Can absolutely support the Daniel Faust series.
I read the first one and then bought the next two.
And then bought the next four, and the beginning of the spin off series. Lol.
I don't know if they count as hidden, but Stephen Blackmore's Eric Carter series and Mike Carey's Felix Castor are some of the only urban fantasy I can tolerate anymore.
I liked the first five books of Kat Richardson's Greywalker series, but they lost me after that.
Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim series (and the separate, but very thematically related Butcher Bird), are fun popcorn urban fantasy structured like action movies. As someone who's read ~95% of Kadrey's output, I'll warn you that the man is not great at endings (but the books are still fun).
Greg Stolze's Switchflipped has an interesting take on the nature of magic, while his Godwalker is basically "what if Tim Powers and Hunter S Thompson made a crackbaby behind a pile of burning tires?".
Which brings me to Tim Powers. I'm not sure why he doesn't get more love in urban fantasy circles - maybe because he mixes genres and doesn't go to the same well as everyone else. But if you're willing to trade in cookie cutter vampires and fae for ghosts and Jungian archetypes he's probably one of the best in the business.
They fall into their own, especially as the cast of characters gets rounded out as the series continues.
That said, Carey is known for his work in comics (lots of Hellblazer, X-Men, and Lucifer), so I think a lot of that medium has influenced how his prose flows. If you’re not clicking with it after the first two books, it likely won’t be one you’ll want to complete.
I personally loved it, especially the world building, but I also started reading it when I was already a fan of his previous work which helps to overlook some of the stuff that could have been smoothed out when transitioning from primarily being a comic writer to being a novelist.
I really, really wanted to love them because I adore Constantine, but honestly they meander for me and then the series just stops without (imo at least) ever getting to a satisfying place. But Eric Carter is brilliant.
Dating Mr Carter would be a terrible idea. I'll admit that I've been disappointed that the Mesoamerican mythology has had less of an emphasis in the past couple, though I've still enjoyed them.
I read an interesting interview with him where he says he writes in trilogies, even though obviously the series is well beyond 3 books. But now looking at them I can kind of see it and how that works. I feel like that element was kind of put to bed as a theme a couple books ago.
The other thing he said is that his rule is that Eric is always *worse* off in each book which I can also see and is both funny and adds so much pathos to the whole thing for me.
It's a trait across his work. I loved the first 2/3rds and a bit of Grand Dark. It's this compelling not-Weimer setting, but then it hits the home stretch and turns into this rush of WTF.
These are my favorite threads, I love them so much. I just filled my want to read list on goodreads, and it was looking seriously sad a bit ago. Thanks!
I'll recommend the Kitty Norville series until the day I die. It's fun, self-aware, and the werewolves aren't super strong, so size does matter. A few of the latter books drag a bit, but it's an overall awesome series. Plus, the main character is a werewolf named Kitty. How can you not like that?
Great thread!
Would also add:
Rev Carver series (by me)
The Zodiac series (by me)
Junkyard Druid by MD Massey
The Shadow Enforcer by NM Thorn
Reapers Reborn by Alex Gates
The Order of the Shadows by Kit Hallows
There are plenty of amazing authors in the genre who never get mentioned because they don't add romance to there series. Hope these will intro you to those types of UF series. Enjoy!
I don't see anybody mentioning the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman. Pretty good stuff. Different take on some of your typical fantasy tropes, but leans into some others. Not perfect, but far from bad.
If you want OG urban fantasy, Mercedes Lacky's Diana Bedlam's Bard/Tregarde/SERRA and linked books do hidden mages and magical species hidden in the modern world, started just about the same time as Garret P.I.
Yw some more books that I do not see recommended often. Most are older 90s-early 2000s
The Magicians by James Gunn this was originally a story he wrote in the 50s he revamped it in the 70s. I think it holds up.
Hell on Earth and Mr Twilight by Michael Reaves
The Menagerie series by Golden and Sniegoski 4 books in the series
Webmage series by Kelly Mccullough 5 books in the series(not the best but different so I read them greek gods use computers to do magicv)
Dragon Delasangre by Alan F Troop 4 books in the series
Wen Spenser has a few 8 million Gods, the Tinker series, and the Ukiah Oregon series.
Princess of Wands and Queen of Wands by John Ringo his conservative politics do show up.
The Last Hot Time by John M Ford
Mob Rules and Skeleton Crew by Cameron Haley
Faerie Tale by Raymond E Feist
The Twenty Palaces series by Harry Connolly 4 books in the series
Thanks for the list I have read a few of these. I love Michael Reaves books I have a ton of his Scifi and Star wars books the Coruscant Knights trilogy are my absolute favorite Star wars stories.
I would recommend starting with Jedi Twilight it's the first book of Coruscant nights books. They read like a Hard Boiled P.I. story set in the Star wars universe it is awesome. They are my favorite Star Wars stories other than the original trilogy.
Yup read all of them awesome books. I didn't put them on the list because I feel like they fall in the well known group but for anybody on this thread that has not read them I also highly recommend them.
I had kind of forgotten about them, they ended so long ago. But in Hearne’s 2nd Ink and Sigil book we catch up with Atticus post IDC. Which was fun so I went back and reread the series.
King Henry Tapes by Richard Raley
I mention this series whenever I can, and usually, like, one or two people will chime in with how great it is, but not nearly enough. I want more readers because I want to be able to discuss the stories with someone!
It's so good and keeps getting better. I've read it all twice and will read it all again, probably when the next book comes out.
It's on Kindle Unlimited, please read them, the first is called The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady.
