While he was sick with
strep throat as a child, Butcher's sisters introduced him to
The Lord of the Rings and
The Han Solo Adventures novels to pass the time, beginning his fascination with fantasy and
science fiction. 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, among others, as major influences), 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. It debuted at number two on the
New York Times Best Seller list, Butcher's highest debut ever, 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.
Codex Alera series After the success of the beginning of
The Dresden Files, 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) 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.{{cite web 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,{{cite web 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.{{cite web 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-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 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. ==Audiobooks and games==