On March 24th, a live action trailer for Peace Talks by Jim Butcher, the latest entry in his Dresden Files series dropped on Youtube. It was directed by Priscilla Spencer.
Book trailers are not a new thing. Early book trailers consisted mostly of still images of the book, with some videos incorporating actors, with John Farris’s book trailer for his 1986 novel Wildwood incorporating images from the book cover along with actors such as John Zacherle.
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.
Aside from Dresden himself, the books feature an amazing array of support characters and villains, ranging from Archangels and Faerie Queens to mobsters and warlocks.
There was a short lived live action series named Dresden Files that ran for 12 episodes on Sci Fi Channel in 2007, starring Paul Blackthorne.
Butcher is currently planning for about twenty books in the “case files” of the series, to be capped by a further “big apocalyptic trilogy”.
At the moment, there are 15 novels, as well as 23 short stories, published in collections named Side Jobs and Brief Cases. The books were published very regularly, with one, or sometimes two books a year until Skin Game, published May 27, 2014. That left the fans hungry for more, and announcing the release date of Peace Talks ( July 14th, 2020) was greeted by fans with elation.
But not only that, end of the trailer drops another bombshell: next book Battle Ground will be released on September 29th, 2020!
Books in the order of release/reading order are:
- Storm Front – When the police bring Harry Dresden in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, He’s seeing a solution to his financial difficulties. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name…
- Fool Moon – Lately, Harry hasn’t been able to dredge up any kind of work – magical or mundane. But just when it looks like he can’t afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise. A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses. And the first two don’t count …Magic – it can get a guy killed.
- Grave Peril – All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble—and not just of the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone—or something—is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn’t figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself…
- Summer Knight – The Winter Queen of Faerie has an offer Harry can’t refuse if he wants to free himself of the supernatural hold his faerie godmother has over him—and hopefully end his run of bad luck. All he has to do is find out who murdered the Summer Queen’s right-hand man, the Summer Knight, and clear the Winter Queen’s name.
- Death Masks – For Harry Desden, whenever things are going good, the only way left for them to go is bad. Way bad. Recent examples: a duel with the Red Court of Vampires’ champion, who must kill Harry to end the war between vampires and wizards; professional hit men using Harry for target practice; the missing Shroud of Turin (less missing than expected) and a headless corpse the Chicago police need identifying . . . Not to mention the return of Harry’s ex-girlfriend Susan, still struggling with her semi-vampiric nature. And who seems to have a new man. Some days, it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. No matter how much you’re charging.
- Blood Rites – Harry Dresden has had worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Still, there’s something more troubling than usual about his newest case. The film’s producer believes he’s the target of a sinister curse—but it’s the women around him who are dying, in increasingly spectacular ways. Harry’s doubly frustrated because he only got involved with this bizarre mystery as a favor to Thomas—his flirtatious, self-absorbed vampire acquaintance of dubious integrity.
- Dead Beat – Karrin Murphy is the head of S. I. and Harry’s good friend. So when a killer vampire threatens to destroy Murphy’s reputation unless Harry does her bidding, he has no choice. The vampire wants the Word of Kemmler (whatever that is) and all the power that comes with it. Now, Harry is in a race against time—and six merciless necromancers—to find the Word before Chicago experiences a Halloween night to wake the dead…
- Proven Guilty – The White Council has drafted Harry as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in the Windy City. As he adjusts to his new role, another problem arrives in the form of the tattooed and pierced daughter of an old friend. Her boyfriend is the only suspect in what looks like a supernatural assault straight out of a horror film. Malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in Chicago, but it’s all in a day’s work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob…
- White Night – Someone is targeting the members of the city’s supernatural underclass—those who don’t possess enough power to become full-fledged wizards. Some have vanished. Others appear to be victims of suicide. But now the culprit has left a calling card at one of the crime scenes—a message for Harry Dresden. He sets out to find the apparent serial killer, but his investigation turns up evidence pointing to the one suspect he cannot possibly believe guilty: his half-brother, Thomas.
- Small Favor – The White Council’s war with the vampiric Red Court is easing up, no one’s tried to kill Harry lately, and his eager apprentice is starting to learn real magic. For once, the future looks fairly bright. But the past casts one hell of a long shadow. Mab, monarch of the Sidhe Winter Court, calls in an old favor from Harry he can’t refuse…one that will trap Harry Dresden between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally, and one that will strain his skills—and loyalties—to their very limits.
- Turn Coat – None hold Harry Dresden in more disdain than Morgan, a veteran Warden with a grudge against anyone who bends the rules. But now, Morgan has been accused of cold-blooded murder. He’s on the run, wanting his name cleared, and he needs someone with a knack for backing the underdog. So it’s up to Harry to uncover a traitor within the Council, keep Morgan under wraps, and avoid coming under scrutiny himself. And a single mistake may cost someone his head.
- Changes – Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry’s Dresden’s lover. She disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it. Now, she needs Harry’s help more than ever. The vengeful Duchess of the Red Court has discovered a secret Susan has long kept from everyone—including Harry—and she plans to use it.
As the name suggests, Changes are a big change in the books status quo, so I will list only the names of the next books:
13. Ghost Story
14. Cold Days
15. Skin Game
If you are looking for some good reads during this time, I can not recommend this enough! Books are also available as audiobooks, narrated by James Marsters, better known as Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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