Urban Fantasy: I wish there was more necromancy and less group sex

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jivjov: Sep 13, 2007; But how does it taste? Yummy!; Dinosaur Gum

Number Ten Cocks posted:

The Dresden potion nerf wasn't as dramatic as the early belt(?) that instantly replenished all his energy. That would have clearly negated a lot of the difficulty of later books.

Although it did come with a pretty massive downside of becoming cripplingly tired when the boost ran out.

While I agree that it could have been OP as gently caress, I wish there was at least some lipservice paid to its disappearance. Something like how it had a risk of going nuclear if carried around too long and Dresden not wanting something like that on his belt near his genitals.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 01:45

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# ? May 14, 2024 00:11

ImpAtom: May 24, 2007

jivjov posted:

Although it did come with a pretty massive downside of becoming cripplingly tired when the boost ran out.

While I agree that it could have been OP as gently caress, I wish there was at least some lipservice paid to its disappearance. Something like how it had a risk of going nuclear if carried around too long and Dresden not wanting something like that on his belt near his genitals.

To be honest literally everything Harry does has the downside of 'he's super-exhausted after doing it." Soulfire, sufficiently powerful magic, whatever. Like every other power Harry uses is followed by 'and then I was exhausted, that took everything out of me" or whatnot.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 01:54

torgeaux: Dec 31, 2004; I serve...

I'm listening to the audiobook of Already Dead, the first of the Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston. I remembered really liking the series, but just couldn't get back into it. Now that I'm listening again, I'm reminded how much I like Charlie Huston.

It's less modern horror, and more urban fantasy, really. I recommend it.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 02:22

Mr Scumbag: Jun 6, 2007; You're a fucking cocksucker, Jonathan

I finished Ghost Story.

It definitely picks up, but far to late for me to consider it a remotely enjoyable book. Easily my least favourite. It was contrived, disjointed, poorly paced and tedious. It would have worked MUCH better as a short story, in my opinion. I don't see how 70-80% of it needs to exist in the grand scheme of things.

I suppose if it's part of a three book arc, there's a possibility that Cold Days will build on it and make more of it seem relevant, but I can't imagine how it will be able to validate the paragraphs of plodding and repetitious monologue.

It hasn't soured me on the series, though, like some people who have reviewed it claim to have sworn off the series (and gotten a refund after reading the whole book!). I've already bought Cold Days and will happy begin devouring it tomorrow.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 09:47

Mars4523: Feb 17, 2014

Mr Scumbag posted:

I finished Ghost Story.

It definitely picks up, but far to late for me to consider it a remotely enjoyable book. Easily my least favourite. It was contrived, disjointed, poorly paced and tedious. It would have worked MUCH better as a short story, in my opinion. I don't see how 70-80% of it needs to exist in the grand scheme of things.

I suppose if it's part of a three book arc, there's a possibility that Cold Days will build on it and make more of it seem relevant, but I can't imagine how it will be able to validate the paragraphs of plodding and repetitious monologue.

It hasn't soured me on the series, though, like some people who have reviewed it claim to have sworn off the series (and gotten a refund after reading the whole book!). I've already bought Cold Days and will happy begin devouring it tomorrow.

I don't think Ghost Story is nearly as bad as any of the first three books.

The post Changes books have been a step down in quality IMO. Skin Game was particularly bad.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 09:55

Some Pinko Commie: Jun 9, 2009; CNC! Easy as 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣!

mistaya posted:

RE: The Rook Audiobook, I have to give a warning that the reader is just... really hard to listen to for long stretches. Some of Thomas' letters are very long slogs in the voice she chooses to use. It doesn't help that multiple characters like to start their sentences with "ANYWAYS," all the time and it becomes as noticeable as Harry's nipple fixation. (Though, admittedly, much less offensive?)

Good book, but I wish I had read it in print because the Audio isn't very fun. It's not BAD, mind you, and it feels more like the characters' faults than whoever's doing the VO.

(I do appreciate her 'American' accent for a few characters, which made me laugh, and her ability to pronounce those weird Belgian names because I would have never known how to say any of those on my own.)

Did you get the one with Susan Duerden doing the narration? Is there more than one?

Because yeah, the early part of the book was hard to listen to but by the time you get to the bit where the aggravating Pawn gets eaten by a loving dragon and Ulrich is laughing about it it seems like things just get much better.

