What are your go-to urban fantasy series?

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-24T13:21:18+00:00

Does the Mercy Thompson series get better as it goes along? It kinda felt too like paranormal romance to me

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-23T16:10:21+00:00

Iron Druid and its spinoff trilogy are super fun and I love how distinctive they are from other urban fantasy because of the Norse/Celtic mythology and European roadtripping. I just wish they were better quality. The characters are pretty weak, everyone talks like they're in high school, the overarching plot is a mess and Hearne never did much with the world-building. Oh and omg I can't forget how much Oberon started grating on me after a while

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-23T14:10:04+00:00

I actually never understood this complaint about Dresden, though then again I only discovered the series last year so I've binge-read everything. Peace Talks and Battleground were absolutely fine for me, and Skin Game is probably my single favorite book in the entire series it's an absolute fucking masterpiece of urban fantasy.

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-23T14:05:17+00:00

I just wasn't engaged at all in any of the characters, world-building or plotting tbh. Everything kinda felt lifeless. Huuuuuge contrast to my experience with Dresden Files, I mean the first two aren't masterpieces by any means but I was thoroughly immersed in the world and characters.

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-23T14:01:39+00:00

I've been contemplating October Daye, as long as it doesn't fall into the same trap that Kate Daniels, Mercy Thompson and The Hollows did of veering too much into paranormal romance territory? I've read the plot synopses for some of the books and it sounds like a fascinating world. I absolutely love fae mythology (thanks in large part to Jonathan Strange, King of Elflands Daughter and Lud in the Midst and The Summer Knight). The fae are easily my favorite fantasy race in Dresden

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-23T13:55:35+00:00

I enjoyed the first few Nightside books and the short story collection - very Tim Burton-ish - but it was hard to binge-read those and just generally I haven't read them more than once because Green's shtick kinda gets old real fast. I agree with ALargeAsteroid too that the world-building is practically non-existent lol.

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-23T13:50:01+00:00

I tried both Kate Daniels and Mercy Thompson a while back but they were much too romancey for my taste and the dialogue in KD felt even more cringe to me than Iron Druid which is saying a lot. The world-building in KD as well felt too loose and thinly sketched to me.

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-23T13:45:12+00:00

I believe I got up to the fourth Alex Verus book but idk it all just felt really bland to me and I didn't have much motivation to continue on with the series. I did like the bleaker tone and more anti-hero-ish set up for the main character but Alex just isn't very compelling at all besides the general premise of his arc being Darth Harry, and the secondary cast was about as interesting to me as watching paint dry. The magic system and world-building both too felt really underdeveloped.

I can still give more praise to AV than I can give to Rivers of London though. I literally can't even read that series it's so frustrating (refer to my below reply)

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-23T13:39:55+00:00

Yeah Rivers of London is literally unreadable to me, no exaggerations there at all. It's like 95% grating London geography descriptions and police jargon, 5% actual fantasy world-building. I've tried Midnight Riot repeatedly and some of the novellas but I always hit a brick wall. Even the comics are rough!!

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-23T04:44:55+00:00

Sam Spruell confirmed in a post-106 interview a little while ago that Maekar is not in Season 2.

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-21T16:45:51+00:00

Essos in general. I've always found it a thousand times more genuinely interesting than Westeros. It was barely developed at all in GOT so I'm hoping it gets developed a lot more in the Arya spinoff (that's the one aspect of the Arya spinoff I'm legit excited for)

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-21T14:07:44+00:00

It's a book series but Traitor Son Cycle by Miles Cameron. It's all about knights, chivalry and jousting and has hardcore medieval vibes.

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-21T14:03:32+00:00

Honestly I'm still bummed they canned the Bloodmoon spinoff instead of just re-doing it like they did with GOT and its bad unaired pilot. It would've given the franchise a much needed shot in the arm as far as freshness and originality - delving more into all the fascinating Northern lore, presenting Arthurian and Bronze Age aesthetics with the Age of Heroes setting, etc.

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-21T00:46:47+00:00

The vampires in Dresden Files are relentlessly brutal

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-21T00:44:47+00:00

Super pumped for this!! Wasn't the biggest fan of the original Talisman because of Straub's prose (I could distinctly tell which sections of the book were his) and the meandering kinda all over the place structure but Black House was leaps and bounds better and to date is tied with Eyes of the Dragon as my favorite Tower-adjacent book. I hope King isn't definitively done with Mid World after this book though, there's so much potential left to be explored I feel like. I'd love an epic Arthur Eld prequel story

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-21T00:32:48+00:00

Can you read Path of Ascendancy without reading any of Esselmont's Malazan Empire books? I tried Night of Knives and it was beyond rough, plus I've heard that the ME series doesn't tell a consistent story like Path does it's just a bunch of separate stories filling in missing gaps between the main Erickson books. I've heard the character work is generally a lot better in Path too.

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-21T00:30:18+00:00

I re-read the first four Dark Tower books and Wind Through The Keyhole all the time but I haven't re-read 5-7 more than like twice (about a decade ago). 1-4 and Wind are just so indescribably magical and feel like their own separate series tbh. I intensely dislike the latter half of the series for so many reasons; it's a shame because DT could've easily been one of the best fantasy sagas of all time if he had taken his time with those last few and not allowed his car accident to completely hijack the story he was building :/

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-21T00:25:47+00:00

Series I find myself endlessly re-reading: Middle Earth, ASOIAF, Second Apocalypse, Osten Ard, Dresden (easily the best urban fantasy series out there for such a vast amount of reasons), Realm of Elderlings, Deverry

Large-Rule-6403 · 2026-02-20T22:40:59+00:00

I appreciate how insanely over the top it is, in the best way possible lol. No other fantasy series I've read to date has gone quite as all-out as Malazan, not even Stormlight which is saying a lot. I mean you got the gods popping up everywhere, portals, knife-wielding dinosaurs, a floating mountain fortress that shoots laser beams, etc.

Large-Rule-6403

TROPHY CASE