Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author., He has written the contemporary
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
''
The Dresden Files
''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/ mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books.
The books are wr ...
'', ''
Codex Alera
Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author., He has written the contemporary fantasy ''The Dresden Files'', '' Codex Alera'', and '' Cinder Spires'' book series.
Personal life
Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1971. ...
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...
, in 1971. He is the youngest of three children, having two older sisters. He has one son, James J. Butcher.
Career
While he was sick with strep throat as a child, Butcher's sisters introduced him to ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...
'' and ''
The Han Solo Adventures
''The Han Solo Adventures'' is a trilogy of novels set in the '' Star Wars'' fictional universe by American science-fiction novelist Brian Daley. It follows the smuggling days of Han Solo and Chewbacca two years before the events of the origin ...
'' novels to pass the time, thus beginning his fascination with fantasy and
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
. As a teenager, he completed his first novel and set out to become a writer. After many unsuccessful attempts to enter the traditional fantasy genre (he cites J. R. R. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, and
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...
, among others, as major influences), he wrote the first book in ''The Dresden Files''—about a professional wizard, named Harry Dresden, in modern-day
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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—as an exercise for a writing course in 1996 at the age of 25.
For two years, Butcher floated his manuscript among various publishers before hitting the convention circuit to make contacts in the industry. After meeting Butcher in person, Ricia Mainhardt, the agent who discovered Laurell K. Hamilton, agreed to represent him, which kick-started his writing career. However, Butcher and Mainhardt have since parted ways; Jennifer Jackson is his current agent. Butcher has written two series: ''The Dresden Files'' and ''Codex Alera''. Codex Alera has ended after six novels and The Dresden Files are still ongoing; he has also written a Spider-Man novel, entitled ''The Darkest Hours'', released on June 27, 2006. In addition, he contributed a short story for publication in ''My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding'' with Charlaine Harris and Sherrilyn Kenyon, among others, released in October 2006. He has since contributed to the anthologies ''Many Bloody Returns'' in September 2007 and '' My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon'' in December 2007. In October 2008, he released another short story in ''Blood Lite'' and a novelette, "Backup", illustrated by Mike Mignola.
Bibliography
Dresden Files series
Six months after Butcher was signed by Mainhardt, ''Storm Front'', the first novel in ''The Dresden Files'', was picked up by Roc/
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Fool Moon'' followed nine months later on January 1, 2001, and the third book, ''Grave Peril'', was published in September 2001. Thereafter, the release schedule slowed, with ''Summer Knight'' appearing on September 3, 2002. The fifth and sixth books, ''Death Masks'' and ''Blood Rites'', appeared in August 2003 and 2004, respectively. Coinciding with the release of ''Blood Rites'', Butcher published a Harry Dresden short story, entitled ''Restoration of Faith'', on his website, chronicling Harry's life before ''The Dresden Files'' as a private eye for Ragged Angel Investigations. In December 2004, the Science Fiction Book Club picked up the first three novels in the series for release in a hardcover omnibus edition titled ''Wizard for Hire'' for a March–April 2005 rush release in order to arrive on store shelves before the seventh novel in May.
''Dead Beat'', released on May 3, 2005, was the first hardback release in the series by Roc. The first printing of 15,000 copies sold out in three days, and the book was immediately reprinted. A second omnibus edition, titled ''Wizard by Trade'' and containing ''Summer Knight'' and ''Death Masks'', appeared in early 2006, followed by ''Proven Guilty'' on May 2, 2006, the same day as the paperback edition of ''Dead Beat''. ''Proven Guilty'' quickly climbed to #21 on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller List and #91 on the USA Today list. A third omnibus release from the Science Fiction Book Club entitled ''Wizard at Large'' and containing ''Blood Rites'' and ''Dead Beat'' was released in November 2006.
A ninth book from Roc, ''White Night'', was released on April 3, 2007, shortly after the paperback edition for ''Proven Guilty'' in February. ''White Night'' reached the top five of the ''New York Times'' Best Seller List on an initial printing of 100,000 copies. ''Small Favor'', the tenth book in the series, was released April 1, 2008. It debuted at number two on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller List, Butcher's highest debut ever, and number three on the ''USA Today'' best seller list.
The eleventh book in the series, ''Turn Coat'', was released April 7, 2009.
The 12th book in the series, ''Changes'', was released April 6, 2010. The 13th book, ''Ghost Story'', was released July 26, 2011. The 14th book, ''Cold Days'' was released in hardback in November 2012. The 15th book, ''Skin Game'', was released on May 27, 2014. The series garners a strong following and is now available in several languages, including Spanish, Dutch, French, Czech, Polish, German and
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
.
''Codex Alera'' series
After the success of Dresden, Butcher returned to the traditional fantasy genre with his second series, ''Codex Alera''. The series chronicles the life of a young man named Tavi from the Calderon Valley of Alera on the world of Carna. The people of Alera have grown complacent with the trappings of empire (the story is based loosely on the late
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
) and their control of powerful elemental forces known as furies. The inspiration for the series came from a bet Butcher was challenged to by a member of the Del Rey Online Writer's Workshop. The challenger bet that Butcher could not write a good story based on a lame idea, and he countered that he could do it using two lame ideas of the challenger's choosing. The "lame" ideas given were " Lost Roman Legion", and "''
Pokémon
(an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise.
In terms of what each of thos ...
''".
On March 3, 2003, Jim Butcher announced that Ace won a bidding war against rival publisher Del Rey Books for the rights to the series.
