The *other* wizard named Harry.

I read through The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher a bit back, and I simply must recommend them here. The best thing about these books is the author’s deep grasp of the nature of the spiritual world, which shows through in everything from the way he explains the nature of magic in his fictional world to the way he portrays the magical/spiritual characters and worlds involved. These books have spawned in me a lot of thinking and conversing with God about whether some of my beliefs about the nature of reality are really well founded or whether I’ve simply gone along with the winds of the cultural assumptions without really thinking about it. All in all, I’ve found the books to be something that God’s used to push me toward’s new truths that I would likely not have gotten to otherwise, being too comfortable where I was. Do prepare yourself for true depictions of the ugliness of both the spiritual world and the human soul, though; Jim Butcher does not hold back. Also, as the books progress, the depth and complexity of spiritual concepts Butcher explores increases, so hold onto your seat!

Since I’m reviewing a series of books here, I suppose I should at least comment on the slightly more mundane details… The prose are well written, the main character (who is also the narrator) is enjoyably witty, the plot is unpredictable but believable, all the characters have fullness and depth (proportional to how much they intersect with the plot of course), the imagined world and its mechanics make sense, and I find the stories overall quite suspenseful. I can’t wait for the next one!