I think about half of it for me is that I don't really like urban fantasy. I've read one or two that I liked (Perdido Street Station was good, and...does something like Tam Lin or Briar Rose count?), but by and large I prefer sci-fi to fantasy. And when I read fantasy I want it to be either straight-up sword and/or sorcery like LOTR, magical realism like Helprin's Winter's Tale, or somewhere in between, like Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
In theory, the Dresden Files has enough magical politics, humor (Bob the Skull, etc.) and other interesting things to keep my attention despite it not being my preferred genre, but here we get into my other issue with it: Harry himself. This is weird, but Harry is a character I think I would love if someone else were writing him (especially since I like Dresden fanfic), because he's...actually a hell of a lot like Marcus Cole, with the sarcasm and the questing and the general acting like he's a refugee from the year 1350. He's a fun guy! But it seems so very, very obvious to me that he's also Butcher's self-insert, and Butcher is constantly saying, "If I were both a wizard and much cooler/funnier than I am, I'd be this guy! Don't you just LOVE HIM? I do!" to the point that Harry kind of drives me up the wall. I think if the books were written in third person, even, that they might work so much better for me, but right now they just don't.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-11-03 05:38 am (UTC)In theory, the Dresden Files has enough magical politics, humor (Bob the Skull, etc.) and other interesting things to keep my attention despite it not being my preferred genre, but here we get into my other issue with it: Harry himself. This is weird, but Harry is a character I think I would love if someone else were writing him (especially since I like Dresden fanfic), because he's...actually a hell of a lot like Marcus Cole, with the sarcasm and the questing and the general acting like he's a refugee from the year 1350. He's a fun guy! But it seems so very, very obvious to me that he's also Butcher's self-insert, and Butcher is constantly saying, "If I were both a wizard and much cooler/funnier than I am, I'd be this guy! Don't you just LOVE HIM? I do!" to the point that Harry kind of drives me up the wall. I think if the books were written in third person, even, that they might work so much better for me, but right now they just don't.