑228) has become the standard response to it.
Is Storm Front still active on Reddit or has interest faded?+
It's cooled but hasn't faded: mentions ran 320 in 2019, dropped through the early 2020s, and sat at 164 in 2025 out of 1679 total. With 1355 unique commenters across seven years, r/Fantasy and r/suggestmeabook keep the "what should I read next" conversation going regularly, and r/printSF's steadier 201 mentions add a third venue where the series still comes up.