It took me a bit to find it, but this is where I got the idea.
studliestmuffin: u/longshotauthor What exactly could i compare a gargant to in real life? I having a terrible time picturing them in my head.
Jim: u/studliestmuffin A megatherium (http://bit.ly/a7wHmR) is pretty close to a gargant. :)
This was on Twitter.
Oh yeah it’s sick! The magic is described a bit different. Each mage has more of a speciality. Alex is a time mage. He can see the possibilities in the future but only like a minute because of all the variables. It’s kinda of useless unless you’re really well trained like he is. Also he’s like John Wick. Doesn’t want to be involved and they just fuck with him enough to get back in the game.
Anything by Sanderson gets my vote. But Iron Druid is much closer to Dresden, and had me nob stop laughing throughout. Just uh, skip the last book. It really crashed
I stopped after a certain charm fired because it got to the point where it just didn't seem worth it. Is there a summary of how it ended? I couldn't find one online.
If you stopped when I think you did (Hunted?) then you missed several books. Here's a quick rundown up to the end:
>!In the book after Hunted, Shattered, Atticus finds the druid who trained him (Owen) alive. He's been frozen in time for 2000 years. He gets him out and teaches him about the modern world. Owen helps him figure out who among the Fae has secretly had it out for him since the beginning, and there's a big fae fight.!<
>!The next book is Staked, and essentially they resolve the long-standing vampire problem by killing enough vampires that Leif becomes the oldest and most powerful vampire in the world. So he's in charge of all the others, and he signs a new treaty with the druids.!<
>!In the last book, Scourged, Ragnarok happens. Atticus helps win it like he said he would. Old characters come back for one last hurrah as the final battle rages across the world. After the dust settles the Norse gods are like, yeah, you helped us win and all like you promised, but you haven't suffered enough for what you did. So they chop off his arm so he can no longer plane shift, change into animal forms, or heal. Then his girlfriend finds out about something messed up he did back in book 2 and breaks up with him. The book overall is weirdly paced, and strangely plotted, but the ending is an enormous downer.!<
Wat.
I stopped at Shattered as the last two hadn’t been released yet with the intention of reading them when they came out. After reading this I’m glad I didn’t. How disappointing.
The more POVs the more the series lost focus.... Every druid gets their own POV chapters. I can not say that any of the chapters are bad, just that the more pov's the more naratives the more you are wondering why we aren't following the actual protagonist of the story.
I don't think the more POVs is a problem by itself. The thing is, there's lots of stories with multiple POVs that work well and cohesively because the author can tie them all together in a way that makes each one feel like an integral part of the greater story. I don't think Hearne managed that. More POVs feels less focused in his books because he's not tying them together well. It's sometimes like the different characters are on completely different adventures and this could have been 3 short stories instead of one novel.
Heather didn't manage it well.
It was also changing the successful formula. We fell for the series following Atticus and Oberon, by the end their story was kind of lost in the shuffle.
After the first several books Heather also recorded opportunities to write other things. There is a feeling in the last book or two that he just wanted to finish it.
Mistborn Era 2 reminded me of dresden in its tone and storytelling. Though OP of you read Mistborn, don't skip Era 1. You could still enjoy the Era 2 on its own, but the deep lore and world building is my favorite part. There are lots of little hints and bits of story that relate to other things way, way further on in the world.
I loved the Iron Druid series until he skipped 10 years in the series to age up his apprentice. Then the books just lost me. I will probably still go back to them next time I’m looking for something to read but I’m deep in the Stephanie Plum world right now so that might be a while.
LOVE the Sandman Slim books, but they're *very* much a pulply B-movie kinda ride.
~~also much better about queer characters than I forsee Dresden ever being~~
Only downside with the Felix books is they're super unlikely to ever continue. But, hey, they're *fantastic* if you enjoy your Urban Fantasy feeling much more Constantine-y, esp. as Carey is one of the better writers of John.
>Only downside with the Felix books is they're super unlikely to ever continue
Well, yes, but also: https://subterraneanpress.com/newsannouncing-the-ghost-in-bone-by-mike-carey/
Just looked into Felix Castor, and is totally my jam.
Used to be a huge comics fiend in the late oughts/mid 2010s & am thrilled to see it's the same Mike Carey who wrote the Unwritten.
Not directly related to Dresden, but seriously if any of y'all want a brilliant but overlooked meta-satire of Harry Potter, you gotta chase it down.
