[ SECRET POST #2557 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2557 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 013 secrets from Secret Submission Post #364.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[darkmanifest]

Yeah, and I wish I could find some urban fantasy that didn't star some hard-bitten detective or some faux-action girl in leather pants looking for dick. We've all suffered during this era.

[(Anonymous)]

Ditto. I wish what my fantasy and werewolves hadn't become cool, because now it's hard to find good stuff because I have to wade through so much crap.

[darkmanifest]

Oh, yeah, when the craze started, I thought, yay, more stuff about werewolves, our time has come! And what we mostly got was a lot more bullshit with a thin sheen of werewolf. So I'm still re-reading old favorites from before the craze for my fix.

[(Anonymous)]

Have you read the Matthew Swift series by Kate Griffin? That's a pretty good urban fantasy series set in London that really melds the magic with the urban.

The first one is called "A Madness of Angels" and the protagonist is killed at the beginning, then resurrected two years later after melding with the "blue electric angels" - the voices trapped in the electrical signals of telephone wires that have become sentient over time - and goes looking for who murdered him.

[darkmanifest]

Oh, yeah, that's one of my favorite series of books, I've read all four. That's absolutely what I mean by good, non-typical urban fantasy.

[cbrachyrhynchos]

There's plenty of non-detective urban fantasy around, more than I can fit on my reading list.

[darkmanifest]

Yeah, but it's harder to find in all the usual dreck that's flooded the genre. I can't begin to remember how many promising summaries I started reading that mentioned a detective/cop/secret agent cabal only with vampires and I had to toss it aside for the next one that was the same thing. It gets exhausting, so my (ridiculous) book list is mostly non-urban fantasy and scifi.

[cbrachyrhynchos]

Pretty much the only secret agent with vampires book I've read lately was Lukyanenko, who is another must-read author who just got his fifth Night Watch book translated into English (unfortunately only available in the UK until middle of next year.)

[darkmanifest]

That's actually one on my list that's come highly recommended...maybe by the time I read all four, the fifth will hit other territories.

[meredith44]

I liked The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne, and The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The Alex Verus series was a decent read as well. I liked the Newsflesh Trilogy, but that was zombie/apocalyptic, not typical urban fantasy. A lot of the urban fantasy I read has action girls, though, so these series might not be to your liking either. *shrug*

[darkmanifest]

I'm a big fan of the Dresden Files, so I really like the sound of Iron Druid and Alex Verus, so thanks for the recs! (Though I'd love it even more if they were female protagonists - I love heroines, but I hate heroines who are essentially just viewfinders for Alpha Assholes, I've had enough of that.)

[meredith44]

I read through the Iron Druid books basically as fast as I could, just as I did with the Dresden Files ones. So I definitely enjoyed them and hope you do too! :)

I thought the Anya Kalinczyk series by Laura Bickle was interesting so far, but she is a leather pants kind of girl. Same with the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. But in each case, the protagonist is a character of her own, not just a viewfinder for an Alpha asshole. (At least imo.) I also really like the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones, but it really is just a snarky, fun, light read, not anything more. (What I call a "brain candy" book.) IDK if any of those would be something that might interest you?

[darkmanifest]

Last one's not my brand of brain candy, but I tried the first two series, and while Daye's character didn't grab me, she definitely wasn't all about the dick...I remember I keep meaning to give her another shot, thanks for the reminder. I vaguely remember being really interested in Anya's first book (summary definitely sounds up my alley), but something to do with her enemy made me really mad...did she bang that awful psychopath (I remember he was one) or something?

[meredith44]

Yup. Anya totally had sex with the one guy. I can see why that is irksome. It wasn't my favorite part, but I was able to overlook it.

[darkmanifest]

Haha, that was like "noooo, and it was going so well" for me.

[elialshadowpine]

I haven't personally read all that far with the Daye books (which is odd, because I love everything else I've read by McGuire)... but, I wanted to mention, I have had a number of people tell me that book 2 is the weakest in the set (I got about 50 pages in and put it down), and that the character and story really get good 3-4 onward. (I keep meaning to get around to reading them but I have been so burnt out on urban fantasy overall... and particularly Celtic related urban fantasy. After reading what has to have been over a dozen books referencing the Wild Hunt in some way or another, or dealing with the Fae courts, I have gotten a little burned... so put two major things I'm burnt out on together, and yeah, it's probably why I haven't gotten back to them...)

[darkmanifest]

Yeah, kinda the same with me, the first book didn't upset or disappoint me, I forgot everything about the first book except that I was bored and wouldn't keep reading. So I'm not surprised to hear the series doesn't hit its stride until later on. Ugh, god, fuck Celtic fantasy - and Roman and Arthurian while we're at it. Jesus, you'd think fairies didn't exist anywhere else in the world but Europe. Where's my elaborate djinn societies, already?

[elialshadowpine]

I know, right?? I can think of Alaya Dawn Johnson's Moonshine that has a pretty awesome djinn character, but we don't really see their society directly. But even still, that's not the focus of the story, really. I can think of a handful of books with djinn, but I can't think offhand of anything that I've read that fits what you're looking for, unfortunately. If it's out there, I haven't heard of it. :-\

[darkmanifest]

Yeah, djinn turn up as decent single characters here and there, but there's never anything that's just about them like there's endless stuff about the bloody Seelie and Unseelie. Moonshine looks promising, though, thanks! And I've got high hopes for The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wrecker, too.

[visp]

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman?

[darkmanifest]

I'd call that one more modern fantasy than urban (no cityscape), but yeah, Gaiman's stuff is okay (love Anansi Boys).

[(Anonymous)]

The Rivers of London has a nerdy black guy instead of a hard-bitten PE. And its resident action girl is neither faux nor does she wear leather.

[darkmanifest]

Still got that police work edge that I hate, but nerdy black guy, magic, and not set in the States? Shit, sign me up, thanks!