The definitive Dresden Files reading order

If you’re a fan of fantasy or private detective books, you might be interested to know that there is a series of books that takes both concepts and mashes them together — The Dresden Files.

The Dresden Files books and other media are centered on the adventures and cases of Harry Dresden, a wizard and private investigator available for hire in modern day Chicago. The series was dreamed up and written by Jim Butcher, who by his own admission (in the author’s note of Dead Beat) took the heroes from his own favorite books, like Gandalf from Lord of the Rings and Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon, the 1930 novel written by Dashiell Hammett, and combined them to create his very own magically cable, crime-solving hero.

At the time of writing, there are currently 17 novels (of the originally planned 20), 2 collections of short stories, 6 short stories that appear in anthologies, a novella, and 11 Graphic Novels that provide the story of The Dresden Files universe. 

Books

• Storm Front (2000)
• Fool Moon (2001)
• Grave Peril (2001)
• Summer Knight (2002)
• Death Masks (2003)
• Blood Rites (2004)
• Dead Beat (2005)
• Proven Guilty (2006)
• White Knight (2007)
• Small Favor (2008)
• Turn Coat (2009)
• Changes (2010)
• Ghost Story (2011)
• Cold Days (2012)
• Skin Game (2014)
• Peace Talks (2020)
• Battle Ground (2020)

Short story collections & anthology appearances

• My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (2006)*
• My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymooon (2007)*
• Many Bloody Returns (2007)*
• Side Jobs (2010)
• Shadowed Souls (2016)*
• Brief Cases (2018)
• Heroic Hearts (2022)*
• Instinct (2023)*

*These collections of short stories feature stories from Jim Butcher, as well as other authors.

Graphic novels

• Welcome to the Jungle (2008)
• Storm Front Volume 1 (2009)
• Storm Front Volume 2 (2009)
• Fool Moon Volume 1 (2011)
• Fool Moon Volume 2 (2013)
• Ghoul, Goblin (2013)
• War Cry (2014)
• Down Town (2015)
• Wild Card (2016)
• Dog Men (2018)

Novella

• The Law (2022)

It’s safe to say that there’s a lot of material considered lore in the world of Harry Dresden. If you’re just beginning to dip your toe into the series, then you might be wondering what order you should read the books in, so let’s look into it. 

The definitive Dresden Files reading order

I will always recommend this reading order only to those who have read the books themselves before. Storm Front, the first book in the series, is the best introduction to Harry Dresden and will provide the best understanding of the world in which the books are set. 

With that said, here’s the chronological reading order for all of the various Dresden Files publications. The actual books will be bolded, just to make things more clear:

1. ‘Restoration of Faith’ (Short story in Side Jobs)
2. Welcome to the Jungle (Graphic novel)
3. Storm Front
4. Storm Front Volume 1 (Graphic novel)
5. Storm Front Volume 2 (Graphic novel)
6. Fool Moon
7. Fool Moon Volume 1 (Graphic novel)
8. Fool Moon Volume 2 (Graphic novel)
9. Ghoul, Goblin (Graphic novel)
10. ‘B is for Bigfoot’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
11. Grave Peril
12. Summer Knight
13. Death Masks
14. ‘A Vignette’ (Short story in Side Jobs)
15. Blood Rites
16. Dead Beat
17. ‘I Was a Teenage Bigfoot’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
18. War Cry (Graphic novel)
19. ‘Something Borrowed’ (Short story in My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding)
20. Proven Guilty
21. White Knight
22. Down Town (Graphic novel)
23. ‘It’s My Birthday Too’ (Short story in Many Bloody Returns)
24. Wild Card (Graphic novel)
25. ‘Heorot’ (Short story in My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon)
26. Small Favor
27. ‘Backup’ (Short story in Side Jobs)
28. ‘Day Off’ (Short story in Side Jobs)
29. ‘The Warrior’ (Short story in Side Jobs)
30. ‘Curses’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
31. ‘AAAA Wizardry’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
32. ‘Last Call’ (Short Story in Side Jobs)
33. Dog Men (Graphic novel)
34. Turn Coat
35. ‘Bigfoot on Campus’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
36. ‘Even Hand’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
37. ‘Love Hurts’ (Short story in Side Jobs)
38. Changes
39. ‘Aftermath’ (Short story in Side Jobs)
40. Ghost Story 
41. ‘Bombshells’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
42. Cold Days
43. ‘Cold Case’ (Short story in Shadowed Souls)
44. Skin Game
45. ‘Jury Duty’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
46. ‘Day One’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
47. ‘A Fistful of Warlocks’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
48. ‘Zoo Day’ (Short story in Brief Cases)
49. Peace Talks
50. Battle Ground 
51. ‘Little Things’ (Short story in Heroic Hearts)
52. The Law (Novella)
53. ‘Fugitive’ (Short story in Instinct)

Will there be more books in The Dresden Files series?

Yes, although nobody knows when. On Jim Butcher’s website, the release date for ‘Twelve Months‘ is listed as TBD, mentioning that ‘Mirror Mirror‘ will be book number 19 in the series.