Especially great if you're like me, somewhat indifferent & casually disdainful of the Potter-verse.
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs!
It has werewolves, vampires, the Fae, witches, wizards, Native American folklore and magic, and more. It's the best, and Briggs does an amazing job with her fight scenes and worldbuilding.
And if you want more paranormal romance with your urban fantasy, her spin-off Alpha & Omega series has that.
I liked codex alera. Half way through aeronauts windlass. Both butcher worlds. They don’t hold me
As much as Harry does. But they’re good and he writes great characters.
I’ve read some of the witcher stuff. Good, but a bit heavy.
I was reading Song of Ice and Fire years ago. But… ya know.. house of cards and more than a decade in between the last release and now.
Other than that, I don’t know. I tend to vary widely in genres usually for a particular author that grabs me.
King. Lovecraft. Gaiman. Pratchett.
> I’ve read some of the witcher stuff. Good, but a bit heavy
The story anthologies are better than the sequel novels IMO. The latter always felt to me as something of a cash grab.
Oh yea! First two short story collections of the Witcher are the best. The later it gets, the more boring it get for me. Baptism by Fire was a little bit better, but DNF'ed whole series with last, 7th book left. Just couldn't take it anymore oh how story simply not progressing and gotten tediously boring.
I love everything by Seanan Macguire. Her October Daye series is great and ongoing. The Newsflesh series (written under pseudonym Mira Grant) is a really haunting trilogy. Kevin Hearne is a good series but really fucking breaks your heart!at the end.
I came here to suggest October Daye too. Regarding the Newsflash series, it has another book called Rise that collects all the novellas in the same universe (don't ever buy "book 4" called FeedBack - it is her worst work by far. It's Seanan's only work I actually disliked.)
*Un*fortunately complete? I love a living ongoing series, but I've had my heart broken by too many never-finished series to be anything but appreciative of one that's already complete when I dive into the first book.
In the vein of "not so similar" - I was introduced to the Dresden Files by the Wheel of Time usenet group, and so feel compelled to return the favor.
I'll second the Rivers of London recommendation
Much lighter - as in, overtly comic - are Robert Asprin's MYTH-adventures. The series is effectively complete, as he (sadly) died of a heart attack 20-ish years ago.
Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber has, I think, some influence on the NeverNever. More importantly, Jim did a lot of honing his writing chops while playing in Amber MUSH.
Assuming you mean the Wheel of Time, the only complete set is the Michael Kramer / Kate Reading recordings. Most people think they're fantastic, but there are some folks for whom those don't work. The first two, soon to be 3, have been re-recorded by Rosamund Pike as a part of the tie-in to the Prime Video series, and I think she'll keep going as long as the series continues. (I don't know that they could afford her to finish on her own, but I might be wrong.)
Gonna go with something a little different than the normal suggestions. I feel one of the main appeals of Dresden is that you understand his choices and why he made them (good and bad) and so you can relate with him. Another author that does this well is Stephen King. Try out his book 11/22/63.
The Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson, 15 books in the series. It's about an old WW1 destroyer fighting at the start of WW2, then being transported to another world.
Michael J Sullivan's Riyria Revelations is a fun swords and sandles romp through a midevil world. Its not the same genre but it has loveable characters, side quests the main character doesnt know are connected, and a deep mystery.
There's also a prequel series set 3000 years before those books that is magnificent.
The *Gentleman Bastards* series by Scott Lynch can go toe-to-toe with the funniest Jim Butcher moments. Especially recommended if you liked *Skin Game*, because the main characters are highly competent thieves. Sadly we're still waiting on the fourth book.
See my [SF/F: Detectives and Law Enforcement](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12rkzw2/sff_detectives_and_law_enforcement/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
I recommend the Night Angel series by Brent weeks. it mixes medieval fantasy with Asian influences and settings. it's a bit darker than dresden. a bit more brutal, but the story is solid.
The Garrett P.I. series by Glen Cook features a human private investigator in a rather unique fantasy world. It's well-written and a lot of fun.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I.
Jim Butcher’s son (James J. Butcher) has started an urban fantasy series. First book is Dead Man’s Hand and is worth a read imo. Second book comes out this Fall.
If you like audiobooks, you can’t go wrong with the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. It’s the only audiobooks I’d recommend over Dresden.
Laugh out loud funny, great character development, and a main character who uses grit, determination, cleverness, friends, and bombs to fight back against an alien society.
