# Urban fantasy books that AREN'T Harlequin romances with magic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [July 22, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603 "2010-07-22T14:50:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/21 "2010-07-22T19:11:23Z")
Kat Richardson’s _Greywalker_ novels are entertaining. Sure, she has love interests, but to no greater extent than Harry Dresden does. They’re supernatural gumshoe books. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/22 "2010-07-22T19:25:35Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > What, no Charles de Lint? > > (Admittedly I have never been able to finish one of his stories, but that may be me.) A lot of De Lint’s early stuff was very good, but apparently an acquired taste. Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s Godmother series is very readable Urban Fantasy though not exactly deep. ---
**Author:** ![Vevila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@Vevila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vevila)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/23 "2010-07-22T19:28:07Z")
Try Simon Green’s Nightside series, and also his Secret History series. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/24 "2010-07-22T19:46:52Z")
Christopher Moore? Humor fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/25 "2010-07-22T19:54:53Z")
Thanks for starting this thread, **jsgoddess**. …although I’ve read most of the authors mentioned here already. I’ll be another voice for Charles de Lint- sure, he’s a bit la la new-agey, but he’s readable. I think he may have been one of the first people to use the term “urban fantasy”- before it became the werewolf sex genre. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/26 "2010-07-22T20:06:29Z")
I’ll second Christopher Moore, particularly _A Dirty Job_ ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/27 "2010-07-22T20:46:43Z")
Seconding the Felix Castor novels. If you like Dresden, you’ll probably like these. I too only read a few Dresden novels, but from what I’ve read, I like Mike Carey’s work better. (Not that Butcher is bad, just not as good as Carey.) It’s the same idea: noir plotting grafted onto a supernatural world. I really like Christopher Moore as well, but the tone is just miles away from stuff like Felix Castor and Diana Tregarde. IMHO, the series went way off the rails after book three, and it’s kind of a genre of its own, but Stephen King’s Dark Tower series has elements of urban fantasy - especially The Drawing of the Three. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/28 "2010-07-22T20:53:49Z")
Sergei Lukyanenko’s [Watch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_%28Russian_novel%29) series is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/29 "2010-07-22T21:58:31Z")
Glen Cook’s _Garrent PI_ series might fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/30 "2010-07-22T22:21:34Z")
I was going to suggest the Garrent PI and Nightside series, but someone has beat me to them. There’s the [Hollows](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollows_%28series%29) series. While the love life of the main character plays a part of the story, it isn’t the main story. It’s set in an alternate universe where everything from the 1950s onward was changed when the discovery that witches, werewolves, vampires, etc are real. In regards to the Nightside series mentioned earlier, there’s the [Forest Kingdom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_R._Green#The_Forest_Kingdom_series) series. It’s sort of a prequel to the Nightside, though they have little in common. (Namely the Street of the Gods, and some of the immortal beings.) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/31 "2010-07-22T22:29:16Z")
Two offbeat recommendations that I’ve seen very little love for: [Sandman Slim](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5776788-sandman-slim). I was unimpressed by this book at first: it felt like a Jim Butcher by way of Quentin Tarantino knockoff that was just trying too hard. By about a hundred pages in, though, I was in the swing of things and was absolutely enjoying the silly, over-the-top profanity and violence coupled with a hypermacho jokey protagonist. It still seemed like a Jim Butcher knockoff, but I had a helluva lot of fun with it. [Sharp Teeth](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1724365.Sharp_Teeth). It had interesting reviews, so I checked it out of the library. It began with a page of prose poetry, which seemed like Hard Work to me during the school year, so I flipped a page–and saw more prose poetry–and flipped more pages…the whole book is one long prose poem. And it’s flippin’ AWESOME. The idea of an epic poem about werewolf gangs in southern California just doesn’t sound to me like it’d work. But oh, it worked so well for me. The prose poem format manages to add a gritty, almost film noir feel to the whole shebang, a bit like how Cormac McCarthy’s disdain for punctuation makes his books feel stark and cowboyish. The story is complex and interesting, and the characters are compelling. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/32 "2010-07-22T22:31:11Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > A lot of De Lint’s early stuff was very good, but apparently an acquired taste. For me he was the opposite. I really enjoyed his books at first, but the more I read of them, the less convinced I was that he knew what real people were like. Something about them just doesn’t sit right with me at all. He seems like he’d be a great guy in person, but I have no desire to read any more of his books. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/33 "2010-07-22T22:52:10Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Sergei Lukyanenko’s [Watch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_%28Russian_novel%29) series is pretty good. Because of a recommendation on this board, I read those and they are very good. It took me a while to get into them, but it was worth the effort. > [@Mr.Accident](#): > > There’s the [Hollows](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollows_%28series%29) series. While the love life of the main character plays a part of the story, it isn’t the main story. It’s set in an alternate universe where everything from the 1950s onward was changed when the discovery that witches, werewolves, vampires, etc are real. I was going to recommend those, but I have a feeling the OP will find them too much like she was looking to avoid, as there’s a LOT of romance in those. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/34 "2010-07-22T23:04:31Z")
\*\*jsgoddess, \*\*I \*so \*agree! As a 48 year old male who is a big consumer of urban fantasy, I still often stop and think: Man, I am \*really \*not the target audience. Still, it is mindless entertainment and I usually just flip past the non-sense. Most of what I would recommend has been mentioned, and some that has been mentioned I could not recommend… ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/35 "2010-07-22T23:11:31Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > I was going to recommend those, but I have a feeling the OP will find them too much like she was looking to avoid, as there’s a LOT of romance in those. Yeah, I read the first one and gave it three stars on Goodreads, then bailed partway into the second. The relationship between the main character and the vampire woman was like battered woman syndrome. Really creepy. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/36 "2010-07-22T23:15:51Z")
I’ve read many of the authors mentioned, including Mike Carey (like very much), Charles DeLint (so-so), and Simon Green (do you know how many times he wrote “in the Nightside” in the first book of the Nightside? Neither do I, but it had to have been a MILLION AND A HALF). 😃 But there are definitely some new names to me and a couple of names I had in my to-read list that I’m bumping up to the top. I think the more recent Dresden books are better than the Mike Carey books I’ve read (I haven’t read the 4th one yet. Not at my library for some reason). But the Carey books are extremely enjoyable for me. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/37 "2010-07-23T00:07:11Z")
There are four Felix Castor books? _There’s The Devil You Know_, _Vicious Circle_, _Dead Men’s Boots_… am I forgetting some, or does he have a new one out? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/38 "2010-07-23T00:11:14Z")
[Thicker Than Water](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1841496561?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1841496561&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2) is the fourth book in the Felix Castor series. It’s not at my library and I think maybe it’s not out yet in the US, though I’ve seen contradictory info. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/39 "2010-07-23T00:30:13Z")
And **The Naming of the Beasts** is the _fifth_ Felix Castor book. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603/40 "2010-07-23T00:33:44Z")
And if you’re looking for female-oriented urban fantasy that isn’t a Harlequin romance, the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn (starting with _Kitty and the Midnight Hour_) is pretty good. Up to seven or eight books now, I think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy-books-that-arent-harlequin-romances-with-magic/547603.md?page=3)