Another turning point is where the main character starts swearing more. It just gets more entertaining to hear that particular voice start lurching into "Listen to me you stinking little mother fucker..."

# ? Aug 2, 2016 12:12

Apoffys: Sep 5, 2011

There are two versions on Audible, one narrated by Susan Duerden and one by Katy Carmichael. The sequel is narrated by Moira Quirk.

I haven't listened to any of them beyond the samples, but judging by the sample of Duerden's version, I'm not surprised they had someone else re-record it. She had a very odd, repetitive and overly dramatic way of speaking.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 14:02

Xtanstic: Nov 23, 2007

mistaya posted:

RE: The Rook Audiobook

(I do appreciate her 'American' accent for a few characters, which made me laugh, and her ability to pronounce those weird Belgian names because I would have never known how to say any of those on my own.)

Thanks for the heads up. Speaking of 'American' accents, the guy that makes American accents in the Rivers of London audiobooks always made me laugh.

Mr Scumbag posted:

I finished Ghost Story.

It definitely picks up, but far to late for me to consider it a remotely enjoyable book. Easily my least favourite. It was contrived, disjointed, poorly paced and tedious. It would have worked MUCH better as a short story, in my opinion. I don't see how 70-80% of it needs to exist in the grand scheme of things.

I suppose if it's part of a three book arc, there's a possibility that Cold Days will build on it and make more of it seem relevant, but I can't imagine how it will be able to validate the paragraphs of plodding and repetitious monologue.

It hasn't soured me on the series, though, like some people who have reviewed it claim to have sworn off the series (and gotten a refund after reading the whole book!). I've already bought Cold Days and will happy begin devouring it tomorrow.

Did you enjoy the Murphy post-Changes short story from Sidejobs? I would have liked more of that. Man that reminds me Butcher needs to make another anthology so I can read the bigfoot and Molly stories.

Also someone remind me the 'energy belt' that Dresden had? I can't remember it all. I only remember the werewolf belts.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 14:33

JohnnyCanuck: May 28, 2004; Strong And/Or Free

It had a metallic buckle shaped like a bear, and when activated it removed fatigue and made him feel like he got a good night's sleep.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 15:06

Number Ten Cocks: Feb 25, 2016; by zen death robot

JohnnyCanuck posted:

It had a metallic buckle shaped like a bear, and when activated it removed fatigue and made him feel like he got a good night's sleep.

It was in some early book, he used it to basically get a 1UP after blowing all of his energy running/fighting/spellcasting at some early waves of enemies.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 15:24

Mr Scumbag: Jun 6, 2007; You're a fucking cocksucker, Jonathan

Mars4523 posted:

I don't think Ghost Story is nearly as bad as any of the first three books.

I don't think the first few books were all that bad as much as just mediocre. As stories they worked well enough and were inoffensive. They all flowed well enough and made sense, they just didn't have particularly compelling characters and situations. They're coherent and flow pretty well.

Ghost story, compared to those contained interesting (existing) characters, and was part of an overall arc that is really compelling, but as a single book I think it was a mess that doesn't hold up at all compared to the first few as an individual book.

Obviously there's no objective truth, but that's why I prefer the first few books over Ghost Story.

Xtanstic posted:

Did you enjoy the Murphy post-Changes short story from Sidejobs? I would have liked more of that. Man that reminds me Butcher needs to make another anthology so I can read the bigfoot and Molly stories.

I actually haven't read Side Jobs, yet. I get so into the main arc that I purposely skipped it to keep momentum up, with an obvious plat to read it after I finish Skin game. Should I read it before going any further? I'm up for whatever will offer the best impact.

Mr Scumbag fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Aug 2, 2016

# ? Aug 2, 2016 15:26

Some Pinko Commie: Jun 9, 2009; CNC! Easy as 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣!

Apoffys posted:

There are two versions on Audible, one narrated by Susan Duerden and one by Katy Carmichael. The sequel is narrated by Moira Quirk.

I haven't listened to any of them beyond the samples, but judging by the sample of Duerden's version, I'm not surprised they had someone else re-record it. She had a very odd, repetitive and overly dramatic way of speaking.

Well, the early portion of the book was odd, repetitive and overly dramatic before it got into a decent pace. Basically, until the main character started getting a grip on her life the book suffered just as much as she did.

