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The Dresden Files Reading Order.

Quick Answer

Start with Storm Front (2000). Most fans say the series really takes off from book 3, Grave Peril, so push through the first two.

The Dresden Files is a contemporary fantasy/mystery series following Harry Dresden, a professional wizard and private investigator in modern-day Chicago who investigates supernatural disturbances and paranormal crimes, often consulting for the Chicago Police Department.

Where to start

Start with Storm Front (2000). Most fans say the series really takes off from book 3, Grave Peril, so push through the first two.

  • •Read in order: from Changes (book 12) on, each book picks up directly from the last.
  • •The short story collections Side Jobs and Brief Cases are optional extras.

Community Consensus

Low Debate

"The Dresden Files is highly recommended as a "palate cleanser" or "in-betweener" series—quick, fun, episodic books that are easy to read and digest between longer, denser epic fantasies. The series should be read chronologically, with the consensus noting that while the early books are light, the series significantly "hits its stride" around Book 3 or 4 and contains crucial, highly-praised moments (specifically mentioning Book 7)."

Key Reddit Advice

Read the Dresden Files books chronologically, but utilize them as quick, supplementary reading material alongside a larger fantasy series. Be sure to continue reading past the initial few novels, as the series is widely regarded as improving dramatically by Book 4, and Book 7 is specifically highlighted as containing an "awesome moment."

Complete Series Reading Order

Publication Reading Order18 Titles

Why Publication Order?We recommend reading in Publication Order (default). This follows the author's release schedule, ensuring you experience plot twists, character growth, and world-building exactly as intended without spoilers.
Best Start Here
1

Storm Front

Pub: 2000

The novels of the Dresden Files have become synonymous with action-packed urban fantasy and non-stop fun. Storm Front is Jim Butcher's first novel and introduces his most famous and popular character-Harry Dresden, wizard for hire.For his first case, Harry is called in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with the blackest of magic. At first, the less-than-solvent Harry's eyes light up with dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage. Now, that black mage knows Harry's name. And things are about to get very...interesting.

2

Fool Moon

Pub: 2001

Plot details hidden until you finish "Storm Front".

Dresden is a wizard that resides in Chicago. He is the only wizard in the yellow pages. He helps the Chicago Police solve mystery that goes bump in the night. But what happens when FBI gets involved? To add to the confusion, it seems there is more than wizard and magic in Chicago ... there are also werewolves!

3

Grave Peril

Pub: 2001

Plot details hidden until you finish "Fool Moon".

Now in hardcover from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dresden Files.Harry Dresden's faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. All par for the course for Chicago's only professional wizard.But in all of Harry's years of supernatural sleuthing, he's never faced anything like this: the spirit world's gone postal. All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble—and not just of the door-slamming, 'boo'- shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly.Someone—or something—is stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself.

4

Summer Knight

Pub: 2002

Plot details hidden until you finish "Grave Peril".

Ever since his girlfriend left town to deal with her newly acquired taste for blood, Harry Dresden has been down and out in Chicago. He can't pay his rent. He's alienating his friends. He can't even recall the last time he took a shower. The only professional wizard in the phone book has become a desperate man. And just when it seems things can't get any worse, in saunters the Winter Queen of Faerie. She has an offer Harry can't refuse if he wants to free himself of the supernatural hold his faerie godmother has over him — and hopefully end his run of bad luck. All he has to do is find out who murdered the Summer Queen's right-hand man, the Summer Knight, and clear the Winter Queen's name. It seems simple enough, but Harry knows better than to get caught in the middle of faerie politics. Until he finds out that the fate of the entire world rests on his solving this case. No pressure or anything...

5

Death Masks

Pub: 2003

Plot details hidden until you finish "Summer Knight".

Harry Dresden, Chicago's only practicing professional wizard, is hired by a mysterious priest to find the stolen shroud of Turin.

6

Blood Rites

Pub: 2004

Plot details hidden until you finish "Death Masks".