The first novel in the series, '' Furies of Calderon'', was published in hardcover by Ace, and in August 2004, major booksellers began taking pre-orders for an October 5, 2004 release. ''Furies of Calderon'' was the first hardcover release for Butcher, and was a significant step forward in making the transition from a part-time to a full-time writer. A paperback version followed in June, 2005, just a month before the release of the second book, ''Academ's Fury''. It was released in paperback on November 28, 2006, with the third novel, ''Cursor's Fury'', following on December 5.
While originally intended to be a six-book series, Codex Alera was initially signed as a trilogy. After the series showed success, Roc agreed to publish three more novels in the ''Codex Alera'' series. The fourth novel, ''Captain's Fury'', released December 4, 2007 and peaked at #17 on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller List. The fifth novel, ''Princeps' Fury'', was released November 25, 2008 and peaked at #13 on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller List. The sixth and final novel, ''First Lord's Fury'', was released on November 24, 2009 and has reached #7 on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller List.
Audio rights to the Codex Alera belong to Penguin Audio. ''Captain's Fury'' was released in audio format March 27, 2008, read by Kate Reading. Audio versions of the first three books were released in November, 2008. The audio book of ''First Lord's Fury'' was released simultaneously with the hardcover.
Cinder Spires series
On March 4, 2013, ''Publishers Weekly'' revealed that Butcher had closed a deal with the Penguin Group for the first three books of a
steampunk
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian ...
-inspired series called ''The Cinder Spires''. ''Publishers Weekly'' quotes Butcher's agent Jennifer Jackson as saying the series "is set in a world 'of black spires that tower for miles over a mist-shrouded surface' and follows a war between two of the Spires: Spire Albion and Spire Aurora". At a
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...
AMA on November 12, 2012, Butcher said "It's kinda League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets Sherlock meets Hornblower. There are goggles and airships and steam power and bizarre crystal technology and talking cats, who are horrid little bullies." '' The Aeronaut's Windlass'', the first book in the projected nine book series, was published in September 2015.
''Storm Front'' was released in July 2002 as an unabridged eight-CD set, with an unabridged nine-CD set of ''Fool Moon'' following in August 2003. The ''Grave Peril'' audiobook shipped as an unabridged 10-CD set on October 28, 2004, with a free T-shirt bundled with all purchases before December 26, 2004. ''Summer Knight'' was released March 31, 2007.
Butcher was friends with some of the founders of
Evil Hat Productions
Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. Chief among them is the free indie RPG, '' Fate'', which has won numerous awards.
History
Fred Hicks had been working with Lydia Leong, Rob Donog ...
since before they began designing games, and his agent Jennifer Jackson suggested that they might be able to design a role-playing game based on his ''Dresden Files'' novels; Butcher contacted Evil Hat who agreed to develop and publish ''
The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game
''The Dresden Files'' Roleplaying Game is a licensed role-playing game based on ''The Dresden Files'' and using the Fate system. It was released in late 2010 in two hardcover volumes: ''Your Story'' with the rules information and ''Our World'' ...
''. On December 16, 2004 Butcher also inked a deal with Evil Hat Productions to release the game. The game uses a modified ruleset from Evil Hat's acclaimed '' Fate'' RPG.
Television series
Television writer and producer Morgan Gendel optioned ''The Dresden Files'' in June 2003, paving the way for a film or television release of the series. On April 5, 2004, Sci Fi announced production of a two-hour backdoor pilot film of ''The Dresden Files'' based on the events of ''Storm Front'' in conjunction with
Lions Gate Television
Lionsgate Television is the television division of Lionsgate, which is a Canadian– American entertainment company.
History
The company was established in July 1997 as Lions Gate Television, Inc. with the establishment of Lionsgate Films. It ac ...
and Saturn Films, with Nicolas Cage and Norm Golightly set to executive produce. Gendel was listed to write and executive produce the television series, along with Anthony Peckham. Initially, Harry Dresden was listed as "Erik" Dresden, but by the end of 2004 the name had been canned in early drafts of the pilot in favor of Harry.
On October 5, 2005, '' Variety'' reported that the television project had been officially greenlit by Sci Fi, with Hans Beimler and Robert Wolfe coming on board as executive producers with Cage, Golightly, and Gendel. Production of the pilot took place in Toronto, and the original intent was to air the pilot movie in the summer of 2006. In November, the Sci Fi Wire released casting details for the series, with
Paul Blackthorne
Paul Blackthorne (born 5 March 1969) is an English actor. Although born in Shropshire, he spent his early childhood on UK military bases in Britain and Germany.
Blackthorne broke into acting via television commercials in England. His breakthr ...
cast as Harry Dresden over James Marsters, who turned down the opportunity to audition because he was unwilling to relocate from Los Angeles. In May 2006, Sci Fi announced an initial purchase of eleven episodes of ''The Dresden Files'' and a January 2007 premiere of the two-hour pilot movie. However, the two-hour pilot was not shown, and the show premiered on January 21, 2007 with the episode ''Birds of a Feather'', originally intended to be the third episode. The show garnered mixed reviews.
After the season one finale aired on April 15, 2007, fans began a letter campaign in an attempt to have the show renewed. Sci Fi decided not to continue production on ''The Dresden Files'' the following August.
Awards
Butcher has received nominations for the Hugo Award for Best Novel for ''Skin Game'' and ''The Aeronaut's Windlass'', and a nomination for the
Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story
The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story is given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories told in graphic form and published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. It has been awarded annually since 2009. The Hugo A ...
for ''Welcome to the Jungle''. He was also nominated for the
Locus Award
The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the p ...