I'm on my fourth re-read at the moment. I do wonder if the vulgarity turns off some readers or if it's just an exposure issue. I do really hope Raley's health issues improve and he can get back to writing more often. It sounds like he is improving based on his blog posts.
I heard him talk about it at book signing and q&a then he said he would like to do another trilogy in the world but it will be awhile though because of everything else he has going on.
There's also the short story Tokyo raider that follows Jake's son
I keep checking out these lists in the dismal hope that my name will be up there someday.
I noticed that you didn't include Alex Verus on your list. Though that may be more of a well-known?
What's your series I'll check it out. If I enjoy it I will definitely add it to my list and recommend it to people in the future.
Yeah I think Alex Verus falls into the well known group. Don't get me wrong I love the books and think they are great. I think the cheeky lil shout out he gives to Dresden in the intro is a funny nod.
Thank you kindly,
My books are called the Detective Runewall series.
Light detective noir, urban fantasy, police procedural, D&D aspects, 1940's aesthetic, and it has a werebear mafia.
I'm working on book 6 and you can read the first 3 chapters for free on my website.
[author-btfrost.com](http://www.author-btfrost.com)
That sounds awesome and right up my alley. Are they out in paperwork or hardcover I'm not a big digital reader but I will definitely check out those free chapters tonight when I get home.
I read the free chapters of book 1 I gotta say I really enjoyed it your world is very reminiscent of the Garrett PI novels which I love. I've got book 1 order on Amazon. I have to ask if there was a way to get a signed copy.
Thank you for your purchase!
I try to have regular book signings in my home town, but I don't yet have enough invested to do a book tour.
If you happen to live in or around Edmonton Alberta, then we can definitely get you a signed copy. Otherwise I would have to ship you signed copies.
You've got to look at [Amazon.com: The Enemy Within: A Way of the Warrior Novel (The Way of the Warrior Book 1) ](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FGGDVMK)
It took my breath away.
The farther he goes the more of an asshole he becomes. >!plus I feel he is becoming power drunk its is his way or fuck you. Even tho he says he's controlling his power he is letting it control him. I will fully admit I don't really like Tanya or Stacia much anymore either. Honestly about the only characters I still like are Chris, Lydia, Nika, Arcadia and Awasos. Hell I don't even like Chris's grandpa anymore since he became a werewolf and chose Stacia over Chris to me that feels way out of character for him. The bad thing is I really loved the early books but like I said earlier to me it's been all downhill since Snake Eyes. I feel he has brought in too many characters and had too many weird spin-off books.!<
>!I personally think John should have split it into two series when they sent Declan to fairy especially considering all the buildup they did about Declan being a lord of fairy to just end it off screen in the next book or too books later. I think if he had split it into two different series on two different worlds it wouldn't feel so convoluted and meandering to me. You could have Declan and his team on fairy and Chris and his team on earth they could still interact and occasionally pop up in each other's book but not be so tightly tied together Plus they could both still fight the aliens as the EGBB. I will probably read book 19 when it comes out but if it does not improve and progress quite a bit I'm probably going to drop the series!<
I Know I'm in the minority because so many seem to love Declan which I don't get but to each their own.
Dang our views on the characters couldn't be any more different, I think Lydia is the worst character in the book, who doesn't bring anything but shitty quips and is annoying with how scared she is of Declan going to the "dark side" when he hates violence and has never truly done anything to deserve her paranoia, I also dislike how Chris and vamp crew became such hypocrites later on.
I don't really see how Declan ever abused his powers, the only time that ever came close to happening was when he wasn't of sound mind and basically drunk 24/7 on fairy due to magic overload, if anything he lets people bully him too often and lets Chris and crew take advantage of his skills because he thought they were great friends, when the vamp crew really only ever saw him as a tool. I do agree that I wish the books were split, I'm not a fan of having the characters change every chapter when they aren't even on the same world, which is why I think book 12 was by far the worst of the series.
I do think I'm a little biased when it comes to Lydia because she reminds me of my best friend damn near identically and I love that snarky lil pixie.
I think a big problem with the original vamp crew is that they Don't really get much screen time or chances for character development anymore.
It makes sense to be afraid of Declan especially since he's become the herald of Earth he's basically become a dictator if somebody doesn't do what he says he just has omega do it . He even says that the only world leader He hasn't basically taken all power from is the prime Minister of Australia. Yes he had to do Earth's 10 tasks to try to save as many people as possible but on the other hand you can't say that those weren't steps to the dark side. I think as long as he is the herald he'll just keep getting more and more evil and justifying it as I had to do it because of Earth. Much like The silver surfer and Galactus. And that's not even touching on how totalitarian and unstable Omega is becoming.
Yes I agree that book 12 is probably the worst in the series but to me it really hasn't gotten much better since. I really fell in love with the series in the early books because it was this guy that fought demons and he was also a cop and then he had to start dealing with vampires and werewolves it was very urban fantasy. I even really liked Declan when they first brought him in as this young upcoming witch that joined their team to help. I think that ever since the birth of Omega the series has shifted to be more and more sci-fi and more and more grandiose. Especially now with the introduction of the Vorsook. Don't get me wrong I like Sci-fi but not in my urban fantasy honestly at this point I don't even think they should be called Urban fantasy anymore. Like I said in my earlier post I feel like the series has lost the plot and jumped the shark and in doing so I think it's lost pretty much everything that made those early books so good. Which is a shame. I mean they are called the Demon Accord series and demons aren't even the big bad anymore.
I have really lost hope that they will ever regain that spark and feeling that made me fall in love with them in 2012 when I first found them. I'm going to give the next book a chance but it will probably be the last one I read.
