I managed to get three of the books - Stormfront, Proven Guilty and White Night. I’ve finished Stormfront and found the characterization of the various characters well done, save for the villain. Starting on Proven Guilty I find myself wandering what are the all sort of things which I am missing out (and are getting spoilt on).
Too bad the library near me doesn’t carry the middle books in the series.
I absolutely love it. Jim Butcher writes a hell of a story.
And I was really sorry that SciFi didn’t do more than 3 seasons.
One season. There’s only like 12 episodes.
If you read a couple, you read two 
I thought the first book dragged quite a bit, so it took years before I picked up the second one. The pace made a marked improvement after that. I’m now looking forward to the reading the sixth one…once I finally finish A Storm of Swords by George R Martin, that is. Now there’s a series whose pace doesn’t pick up.
I started the books based on the recs here, but I’m not sold on the series yet. I listened to the first two on audiobooks, and the reader was okay, but he has a bit of a drone to his voice and he somehow made the “I’m a male chauvinist who wants to protect women, so sue me” theme extra obnoxious instead of cute or quirky. I realized I would be able to spin all that more congenially in my mind if I read them instead of listening to them. So I recently read the third book and I did like it better. I will probably continue but with no real urgency.
Surely a zombie Dresden Files thread is appropriate…
I’m up to Turn Coat so far. What everyone has said in this thread is pretty much true - they’re not all that deep, but they are satisfying.
That being said, things start slowly. Pratchett is a good comparison - the first couple were OK, then once he found his footing they were good. The third book (which I’m blanking on right now) is where the main overarching plot kicks off and significant characters (Michael, Thomas, to a lesser extend Mavra) show up.
Looking back on them, though, for some reason I find that Summer Knight was the only book I look back at and didn’t like all that much.
-Joe
I really enjoyed reading them, but the only one of the early ones that stands out in my mind is Dead Beat. An early scene has a Chekov’s Gun, and I saw it, and was like, “Oh yeah, THAT’s gonna figure in a major battle later on.” And it did, but in a way that was an order of magnitude awesomer than I’d anticipated, leading to the funniest action sequence I have ever read, bar none.
This is a good time for a bump, since Ghost Story, the next one, is due to be released next week, I think.
Which is a little sad:
not knowing whether there was going to be a next book made the ending of Changes even better.
Obviously I haven’t gotten that far. Was the series in danger of being dropped?
-Joe
I realize this is a zombie, and Crowbar of Irony has long since made up his mind, but in case someone else is reading with a similar question, I’ll chime in anyway. Plus it gives me a chance to spout my opinion, which I never pass up.
I’m just starting book 4, and I’d say they’ve been OK, but nothing special. I’ve never liked the hardboiled detective genre anyway, so there’s that. I understand it’s supposed to start getting really good now. We’ll see. They’ve been pretty forgettable, but not enough to quit yet.
I just finished ‘Fool Moon’ a few days ago on audible, and really enjoyed both it and ‘Storm Front’, which I listened to earlier this year. I can really picture James Marsters in the role of Harry, which helps. 
Nice to know that things get even better in a few more books.
Spoilers for the Fool Moon werewolves…
I did rather like how they had the demon giving Harry the lowdown on the various werewolf types - and IIRC nearly every type mentioned was actually involved in the climax. And everybody important got a look at that report Harry wrote, even the mob boss!
I tell you, it hurts that one of my favorite fantasy series gets called forgettable. 
But yes, like I said last year, the first three books are the weakest of the lot. They’re necessary for introducing the characters and the main story arcs, but like the first season of Babylon 5 it’s just not where the awesome is.
They owe a huge debt to Raymond Chandler; if you don’t like the genre, I don’t think they’d be for you at all. I love Chandler, and while Butcher is no Chandler, I find his sense of humor pretty appealing.
Merijeek, let’s just say you’ll understand my comment if you reach that point in the series :).
And I’ve got to disagree with Skott here. When I first read (looks it up) “Grave Peril” I kind of thought it was a bit goofy and unrealistic that Thomas would risk himself to help Harry. It really seemed to come out of nowhere.
Knowing all the facts, of course, it makes some sense.
I’ll definitely reach that point. I just didn’t know if Penguin was going to give up on him or Butcher was dying or something. Then again, given the name of the newest book I’m guessing I just put two and two together.
One thing that annoys me is I’m probably a quarter of the way into Turn Coat and not one mention is made of how Michael is doing.
-Joe
Don’t expect much. It’s not mentioned till about 300 pages in IIRC. And even there Molly and Harry pretty much avoid talking about it.
But there is a short story that covers it well, The Warrior from the Side Jobs anthology.
Actually the main plot is also in the first and second books, it’s just mostly only visible in hindsight. Something that is pointed out in Changes; for example
who was it who gave FBI agents of all people addictive belts that turned them into hexenwolves? And Victor Sells from the first book somehow got his hands on a killing spell that features prominently in Changes.
That got wondered about long before “Changes”. After all, that’s pretty much what kicked off the whole idea of the Black Council.
I’m not even talking about that, though. If you think about it, “Grave Peril” kicked off the war, introduced the forces of God, gave our first real looks into spirits and ghosts, really introduced all three vampire courts, had (I think) the first real use of the NeverNever.
God’s guys brought in the Denarians (and therefore Molly, Michael, Charity, the Jawas), the NeverNever brought in the Fairy Courts. The vampires brought in the Red warlord, Mavra showed up, and of course Thomas made his first appearance.
There was some calls back to the first two books, but number three is where it all started rolling. The first two were VERY standalone - all I can remember really carrying over were Harry, Murphy, Bob, and Mister. I think they were like pilot episodes, really.
-Joe
The Alphas play a substantial role in a few of the books, too.
Storm Front absolutely was a pilot, though. It’s very much written as if Butcher expected that to be his first and final Dresden book, and when it got published and sold well he started spinning it into a larger story.
Damn. Forgot the Alphas. And I like them, too!
-Joe
Ooh, that’s some great stuff for me to look forward to, then! I’m almost at the point of wanting to punch Harry in the mouth myself whenever he just casually drops some cryptic reference to the NeverNever - and never, never elaborates. 
The idea still warms my heart
Yeah, he’s a complaining, disheveled, rule-breaking jerk. But he’s a stand-up, stubborn, soft-hearted complaining, disheveled, rule-breaking jerk. Also, in the first two books, the world pretty much is out to get him, and has been for awhile. Starting in the third book, he starts catching a few breaks and making allies and friends. Or starting to benefit from the allies and friends he’s made. He’s still sarcastic and put-upon, but he stops from time to time to count his blessings.
I have to mention that #6, Blood Rites, has a great example of an opening line hook. “The building was on fire and it wasn’t my fault.”
In the first few paragraphs, he’s running down a dark hall in a burning building, trying not to drop a box of puppies. Something behind him is throwing globs of burning tar at him. At the bottom of the first page, he starts to slip. I dare you not to turn the page.