I've been a fan of The Dresden Files ever since I heard author Jim Butcher talk about his issues playing as his own copyrighted character in City of Heroes. I'm also a fan of the offspring of great authors striking out into their own writing careers: still bearing the DNA of their parents, but with an evolved twist and very personal voice. So picking up Dead Man's Hand, the debut novel of James J. Butcher and the first installment in The Unorthodox Chronicles, was a no-brainer.

This inaugural book is both delightfully familiar and tantalizingly unfamiliar for fans of magical sleuth Harry Dresden. We are once again in a world of magical realism: but the rules and repercussions of this world's magic vary greatly. Rather than an interlocking set of inspirations across many realms of fiction, the world inhabited by the Unorthodox shares a space with a sort of universal, ancient darkness: the mood of Grimm fairy tales and eldritch nightmares. If you happen to be a witch, you'll spend your life staring into this other plane—the Elsewhere—unless you avail yourself of some kind of mask or eye covering to create a separation.

The plane these magic users tread, and the magic they wield, understandably make them frightening to normal humans... so much so that Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby, who aspired to be one of Boston's government-sanctioned witches (known as Auditors), is stuck working a dead-end job as a mascot and oddjobsman for a grungy children's party place.

That all changes when Les Mayflower, the grizzled Huntsman, comes calling. The good news is, this unlikely friendship will lead Grimsby down a path of adventure and self-discovery. The bad news is, it's because his former partner has been found dead... and in a very Ace Attorney twist, "Kill Grimsby" was found written next to her corpse. But Mayflower has reason to believe that Grimsby may have been framed, and he's only interested in revenge if it's exacted on the actual killer.

What follows is an exhilarating adventure through Boston and the Elsewhere as this unlikely duo battles horrifying familiars, uncovers more about the victim's checkered past, and tests each other's mettle and empathy. There's also some frankly brilliant on-the-fly worldbuilding—never easy in a first volume, when the author has to juggle character introductions, setting introductions, and an engaging plot. But Butcher does it here, spinning out Grimsby's Boston in story beats that make the info dumps work with the story rather than against it.

Dead Man's Hand sparks with the same style of humor as the works of the elder Butcher. The simultaneous sharp sarcasm and endearing awkwardness of Harry Dresden is divided across Grimsby and Mayflower, who make for a magnificent odd couple. But in the younger Butcher's works, there's an even vaster underpinning of darkness. Rather than feeling like haunted things lurk around every corner as in The Dresden Files, The Unorthodox Chronicles presents a world where we walk casually through darkness every day, and only a select few can see how truly frightening that is.

Grimsby's personal journey (which is only just beginning) is a powerful one, too. His troubled past and his feelings on it are tied to his personal connection with magic—a stunning metaphor for those who want it, or an exciting read for those who are just here for the action.

Any dedicated author improves with every book. If this is where James J. Butcher is starting, he's going to be unstoppable.

Dead Man's Hand is now available from Penguin Random House.