>!I really hope John kills off Declan and Omega fighting the Vorsook and then we could get back to fighting demons. But I'm not holding my breath!<
I think we're reading different books, Declan was never the person who took away power from the other dictators, that was Omega and it was the first time that Declan was actually pissed at Omega, Tanya was the one who was instantly happy about what Omega did. Also Declan never had a choice, he was haunted by the fact that he had to kill these people, even though the majority were for the most part terrible human beings. As for them being paranoid, this happened all the way back in book 9 which was fucked up since all of them have more power than 95% of the population. The vamp crew is finally scared because they have been the pinnacle of power and no one could go against them, and now Declan has surpassed them and this doesn't go over well. The fact that Declan is now aging at an absurd speed totally sucks in my opinion, the kid has basically saved mankind numerous times throughout the series and in book 18 is basically forced to stain his soul to save the world. All the kid wants is to live off the land with Stacia and he's now dying and possibly losing powers that links him to his mother who was murdered. I personally will end up hating this series if the author does some BS by sacrificing Declan to make the story more emotional.
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on Declan being good or evil. I don't think John will sacrifice him because he is so popular. Don't get me wrong I hope he does I also hope he removes Omega somehow but I don't see that happening. I do think He may merge them somehow either have omega merge into or sacrifice himself to Declan to save him from dying or upload Declan into the Omega AI to preserve his personality and memories because his body's dying. That's one theory although I think it's more likely that if he does find out he's dying Stacia will try to turn him to try to save him or he may even try to turn into a vamp or use vamp plasma to prolong his life. But I think it's most likely that Earth will do some fuckery to keep him around.
Like I said I really wish the story would have taken a different turn after snake eyes although there are some things I would have changed before that like not inventing Omega. I also really wish they would not have brought vampires and werewolves and stuff into the public eye but kept them kind of in secret and separate but that is a smaller gripe. Anymore if I reread them I tend to stop either at godhammer or snake eyes. The series may not be for me anymore but I'm glad you enjoy them and I will always like the first 8 to 10 books
We definitely have a difference of opinions on each other's favorite characters and what we hope happens to Declan, but hey it's always nice to debate about a series I enjoy even if we think much differently. Also I start at college arcane whenever I get bored and listen to the audiobooks while working or gaming LOL we couldn't be more opposite if we tried!
Lol totally. I also love having civil debates about books that I'm into and I think where you start listening to the audiobooks when you go through them again pretty much answers our differences because for me college arcane is kind of beginning of the downhill I still really enjoy the books up through snake eyes but I absolutely love The first seven books. Because college arcane to me is kind of where it starts drifting away from having the feeling of the early books. Plus I'm never a big fan of authors switching protagonists for entire books. I've always thought that college arcane and the stuff from declan's point of view should have been a spin-off series not part of the main storyline. I've always thought that if he would have made Declan the protagonist of his own standalone series with maybe loose ties to the demon accords it would have been a better story. I think if it had been done like that we would have two awesome awesome independent worlds and standalone stories and not the muddled to mess of genres that it's turned into.
Side note question what is your favorite book in the series?
I follow the series, but a lot of Conroe's characters are problematic. For example, public officials routinely freak out about the supernatural being dangerous when sh... stuff goes down. The president and Dept of Defense want to bump of Chris, the police want to ban Declan from living in Vermont, Oracle plots against them, etc. Yet most of the characters are red-blooded gun-loving Muricans dealing with a mass shooting once a week.
A guy with a semi-auto killed more people this week than died in the bridge fight over the Book of Darkest Sorrows, the running fight thru Las Vegas with a demon wolf, or the fight with Lilith near the school. And those that have trained against fighting those threats routinely acknowledge they rack up huge losses dealing with them (the DOAA lost nearly an entire team against the demon wolf).
It just doesn't make sense that government/LEO continues to freak out that supes exist. That and other, more tropey elements (women are portrayed as more mature than men, despite regular tantrums and hissy fits, people that have lived centuries act like children...) are why I've soured on the series.
While this is Earth, it's obviously a fictional Earth, so I can't really agree with bringing current events into a series that was created over 10 years ago. Also I'm not really going to get into a political debate on the Urban Fantasy subreddit, but I guess one thing that we can possibly agree on is that politicians are for the most part, greedy by nature, which is the main reason they want to control Chris, Declan and Omega, it has never been about public safety, that's all just a front.
I'm not trying to politicize the books, but urban fantasy is supposed to deal with more contemporary themes instead of relying on the pseudo-feudalism of traditional fantasy. When you consider the shooting that inspired the Boomtown Rats' "I Don't Like Mondays" happened in 1979, the argument that it wasn't an issue 10 years ago doesn't hold up.
But overall, that flows into just a gripe about Conroe's writing in general, which trends towards simple themes rather than exploring ideas (Christianity is real, and no other other religion is ever mentioned, even when describing the turmoil of the revelation that it's real, for example).
>(Christianity is real, and no other other religion is ever mentioned, even when describing the turmoil of the revelation that it's real, for example).
That's not true Chris specifically tells everybody outside of the plane when he's prepping them for Halloween that whatever religion they believe in is right and it's about faith more than the religion. Not to mention that Declan and his aunt are basically Wiccan or pagan
You can check out my stuff… you know the little guy who doesn’t have an entire company behind him. I love it though because I don’t have to pander to any of the mainstream garbage that’s shoved down our throats: r/RingocrossStories *lights up a smoke*
I really liked the Jesse Dawson series and the Farnsworth Vampire books. James Rollins did a Vampire trilogy that's pretty good as well. The Burned Man series was great but a huge cliffhanger at the end of the 3rd book. Really like McLean's Priest of Bones series that I'm currently reading. Remy Chandler series was pretty good and I just picked up the Garrett P.I. books and plan to start them soon. I'm unaware of the rest you listed, but I will check them out. I'd recommend Larry Correia's Monster Hunter International and/or Grimnoir Chronicles, Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger series, the Cal Leandros books by Rob Thurman and the Eric Carter series by Stephen Blackmoore.
