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orange sky posted:Guys, I've read all the Dresden books and I need something like it to just shut my brain off and have a lot of fun reading. Any suggestions? Ready Player One by Ernest Cline if you don't want to start another massive UF series. If you like it a lot then Armada too RPO is most fun book I've read in recent years
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Mar 29, 2016 12:05
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mallamp posted:Ready Player One by Ernest Cline if you don't want to start another massive UF series. If you like it a lot then Armada too If you're reading Ready Player One you really do have to be able to shut your brain off. My experience with reading it was that it felt like an oppressive mélange of pop-culture references, with frequent interruptions to make sure you understand the aforementioned references—less a love letter to popular culture and more a litany. I think it's somewhat like The Iron Druid in that sense, except entirely structured around its self-indulgence instead of merely having intrusive referential quips. I'm pretty negative on both, but you might enjoy them, idk.
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Mar 29, 2016 12:22
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mallamp posted:Ready Player One by Ernest Cline if you don't want to start another massive UF series. If you like it a lot then Armada too I really enjoyed RPO, though I know a lot of people didn't. It's dumb fun, but I thought very fun. Armada was a terrible, awful, no good, very bad book. Which makes me wonder if either RPO was just a lucky first effort, if Armada was actually written first but they only published it after RPO was so popular, or if RPO was nearly as good as I thought it was, and I was just enamored by the premise. That being said, RPO is nothing like Dresden, and isn't Urban Fantasy at all, so it doesn't belong in this thread.
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Mar 29, 2016 13:12
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I like Schaefer a lot. The "it's been my plan all along" is honestly part of the genre he's aiming for - combining magic with heist films. You know the good guys are going to win in the end anyway, so why not let them do it with a bit of flair. Plus I loved his interpretation of Eden.
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Mar 29, 2016 14:58
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The best UF novels are the second set of mistborn books with Wax and Wayne.
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Mar 29, 2016 15:38
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Daric posted:The best UF novels are the second set of mistborn books with Wax and Wayne. Yeah Sanderson definitely put together something exceptional there. I'm glad he expanded it from a novella to a four book series!
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Mar 29, 2016 16:08
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Mars4523 posted:It's still up in the air, but there are enough outside impartial observations to conclude that Caitlin does genuinely care about Daniel (whether or not that'll end well for him in the long run is another matter). Plus there's that whole thing with her not killing him and dragging his soul into hell before the ties between Hell and Earth were cut in book 3. Plus, the demons who suggest to Faust that Caitlin is playing with his head aren't exactly disinterested parties. I thought you guys were talking about the Felix Castor series at first and was all confused. Felix Castor is a fun series to read as well.
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Mar 29, 2016 16:22
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anilEhilated posted:I like Schaefer a lot. The "it's been my plan all along" is honestly part of the genre he's aiming for - combining magic with heist films. You know the good guys are going to win in the end anyway, so why not let them do it with a bit of flair. Plus I loved his interpretation of Eden. Seriously, that was one of my favorite parts of the first plot arc in Faust. I'm a big cheerleader for Schaefer anyways, he's just a really nice dude and both Faust and The Revanche Cycle are good in different ways, although Revanche isn't urban fantasy.
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Mar 29, 2016 17:16
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orange sky posted:Guys, I've read all the Dresden books and I need something like it to just shut my brain off and have a lot of fun reading. Any suggestions? I'm currently reading through the Kate Daniels books by Ilona Andrews, because I wanted something with a female protagonist for a change (without going into the paranormal romance part of the genre too much), and they are very entertaining and well written and plotted. Its setting of Atlanta in 2040, after magic started to come back in a big way (making large parts of technology useless at times) is unusual for a genre that's mostly set in London of <current year>. The covers are terrible Paranormal Romance fare, but I don't have to see them on a Kindle, so I don't care that much. Otherwise the already named Alex Verus, Daniel Faust, Rook are great. Sandman Slim and Bobby Dollar are pretty good too, although a bit same-y. Max Gladstone's Craft cycle is really great, but it falls more under general fantasy set in cities than UF I guess. Still, something I'd recommend to check out. Decius fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Mar 29, 2016 |
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Mar 29, 2016 17:24
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Kate Daniels isn't paranormal romance??
