I do enjoy a good book
SO I'm now officially finished with the Dresden files to date. The next book is apparently due next April, so I'll have a bit of a wait for it. Now, for my thoughts on the series:

First off, the writing gets significantly better throughout the series, by the 10th book there is good closure, most everything is wrapped up well, except for the plot bits that are meant to be left unfinished.

I think the thing I like the most about this series is how the various political factions react with each other. They are an example of most things I like in WoD, the crossover potential, the intrigue, the shaky alliances between two factions of differing supernatural types, this is the good part of the New World of Darkness, the fact that the main types of supernaturals are fairly balanced, and could therefor be part of a greater crossover game (much like the planned LARP)

The books also do a very good job portraying a reluctant Epic hero. Dresden does literally save the world on at least one occasion, but even so, he does it for human reasons. That seems to be one of the big themes in the series, how a human reaction can spark epic events.

One of the issues I have with the book is the way it feels like there are multiple authors, each with their own set of NPCs, with little to no overlap. Look at The Alphas vs Michael.
Book 1: Neither
Book 2: Alphas
Book 3: Michael
Book 4: Alphas
Book 5: Micheal
Book 6: Neither
Book 7: Alphas
Book 8: Michael
Book 9: Michael
Book 10: Michael

As you can see there is basically no overlap between The Alphas and Michael, despite the fact that those are Dresden's 2 biggest allies that Aren't Murphy, specifically it is weird how these things are just never mentioned, in all of the books with the Alphas, Michael is mentioned once, and the references are similarly scarce on the other side, basically, there is no explanation for why the Alphas don't help when Michael is involved, or why Michael doesn't show up when the Alphas are around. It may be a minor detail, but it is still more then enough to bug me about the series.

I am also intrigued by the changes from book to TV show (both of which I enjoyed)

Change 1: style. In both book and show he wears a black leather duster, but all of his accessories are vastly different, in the books he has a traditional rune covered carved wooden staff and a wand, in the TV show he uses a hockey stick and drumstick, the bracelet with metal shields has been redone for the show as well, replacing the shields with copper disks. Then we get to his car, which, in the books is a busted down old, mis-matched VW bug, in the show he drives a military surplus jeep. All in all, it seems the show tried to make him look up to date (ish) and a bit less respectful of tradition then the Dresden in the books is.

Change 2: Omitted Characters. The Books are full of wonderful characters, Tomas, Billy and Georgia, Ramirez, Ebenezer, the gatekeeper, Mab, Fix, Michael, Molly and tons of others who are not anywhere near the TV show. Now I know that an hour long TV show isn't going to be able to do justice to all of the characters, but please, at least throw them a line or two, maybe a toss away joke about knowing a knight templar would have been enough to establish that Michael exists for the dedicated fans, and Michael is supposed to have been Dresden's friend for many years, never mind Ebeneezer, Harry's Master. Not to mention Marcone, who is one of the most interesting characters in the entire series. Or Elain, Harry's first love, and fellow apprentice under Justin DuMorn

Change 3: changed characters. I'm not going to complain about small change like Murphy's attitudes, Just the really big changes, Like Bianca going from hated nemesis and villain (in the books) to sexy dangerous girlfriend and ally, that is a pretty damned big change. Just like the whole Bit with the nature of Bob, the TV show says ghost, but the books are very clear that he is a spirit that was never human to begin with.

All in all I preferred the books, but that isn't a huge surprise, they always have the time to be more detailed (especially since at least one of them weighs in at over 750 pages). This series has inspired quite a few props for next years LARP, as well as a back up character concept, if not for this LARP then for some game in the future. Also, a new character that I wish I was, and no, not the wizard with nigh godlike powers, but Billy.

End Thoughts: I like this book series, if you enjoy modern fantasy (or murder mysteries) then you should look into reading these books.