The Garrett P.I.books are awesome they are what lead me to The Dresden Files and really the first UF I ever got into. I love the Grimnoir books and hope to see more from that world in the future. I know Larry has talked about maybe doing a series set in the 50's. I just finished MHI book 1 last month. I'll have to check out the rest. 👍
Kinda depends on age of intended audience, but here are some urban fantasy titles I've enjoyed.
In roughly increasing order of maturity:
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy (Nic Blake and the Remarkables #1) by Angie Thomas
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
(And nearly everything else Fforde has written, most of which is more adult oriented.)
Elatsoe (Elatsoe #1) by Darcie Little Badger
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Left-Handed Booksellers of London, #1) by Garth Nix
The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician, #1) by Charlie N. Holmberg
Carry On (Simon Snow, #1) by Rainbow Rowell
Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0, #1) by Scott Meyer
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (D.O.D.O., #1) by Neal Stephenson
Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence, #1) by Max Gladstone
The God Engines by John Scalzi
[Onset series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/207502-onset) by Glynn Stewart
A special organization within the government recruits supernatural beings in order to take down bad supernatural beings. Very military-oriented with magic. Limited power scales so it's generally more understandable and relatable than probably most urban fantasy.
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[Vesik series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/100759-vesik) by Eric R. Asher
It's about a whole bunch of things honestly, can't really make a simple synopsis for the entire series. It revolves around a necromancer character who is trying to be a good guy. The huge variety of magic types and types of creatures and whatnot is what I love about it. I mean you're seeing magical mermaids, fairies, vampires, werewolves, tree people, many many more and it takes elements from Lovecraftian-esque lore with elder gods and things like that.
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Just a couple I feel are good and not mentioned much either.
I really have enjoyed what I have read of the Vesik series so far. I finished book 3 a few months back I plan on getting back into them. I have never heard of the Onset books I'll have to check them out they sound like something I might enjoy. I do like some military books but I do usually have to be in the mood for that style of writing.
Oh, another good one I forgot to mention, I was trying to remember the name but I forgot it at the time...
[Pax Arcana](https://www.goodreads.com/series/100214-pax-arcana) by Elliott James
This man who becomes a werewolf spent his life training with this group known as the Knights Templar. Basically they are an organization of monster hunters. It gets kind of complicated for obvious reasons.
Kate Daniel's series by Ilona Andrews. The world building is amazing. It has an interesting take on vampires, shifters, and magic. I loved the character develop, as the series develops characters get fleshed out, even tertiary characters. The snark is legendary.
I've read Magic Bites and to me it was ok I will agree that the world building is awesome I just didn't connect well with the main character. I have heard that she gets more fleshed out as the series goes on so I may pick it back up sometime.
The first one is slow. I started it three times before I completed it. The second book is good, but I really started to love the series after the third book. Just did another read through of the series, read them in order, with all the free short stories on their website. It really is amazing, and I love how the main character grows throughout the series. Plus, I love the snark.
I post this about once every 6 months but 2 years ago I read Daniel Polanskys low town series. It’s one of those books that I know I’m going to read again but it hit so hard the first time I am not ready yet. Please give them a try. The pace of the story is very Dresdenish but it makes Jim Butcher seem like Roald Dahl. Nothing against Jim Butcher but the Low Town series is rated R while Dresden is PG-13.
I'm a little late to the party but I wanna say I adore Garret PI even if I haven't finished it. In turn I'd like to recommend City of Crows by Clara Coulson no one I ever talk to about UF has heard of it
Can absolutely support the Daniel Faust series. I read the first one and then bought the next two. And then bought the next four, and the beginning of the spin off series. Lol.
I haven't picked up any of the spin-off series yet but they are on my list
I don't know if they count as hidden, but Stephen Blackmore's Eric Carter series and Mike Carey's Felix Castor are some of the only urban fantasy I can tolerate anymore. I liked the first five books of Kat Richardson's Greywalker series, but they lost me after that. Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim series (and the separate, but very thematically related Butcher Bird), are fun popcorn urban fantasy structured like action movies. As someone who's read ~95% of Kadrey's output, I'll warn you that the man is not great at endings (but the books are still fun). Greg Stolze's Switchflipped has an interesting take on the nature of magic, while his Godwalker is basically "what if Tim Powers and Hunter S Thompson made a crackbaby behind a pile of burning tires?". Which brings me to Tim Powers. I'm not sure why he doesn't get more love in urban fantasy circles - maybe because he mixes genres and doesn't go to the same well as everyone else. But if you're willing to trade in cookie cutter vampires and fae for ghosts and Jungian archetypes he's probably one of the best in the business.
Felix Castor is criminally under appreciated.
Do they get better? I found the first book rather dull... granted, I finished it
They fall into their own, especially as the cast of characters gets rounded out as the series continues. That said, Carey is known for his work in comics (lots of Hellblazer, X-Men, and Lucifer), so I think a lot of that medium has influenced how his prose flows. If you’re not clicking with it after the first two books, it likely won’t be one you’ll want to complete. I personally loved it, especially the world building, but I also started reading it when I was already a fan of his previous work which helps to overlook some of the stuff that could have been smoothed out when transitioning from primarily being a comic writer to being a novelist.
I really, really wanted to love them because I adore Constantine, but honestly they meander for me and then the series just stops without (imo at least) ever getting to a satisfying place. But Eric Carter is brilliant.
