A friend of mine recently got started reading the Dresden books by Jim Butcher. On a trip to the bookstore for more in the series, I noticed that there seemed to be a group of books that looked similar to Laurell Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels, for example the plot revolves around a tough female in a world of magic. Maybe I’m oversimplifying. Anyway, he’s interested in starting those too, but I never really liked them, and I thought I’d ask for suggestions. He ultimately bought the first of the Rogue Angel series by Alex Archer if there’s something better out there. And am I naive to be annoyed at the similar ideas?
I used to like Laurell K. Hamilton. She really lost it for me with Narcissus in Chains.
I do have a weakness for women and the supernatural. Currently, I love Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan books. The end of her latest, For a Few Demons More, really was a heartbreaker.
Others I’ve read, but won’t necessarily buy:
Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld Series - but she is growing on me
Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series - I bought the first couple, but have taken the last few out of the library
Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series - but she is going towards the Anita side of “everyone loves/hates the heroine”
Vicki Pettersson’s Sign of the Zodiac series
On the lighter side:
I enjoyed the first couple books of MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead… series
Cassie Daniels’ Pepper Martin books
Skip:
Karen Chance’s Cassandra Palmer series
Susan
Tanya Huff’s Blood series ( Blood Ties, Blood Lines, Blood Debt, etc ) feature Vicki Nelson, a very strong willed and aggressive ex-cop and PI. She starts running into supernatural critters; a vampire ( a good guy actually ), demons, werewolves, and so on.
It’s been years since I read any of the series, but the Sonja Blue books by Nancy A. Collins were good as I recall. The character is a sort of semi-vampire ( she essentially got halfway turned into a vampire, and was left with the best of both worlds ), in a world where vampires and other critters live upon humans in disguise and prey upon them. She in turn kills them. If it sounds familiar, I understand that it inspired quite a few imitations.
Interesting, so maybe it’s Hamilton that is the imitation? I tried Magic Bites by Kate Daniels. It was somewhat the same, yet different enough to be entertaining. I liked it; you might want to sample it.
Not quite the same genre, but Simon R Green’s Nightside series is pretty damn good.
Hamilton started out OK, but degenerated, and I mean degenerated.
Tanya Huff’s series is on TV, Lifetime I think. I have not seen it.
Sins of the Blood by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is unusual in that it’s a single book, not part of a series (despite the fact that Rusch developed several of her other books into series). But it’s a very good book in the “female vampire hunter” genre.
The Passion and The Promise by Donna Boyd – historical romance with werewolves. I liked them.
Not sure I’d call it “Hamiltonesque”, but there’s a series by Rebecca York which I’ve read which features werewolves–and a few witches, assorted psychics, etc.
Hers are more in the line of Romantic Suspense with Werewolves-- each book revolves around one werewolf* and his mate–whom he has not yet met at the beginning of the book. The werewolves are all brothers/cousins–in her universe, being a werewolf is hereditary, chance-y and sex-linked.
It’s a far less complicated world than Anita Blake’s-- or Harry Dresden’s. And each book is far more independent. On the other hand, the female characters get far less facetime than Anita Blake–not surprising since she’s the narrator of her own adventures. And the books are not as engaging, somehow.
*I’m simplifying slightly.