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I group the Library at Mount Char with The Rook/Stiletto as weird fantasy that doesn't allow its characters to be fully in on the joke, which distinguishes them from the Laundry Files. Obviously Library is by far the weirdest, but I think Rook has its heart in a similar place at a smaller scale.
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Jun 5, 2017 17:19
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Dammit. The Alex Verus series was good enough that now I'm jonesing for more well-written UF, and I've re-read all of Peter Grant too recently. What else is out there in UF that's genuinely well-written? I just tried the Daniel Faust series, got about a book and a half into it, and it . . . didn't work for me -- the characters seemed contrived and inconsistently characterized (is she a demon or a waifu? Pick one), I felt like there were obvious plot holes, the magic system seemed too loosey-goosey, etc. Anything else out there that's actually well-written and well-constructed? I've read rook/stiletto, Library at Mount Char, all of Tim Powers (literally every book he's written), etc., but out of the series listed in the OP, just Dresden, Peter Grant, the London Falling series, all of Charles Stross, and now Alex Verus. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Jun 9, 2017 |
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Jun 9, 2017 04:41
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I'm currently on a Seanan McGuire's October Daye series bender (I think someone here is friends with her?) Book one is pretty rough (not as rough as Dresden book 1 though), but drat, by book three it's incredibly gripping and well written. The growth in writing ability is really astonishing. Main character not overpowered, no male gaze (since the main character is a woman written by a woman you at best get some descriptions of various hunks), quite funny at times, very cruel at others. You must like Faerie stuff however, since that's all it is about. Pax Arcana is another I really like a lot. It's however not outstandingly great prose, but it is good genre standard and quite fun. Main character is interesting and with a more realistic outlook on life than Dresden & Co - he feels a lot more like someone who has lived for 80 years than most "old" protagonists in UF, again the character is not overpowered and the writing isn't very male gaze-y (no more than having a male main character requires). World building is interesting and fun, the sex and relationship stuff refreshingly adult and low-key. You must be able to stand Werewolf stuff however (although well constructed Werewolf stuff, that's not at all about Alpha-worshipping like far too many series are). And if you really like well written, well constructed and extremely interesting there is of course the Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone. It's not really UF, since it isn't set in Our World + Hidden Supernatural, but in a fantasy setting, where Necromants and Gods battle it out on the Dead Man's Land of High Financing (the currency is basically Souls). Nor has it a central protagonist, but every few books follow people in a certain city. However, it has many elements of it, and it is so worth it.
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Jun 9, 2017 06:06
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Decius posted:I'm currently on a Seanan McGuire's October Daye series bender (I think someone here is friends with her?) Book one is pretty rough (not as rough as Dresden book 1 though), but drat, by book three it's incredibly gripping and well written. The growth in writing ability is really astonishing. Main character not overpowered, no male gaze (since the main character is a woman written by a woman you at best get some descriptions of various hunks), quite funny at times, very cruel at others. You must like Faerie stuff however, since that's all it is about. I endorse this post whole-heartedly. If you can handle some romance in your UF, I'll add the "Magic 'blank'" series by Ilona Andrews. There are SEXXXXY shapeshifters, but it's not cringeworthy most of the time, and there is a cool Slavic mythology slant you don't see much of and the protagonist is actually pretty badass.
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Jun 9, 2017 06:30
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Dammit. The Alex Verus series was good enough that now I'm jonesing for more well-written UF, and I've re-read all of Peter Grant too recently. We'll, where do you fall on the Midnight Mayor series? Have you read it? I find the writing very nice, and if you don't hate the protagonist, I think you'll like the different approach to truly urban magic.
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Jun 9, 2017 08:53
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navyjack posted:I endorse this post whole-heartedly. If you can handle some romance in your UF, I'll add the "Magic 'blank'" series by Ilona Andrews. There are SEXXXXY shapeshifters, but it's not cringeworthy most of the time, and there is a cool Slavic mythology slant you don't see much of and the protagonist is actually pretty badass. That said, as far as superhunk alpha male love interests go, Kate's relationship with her love interest is one of the more equal in terms of power dynamic for that subgenre of UF. I like October Daye quite a bit. I think in either book 3 or 4 she has to infiltrate this mysterious shadowlands to retrieve a bunch of kidnapped children and that was a drat good book. That said, she's not very fighty (being a "stalker with a telephoto" type PI and not a Sam Spade type PI). She does get better over the series, up from "Maybe Not Completely Hopeless" to "Moderately Competent". but there's this one point later on (after she's killed a demigod) that she gets menaced by two random low level mooks, only to be rescued by her love interest, that really annoyed me.