Duerden's reading doesn't develop real personality until the character does, basically.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 15:28

Some Pinko Commie: Jun 9, 2009; CNC! Easy as 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣!

Mr Scumbag posted:

I actually haven't read Side Jobs, yet. I get so into the main arc that I purposely skipped it to keep momentum up, with an obvious plat to read it after I finish Skin game. Should I read it before going any further? I'm up for whatever will offer the best impact.

Murphy's story in Side Jobs ought to be near-mandatory reading.

Also Molly's story in Dangerous Women, because one of her conversations with Harry in Cold Days won't make much sense unless you've read it.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 15:30

Mr Scumbag: Jun 6, 2007; You're a fucking cocksucker, Jonathan

Wade Wilson posted:

Dangerous Women

Wow, thanks for mentioning this, I doubt I would have even known about it otherwise, since I don't think I saw it on Butcher's website. I really like Molly as a character, so I'm glad I won't miss out on more of her development.

Now I'm thinking I'll read that and Side Jobs next.

Ugh, Dangerous Women costs $20 in my neck of the woods which is almost double a typical full Dresden novel. Doubt I can justify that for one short story.

Mr Scumbag fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Aug 2, 2016

# ? Aug 2, 2016 15:35

Xtanstic: Nov 23, 2007

Mr Scumbag posted:

I don't think the first few books were all that bad as much as just mediocre. As stories they worked well enough and were inoffensive. They all flowed well enough and made sense, they just didn't have particularly compelling characters and situations. They're coherent and flow pretty well.

Ghost story, compared to those contained interesting (existing) characters, and was part of an overall arc that is really compelling, but as a single book I think it was a mess that doesn't hold up at all compared to the first few as an individual book.

Obviously there's no objective truth, but that's why I prefer the first few books over Ghost Story.

I actually haven't read Side Jobs, yet. I get so into the main arc that I purposely skipped it to keep momentum up, with an obvious plat to read it after I finish Skin game. Should I read it before going any further? I'm up for whatever will offer the best impact.

I would say read it now. Murphy's story for sure. I always read the Murph story after Changes because that's where it shows up chronologically. The other ones are like side-vignettes to past stories that are fun and amusing so it's up to you but I particularily like Harry's Day Off.

Wade Wilson posted:

Murphy's story in Side Jobs ought to be near-mandatory reading.

Also Molly's story in Dangerous Women, because one of her conversations with Harry in Cold Days won't make much sense unless you've read it.

I haven't read DW yet but I presume this is how (Cold Days spoilers) Molly gets her place from the Svart-somethingsomething?

Xtanstic fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Aug 2, 2016

# ? Aug 2, 2016 15:36

Apoffys: Sep 5, 2011

Mr Scumbag posted:

I actually haven't read Side Jobs, yet. I get so into the main arc that I purposely skipped it to keep momentum up, with an obvious plat to read it after I finish Skin game. Should I read it before going any further? I'm up for whatever will offer the best impact.

I recommend just reading all the short stories you can find, they're all worth reading if you like Dresden. Especially the later stories like "Even Hand", "Aftermath" and "Bombshells", since they tie in to the main plot and explain bits of what happened in between the main books. The short stories all fit in between other books, and it's best to read everything in order (even if that means putting down "Side Jobs" occasionally while you read the next main book).

If you've finished "Ghost Story" you can read both of the collections ("Sidejobs" and "Working for Bigfoot") since they take place before "Ghost Story". The Bigfoot stories don't affect the main plot at all though I think, so you can put that off for later.

Wade Wilson posted:

Well, the early portion of the book was odd, repetitive and overly dramatic before it got into a decent pace. Basically, until the main character started getting a grip on her life the book suffered just as much as she did.

Duerden's reading doesn't develop real personality until the character does, basically.

The sample is literally just the first 5 minutes of the book, so that would explain it. Probably a poor choice of sample on their part then...

# ? Aug 2, 2016 15:51

Proteus Jones: Feb 28, 2013

Number Ten Cocks posted:

The Dresden potion nerf wasn't as dramatic as the early belt(?) that instantly replenished all his energy. That would have clearly negated a lot of the difficulty of later books.

IIRC it was a belt buckle of a bear.

e: FB :argh:

# ? Aug 2, 2016 16:20

Some Pinko Commie: Jun 9, 2009; CNC! Easy as 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣!