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Mar 29, 2016 18:00
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mallamp posted:Kate Daniels isn't paranormal romance?? It.. Definitely is, to some extent (stupid were-creature MATE PAIR BONDING FERAL INSTINCTS etc) but honestly, the books are decent enough that I'm generally willing to overlook it.
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Mar 29, 2016 18:02
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mallamp posted:Kate Daniels isn't paranormal romance?? There is a PR-esque sex scene once a book starting midway through the series that could easily be cut and replaced with a discretion shot, but at least those are skippable. They're roughly on par with Dresden sex scenes in terms of awkward bullshit. Mars4523 fucked around with this message at 18:08 on Mar 29, 2016 |
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Mar 29, 2016 18:05
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I also really enjoyed the Greywalker series by Kat Richardson, though they're not without their flaws (and the last book was a bit of a mess). Also, in the 'fantasy set in a modern city' urban fantasy corner rather than 'detective fiction with vampires' urban fantasy corner, Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Kay. (Actually, anything by Kay, he's probably the best fantasy writer working today, but Ysabel is, I think, the only thing he's written that's set in the modern world.)
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Mar 29, 2016 18:06
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mallamp posted:Kate Daniels isn't paranormal romance?? It is, to an extent, but the focus stays more on Kate going and finding things out and loving people up than the romance/sex/alpha crap. Kind of like the early Anita Blake books before poo poo got so loving twisted.
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Mar 29, 2016 20:17
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orange sky posted:Guys, I've read all the Dresden books and I need something like it to just shut my brain off and have a lot of fun reading. Any suggestions? I am ashamed to admit I found this thread by "ego surfing" myself. Been looking for an excuse to jump in. Here are my suggestions: Felix Castor (by Mike Carey) - basically Dresden if he were a London exorcist. Just as good as Dresden if not occasionally better. Alex Verus (by Benedict Jacka) - mentioned by others in this thread. Another London one. It's a good salve for when there's no Dresden to be found. I like it, even though the writing isn't nearly as good. The Immortal series (by Gene Doucette) - About a 10,000 year old man. Lighthearted, breezy and very VERY fun. There are three full books in the series and several novellas. Mindspace (by Alex Hughes) - About a telepath detective living in a dystopian future. Four full books and a few short stories. Sandman Slim (by Richard Kadrey) - if you like your urban fantasy badass and violent. Guy who was sent to hell as a teenager is back as an adult and looking for revenge. 20 Palaces (by Harry Connolly) - excellent series about a guy who hooks up with a secret society that fights demons. VERY good. Very violent. Very sad his publisher cancelled the series before it ended. Fortunately each book is stand along so it's still worth reading. Incidentally, hi everyone. I'm mostly a video game developer but I'm a big Dresden nerd. Just finished binge-reading the series for the fourth time. DaveGilbert fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Mar 29, 2016 |
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Mar 29, 2016 22:23
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Welcome! Have you read the Rivers of London or London Falling? I just finished Carter & Lovecraft. I am tired of the Mythos because the sheer level of my and everyone's familiarity with it has killed any horror value it had for me and most of this book did nothing to change my mind. The original bits were the most fun ones, the Lovecraftian bits were like "yeah yeah I get it, the world is a lie, you're going mad, fish people, been there done that". I was waffling between rating it a three or a four out of five for the most of the book. That said, the author does pull off a very intricate, satisfying ending with an interesting set-up for the rest of the series, which bumped my estimation to a firm four. I'll recommend this.
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Mar 29, 2016 22:53
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Just read this- great to see an actual 19th century urban fantasy setting without loving steampunk drizzled all over it. (I'm looking at you, Elizabeth Bear) Seriously, though, the chinese mythology parts were interesting, and the main character pretty badass.
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Mar 29, 2016 23:13
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Go off-the-wall gonzo and read Brian Lumley's Necroscope series. Psychic spies in 80s London vs. the grossest vampires ever (and sometimes also the USSR). Caveats: 1) It’s more horror-adventure than classic UF. 2) You definitely need to turn your brain off for the books 3) There's more purple prose than even Lovecraft (Lumley's idol) 4) The occasional sex scenes are absolutely nuts ...but so is the whole series, and that's why it still has a soft spot in my heart. The sheer gleeful insanity of it all. Edit: oh yeah, the Tzimisce from White Wolf's Vampire games? They're toned down versions of Lumley's vamps! JohnnyCanuck fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Mar 30, 2016 |
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Mar 30, 2016 03:40
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JohnnyCanuck posted:Caveats: Let me amplify the above and recommend skipping the Necroscope series.
