The Book Thread

[Taevyr]

I just picked up a couple of used books, Jim Butcher, Harry Dresden stories.
Just began Death Masks. Not the first story, and I wonder if it's better to read them in release order or does each one stand alone well enough? I read a lot of private eye fiction growing up, so the voice/style is easy for me to fall into.

I also like that magic is both dangerous and powerful, and has drawbacks.

You'll miss out on some worldbuilding, but Butcher writes them in a way that (until a certain point) you should be able to follow the core story of the book wherever you start: personally, I'd recommend starting at either book 3 or 7, as 3 is where he first starts building the foundations of an overarching storyline, and 7 was deliberately written in a way that anyone could jump in. Five's decent enough for a start.