Apoffys posted:

I recommend just reading all the short stories you can find, they're all worth reading if you like Dresden. Especially the later stories like "Even Hand", "Aftermath" and "Bombshells", since they tie in to the main plot and explain bits of what happened in between the main books. The short stories all fit in between other books, and it's best to read everything in order (even if that means putting down "Side Jobs" occasionally while you read the next main book).

If you've finished "Ghost Story" you can read both of the collections ("Sidejobs" and "Working for Bigfoot") since they take place before "Ghost Story". The Bigfoot stories don't affect the main plot at all though I think, so you can put that off for later.

The sample is literally just the first 5 minutes of the book, so that would explain it. Probably a poor choice of sample on their part then...

The Bigfoot stories put The Genoskwa into context in terms of how big a thread they actually are, though. Given what Harry says about them in Skin Game.

Xtanstic posted:

I haven't read DW yet but I presume this is how (Cold Days spoilers) Molly gets her place from the Svart-somethingsomething?

Yep. It's actually a pretty good stand-alone story and the best use of Thomas in any of the books.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 17:34

Keystoned: Jan 27, 2012

Mr Scumbag posted:

Ugh, Dangerous Women costs $20 in my neck of the woods which is almost double a typical full Dresden novel. Doubt I can justify that for one short story.

Im about three stories into Dangerous Women so far and they have all been enjoyable. There are a ton of good authors contributing to it so I wouldnt look at it as just a Butcher story.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 17:39

mistaya: Oct 18, 2006; Cat of Wealth and Taste

Wade Wilson posted:

Another turning point is where the main character starts swearing more. It just gets more entertaining to hear that particular voice start lurching into "Listen to me you stinking little mother fucker..."

Yes that was amazing. Once Myffanwy officially just gets tired of this poo poo it gets really entertaining. And I love how she says 'lil pawn Alan' for some reason, it's adorable. But it takes quite a few hours to get to that.

I still don't know what the POINT of that particular pawn anecdote was, though. It was so weirdly placed. Almost felt like a short story.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 03:48

Fallorn: Apr 14, 2005

I love the setting of The Rook and Stiletto more than 95% of the urban fantasy out there. I love how Myffanwy is like gently caress it fake it till they kill me or I make it. The pawn is totally awesome once poo poo has all hit the fan and she has to go all out. That and the relationship between herself and the 23 year old grafter are great.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 05:11

Some Pinko Commie: Jun 9, 2009; CNC! Easy as 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣!

mistaya posted:

Yes that was amazing. Once Myffanwy officially just gets tired of this poo poo it gets really entertaining. And I love how she says 'lil pawn Alan' for some reason, it's adorable. But it takes quite a few hours to get to that.

I still don't know what the POINT of that particular pawn anecdote was, though. It was so weirdly placed. Almost felt like a short story.

I cracked up for a good while over the aside when she's moping about not having any romantic relationship and talks about finding Thomas's vibrator, but being unable to get around the fact that a different mind used it, even if it was the same body, so she will have to figure out how to get a new one.

EDIT:

I think the point of the dragon pawn story was to illustrate that Myfanwy was actually fairly competent at her job, even if she was socially crippled.

Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Aug 3, 2016

# ? Aug 3, 2016 12:28

Some Pinko Commie: Jun 9, 2009; CNC! Easy as 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣!

JFC the Atrocity Archives series is depressing.

Binging them now and on the Nightmare Stacks. Poor Alex is just getting poo poo on even harder than Bob.

# ? Aug 12, 2016 03:35

Ika: Dec 30, 2004; Pure insanity

Just got an updated shipping date for peace files. September .... 2017. Hopefully that is just a wildly inaccurate random guess and it will come out earlier.

# ? Aug 14, 2016 18:40

A. Beaverhausen: Nov 11, 2008; by R. Guyovich

Ika posted:

Just got an updated shipping date for peace files. September .... 2017. Hopefully that is just a wildly inaccurate random guess and it will come out earlier.

Nooooo

# ? Aug 15, 2016 01:47

Tunicate: May 15, 2012

Amazon just uses a RNG for release dates - not only does the publisher have no input, it takes multiple weeks for the publisher to fix amazon's fuckups.

