"The Dresden Files" - First Lines Quiz

Answer: Blood Rites

This book begins with Harry fleeing a burning building in an effort to save a pack of Tibetan temple puppies from their captor. He ends up returning to his vehicle and Thomas Raith, a vampire of the White Court, only to find (after dropping off the dogs) that one of the canines has stowed away.

This book leads Harry to unearth an uprising of Black Court vampires (led by Mavra) and the discovery that Thomas is his half-brother.

Answer: Summer Knight

A sure sign that something is amiss, Dresden begins this novel-- the fourth in the series-- discovering that there's a bit of an imbalance. What he discovers is that the giant game of elemental chess being played between the Faerie Courts of the Summer Sidhe and the Winter Sidhe is coming to a sort of head, and he needs to rise above being a pawn in their machinations.

It culminates in a battle above the city on the Stone Table.

Answer: Proven Guilty

This book is the first in which Dresden begins as a Grey Warden; he spends the first part of the story witnessing a young wizard's execution. This leads into a new adventure in which he has to protect Michael Carpenter's daughter as she realizes that she has her own magical powers.

This, of course, is met with a trip into the Winter Queen's stronghold of Arctis Tor where the Red Court vampires seem to be meddling in the world of the faeries. Ultimately, Dresden needs to take Molly Carpenter on as his apprentice.

Answer: Small Favor

Dresden faces winter early with his apprentice in this tenth book in the series, "Small Favor", which sees the return of the Denarians who, as were seen in "Death Masks", could affect people with artifacts of powerful magic. At the end of "White Night", Dresden triggered something bigger by removing Lasciel's coin from under the foundation of his lab...which he put there for safekeeping.

It did, of course, cause a harsh effect on his own mind. The Winter Council, of course, is also involved.

Answer: Death Masks

As he continues, this includes "Things like oil and water. Orange juice and toothpaste. Wizards and television." Harry is asked to be on television but things escalate to another battle against vampiric forces and, this time, an ancient race known as the Denarians who use their powers to try and lure him into their fold.

This book features the return of Susan Delgado and Michael Carpenter, both of whom help Harry overcome the evils terrorizing Chicago.

Answer: Fool Moon

This one might be fairly apparent since "Fool Moon", the second novel in the "Dresden Files" series, involves the emergence of werewolves in the novels. Dresden is asked to create a series of protective wards, but his job blows up into a mystery involving a pack of wolves and hexenwolves, and it's not long before a group of Alphas-- a local group of friends from university, find themselves in the mix.

Answer: Storm Front

The first line of this first "Dresden Files" novel is a bit more out of place than the others because it takes place just before Harry Dresden introduces himself and his role as a Wizard-For-Hire in Chicago. The mailman is actually walking to Dresden's office where, waiting for the phone to ring, Dresden ends up musing over his job and anticipates a typical 'find something missing' sort of case. What he finds in this early noir entry into the canon is something much bigger.

Answer: White Night

"White Night", the ninth book in the series, begins at a crime scene with Karrin Murphy which leads Dresden into a mystery involving a group of amateur witchcraft practitioners known as the Ordo Lebes who, as it would seem, have gotten themselves involved in something much bigger-- a plot involving Thomas' family at the White Court and vampires in league with something from beyond the mortal plane.

Answer: Grave Peril

"Grave Peril" begins with Harry Dresden and Knight of the Cross Michael Carpenter as they head onward to an odd case at Cook County Hospital. This book puts Harry, Michael, and Harry's girlfriend, Susan, right into the thick of things against the vampires of the Red Court, putting them all into danger and risking the lives of those around them.

This case also forces Harry to go face-to-face against his faerie godmother, Leanansidhe.

Answer: Dead Beat

This sentence leads Dresden into talking about killing his messy half-brother, Thomas, who's moved into his basement apartment. Some of this has bearing on the remained of this, the seventh book in the series, during which Harry is tasked with locating a copy of 'The Word of Kemmler' as a group of dangerous necromancers plan to rise to power. What results is Dresden contacting the Grey Wardens and bringing to life a tyrannosaurus rex to stop the bad guys.