Proven Guilty

The only problem I have with the Dresden Files series, at least for right now, is the pretense that there is a broader world beyond the bounds of Chicago in which things are happening over which our wizarding hero Harry (no, not that one; the cool one, Harry Dresden) has no influence and can only react to when odds and ends of it affect his city and the lives of his nearest and dearest. I mean, that’s factually true, which I suppose makes some kind of case for it not being a pretense at all and me just filling a paragraph with lies for the sake of volume. But the thing is, we all know that sooner or later these world-shaking events will drop onto Harry’s doorstep and he’ll be forced to deal with them[1], and while that will make for an exciting plotline, it’s still somewhat disappointing that the depth of world will be proven a bit of a pretense after all and it really was all about Harry Dresden, start to finish.

On the bright side, Proven Guilty is yet another entry in a long and seemingly unstoppable series of books designed solely to justify making it all about Harry by presenting a cool, funny hero who is always clawing his way out of the hole with equal parts style, honor, and romantic frustration.[2] In this case, much to my delight, he’s doing all of that at a horror convention that is being stalked by exactly the kinds of horror icons the fans are there to see, more or less. Stir in a new practitioner of the dark arts on the loose and Harry’s new duties to take care of that kind of problem, plus all the usual suspects (good and bad), and you have, well, a book of the Dresden Files, which alone is enough to pretty much guarantee a good time.

[1] In fact, this has already happened at least once.
[2] The many, many series of urban fantasy with female protagonists seem to have as a common thread how irresistible said protagonists are and how much sex they either could or do have, depending on whether they’re co-filed into the paranormal romance section of the bookstore. The Dresden Files, in addition to being just about the only one with a male protagonist in the first place, also seems to be about the only one without any supernatural powers of sexiness for the protagonist. This leads me to no particular conclusion, but what with my psychology hobbyism, I can’t help forming questions.

2 thoughts on “Proven Guilty

  1. Pam

    [2] Well, Harry’s brother’s got the “supernatural sexiness” angle sewn up, so it’d kind of be overkill if he *did* ooze sex out of every pore, ya know?

    But really, I think you are underestimating Harry. Off the top of my head, I can think of five attractive recurring female characters who are actual or potential love-or-lust interests for Harry. (I won’t name them because I don’t remember what all happens in what books, so I don’t want to spoil stuff for you.

    Here is a rec for urban fantasy with a male protagonist: Mike Carey’s Felix Castor books. They are great. Better than Dresden, IMO, although not quite as crack-like.

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  2. Chris Post author

    I can only think of three myself, but I guess the distinction I’m drawing is that there are (so far, at least) reasons why things don’t work out, and those reasons are something other than (or at least more than) Harry saying no because despite having them fawning at his feet, Leia-style, he must be true!

    When contrasted with the Anita Blakes and Sookie Stackhouses and, sadly, even the Buffy Summerses of the genre, the difference is profound.

    Carey: noted! I know I like some of his work already, too, so that helps.

    Reply

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