# ? Aug 15, 2016 01:56

Mr Scumbag: Jun 6, 2007; You're a fucking cocksucker, Jonathan

The ratio of story progression to exposition and description in the Dresden Files is getting worse and worse. The part I'm reading right now has literally single sentences of actual action between paragraphs of annoying monologue.

It's gotten to the point where it insults the intelligence of the reader much of the time. Butcher seems to think more highly about the morality and philosophy in his books than it deserves. It simply isn't worth the paragraphs of text he uses to drive his point home repeatedly.

I'm not really experienced with the fantasy genre, but judging by the size of some of the novels I've seen and how many some authors churn out, I guess it's probably fairly typical for the genre.

Still really annoys me, though. I'd really like some more "show, don't tell" in these books that aren't nearly complicated enough to warrant the exorbitant amount of exposition they contain.

# ? Aug 15, 2016 03:44

computer parts: Nov 18, 2010; PLEASE CLAP

Ika posted:

Just got an updated shipping date for peace files. September .... 2017. Hopefully that is just a wildly inaccurate random guess and it will come out earlier.

There must always be a GRRM.

# ? Aug 15, 2016 04:55

Apoffys: Sep 5, 2011

Yeah, Amazon's release dates are pretty unreliable. Pre-ordered the newest book in the Rivers of London-series, originally to be released November 2015. It gradually got pushed back to September 2017 (coincidence?), and I doubt that date is any more reliable.

It's better to delay the book until it's actually worth reading than to rush out something lovely though, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.

# ? Aug 15, 2016 10:30

Aerdan: Apr 14, 2012; Not Dennis NEDry

Not even Jim Butcher knows when he's going to be done with Peace Talks, so I'd just ignore Amazon.

# ? Aug 15, 2016 10:51

Azuth0667: Sep 20, 2011; By the word of Zoroaster, no business decision is poor when it involves Ahura Mazda.

Apoffys posted:

Yeah, Amazon's release dates are pretty unreliable. Pre-ordered the newest book in the Rivers of London-series, originally to be released November 2015. It gradually got pushed back to September 2017 (coincidence?), and I doubt that date is any more reliable.

It's better to delay the book until it's actually worth reading than to rush out something lovely though, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.

This, I'd rather wait for a good product than get a rushed bad product. It gives me time to do another re-read and catch more stuff ive missed.

# ? Aug 15, 2016 13:02

imnotinsane: Jul 19, 2006

So I just finished the third Felix Castor book and as much as I enjoy the setting and the plot, the more the story goes on the more of an arsehole Castor seems. I mean he makes some terrible choices and just comes across as a total oval office. Usually when you read a book you see why the protagonist must make certain choices and although other people see him as an arsehole you kind of feel justified since you know the full picture. But here even though I see the full picture he is still a massive prick. I imagine in the next book he will continue to be an antisocial jerk and work towards destroying what few relationships he has left.

# ? Aug 16, 2016 10:44

Some Pinko Commie: Jun 9, 2009; CNC! Easy as 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣!

imnotinsane posted:

So I just finished the third Felix Castor book and as much as I enjoy the setting and the plot, the more the story goes on the more of an arsehole Castor seems. I mean he makes some terrible choices and just comes across as a total oval office. Usually when you read a book you see why the protagonist must make certain choices and although other people see him as an arsehole you kind of feel justified since you know the full picture. But here even though I see the full picture he is still a massive prick. I imagine in the next book he will continue to be an antisocial jerk and work towards destroying what few relationships he has left.

I actually liked that Castor was a fuckup that is just surviving his cases instead of actually winning on his own (he usually has to have someone else do the loving-poo poo-up for him most of the time).

It also helped that the audiobook narrator puts just the right amount of personality into Castor's narration vs. other character dialogue bits.

EDIT: Well, I'm all caught up on the Laundry Series by Charles Stross.

I've read Dresden, Rivers of London, Iron Druid (shudder), Felix Castor, Alex Verus, Sandman Slim, Daniel Faust, Twenty Palaces and now the Laundry Files. What's next that won't make me cringe at how terrible the writing is?

# ? Aug 16, 2016 12:23

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

The Rook? Or the Shadow Police series by Paul Cornell.

