Essay Questions

What is the central conflict of this novel?

This is an easy question to answer correctly because the author himself has kindly provided a succinct and almost perfectly modulated response in an essay he wrote on the craft and art of writing fiction:

“When a series of grisly supernatural murders tears through Chicago, wizard Harry Dresden sets out to find the killer. But will he succeed when he finds himself pitted against a dark wizard, a Warden of the White Council, a vicious gang war, and the Chicago Police Department?”

It doesn’t take an English major to figure out why this is almost perfect as a summarization of the conflict. It’s too long and repetitive. You don’t need that first Chicago if the explanation of the conflict ends with the words Chicago Police Department. Toss out grisly but keep supernatural and maybe even they are not necessary since the real meat and potatoes is made clear: A series of murders pits white wizard Harry Dresden against a dark wizard, vicious gangs, the Chicago PD and even a Warden on the White Council. Boom, there it is: the exact same summarization in twenty fewer words.

What are the two parts of magic that need to be understood to catch a faery?

Of course, we who live in the real-world spell it fairy, but that’s neither here nor there. Magic seems complicated because it is, but it is also surprisingly simple. Turns out that catching a fairy—sorry, a faery—involves mastering just two elements of magic: understanding the significant of naming and familiarity with the magic circle theory. Since the novel itself goes into rich and fine detail about both these elements, it makes no sense to repeat it here. Instead, the significance here in those details. One of the great pleasures which is afforded to readers of this novel is an entre into the minutiae of the mechanics of magic. The wizardry at work here is not of the “just cross your arms and blink and magic happens” variety. The narration delves into how magic is dependent upon a structural foundation. That kind of makes it sound dry and boring. It is not.

Who is Bob?

Here is the introduction to Bob: “A pair of lights came up in the empty sockets of the skull, orangish, flickering like candle flames.” Bob is like a faery, but not a faery. He is something called an air spirit and the single most important thing to know about him is that he has an encyclopedic knowledge of, well, knowledge. Bob has worked with many wizards in his day before winding up inside the bleached skull in the possession of Harry Dresden. It can’t be an entirely satisfying life confined entirely to living inside a human skull, until you start to reflect and contemplate upon the larger philosophical statement being made here with Bob. Isn’t that really a description of every one of us: just a mind trapped inside a skull handing out knowledge and direction to muscles and limbs?