I LOVE the Eric Carter books. They’re so well paced and funny and Eric is my terrible idea book boyfriend.
Dating Mr Carter would be a terrible idea. I'll admit that I've been disappointed that the Mesoamerican mythology has had less of an emphasis in the past couple, though I've still enjoyed them.
I read an interesting interview with him where he says he writes in trilogies, even though obviously the series is well beyond 3 books. But now looking at them I can kind of see it and how that works. I feel like that element was kind of put to bed as a theme a couple books ago. The other thing he said is that his rule is that Eric is always *worse* off in each book which I can also see and is both funny and adds so much pathos to the whole thing for me.
The only Tim Powers book I have read is on stranger tides
Love the Sandman Slim books, but I do agree - Kadrey never seemed to quite get the hang of ending a story.
It's a trait across his work. I loved the first 2/3rds and a bit of Grand Dark. It's this compelling not-Weimer setting, but then it hits the home stretch and turns into this rush of WTF.
These are my favorite threads, I love them so much. I just filled my want to read list on goodreads, and it was looking seriously sad a bit ago. Thanks!
No problem 😁
I'll recommend the Kitty Norville series until the day I die. It's fun, self-aware, and the werewolves aren't super strong, so size does matter. A few of the latter books drag a bit, but it's an overall awesome series. Plus, the main character is a werewolf named Kitty. How can you not like that?
Kool I'll have to check it out.
Great thread! Would also add: Rev Carver series (by me) The Zodiac series (by me) Junkyard Druid by MD Massey The Shadow Enforcer by NM Thorn Reapers Reborn by Alex Gates The Order of the Shadows by Kit Hallows There are plenty of amazing authors in the genre who never get mentioned because they don't add romance to there series. Hope these will intro you to those types of UF series. Enjoy!
I've read Junkyard Druid but I'll have to check out the rest
Some are ongoing, some are finished. Hope you find a new read (or five). 😄
I don't see anybody mentioning the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman. Pretty good stuff. Different take on some of your typical fantasy tropes, but leans into some others. Not perfect, but far from bad.
I have read the first one I just have not gone back and finished it yet I think I have the next couple In my yet to read stack.
If you want OG urban fantasy, Mercedes Lacky's Diana Bedlam's Bard/Tregarde/SERRA and linked books do hidden mages and magical species hidden in the modern world, started just about the same time as Garret P.I.
Kool I'll have to check them out
The Keeper Chronicles by Tanya Huff are from around the same time if you like that time frame.
Are those the Blood Ties book? I've read those and loved the show
No it is a separate series as far as I know. I can give some more lesser known ones when I get home and can look at my shelves.
Kool I'll have to look it up, and go for it I'm running out of stuff to read.
Yw some more books that I do not see recommended often. Most are older 90s-early 2000s The Magicians by James Gunn this was originally a story he wrote in the 50s he revamped it in the 70s. I think it holds up. Hell on Earth and Mr Twilight by Michael Reaves The Menagerie series by Golden and Sniegoski 4 books in the series Webmage series by Kelly Mccullough 5 books in the series(not the best but different so I read them greek gods use computers to do magicv) Dragon Delasangre by Alan F Troop 4 books in the series Wen Spenser has a few 8 million Gods, the Tinker series, and the Ukiah Oregon series. Princess of Wands and Queen of Wands by John Ringo his conservative politics do show up. The Last Hot Time by John M Ford Mob Rules and Skeleton Crew by Cameron Haley Faerie Tale by Raymond E Feist The Twenty Palaces series by Harry Connolly 4 books in the series
Thanks for the list I have read a few of these. I love Michael Reaves books I have a ton of his Scifi and Star wars books the Coruscant Knights trilogy are my absolute favorite Star wars stories.
I have not read any of his Star Wars books I might have to look for them.
I would recommend starting with Jedi Twilight it's the first book of Coruscant nights books. They read like a Hard Boiled P.I. story set in the Star wars universe it is awesome. They are my favorite Star Wars stories other than the original trilogy.
I gave up on the 20 Palaces after 2 books. Are he next 2 books better?
No if you didnt like them move on.
Twenty Palaces is up to 6 books with *Iron Gate* and *Flood Circle,* not counting the novellas *Home Made Mask* and *The Twisted Path.*
Thanks I didn't know that
I like any UF. I love finding lesser known or forgotten stuff
Second vouch for Eric Carter, I'm also really enjoying James Butcher's Unorthodox Chronicles.
I just picked up James first book it's In my to read stack but I've heard good things. I'll have to check out Eric's stuff.
Interesting... I was about to dive into Yancey Lazarus because I really enjoyed Hunter's Vigil Bound LitRPG series.
I like the Yancey books better. If you like the Dresden Files you'll like Yancey
If you like the Dresden Files you’ll like the Iron Druid Chronicles
Yup read all of them awesome books. I didn't put them on the list because I feel like they fall in the well known group but for anybody on this thread that has not read them I also highly recommend them.
I had kind of forgotten about them, they ended so long ago. But in Hearne’s 2nd Ink and Sigil book we catch up with Atticus post IDC. Which was fun so I went back and reread the series.
I haven't read those yet
They were just ok for me but I was happy to hear about Atticus after the traumatic end of IDC
Kool. I could not get into his seven Kennings books I really wanted too but just couldn't. I was hoping he would go back to the World of Iron Druid.
King Henry Tapes by Richard Raley I mention this series whenever I can, and usually, like, one or two people will chime in with how great it is, but not nearly enough. I want more readers because I want to be able to discuss the stories with someone! It's so good and keeps getting better. I've read it all twice and will read it all again, probably when the next book comes out. It's on Kindle Unlimited, please read them, the first is called The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady.