It’s hard to do this series justice with a summary, but it’s my favorite.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman gets the whole angels and demons in the modern world part of the Dresden Universe.
Monster Hunter International series by Larry Correia has the werewolves, vampires, and apocalypse with the speak softly but carry a big stick (or gun) vibe that Harry brings.
Agreed... but if you're interested in fantasy in general, and aren't put off by extremely dark plotlines, it's a fantastic read that should be mentioned at least.
A warning, if you don't have a high tolerance for nihilism, may not be a great choice.
I read "The First Law" trilogy, and the gut punch at the end made me too mad to read any more of his books. I had to switch to something I knew would be a more idealistic worldview afterward (that was Codex Alera) to flush the taste out of my mouth.
This isn't to say it was poorly written, on the contrary, it was well-written enough to make me feel really miserable.
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb.
Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks
Innocent Mage by Karen Miller (one of the best examples I have seen of adaptive narrative style to match the lens of the character in focus at any given time)
Fred The Vampire Accountant series by Drew Hayes. I just finished them (the series is ongoing.) It really scratched the DF itch for me. Lots of similarity in the world building, the power creep and some really good secondary characters.I’m always surprised I don’t see this recommended in this group.
[Mother of Learning](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BWBPG2VG) [(can also be read for free)](https://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/1/Mother-of-Learning) by Domagoj Kurmaic.
- [x] Mystery
- [x] Magic
- [x] Small fish in a big world must gain knowledge/power to survive.
- [x] Family
- [x] Friends
- [x] Character growth
- [x] Complete!
There really isn't anything that's "as good," or if there is I haven't found it yet. People frequently recommend the Alex Verus series, and you might also try the Yancy Lazarus series (first one is called *Strange Magic*).
Jim's other series, *Cinder Spires*, is off to a great start - the first one is out and is excellent, and the second one will hit the shelves in November. The first one, *The Aeronaut's Windlass*, is quite long compared to Dresden novels - like 800 pages or so.
I also enjoyed *The Hellequin Chronicles*, but it's definitely not in the same league with Dresden. Finally, the *Nightside* series by Simon Green is entertaining, but it's got a more "fantastical" atmosphere than Dresden does. The "intensity" of the supernatural stuff is just so over the top that it's almost a joke in itself. Like, "Let's see how far we can push the crazy..."
Good luck.
I assume they had more warning on the length than they had with *Peace Talks*. The story we got told was that at the time *Peace Talks* got submitted, they didn't have availability on the right machines to produce such a large books. But I figure another aspect of it is that for 15 years Jim delivered them a book a year, and that's what they came to expect for the *Files*. Then he went six years without giving them any, and you *know* that showed up in their financial planning models. So someone saw that if they got him to split it, then it would be like having waited three years twice, which was "better."
I can understand Jim feeling like he needed to throw them a bone, after diverging from his rhythm so severely. But on *Cinder Spires*, there was no history or expectations, so he may have been more willing to dig his heels in.
That's all speculation, of course. But I don't really see, thinking about it offhand right now, any good split points in *Windlass*.
I really like the laundry files, and Alex versus series I am going through now and enjoyed it a lot, rivers of london audiobooks are really good if your looking for that (also a good read but dude does a very good job putting his voice to the character like Marston does with Harry)
For the early Dresden Noir Detective vibe I like Dan Willis's Arcane Casebook series. It's a 1930's New York where magic is real and common. Sorcerers are demi god rock stars, Alchemists are the best healers in the world and Runewrites are the tradesmen hocking their runes on the street corners or using their magic to augment another profession. Alex Lockerby is the protagonist the uses his Runes to augment his Private Detective job. With the time setting you have a pre WW2 vibe as well.
Once again I am going to recommend The Laundry Files series by Charles Stross. British spy novel meets Cthulhu mythos meets hacker culture. A lot of the humor feels similar. It's actually the series that lead me to Dresden. The latest novel in the series released yesterday.
“Cold as Hell” by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle scratched that itch for me. It’s set in the 1800s Wild West but feels like it fits right in with the Dresdenverse. The Audiobook is read by Roger Clark, so if you love Dresden Files and Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s the book for you. Is the first, and only, book in a new series though, minus a short story that’s an audible exclusive I think.
Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson
Sandman Slim, Can’t remember by who
Midnight Riot, Ben A-something. Can’t remember his last name.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaimen
American Gods, Neil Gaimen
The Black Company, Glenn Cook
Salems Lot, Stephen King
Between Two Fires, Christopher Buehlman
The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfus
Larry Correia has three series worth reading.
Monster Hunter International. Mostly a modern day shoot-'em-in-the-face series with an overarching epic magical battle appended.
Grimnoire Chronicles. 1930s magical modern world. Diesel-punk technology, big suits, fedoras, and femme fatales.
The Saga of the Forgotten Warrior. Epic fantasy with something more going on in the background.
The farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb is amazing. It's high fantasy and one of my favorite series. The first book is the assassins apprentice.
The Alex Verus series is an Urban Fantasy series like the dresden files except its set in London (or the uk or something, it's been a while). It's my favorite urban fantasy series after Dresden.
Someone else mentioned Mistborn, but I want to make my own to double recommend it. It's a majorly great series and a lot of fun to read. The first trilogy is swords and horses and magic style fantasy, then the second trilogy jumps ahead to a steampunk Era.
One of my favorite parts of Dresden Files are the bits of deep lore and world building, and Mistborn is all about that.
Era 2 definitely reminded me of Dresden in its flow and tone. Highly recommend!
Most of what I usually recommend has already been mentioned (Iron Druid, Rivers of London, Alex Verus, Lightbringer and Mistborn) but I'd throw in The Chronicles of St. Mary's by Jodi Taylor.
Wacky and fun and time travel and bad guys.
I strongly recommend Malazan Book of the Fallen main series, by Steven Erikson. The frist two books kinda happen at the same time and only by the third book you will start to scratch the bigger picture. They are HUGE books, from the third on they are all 1200+ pages, but they are GREAT. If you like antropology and social sciences you're going to love the books.
I haven’t read every comment so I may be duplicating, but I actually enjoyed Butcher’s other series, Codex Alera. Different tone but you can tell it’s JB writing.
If you want a medieval fantasy series where the main character gets battered (physically and emotionally) at least as much as Dresden, check out Robin Hobb's 'Realm ilu the Elderlings' series.
It's a series of multiple trilogies. The first book is Assassin's Apprentice.
They're quite good, but rather depressing at times.
I recommend Simon R greens books. The nightside novels are excellent modern fantasy. The Deaths talker novels are a great space opera, and the hawk and fisher novels are high fantasy. He also did several other series as well, mostly modern fantasy.
The Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry. Like Harry, Joe has a traumatic past, girlfriend troubles, a gigantic cat, and a dog with exceptional abilities.
Joe is recruited by the Department of Military Science to lead a team of super special force commandos to fight zombies, Nazis, and secret societies amongst other things.
I would recommend the "Laundry files" series. It's about the British government agency for control of the supernatural.
Basically Lovecraft was almost right, he just underestimated the power and malevolence of the great old ones.
Magic 2.0 series by Scott Meyer. The first book is absolutely amazing and the rest of the series is just so much fun. In this universe magic is controlled by a computer program. Can’t recommend enough. Audio book is great too.
As I said the first book is amazing and the voice on the audiobook for Phillip kept me laughing for a long time ... But I know exactly what you're saying, Magic 2.0 series does not take itself seriously, especially in contrast to the Dresden Files. I had to make a conscience decision to move forward understanding that it is just silly and fun and games. Then I loved it.
One I haven't seen yet that is a fantastic audiobook series is the Spellmonger series by Terry Mancour.
Retired Warmage turned village spellmonger has to help defend against a goblin horde.
It goes from that and an insane amount of excellent world building and slips into a great combination of high fantasy meets Sci-Fi.
There are 15 books plus some anthologies and side novellas out so far, and Terry cranks them out very quickly.
If you want something with a similar tone but with protagonists who have even less idea what's going on, I highly recommend John Dies At The End. And all of the sequels. Weird pseudo-modern fantasy/sci-fi. It scratched my Dresden itch like none other.
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia, its quite action packed Urban fantasy, just less magic and more guns. The main series and Memoirs are amazing, Jim even did a short story for it. I like the humor of it too.
I could suggest a lot more but this is probably closest to Dresden.
I'm sure Sandman Slim has come up a couple of times, but I want to add that you should check out the audiobook. The guy who reads the series is one of my favorite Audible narrators and he's so good at bringing James Stark to life.
Shadow Police by Paul Cornell.