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Jun 9, 2017 08:58
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Dammit. The Alex Verus series was good enough that now I'm jonesing for more well-written UF, and I've re-read all of Peter Grant too recently. It's more just a fantasy novel in a modern setting than the usual "detective story with vampires" sort of urban fantasy (but then you mentioned Tim Powers so I assume you're onboard for that) but if you haven't read Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay, it's worth your time. Also The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford.
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Jun 9, 2017 09:10
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I didn't click with any of these for one reason or another, but you might enjoy The Unnoticeables, Borderline or Apocalypse Now Now. I thought they were all fairly competent, prose-wise. I'd also love to hear what others here thought of these.
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Jun 9, 2017 09:56
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Decius posted:I'm currently on a Seanan McGuire's October Daye series bender (I think someone here is friends with her?) Book one is pretty rough (not as rough as Dresden book 1 though), but drat, by book three it's incredibly gripping and well written. The growth in writing ability is really astonishing. Main character not overpowered, no male gaze (since the main character is a woman written by a woman you at best get some descriptions of various hunks), quite funny at times, very cruel at others. You must like Faerie stuff however, since that's all it is about.  Mars4523 posted:I like the Kate Daniels series, but my interest in it has declined with the last few books. Basically I'm enjoying the character stuff but am getting lost in the lore-filled plot nonsense. And yeah, starting in book 4 the authors write an awkward sex scene per book.
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Jun 9, 2017 10:47
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I genuinely enjoyed Apocalypse Now Now. The South African setting is unique within UF as far as I know, so the mythology behind things was delightful. There is a sequel, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I also really enjoy what I've read of Chuck Wendig's UF, especially Blue Blazes. Definitely tries for that gritty feel, but I think it pulls it off better than Faust, or Sandman Slim. Speaking of Richard Kadrrey, I know he isn't for everyone, heck I bounced off the third Slim novel, but I really enjoyed the Butcher Bird book he did, I think, before he started Slim. If you like Midnight Mayor, check out Kraken by China Meiville. It's a similar sort of truly urban fantasy.
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Jun 9, 2017 11:19
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:What else is out there in UF that's genuinely well-written? I just tried the Daniel Faust series, got about a book and a half into it, and it . . . didn't work for me -- the characters seemed contrived and inconsistently characterized (is she a demon or a waifu? Pick one), I felt like there were obvious plot holes, the magic system seemed too loosey-goosey, etc. I recommend anything by Kim Newman which falls into the category.
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Jun 9, 2017 12:01
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Dreqqus posted:I genuinely enjoyed Apocalypse Now Now. The South African setting is unique within UF as far as I know, so the mythology behind things was delightful. There is a sequel, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Thanks, I'll check these out and October Daye. I've read the Craft Sequence series too, just didn't list it as it isn't real-world setting. I was thinking about Pax Arcana but I'm really leery of anything with a werewolf or vampire main character at this point.
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Jun 9, 2017 13:18
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Thanks, I'll check these out and October Daye. The first pax arcana book is a bit "THE FULL MOON WAS HERE...AND I HAD TO STRUGGLE TO CONTROL MY URGES" but it more or less drops that in the later books. They're...not bad.
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Jun 9, 2017 14:11
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Decius posted:I'm currently on a Seanan McGuire's October Daye series bender (I think someone here is friends with her?) Book one is pretty rough (not as rough as Dresden book 1 though), but drat, by book three it's incredibly gripping and well written. The growth in writing ability is really astonishing. Main character not overpowered, no male gaze (since the main character is a woman written by a woman you at best get some descriptions of various hunks), quite funny at times, very cruel at others. You must like Faerie stuff however, since that's all it is about. The power creep eventually gets to October Daye but its gradual and the threats she faces aren't world ending like dresden. I do like how ... Spoiler that i am unsure about I think in the later book its revealed that she dies... a lot.. and then she comes back without noticing it. It mentions events in previous books where she has died. Which explains why her fetch is still around It reminds me of the dresden mment in changes where some scenes become extra sinister or scenes have a lot of foreshadowing in them.
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Jun 9, 2017 15:59
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:...I was thinking about Pax Arcana but I'm really leery of anything with a werewolf or vampire main character at this point. I'm the same way, and completely passed over Pax Arcana for a while because of it, until some people in this thread managed to convince me to give it a shot. It's a great series and doesn't get weighed down in alpha wolf pack nonsense. His relationship with his girlfriend is actually pretty healthy and normal (about as about as normal/healthy as it could be given their unusual circumstances).