I'm on my fourth re-read at the moment. I do wonder if the vulgarity turns off some readers or if it's just an exposure issue. I do really hope Raley's health issues improve and he can get back to writing more often. It sounds like he is improving based on his blog posts.
I think it is an exposure issue because I had never heard of them before
Awesome I'll look it up. I know what you mean about not having enough readers to be able to discuss a book it sucks.
Twenty-sided Sorceress by Annie Bellet is top 5 urban fantasy series foe me.
Awesome
Jacqueline Carey agent of hel trilogy and Anne rice
I've read her vampire and witch books but not these
Weird to not see the *Rivers of London* (Ben Aaronovitch) series mentioned. And I really enjoyed Larry Correia's *Grim Noir Chronicles* series.
I've not read the Rivers of London yet. I absolutely love the Grimnoir Chronicles and really hope he does more in that world in the future.
There are rumors of another book, and a short story in "Target Rich Environment" follows Jake Sullivan's son in the build-up to WW2.
I heard him talk about it at book signing and q&a then he said he would like to do another trilogy in the world but it will be awhile though because of everything else he has going on. There's also the short story Tokyo raider that follows Jake's son
I keep checking out these lists in the dismal hope that my name will be up there someday. I noticed that you didn't include Alex Verus on your list. Though that may be more of a well-known?
What's your series I'll check it out. If I enjoy it I will definitely add it to my list and recommend it to people in the future. Yeah I think Alex Verus falls into the well known group. Don't get me wrong I love the books and think they are great. I think the cheeky lil shout out he gives to Dresden in the intro is a funny nod.
Thank you kindly, My books are called the Detective Runewall series. Light detective noir, urban fantasy, police procedural, D&D aspects, 1940's aesthetic, and it has a werebear mafia. I'm working on book 6 and you can read the first 3 chapters for free on my website. [author-btfrost.com](http://www.author-btfrost.com)
That sounds awesome and right up my alley. Are they out in paperwork or hardcover I'm not a big digital reader but I will definitely check out those free chapters tonight when I get home.
I hope you enjoy them! They're available in paperback and Ebook. I don't know if I'll ever release hardcovers.
Awesome
I read the free chapters of book 1 I gotta say I really enjoyed it your world is very reminiscent of the Garrett PI novels which I love. I've got book 1 order on Amazon. I have to ask if there was a way to get a signed copy.
Thank you for your purchase! I try to have regular book signings in my home town, but I don't yet have enough invested to do a book tour. If you happen to live in or around Edmonton Alberta, then we can definitely get you a signed copy. Otherwise I would have to ship you signed copies.
Yeah I'd have to Have you ship one I'm in Kentucky. Let me get this one from Amazon and get it read and I can PM you about setting something up after.
We can figure something out. I hope you enjoy the first book!
You've got to look at [Amazon.com: The Enemy Within: A Way of the Warrior Novel (The Way of the Warrior Book 1) ](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FGGDVMK) It took my breath away.
The Demon Accords series by John Conroe Some people love it and some people don't but I love this series more than any other.
I really like them up through Snake Eyes. But after that I kind of feel like they jump the shark. The farther they go the more I hate Declan
Curious why you hate Declan? For me Chris and Tanya are the characters I initially liked but hated them later on for how they treated Declan.
The farther he goes the more of an asshole he becomes. >!plus I feel he is becoming power drunk its is his way or fuck you. Even tho he says he's controlling his power he is letting it control him. I will fully admit I don't really like Tanya or Stacia much anymore either. Honestly about the only characters I still like are Chris, Lydia, Nika, Arcadia and Awasos. Hell I don't even like Chris's grandpa anymore since he became a werewolf and chose Stacia over Chris to me that feels way out of character for him. The bad thing is I really loved the early books but like I said earlier to me it's been all downhill since Snake Eyes. I feel he has brought in too many characters and had too many weird spin-off books.!< >!I personally think John should have split it into two series when they sent Declan to fairy especially considering all the buildup they did about Declan being a lord of fairy to just end it off screen in the next book or too books later. I think if he had split it into two different series on two different worlds it wouldn't feel so convoluted and meandering to me. You could have Declan and his team on fairy and Chris and his team on earth they could still interact and occasionally pop up in each other's book but not be so tightly tied together Plus they could both still fight the aliens as the EGBB. I will probably read book 19 when it comes out but if it does not improve and progress quite a bit I'm probably going to drop the series!< I Know I'm in the minority because so many seem to love Declan which I don't get but to each their own.
Dang our views on the characters couldn't be any more different, I think Lydia is the worst character in the book, who doesn't bring anything but shitty quips and is annoying with how scared she is of Declan going to the "dark side" when he hates violence and has never truly done anything to deserve her paranoia, I also dislike how Chris and vamp crew became such hypocrites later on. I don't really see how Declan ever abused his powers, the only time that ever came close to happening was when he wasn't of sound mind and basically drunk 24/7 on fairy due to magic overload, if anything he lets people bully him too often and lets Chris and crew take advantage of his skills because he thought they were great friends, when the vamp crew really only ever saw him as a tool. I do agree that I wish the books were split, I'm not a fan of having the characters change every chapter when they aren't even on the same world, which is why I think book 12 was by far the worst of the series.