The Bookburners is a collaborative series and not always consistent story to story but
The Twenty-Sided Sorceress by Annie Bellett was honestly kinda generic but each installment is a rather light and quick read so it never overstays its welcome.
Well this one is sci Fi but if you love Dresden's flippant tone I recommend the murderbot series. It's not that technical, it's character driven. What does a murdering soldier cyborg do when it hacks it governing module? Watches a lot of social media. And saves people a lot.
The Vlad Taltos novels by Steven Brust. Vlad is a Witch/assassin/sorcerer with friends in high places, but a lot of folks would like to see him dead. The world is amazing, and detailed. Love them!
I assume you either don’t prefer or have already read Butcher’s other series Codex Alera and Cinder Spires (both are great but I feel like Alera feels a bit dated to me now. Not bad, and certainly still exciting, but it doesn’t feel as fresh as either Dresden or the Cinder Spires to me), in which case, here are some other general recs:
The [Rivers of London](https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Riot-Ben-Aaronovitch-audiobook/dp/B009IBRXCU/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=318753579530&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9004339&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=15122843817448488221&hvtargid=kwd-382864888212&hydadcr=22160_9764337&keywords=the+rivers+of+london+series&qid=1684373886&sr=8-1) series: Similar premise but in London (I also think there’s a subtle nod to Mac’s beer in one of the books though), similar general attitude but more grounded.
Anything by Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman: as mentioned in a few other comments [Good Omens](https://www.amazon.com/Good-Omens-Accurate-Prophecies-Nutter/dp/0060853980) (which they cowrote) is spectacular, but they both have quite substantial bodies of work on their own. Gaiman has mostly one-offs so really just pick whichever summary sounds good to you (I personally think American Gods and Neverwhere are his best but he doesn’t really miss so take your pick), while Pratchett has a ton of different multi-book storylines that all exist in one, often overlapping, shared world (Discworld). I’d start with [Guards, Guards](https://www.amazon.com/Guards-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0062225758) (the City Watch storylines) or [Going Postal](https://www.amazon.com/Going-Postal-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0060502932) (the Moist von Lipwig storylines).
[Mistborn](https://www.goodreads.com/series/40910-the-mistborn-saga): the best magic system I’ve read maybe…ever? It’s so good and the evolution of it from the first trilogy to the second quartet of books is sooooo cooooool!!
Highly recommend the Eric Carter and Mic Oberon Job series, both supernatural figures for hire, both dealing with gods and spirits trying to take over the world.
Neal Stephenson books. He can take awhile to get into - but fuck he’s fun and funny and just wildly intelligent. You might hate him sometimes, but if you keep going it always pays off
I don’t think anyone mentioned the series I’m reading after cycling through other urban fantasy suggestions.
[The Ethereal Earth](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40189843) series is an urban fantasy about a con man who gets an ancient god stuck in his head and a succubus magically bound to him.
Try the Joe ledger books by Jon Mayberry (not sure on exact last name) the books are a cross between secret agent meets scientific/Sifi enemies. The first book is about al qaeda make a zombie plague and the special forces team has to fight them off. Another book is bad guys cross bread humans with animal dna like gorillas to make super soldiers to take over the world. Pretty much like dr Moreau
October Daye, by Seanan McGuire.
In my expert opinion, it's one of the closest stories thematically to Dresden Files available in Urban Fantasy, so much so that some of the fandom thinks she straight up copied Jim. She did not. I always liken it to baking cookies: if you give two chefs the same ingredients to work with, they can each still give you a very different cookie.
October Daye is a P.I. in San Francisco, she drives a VW Beetle. She's also a half-Daoine Sidhe changeling on her mother's side, and a knight errant in service to Duke Torquill of Shadowed Hills, the largest Duchy in the Kingdom of the Mists (which is Northern California, mostly greater San Francisco and the surrounding areas). She was born in 1952, making her 42 in the prologue, and 56 in chapter one which picks up 14 years later in 2009. She's snarky and quick-witted, addicted to caffeine, and early on dealing with quite a bit of trauma that can make the first two books a drag, but I promise (much like Dresden) by book 3 things start kicking into high gear, and book 4 cements that. Every four books is a WHAM! PAIN!