# ? Aug 16, 2016 12:24

Decius: Oct 14, 2005; Ramrod XTreme

Wade Wilson posted:

I've read Dresden, Rivers of London, Iron Druid (shudder), Felix Castor, Alex Verus, Sandman Slim, Daniel Faust, Twenty Palaces and now the Laundry Files. What's next that won't make me cringe at how terrible the writing is?

The Craft Sequence gets brought up a lot here, even if it is not quite the typical Urban Fantasy with a down-on-his/her-luck investigator in a contemporary city. It is very good however. I also devoured the Kate Daniels series this year, your enjoyment might depend on how much you like some sprinkles of Romance novels (and a female protagonis) in your manly UF. Definitely Pax Arcana should be something you'd enjoy though.

# ? Aug 16, 2016 13:10

Wheat Loaf: Feb 13, 2012; by FactsAreUseless

Wade Wilson posted:

I've read Dresden, Rivers of London, Iron Druid (shudder), Felix Castor, Alex Verus, Sandman Slim, Daniel Faust, Twenty Palaces and now the Laundry Files. What's next that won't make me cringe at how terrible the writing is?

I enjoy the Bone Street Rhumba series by Daniel Jos� Older. Two books so far with a third due out early next year.

Also: disappointed to see that the mass market paperback for The Annihilation Score doesn't have a nice picture on the cover like the previous four. Just the same generic design from the hardcover.

# ? Aug 16, 2016 13:56

imnotinsane: Jul 19, 2006

Wade Wilson posted:

I actually liked that Castor was a fuckup that is just surviving his cases instead of actually winning on his own (he usually has to have someone else do the loving-poo poo-up for him most of the time).

It also helped that the audiobook narrator puts just the right amount of personality into Castor's narration vs. other character dialogue bits.

EDIT: Well, I'm all caught up on the Laundry Series by Charles Stross.

I've read Dresden, Rivers of London, Iron Druid (shudder), Felix Castor, Alex Verus, Sandman Slim, Daniel Faust, Twenty Palaces and now the Laundry Files. What's next that won't make me cringe at how terrible the writing is?

Well it's a nice change from Mary Sue style characters and it's nice that he isn't the most powerful person in the book, like you said he relies a lot on others to get the job done.

Have you read any of the Pax Arcana? I enjoyed them and if you like audiobooks they are done really well.

# ? Aug 16, 2016 13:59

Wheat Loaf: Feb 13, 2012; by FactsAreUseless

I am presently reading the first Mindspace Investigations novel. It's similar to Dresden in a sense, but it's not urban fantasy so much as a sort of pulp detective / cyberpunk thing. I think I saw it described as being sort of like Blade Runner crossed with Chinatown. I am roughly halfway through the book so far; it's not bad.

# ? Aug 16, 2016 14:07

Megazver: Jan 13, 2006

Wheat Loaf posted:

I am presently reading the first Mindspace Investigations novel. It's similar to Dresden in a sense, but it's not urban fantasy so much as a sort of pulp detective / cyberpunk thing. I think I saw it described as being sort of like Blade Runner crossed with Chinatown. I am roughly halfway through the book so far; it's not bad.

I dropped it after a few chapters. I must admit, I find the combination of first person POV and a struggling junkie for a protagonist... annoying to read.

Some character flaws work better to make you empathize with the character than others.

# ? Aug 16, 2016 14:25

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# ? May 14, 2024 00:11

Blasphemeral: Jul 26, 2012; Three mongrel men in exchange for a party member? I found that one in the Faustian Bargain Bin.

Wade Wilson posted:

I actually liked that Castor was a fuckup that is just surviving his cases instead of actually winning on his own (he usually has to have someone else do the loving-poo poo-up for him most of the time).

It also helped that the audiobook narrator puts just the right amount of personality into Castor's narration vs. other character dialogue bits.

EDIT: Well, I'm all caught up on the Laundry Series by Charles Stross.

I've read Dresden, Rivers of London, Iron Druid (shudder), Felix Castor, Alex Verus, Sandman Slim, Daniel Faust, Twenty Palaces and now the Laundry Files. What's next that won't make me cringe at how terrible the writing is?

It's not urban fantasy in the sense that there isn't magic, but The Last Policeman trilogy is amazing and about a detective against the world while everything's going to hell. It's been mentioned periodically in here--check it out.

# ? Aug 16, 2016 15:18

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Urban Fantasy: I wish there was more necromancy and less group sex

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