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Hi, I'm new to the group and was hoping to get a suggestion for a new series.

I have read--and loved--all of Jim Butcher's novels including Dresden and Codex Alera. I have also read all of the Pendergast books as well as Repairman Jack (not as much a fav). Does anyone have any ideas for new series? I'm new to the genre except for the above mentioned books.

Many thanks!

Try Patricia Briggs' books. She has Mercedes Thompson for Urban Fantasy & then a bunch of regular fantasy books, too.

When I think of Butcher's Dresden Files books, the closest match I can think of is Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid chronicles. It's also "Urban Fantasy" (a modern urban setting with some fantasy or supernatural elements, but that doesn't slide into the Horror category), and it features a male protagonist.

(I can name a lot more Urban Fantasy with female protagonists, e.g. Mercy Thompson that Jim mentioned.)

I'm not familiar with either Pendergast or Repairman Jack, so I can't give you any advice there.

G33z3r wrote: "When I think of Butcher's Dresden Files books, the closest match I can think of is Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid chronicles. It's also "Urban Fantasy" (a modern urban settin..."

I liked the Iron Druid series but I think Benedict Jacka is a lot closer to Butcher's style than Hearne. Check out the Alex Verus series by Jacka.

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Briggs is fun, you might also like Libriomancer.

There are some good urban fantasy anthologies which can be a good way of getting a sample of writers to see who is right for you.

I second the suggestion of Benedict Jacka. His Alex Verus books are great, though Alex is a little darker and more tormented than Harry Dresden. Another author writing great urban fantasy with a male protagonist is Ben Aaronovitch. First one is Midnight Riot [hmmm, that's odd -- in Australia it's called Rivers of London]. Peter Grant is a policeman who uncovers his magical abilities while solving peculiar cases. London is brought to life so well it's almost like a character in the books.

Marina wrote: "I second the suggestion of Benedict Jacka. His Alex Verus books are great, though Alex is a little darker and more tormented than Harry Dresden. Another author writing great urban fantasy with a ma..."

I second Ben Aaronovitch. His stories are funny and yet frightening and his grasp of police politics is extremely convincing, as is his magic system.

I don't mind female protagonists. I'm just tired of paranormal romance being labelled "Urban Fantasy". Lackey's old Diana Tregarde books were great. Only 3 books published long long ago.

infael wrote: "I don't mind female protagonists. I'm just tired of paranormal romance being labelled "Urban Fantasy". Lackey's old Diana Tregarde books were great. Only 3 books published long long ago."

The PNR - UF line is a thin one & series can cross back & forth over it. Several of my favorites started out a solid UF & then degraded into PNR. The most notable was the first one I really liked, Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Actually, it devolved into bad porn.

I hear GR is setting up a way for readers to ask authors questions. I wonder how many of us intend to ask Hamilton why she ruined Anita? I certainly do.

Jim wrote: "... The most notable was the first one I really liked, Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Actually, it devolved into bad porn.

I hear GR is setting up a way for readers to ask authors questions. I wonder how many of us intend to ask Hamilton why she ruined Anita? I certainly do. "


Don't bother asking her. The answer is obvious if you read her blog at all, which I glance at once in a while. From her blog I get the feeling she bases Anita on her personal life and she personally discovered polyamory after her divorce from the guy she based Richard on. (That's also why Richard turned into such a jerk.) Apparently she feels compelled to chronicle her romantic lifestyle in all of her books. And her blog. bleah. I don't care what anyone does in their private life, but that doesn't mean I want to read about it. It's called a "private" life. yeesh.

In my opinion Hamilton's Anita Blake books peaked with Obsidian Butterfly and have mostly gone downhill since, though the last one was less terrible than some. I still read them, but they aren't the sharp and gritty urban fantasy that introduced and hooked me on the genre years ago. Heck, I also read women's erotica, but Hamilton's stuff leaves me yawning and skimming through the copious and repetitive sex scenes.