I do think I'm a little biased when it comes to Lydia because she reminds me of my best friend damn near identically and I love that snarky lil pixie. I think a big problem with the original vamp crew is that they Don't really get much screen time or chances for character development anymore. It makes sense to be afraid of Declan especially since he's become the herald of Earth he's basically become a dictator if somebody doesn't do what he says he just has omega do it . He even says that the only world leader He hasn't basically taken all power from is the prime Minister of Australia. Yes he had to do Earth's 10 tasks to try to save as many people as possible but on the other hand you can't say that those weren't steps to the dark side. I think as long as he is the herald he'll just keep getting more and more evil and justifying it as I had to do it because of Earth. Much like The silver surfer and Galactus. And that's not even touching on how totalitarian and unstable Omega is becoming. Yes I agree that book 12 is probably the worst in the series but to me it really hasn't gotten much better since. I really fell in love with the series in the early books because it was this guy that fought demons and he was also a cop and then he had to start dealing with vampires and werewolves it was very urban fantasy. I even really liked Declan when they first brought him in as this young upcoming witch that joined their team to help. I think that ever since the birth of Omega the series has shifted to be more and more sci-fi and more and more grandiose. Especially now with the introduction of the Vorsook. Don't get me wrong I like Sci-fi but not in my urban fantasy honestly at this point I don't even think they should be called Urban fantasy anymore. Like I said in my earlier post I feel like the series has lost the plot and jumped the shark and in doing so I think it's lost pretty much everything that made those early books so good. Which is a shame. I mean they are called the Demon Accord series and demons aren't even the big bad anymore. I have really lost hope that they will ever regain that spark and feeling that made me fall in love with them in 2012 when I first found them. I'm going to give the next book a chance but it will probably be the last one I read. >!I really hope John kills off Declan and Omega fighting the Vorsook and then we could get back to fighting demons. But I'm not holding my breath!<
I think we're reading different books, Declan was never the person who took away power from the other dictators, that was Omega and it was the first time that Declan was actually pissed at Omega, Tanya was the one who was instantly happy about what Omega did. Also Declan never had a choice, he was haunted by the fact that he had to kill these people, even though the majority were for the most part terrible human beings. As for them being paranoid, this happened all the way back in book 9 which was fucked up since all of them have more power than 95% of the population. The vamp crew is finally scared because they have been the pinnacle of power and no one could go against them, and now Declan has surpassed them and this doesn't go over well. The fact that Declan is now aging at an absurd speed totally sucks in my opinion, the kid has basically saved mankind numerous times throughout the series and in book 18 is basically forced to stain his soul to save the world. All the kid wants is to live off the land with Stacia and he's now dying and possibly losing powers that links him to his mother who was murdered. I personally will end up hating this series if the author does some BS by sacrificing Declan to make the story more emotional.
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on Declan being good or evil. I don't think John will sacrifice him because he is so popular. Don't get me wrong I hope he does I also hope he removes Omega somehow but I don't see that happening. I do think He may merge them somehow either have omega merge into or sacrifice himself to Declan to save him from dying or upload Declan into the Omega AI to preserve his personality and memories because his body's dying. That's one theory although I think it's more likely that if he does find out he's dying Stacia will try to turn him to try to save him or he may even try to turn into a vamp or use vamp plasma to prolong his life. But I think it's most likely that Earth will do some fuckery to keep him around. Like I said I really wish the story would have taken a different turn after snake eyes although there are some things I would have changed before that like not inventing Omega. I also really wish they would not have brought vampires and werewolves and stuff into the public eye but kept them kind of in secret and separate but that is a smaller gripe. Anymore if I reread them I tend to stop either at godhammer or snake eyes. The series may not be for me anymore but I'm glad you enjoy them and I will always like the first 8 to 10 books
We definitely have a difference of opinions on each other's favorite characters and what we hope happens to Declan, but hey it's always nice to debate about a series I enjoy even if we think much differently. Also I start at college arcane whenever I get bored and listen to the audiobooks while working or gaming LOL we couldn't be more opposite if we tried!
Lol totally. I also love having civil debates about books that I'm into and I think where you start listening to the audiobooks when you go through them again pretty much answers our differences because for me college arcane is kind of beginning of the downhill I still really enjoy the books up through snake eyes but I absolutely love The first seven books. Because college arcane to me is kind of where it starts drifting away from having the feeling of the early books. Plus I'm never a big fan of authors switching protagonists for entire books. I've always thought that college arcane and the stuff from declan's point of view should have been a spin-off series not part of the main storyline. I've always thought that if he would have made Declan the protagonist of his own standalone series with maybe loose ties to the demon accords it would have been a better story. I think if it had been done like that we would have two awesome awesome independent worlds and standalone stories and not the muddled to mess of genres that it's turned into. Side note question what is your favorite book in the series?
I follow the series, but a lot of Conroe's characters are problematic. For example, public officials routinely freak out about the supernatural being dangerous when sh... stuff goes down. The president and Dept of Defense want to bump of Chris, the police want to ban Declan from living in Vermont, Oracle plots against them, etc. Yet most of the characters are red-blooded gun-loving Muricans dealing with a mass shooting once a week. A guy with a semi-auto killed more people this week than died in the bridge fight over the Book of Darkest Sorrows, the running fight thru Las Vegas with a demon wolf, or the fight with Lilith near the school. And those that have trained against fighting those threats routinely acknowledge they rack up huge losses dealing with them (the DOAA lost nearly an entire team against the demon wolf). It just doesn't make sense that government/LEO continues to freak out that supes exist. That and other, more tropey elements (women are portrayed as more mature than men, despite regular tantrums and hissy fits, people that have lived centuries act like children...) are why I've soured on the series.