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Jun 9, 2017 16:32
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awesmoe posted:The first pax arcana book is a bit "THE FULL MOON WAS HERE...AND I HAD TO STRUGGLE TO CONTROL MY URGES" but it more or less drops that in the later books. They're...not bad.
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Jun 10, 2017 01:14
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Blasphemeral posted:It's his first novel (ever) so I hope he decides to write another. Hawkins says on his Goodreads page that his next book is about talking dogs.
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Jun 10, 2017 01:39
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Mars4523 posted:The first book (and the second) are about him integrating with the werewolf side of his nature, and then other werewolves socially, after suppressing those instincts for the better part of 50 years. It works, IMO, but mileage varies as always. Yeah I understand and didn't mind it TOO much, but if someone tells you "nah this series is fine even if you're tired of werewolves" you're gonna be  during the first book
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Jun 10, 2017 02:51
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awesmoe posted:Yeah I understand and didn't mind it TOO much, but if someone tells you "nah this series is fine even if you're tired of werewolves" you're gonna be To be fair, most people that say "tired of werewolves" generally mean "tired of paranormal romance wearing an urban fantasy mask". I've never heard anyone say "I'm tired of wizards" because that particular genre generally doesn't nose into "I am so awesome my only flaw is that everyone wants to bang me" territory. That said, I'd still read Anita Blake or whatever all day long if it was written as well as Rivers, or something. I've only read the first chapter-ish of Pax Arcana, but it is apparent that the author has style, voice, and tone. I am enjoying it so far. My one complaint would be the two interludes bookending the first chapter, but they're short and do their job without feeling too much like the info dump that they are. It just comes off as a little lazy.
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Jun 10, 2017 04:00
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Robot Wendigo posted:Hawkins says on his Goodreads page that his next book is about talking dogs. quote:The working title is The Lost Pack of Avondale Woods. It's about a mathematician named Josie who lives in the woods with a bunch of dogs. One day the dogs start talking to her. Her first thought is that maybe there's some sort of mental illness--there's a family history--but it gradually evolves that the dogs, like, know stuff.
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Jun 10, 2017 09:58
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Can't be any worse/weirder than Watchers.
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Jun 10, 2017 15:50
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my copy of The Furthest Station came in today, i'm about 2/3rds through It's. . genuinely good. Most of Aaronovitch's shorts aren't as good as the full length books but so far this has some of his best prose. edit: good overally, construction is a bit loose. Has the same issue with some of the other books, where you finish the puzzle and there are a few pieces left over. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Jun 10, 2017 |
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Jun 10, 2017 18:05
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Blasphemeral posted:I'm the same way, and completely passed over Pax Arcana for a while because of it, until some people in this thread managed to convince me to give it a shot. I might give it a shot sometime. My problem with werewolves and vampires isn't so much the alpha sexytime whatever as it is lack of originality -- it's such well-trod ground. One reason I like UF as a genre is that, relatively speaking, it's a younger genre so it's a lot less cliche'd than other fantasy genres. But vampires and werewolves tend to be cliche central.
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Jun 10, 2017 18:07
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He branches out a lot from vampires and werewolves. After the first book the supernatural cast is really pretty drat diverse. Native American hunting spirits, traditional Japanese sorcerers, Filipino ancestor spirits/demons, naga, all kinds of things. Vampires really only make a substantial appearance in the very first book, and I read an interview somewhere where he basically says that he only used vampires in the first book because he wanted a familiar antagonist as a starting point to make it easier to jump in. Protagonist is a werewolf for similar reasons.
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Jun 10, 2017 18:44
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I really appreciate the people who've been mentioning October Daye, I'd never even heard of the series until last week and I just finished book 8. It's good stuff, and very enjoyable.
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Jun 10, 2017 23:55
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I'm 4 books into Pax Arcana and I think it's alright. It's not the greatest but it's definitely not the worst. I can't see Sig as anyone other than Lauren Drain though.
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Jun 11, 2017 00:55
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Wasn't there a UF series somewhere that had an elderly female protagonist?
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Jun 11, 2017 00:56
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Wasn't there a UF series somewhere that had an elderly female protagonist? That would be A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark by Harry Conolloy (the guy who did Twenty Palaces). It's a fun little book, and one of the main characters is indeed an elderly woman. The other is her nephew who is entirely in over his head.
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Jun 11, 2017 01:11
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ConfusedUs posted:That would be A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark by Harry Conolloy (the guy who did Twenty Palaces). I got about halfway into that and stalled out, but that's more my fault than the book's. It's definitely a lot of fun and I need to go back to it sometime. (I also really liked Connolly's The Way Into- fantasy trilogy. Not flawless, but it did something genuinely interesting, and I really liked his take on magic.)