The first 10 books in the series were and are pretty great, though, and still worth reading.

***

Another very good UF series is Kim Harrison's Hollows series which will conclude this September. It has about as much romance as the Vorkosigan books do, meaning that it's there but isn't the central action of the stories.

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Thanks, Sharon. Yuck. Not at Hamilton's sex life - that's her business - but at what she did to a wonderful kick-ass heroine. She turned her into a whiny slut. "Blood Noir" was Anita whining in her hotel room, then having sex, then a final chapter that was a synopsis of the action - what should have been the entire story.

I quit buying her books new after the 10th or 12th one. I'd looked forward to them until then. Now I get them second hand & skim them years after, but all I'm really interested in are how 'Ted' & Olaf are doing.

Yup. "Blood Noir" was particularly bad, but not the lone stinker in the pile. *G*

I'm finding it really difficult to pick out UF titles and authors to share that don't have any romance in them at all. As stated above, there is a lot of crossover in the UF and PNR genres. Where do you draw the line?

Most of the women readers like a bit of romance in the mix (I know I do) but it seems like the men don't want anything to do with a romantic plotline at all. I don't understand why that is.

Mercy Thompson has a romance sub plot that not only doesn't detract but actually enhances the plotlines. Atticus Sullivan is getting plenty of action and a lot of it is sort of gratuitous. Jane Yellowrock might be looking but she's mostly not touching. (Mostly.) Rachel Morgan goes through a series of boyfriends looking for her soulmate while simultaneously kicking butt and saving the world. So what? That's kind of human, isn't it? I mean, hey, even Harry Dresden gets laid occasionally---granted, only every couple of years, but occasionally! The only UF character I've found who is worse off than Harry is Alex Verus who, so far as I can tell, is a sociopath struggling to overcome his inability to connect with others and doesn't even think about his gonads.

It's really hard to recommend a book that has NO romance in it at all. The search for someone to love is part of the human condition and most stories have some element of it. I feel bad when I recommend something and someone immediately disses it. I read a lot of different things, but how do you know what someone else will find offensive?

I'm not opposed to romantic threads, although when they get to be the meat rather than the spice, I want to bail. I can't define where the line is crossed with any certainty & it varies on my mood. It's often crossed sooner for me when the POV is female. I'm not one, so can't connect to the thinking as well & find it either boring or bewildering. (I haven't had enough time to figure out women yet, not that I'm holding out much hope.)
;-)

Mercy has been getting a little too gooey at times, but is still going strong. Rachel is wearing me out as she seems to just get further in the trick bag all the time. I was actually hoping that she & one of her guys would hook up. As you say, it is human & the lack can also ruin a book. I'm reading a spy thriller by Balducci right now & the complete lack of sex or even sexual thoughts just makes the characters cardboard cutouts. It's a necessary dimension of a person.

Appreciate the nuanced discussion of urban fantasy/paranormal romance, Jim & Sharon; while there are works that clearly fall more into one category or the other, sometimes I feel like people tend to use the UF label for "modern-day fantasy books I liked" & PR for "modern-day fantasy books I didn't like"

I recently read the first three of Alex Hughes' Mindspace Investigations novels, staring with Clean & enjoyed them. The 1st person narrator is an ex-junkie telepath (in a future where telepathy is widely recognized and tech is somewhat more advanced than present-day but more regulated) who consults on homicide cases & suspect interviews.

Mika wrote: "Ben wrote: "Briggs is fun, you might also like Libriomancer..."

Libriomancer is on my TBR list! I enjoyed Goblin Quest (though not as much as my little boy -- it was right up his alley!). Very amusing.

I just put up a review of Benedict Jacka's Chosen, the fourth book in the Alex Verus series, which we were discussing up-thread, if the OP is interested.

If no one's mentioned it yet, I'd suggest the Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey, and the Twenty Palaces series by Harry Connolly.