The Dresden Files Book Order: How to read Jim Butcher’s Series?

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Urban fantasy series written by Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files series follows the investigations of Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Chicago’s first (and only) Wizard P.I. The books take place in a universe where magic is obviously real, also are vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, and other kinds of monsters.

Harry Dresden is walking the line between humans and supernatural beings by taking jobs from both sides, including the Chicago PD’s Special Investigation unit. He works to protect the general public as he faces a large variety of creatures. The series has also been released in audiobook format, narrated by James Marsters (from Buffy The Vampire Slayer). In 2007, a television series based on the novels aired for one season on the American Sci-Fi Channel.

How to read Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files Books in Order?

The easiest way to go with the Dresden Files reading order is to follow the novels. Nevertheless, there are also short stories and a few comic books that you can read in order if you like. I made two lists, you choose the one you prefer.

I. The Dresden Files Books in Order (Only the novels)

1. Storm Front – When the police bring Harry Dresden in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, He’s seeing a solution to his financial difficulties. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name…
2. Fool Moon – Lately, Harry hasn’t been able to dredge up any kind of work – magical or mundane. But just when it looks like he can’t afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise. A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses. And the first two don’t count …Magic – it can get a guy killed.
3. Grave Peril – 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 purposely 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 – The Winter Queen of Faerie 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.
5. Death Masks – For Harry Desden, whenever things are going good, the only way left for them to go is bad. Way bad. Recent examples: a duel with the Red Court of Vampires’ champion, who must kill Harry to end the war between vampires and wizards; professional hit men using Harry for target practice; the missing Shroud of Turin (less missing than expected) and a headless corpse the Chicago police need identifying . . . Not to mention the return of Harry’s ex-girlfriend Susan, still struggling with her semi-vampiric nature. And who seems to have a new man. Some days, it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. No matter how much you’re charging.
6. Blood Rites – Harry Dresden has had worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. 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.

7. Dead Beat – Karrin Murphy is the head of S. I. and Harry’s good friend. So when a killer vampire threatens to destroy Murphy’s reputation unless Harry does her bidding, he has no choice. The vampire wants the Word of Kemmler (whatever that is) and all the power that comes with it. Now, Harry is in a race against time-and six merciless necromancers-to find the Word before Chicago experiences a Halloween night to wake the dead…
8. Proven Guilty – The White Council has drafted Harry as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in the Windy City. As he adjusts to his new role, another problem arrives in the form of the tattooed and pierced daughter of an old friend. 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 – Someone is targeting the members of the city’s supernatural underclass-those who don’t possess enough power to become full-fledged wizards. Some have vanished. Others appear to be victims of suicide. But now the culprit has left a calling card at one of the crime scenes-a message for Harry Dresden. He sets out to find the apparent serial killer, but his investigation turns up evidence pointing to the one suspect he cannot possibly believe guilty: his half-brother, Thomas.

10. Small Favor – The White Council’s war with the vampiric Red Court is easing up, no one’s tried to kill Harry lately, and his eager apprentice is starting to learn real magic. For once, the future looks fairly bright. But the past casts one hell of a long shadow. Mab, monarch of the Sidhe Winter Court, calls in an old favor from Harry 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.
11. Turn Coat – None holds Harry Dresden in more disdain than Morgan, a veteran Warden with a grudge against anyone who bends the rules. But now, Morgan has been accused of cold-blooded murder. He’s on the run, wanting his name cleared, and he needs someone with a knack for backing the underdog. So it’s up to Harry to uncover a traitor within the Council, keep Morgan under wraps, and avoid coming under scrutiny himself. And a single mistake may cost someone his head.
12. Changes – Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry’s Dresden’s lover. She disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it. Now, she needs Harry’s help more than ever. The vengeful Duchess of the Red Court has discovered a secret Susan has long kept from everyone-including Harry-and she plans to use it.

13. Side Jobs – a collection of short stories.
14. Ghost Story – After someone puts a bullet through his chest and leaves him to die in the waters of Lake Michigan, things really start going downhill for Harry Dresden. Trapped between life and death, he learns that his friends are in serious trouble. Only by finding his murderer can he save them and move on. 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…
15. Cold Days – Harry Dresden is now Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. Her word is his command. And her first command is the seemingly impossible: kill an immortal. Worse still, there is a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could mean the deaths of millions. Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent an apocalypse, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound infinite powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own…

16. Skin Game – Mab has traded Harry’s skills to pay off a debt. And now he must help a group of villains led by Harry’s most despised enemy, Nicodemus Archleone, to break into a high-security vault so that they can then access a vault in the Nevernever. Problem is, the vault belongs to Hades, Lord of the Underworld. And Dresden is dead certain that Nicodemus has no intention of allowing any of his crew to survive the experience.
17. Peace Talks – 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?
18. Battle Ground – Harry has faced terrible odds before. He has a long history of fighting enemies above his weight class. 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 millennium is coming. And she’s bringing an army.

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II. The Dresden Files Books in Order (With short stories and comic books)

1. “Restoration of Faith” – Short story in Side Jobs
2. Welcome to the Jungle – Graphic Novel
3. Storm Front
4. Fool Moon
5. Ghoul, Goblin – Graphic Novel
6. “B is for Bigfoot” – Short story in Brief Cases
7. Grave Peril
8. Summer Knight
9. Death Masks
10. “A Vignette” – Short story in Side Jobs
11. Blood Rites
12. Dead Beat
13. “I Was a Teenage Bigfoot” – Short story in Brief Cases
14. “Something Borrowed” – Short story in My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding
15. Proven Guilty
16. White Night
17. Down Town – Graphic Novel
18. “It’s My Birthday Too” – Short story in any Bloody Returns
19. “Heorot” – short story in My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon
20. Wild Card – Graphic Novel
21. “Mike” (Micro-fiction)
22. Small Favor
23. “Day Off” – Short story in Side Jobs
24. “Backup” – Novella is a story from Thomas’s POV, in Side Jobs
25. “The Warrior” – Short story in Side Jobs
26. “Curses” – Short story in Brief Cases
27. “AAAA Wizardry” – in Brief Cases
28. “Last Call” – Short story in Side Jobs
29. Dog Men – Graphic Novel
30. Turn Coat
31. War Cry – Graphic Novel (contains a spoiler for Turn Coat)
32. “Journal” (Micro-fiction)
33. “Bigfoot on Campus” – Short story in Brief Cases
34. “Even Hand” – Short story in Brief Cases
35. “Love Hurts” – Short story in Side Jobs
36. Changes
37. “Goodbye” (Micro-fiction)
38. “Aftermath” – Short story in Side Jobs
39. Ghost Story
40. “Bombshells” – Short story in Brief Cases
41. Cold Days
42. “Cold Case” – Short story in Shadowed Souls
43. Skin Game
44. “Monsters” – Short story in Parallel Worlds
45. “Job Placement” (Micro-fiction)
46. “Everything the Light Touches” (Micro-fiction)
47. “Jury Duty” – Short story in Brief Cases
48. “Day One” – Short story in Brief Cases
49. “A Fistful of Warlocks” – Short story in Brief Cases (it is chronologically the first book)
50. “Zoo Day” – Short story in Brief Cases
51. Peace Talks
52. Battle Ground
53. “Little Things” – Short story in Heroic Hearts
54. Christmas Eve (online short story)
55. “The Good People” (Micro-fiction)
56. “The Law” – Novella

Source: u/SBG_Mujtaba on Reddit

Did I make a mistake? Did I forget something? To help me complete this guide to read the Dresden files series in order, leave a comment! And if you want to explore more series, check out the Felix Castor Books, the Templeverse, the Alex Verus series.