On average, I tend to read about fifteen books at once. Sometimes I even finish them. While impatiently waiting for the next installment of any series (the Star Wars Legacy of the Force Series (stil writing), George R. Martin’s (still writing), Robert Jordan’s (in recovery) and J.K. Rowling’s (july 21) ) I decided to try something new and somewhat finished. So I logged onto the SFBC and ordered Jim Butcher’s Dresden Series.

The great thing about the SFBC is their omnibus editions: multiple volumes in one book. Four hardcover volumes were jam-packed with two or three books allowing me to catch up and fall in love.

The story (thankfully each one is sort of a one-shot) is told in the first person by the only professional wizard in the Chicago phone book. Harry Dresden stepped right out of the black and white film noir era with his no-nonsense attitude, his often stupid stubbornness and his old-fashioned chivalry (read chauvinism by some of the novel’s leading ladies). He spends more time figuring out murders, running from bad guys and conjuring up demons to get information from the Nevernever than he does sleeping and that is just so Jack Bauer that it is worth reading.

Each book is pretty short (I completed each book in about 24 hours and I’m not a speed reader), really fun (“Hells bells” is just a great cuss when someone is fending off demons or sorcerers) and engrossing (they’re mysteries with enough clues to get the direction of the story but enough misinformation that you’re not sure of the culprit until the author decides to show it).