Storm Front, by Jim Butcher

Most of the lists that I have seen of best fantasy novels of the 21st century include something by Jim Butcher, usually Storm Front, which is the first book of his multi-volumed series, "The Dresden Files," named after the main character, Harry Dresden, a Chicago-based "wizard" who works with the police to solve unusual (often occult) crimes. The series is currently up to seventeen novels, with more to come. Storm Front is plot-driven commercial fiction, written in the first person in Harry Dresden's own jocular and self-deprecating style. The mystery is engaging enough, but the prose reads simply like a fleshed-out screenplay, heavy on the dialogue. It's no surprise, then, that the SyFy channel produced one season of a show called The Dresden Files consisting of twelve episodes. Episode 8 is titled "Storm Front" and is partly based on this novel. Though disappointed by the novel (mostly because of the style in which it is written), I tuned into the series and watched all twelve episodes. Fun, but not great, and of course the series was cancelled after one season, so it barely got the chance to set-up its secondary world. I'm glad to have experienced one novel, but I'm not inspired to read any further.