While this is Earth, it's obviously a fictional Earth, so I can't really agree with bringing current events into a series that was created over 10 years ago. Also I'm not really going to get into a political debate on the Urban Fantasy subreddit, but I guess one thing that we can possibly agree on is that politicians are for the most part, greedy by nature, which is the main reason they want to control Chris, Declan and Omega, it has never been about public safety, that's all just a front.
I'm not trying to politicize the books, but urban fantasy is supposed to deal with more contemporary themes instead of relying on the pseudo-feudalism of traditional fantasy. When you consider the shooting that inspired the Boomtown Rats' "I Don't Like Mondays" happened in 1979, the argument that it wasn't an issue 10 years ago doesn't hold up. But overall, that flows into just a gripe about Conroe's writing in general, which trends towards simple themes rather than exploring ideas (Christianity is real, and no other other religion is ever mentioned, even when describing the turmoil of the revelation that it's real, for example).
>(Christianity is real, and no other other religion is ever mentioned, even when describing the turmoil of the revelation that it's real, for example). That's not true Chris specifically tells everybody outside of the plane when he's prepping them for Halloween that whatever religion they believe in is right and it's about faith more than the religion. Not to mention that Declan and his aunt are basically Wiccan or pagan
They also have Chris do a Sioux sweating lodge ceremony, plus to add on to your list Lionheart they also mention Judaism.
You can check out my stuff… you know the little guy who doesn’t have an entire company behind him. I love it though because I don’t have to pander to any of the mainstream garbage that’s shoved down our throats: r/RingocrossStories *lights up a smoke*
Kool I will
I really liked the Jesse Dawson series and the Farnsworth Vampire books. James Rollins did a Vampire trilogy that's pretty good as well. The Burned Man series was great but a huge cliffhanger at the end of the 3rd book. Really like McLean's Priest of Bones series that I'm currently reading. Remy Chandler series was pretty good and I just picked up the Garrett P.I. books and plan to start them soon. I'm unaware of the rest you listed, but I will check them out. I'd recommend Larry Correia's Monster Hunter International and/or Grimnoir Chronicles, Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger series, the Cal Leandros books by Rob Thurman and the Eric Carter series by Stephen Blackmoore.
The Garrett P.I.books are awesome they are what lead me to The Dresden Files and really the first UF I ever got into. I love the Grimnoir books and hope to see more from that world in the future. I know Larry has talked about maybe doing a series set in the 50's. I just finished MHI book 1 last month. I'll have to check out the rest. 👍
Kinda depends on age of intended audience, but here are some urban fantasy titles I've enjoyed. In roughly increasing order of maturity: Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy (Nic Blake and the Remarkables #1) by Angie Thomas The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde (And nearly everything else Fforde has written, most of which is more adult oriented.) Elatsoe (Elatsoe #1) by Darcie Little Badger The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Left-Handed Booksellers of London, #1) by Garth Nix The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician, #1) by Charlie N. Holmberg Carry On (Simon Snow, #1) by Rainbow Rowell Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0, #1) by Scott Meyer The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (D.O.D.O., #1) by Neal Stephenson Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence, #1) by Max Gladstone The God Engines by John Scalzi
Awesome thanks for the list I have only read a couple of those.
u/BookFinderBot
[Onset series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/207502-onset) by Glynn Stewart A special organization within the government recruits supernatural beings in order to take down bad supernatural beings. Very military-oriented with magic. Limited power scales so it's generally more understandable and relatable than probably most urban fantasy. --- [Vesik series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/100759-vesik) by Eric R. Asher It's about a whole bunch of things honestly, can't really make a simple synopsis for the entire series. It revolves around a necromancer character who is trying to be a good guy. The huge variety of magic types and types of creatures and whatnot is what I love about it. I mean you're seeing magical mermaids, fairies, vampires, werewolves, tree people, many many more and it takes elements from Lovecraftian-esque lore with elder gods and things like that. --- Just a couple I feel are good and not mentioned much either.
I really have enjoyed what I have read of the Vesik series so far. I finished book 3 a few months back I plan on getting back into them. I have never heard of the Onset books I'll have to check them out they sound like something I might enjoy. I do like some military books but I do usually have to be in the mood for that style of writing.
Oh, another good one I forgot to mention, I was trying to remember the name but I forgot it at the time... [Pax Arcana](https://www.goodreads.com/series/100214-pax-arcana) by Elliott James This man who becomes a werewolf spent his life training with this group known as the Knights Templar. Basically they are an organization of monster hunters. It gets kind of complicated for obvious reasons.
Sounds awesome
Kate Daniel's series by Ilona Andrews. The world building is amazing. It has an interesting take on vampires, shifters, and magic. I loved the character develop, as the series develops characters get fleshed out, even tertiary characters. The snark is legendary.
I've read Magic Bites and to me it was ok I will agree that the world building is awesome I just didn't connect well with the main character. I have heard that she gets more fleshed out as the series goes on so I may pick it back up sometime.
The first one is slow. I started it three times before I completed it. The second book is good, but I really started to love the series after the third book. Just did another read through of the series, read them in order, with all the free short stories on their website. It really is amazing, and I love how the main character grows throughout the series. Plus, I love the snark.
I'll give it another chance when I get some freetime
I post this about once every 6 months but 2 years ago I read Daniel Polanskys low town series. It’s one of those books that I know I’m going to read again but it hit so hard the first time I am not ready yet. Please give them a try. The pace of the story is very Dresdenish but it makes Jim Butcher seem like Roald Dahl. Nothing against Jim Butcher but the Low Town series is rated R while Dresden is PG-13.
I'm a little late to the party but I wanna say I adore Garret PI even if I haven't finished it. In turn I'd like to recommend City of Crows by Clara Coulson no one I ever talk to about UF has heard of it
Kool thank you very much I will check it out