Harry Dresden has had worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Like fleeing a burning building full of enraged demon-monkeys, for instance. Or going toe-to-leaf with a walking plant monster. Still, there’s something more troubling than usual about his newest case. The film’s producer believes he’s the target of a sinister curse—but it’s the women around him who are dying, in increasingly spectacular ways. Harry’s doubly frustrated because he only got involved with this bizarre mystery as a favor to Thomas—his flirtatious, self-absorbed vampire acquaintance of dubious integrity. Thomas has a personal stake in the case Harry can’t quite figure out, until his investigation leads him straight to the vampire’s oversexed, bite-happy family. Now, Harry’s about to discover that Thomas’ family tree has been hiding a shocking secret: a revelation that will change Harry’s life forever.

7

Dead Beat

Pub: 2005

Plot details hidden until you finish "Blood Rites".

Harry Dresden's first hardcover adventure finds Chicago's preeminent wizard coping with his new roommate--vampire half-brother Thomas. Harry soon has problems bigger than Thomas' clutter to deal with. Marva, one of Harry's vampire foes, summons him with a threat to his police-lieutenant friend, Karrin Murphy. Marva demands Harry get the Word of Kemmler for her, or she'll frame Murphy for murder. Harry doesn't even know what the Word is, but while he's trying to find out, and also what damage Marva will be able to do with it, several necromancers descend on Chicago. When Harry learns that the newcomers are students of Kemmler, an evil wizard who mastered ancient spirits in a way no one has since, he discovers that they are seeking the Word, too, in hopes of seizing the powerful knowledge within it and calling forth a powerful creature known as the Erlking. Butcher's latest maintains the momentum of previous Dresden outings and builds the suspense right up to a rousing conclusion. Kristine Huntley Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved After reading the original story, I was blown away once again by Butcher's ability to write a tight, suspenseful story with a twisting turning ending. Love his work!

8

Proven Guilty

Pub: 2006

Plot details hidden until you finish "Dead Beat".

Wizard for hire Harry Dresden has to track down the things that go bump in the night in this novel in Jim Butcher's #1 New York Times bestselling series. There’s no love lost between Harry Dresden, the only wizard in the Chicago phone book, and the White Council of Wizards, who find him brash and undisciplined. But war with the vampires has thinned their ranks, so the Council has drafted Harry as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in the Windy City. As Harry adjusts to his new role, another problem arrives in the form of the tattooed and pierced daughter of an old friend—all grown up and already in trouble. Her boyfriend is the only suspect in what looks like a supernatural assault straight out of a horror film. Malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in Chicago, but it’s all in a day’s work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob...

9

White Night

Pub: 2007

Plot details hidden until you finish "Proven Guilty".

A sensational addition to the Dresden Files adventures-from a USA Today bestselling author.Professional wizard Harry Dresden is investigating a series of deaths in Chicago. Someone is killing practitioners of magic, those incapable of becoming full-fledged wizards. Shockingly, all the evidence points to Harry's half-brother, Thomas, as the murderer. Determined to clear his sibling's name, Harry uncovers a conspiracy within the White Council of Wizards that threatens not only him, but his nearest and dearest, too...

10

Small Favor

Pub: 2008

Plot details hidden until you finish "White Night".

The new novel in the New York Times bestselling Dresden Files series.No one's tried to kill Harry Dresden for almost an entire year, and his life finally seems to be calming down. For once, the future looks fairly bright. But the past casts one hell of a long shadow.An old bargain has placed Harry in debt to Mab, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, the Queen of Air and Darkness-and she's calling in her marker. It's a small favor he can't refuse...one that will trap Harry Dresden between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally, and one that will strain his skills- and loyalties-to their very limits.It figures. Everything was going too well to last...

11

Turn Coat

Pub: 2009

Plot details hidden until you finish "Small Favor".