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Mar 30, 2016 04:11
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ulmont posted:Let me amplify the above and recommend skipping the Necroscope series. Necroscope is fun insanity. Psychomech is where he goes off the rails.
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Mar 30, 2016 04:18
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That's a bummer. I never read any of his books, but I recall liking Lumley's short stories.
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Mar 30, 2016 12:54
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flosofl posted:Necroscope is fun insanity. Psychomech is where he goes off the rails. Oh very much so.
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Mar 30, 2016 13:09
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Just finished the first two books in the Deathspeaker Codex series by Sonya Bateman and I liked them for the most part. They're a little light for me in terms of plot and character, but fun - kind of on par with the Pax Arcana series in terms of style. No romance, really. Also, the two books are a little similar, so reading them back to back like I did might not be a good idea.
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Mar 31, 2016 02:48
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I'd forgotten how snarky some of the chapter titles in the Pax Arcana series are. Like "The Shortest Chapter in the Book", wherein John says "Hi" to one of the assholes who betrayed and imprisoned him.
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Mar 31, 2016 03:43
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Audible is doing something pretty funny with the top narrators today. https://www.audible.com/mt/AF2016/?serial=&source_code=AUDOREM0325169GNU For anyone that likes to listen to some of our urban fantasy novel narrators, now you can listen to them reading from an encyclopedia.
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Apr 1, 2016 14:24
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Wade Wilson posted:Audible is doing something pretty funny with the top narrators today. Pfft, no James Marsters 
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Apr 1, 2016 15:26
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Blasphemeral posted:Pfft, no James Marsters Yeah. They have the guy that did the Iron Druid audiobooks and the other guy that did John Dies At The End sequel This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously dude, don't touch it though.
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Apr 1, 2016 16:47
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Decius posted:I'm currently reading through the Kate Daniels books by Ilona Andrews, because I wanted something with a female protagonist for a change Go read Michelle Sagara (Cast in Shadow is the first book) or Seanan McGuire (Rosemary and Rue). Both get -better- in the same way dresden does by book three once the series really finds its feet.
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Apr 2, 2016 04:54
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The first trade paperback of the Rivers of London comic has come out. http://www.amazon.com/Rivers-London...ben+aaronovitch
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Apr 5, 2016 13:50
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The next Alex Verus book is out. So far, he remains my favorite urban fantasy protagonist.
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Apr 5, 2016 20:36
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Khizan posted:The next Alex Verus book is out. So far, he remains my favorite urban fantasy protagonist. Yeah, I'm reading it now and it certainly more interesting than the last one.
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Apr 5, 2016 20:55
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Thunderfinger posted:Yeah, I'm reading it now and it certainly more interesting than the last one. I literally can't remember the plot of Veiled. I think they found Luna a mentor? Maybe?
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Apr 5, 2016 21:05
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Uh, something about apprentices murdering one another?
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Apr 5, 2016 21:06
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I thought Alex Verus sounded awful, but that might be because I was confusing it with the series with the douchey Druid. Sadly we have to wait until April 26 for Pax Arcana #4 and Harmony Black #2.
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Apr 5, 2016 23:45
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The best UF female protagonist is definitely in The Rook. Myfanwy Thomas owns.
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Apr 6, 2016 00:55
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Good thing Stilletto is coming out later this year.
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Apr 6, 2016 03:12
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Wade Wilson posted:Good thing Stilletto is coming out later this year. I know people who have read the ARC so this is definitely true. Thank god.
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Apr 6, 2016 03:13
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Mars4523 posted:I thought Alex Verus sounded awful, but that might be because I was confusing it with the series with the douchey Druid. It's like Dresden in that the first book is pretty rough and then it picks up from there.
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Apr 6, 2016 06:11
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Mars4523 posted:Sadly we have to wait until April 26 for Pax Arcana #4 and Harmony Black #2. Totally not complaining, he's probably my favorite of the "where to go after Dresden" bunch but it's seriously impressive.
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Apr 6, 2016 07:52
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anilEhilated posted:Man, Schaefer writes like a machine.
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Apr 6, 2016 09:34
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