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Jun 11, 2017 01:55
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I do appreciate that John Charming actually being an older guy than he looks is treated more honestly in that he has some more dated frames of reference than your average 20-something and has fond recollections of the first "talkies" and how Groucho Marx was his hero.
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Jun 11, 2017 03:22
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If you guys aren't reading the White Trash Zombie series by DIana Rowland then you're really missing out something fierce. These are really fun. I enjoy the hell out of them. Also the Black Sun's Daughter series by ML Hanover - who is really Daniel Abraham - is also quite good. One of the books feels somewhat Mary Sueish, bit it all works itself out in the end. I really liked the overall story here. Drifter fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Jun 11, 2017 |
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Jun 11, 2017 07:53
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The Charles de Lint stories set in Ottawa are uniquely Ottawa, of course. Even the stories he set in Newford feel Ottawan, though Newford is supposed to be in the US (to sell to a bigger audience). I'd argue that they're very well-written, though I'm likely biased, because his work was my first real UF.
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Jun 12, 2017 00:35
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I didn't realize that we're getting close to the next Laundry Files book. As is now traditional for the genre, first chapter online here: https://www.scribd.com/document/348...reen&from_embed
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Jun 12, 2017 05:12
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Have any of you read Chasing Embers by James Bennett, Inspector Hobbes and the Blood, Rotherweird, The Wolves of London or Strange Magic: An Essex Witch Museum Mystery? (Yeah, I checked the British Amazon for British UF.)
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Jun 12, 2017 17:43
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EVGA Longoria posted:I really appreciate the people who've been mentioning October Daye, I'd never even heard of the series until last week and I just finished book 8. It's good stuff, and very enjoyable. I like October Daye and how much it contrasts against Dresden Files, they seem to go well together.
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Jun 12, 2017 17:53
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I really like Nice Dragons Finish last and that series in general, first book is a hell of a lot stronger than most Urban fantasy books as well.
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Jun 12, 2017 18:45
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ShinsoBEAM! posted:I really like Nice Dragons Finish last and that series in general, first book is a hell of a lot stronger than most Urban fantasy books as well. Ohh, I kind of got into her (Rachel Bach is another name she goes by) Paradox Trilogy. Sci-Fi that starts well and then does a romance plot and then gets bad.
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Jun 12, 2017 18:48
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Exmond posted:Ohh, I kind of got into her (Rachel Bach is another name she goes by) Paradox Trilogy. Sci-Fi that starts well and then does a romance plot and then gets bad. Three books in and the romance is basically non-existant, it's also not tagged as such anywhere.
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Jun 12, 2017 18:49
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I finally finished the latest Alex Verus book and liked it a lot besides a couple annoyances, but they're pretty minor and basically just me being an impatient baby: 1- re: Mordin I expected more poo poo to happen, but I guess just like with Harry + Winter Mantle, nothing really happens until oh poo poo a ton of stuff happens at the end. I guess I wanted more 'hey lets strong arm Verus into doing things with us' but I guess the payoff was good 2- re: Anne I can't be the only one wanting Verus and her to hurry up and gently caress already right??? aurgh I guess now we're setting up for a tragic sacrifice and death somewhere down the line and unconsummated love. Or love saves Anne. Although the series has been pretty good at avoiding cliches so maybe we'll see the plot thread resolved satisfactorily. 3- re: Drakh Based on the conversation from a few pages ago, and how the convos in the book + end fight sequence goes, the book sure seems to hint heavily that Drakh's a diviner (Arachne's conversation, Rachel accusing Verus of being the favorite). I kinda assumed that when Drakh was gone for 10 years, he was busy powering up / honing his powers or something, which also is a reason why his flavour of divination seems different than Alex's. 4- Dumb Luna question: What do you think is the extent of Luna and Veri's physical relationship is at? She seems to have gotten a good enough control on her powers that she can touch people... Aurgh now I need a new series to walk the dog to. Rook, Rivers of London, Verus and Libriomancer are done. I guess it's a toss up between Daniel Faust, Harmony Black or Laundry Files? I notice you've downgraded Laundry Files down a tier since the last OP.
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Jun 12, 2017 23:52
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Exmond posted:I like October Daye and how much it contrasts against Dresden Files, they seem to go well together. I haven't really looked at it compared to Dresden Files, but it's scratching the same itch as the Kate Daniels books rather nicely.
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Jun 13, 2017 00:50
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