The new novel in the hit New York Times bestselling Dresden Files series.The Warden Morgan has been accused of treason against the Wizards of the White Counciland theres only one, final punishment for that crime. Hes on the run, wants his name cleared, and needs someone with a knack for backing the underdog. Someone like Harry Dresden...Now, Harry must uncover a traitor within the Council, keep a less-than-agreeable Morgan under wraps, and avoid coming under scrutiny himself. And a single mistake may cost someone his headsomeone like Harry

12

Changes

Pub: 2010

Plot details hidden until you finish "Turn Coat".

The new novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files series. Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it-against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry's not fighting to save the world...He's fighting to save his child.

13

Ghost Story

Pub: 2011

Plot details hidden until you finish "Changes".

Chicago wizard Harry Dresden gets a taste of the dead life in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. In his life, Harry’s been shot, stabbed, sliced, beaten, burned, crushed, and tortured. And after someone puts a bullet through his chest and leaves him to die in the waters of Lake Michigan, things really start going downhill. Trapped between life and death, he learns that his friends are in serious trouble. Only by finding his murderer can he save his friends and move on—a feat which would be a lot easier if he had a body and access to his powers. Worse still are the malevolent shadows that roam Chicago, controlled by a dark entity that wants Harry to suffer even in death. Now, the late Harry Dresden will have to pull off the ultimate trick without using any magic—or face an eternity as just another lost soul...

14

Cold Days

Pub: 2012

Plot details hidden until you finish "Ghost Story".

Following his death by a mystery assailant, Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own ... his soul.

15

Skin Game

Pub: 2014

Plot details hidden until you finish "Cold Days".

Chicago wizard Harry Dresden must help a hated enemy, Nicodemus Archleone, break into a high security vault to steal something belonging to the Lord of the Underworld.

16

Peace Talks

Pub: 2020

Plot details hidden until you finish "Skin Game".

HARRY DRESDEN IS BACK AND READY FOR ACTION, in the new entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files. When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, joins the White Council's security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago—and all he holds dear?

17

Battle Ground

Pub: 2020

Plot details hidden until you finish "Peace Talks".

"HARRY DRESDEN, CHICAGO'S ONLY PROFESSIONAL WIZARD, COULD BE ITS LAST Harry has faced terrible odds before. He has a long history of fighting enemies above his weight class. The Red Court of Vampires. The fallen angels of the Order of Blackened Denarius. The Outsiders. But this time, it's different. A being more powerful and dangerous on an order of magnitude beyond what the world has seen in a millennia is coming. And she's bringing an army. The Last Titan has declared war on the city of Chicago, and has come to subjugate humanity, obliterating any who stand in her way. Harry's mission is simple but impossible: Save the city by killing a Titan. And the attempt will change Harry's life, Chicago, and the mortal world forever"--.

18

Twelve Months

Pub: 2026

Plot details hidden until you finish "Battle Ground".

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has always managed to save the day—but, in this powerful entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files, can he save himself? One year. 365 days. Twelve months. Harry Dresden has been through a lot, and so has his city. After Harry and his allies narrowly managed to save Chicago from being razed to the ground, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity. In the battle, Harry lost people he cared about. And that's the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his level best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild. But it’s a heavy load, and he needs time. But time is one thing Harry doesn’t have. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and taking out innocent civilians. Harry’s brother is dying, and Harry doesn’t know how to help him. And last but certainly not least, the Winter Queen of the Fae has allied with the White Court of vampires—and Harry’s been betrothed to the seductive, deadly vampire Lara Raith to seal the deal. It's been a tough year. More than ever, the city needs Harry Dresden the wizard—but after loss and grief, is there enough left of Harry Dresden the man to rise to the challenge?

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Frequently Asked Questions

What order should I read The Dresden Files in?

Start with Storm Front (2000). Most fans say the series really takes off from book 3, Grave Peril, so push through the first two.

How many books are in The Dresden Files?

18 main books, published 2000–2026.

Can I read The Dresden Files out of order?

It's best not to. The books build on each other, so reading out of order spoils earlier twists.

Has The Dresden Files been adapted for TV or film?

The 2007 Sci Fi Channel series ran for one season and is loosely based on the books.