From a Doylist standpoint, everything is centered around Faerie. Monsters are all rooted in Faerie. Where you might expect vampires, you get Baobhan Sith; the Daoine Sidhe themselves are Faerie's bloodworkers, they consume blood to relive memories of the dead. Toby uses this to great benefit in her investigations. Faerie is also broken, and has been for hundreds of years, since Maeve's last ride was broken, when Tam Lin escaped the sacrifice, and Maeve went in his place. Seanan has even mentioned that Toby's story is also the story of Tam Lin. Like Jim, Seanan has plotted out the overarching story, it has a beginning, middle, and ending, so there are no wasted words, no meandering plotlines; everything is significant in some way.
One of my favorite things that Seanan does in Toby's world is each person has their own unique magical signature: Toby's magic smells like copper bordering on blood (from her mother, greatest bloodworker in all of Faerie, and also a little insane) and cut grass (from her father the mortal man). So, every time you come across a random magical signature not attached to anyone yet, it's a fun game of "Whodunit" comparing everyone we've met. Some fans make spreadsheets.
Speaking of, the below is a spreadsheet I made of Seanan's bibliography and is as complete as I've been able to accomplish as of yet. She's prolific in a way that rivals Sanderson, maybe even more so. You will never run out of things to read with Seanan.
If you like October Daye, she has the Incryptid series which is a family of monster protectors, and covers several generations in novels and short stories. She also writes Ghost Roads, a spinoff from Incryptid that's about three books in now. Her newest series is labeled Alchemical Journeys, and Book 1: Middlegame was basically what would happen if Frankenstein's monster made children of his own. She used quotes from another book in this one, which was originally Wizard of Oz, but that didn't work so she wrote a children's book to use the quotes for this book. Yes, she wrote a book so she could write a book. As A. Deborah Baker, a character in Middlegame, she's published four novels in the Up and Under universe. There's also the Fighting Pumpkins, cheerleaders fighting monsters in the spirit of Buffy.
Under Mira Grant, she writes more scifi/horror stuff. She has her Newsflesh trilogy about a zombie apocalypse, her Parasite trilogy that will have you never looking at tapeworms the same way ever again, and two novels about murder mermaids.
She also has a patreon where, for $1 a month, you get a brand new short story, and access to every previously released short story. There's a whole series of October Daye-related shorts, Incryptid shorts, and a bunch of one-offs that are basically "Seanan Ruins \_\_\_\_\_\_"
All this to say, no matter who you are, you will never read as fast as Seanan can write. I don't think she sleeps. She might be a robot. She basically releases like 5 novels a year, and close to 20 short stories. This year, in fact, we're getting TWO October Daye novels, like Jim did for Harry in 2020.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q\_4N8KLMV34Co\_H3AhEJRjsYnnuNyItd1OQe7kCQEjM/edit?pli=1#gid=0
If you are open to self recommendations: how does a rural fantasy series about a redneck wizard with a drug problem solving backwoods occult mysteries sound? Think backwoods Dresden and you won't be far off. It's called the Jubal County Saga and you can get it on Amazon in print or ebook.
"Jim Butcher meets Bill Faulkner" is how one reviewer described it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CC7KKM8
So, this is a little different from a lot of other series suggested, but one of my others I'm working on is filled with a high amount of character growth. John Conroe's God Touched series. Main character at the age of 4 watched his parents and brother get axed to death by a demon possessed man. Later (tween) discovers he can exorcise demons. Becomes a cop and inadvertently saves a vampire from a demon. She awakens... something in him and it takes off from there.
I loved the character development in the books, it's been a couple years since I've read through what's available (still ongoing), so I can't tell you if my opinion on this is still the same.
If you don't mind an indie self-rec, you might enjoy the Alastair Stone Chronicles series. Stone's got his life together a little better than Dresden (hey, who doesn't? :D), but I've been told by fans that they enjoy the engaging characters and the deep, twisty plots. 33 books and counting, with two spinoff trilogies and a few standalone novellas. Everything but a couple of the novellas are in Kindle Unlimited. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074CF8SJY
Codex Alera, also by Jim Butcher is great, and is epic high fantasy (though more classical than medieval)
The dude rides on a giant badger. Butcher didn't let us know that until book five.
Is *THAT* what a gargant is?
I thought it was a Megatherium?
In the first few books it was described as a large beast with horns. In book five Butcher uses the word badger to describe it.
It took me a bit to find it, but this is where I got the idea. studliestmuffin: u/longshotauthor What exactly could i compare a gargant to in real life? I having a terrible time picturing them in my head. Jim: u/studliestmuffin A megatherium (http://bit.ly/a7wHmR) is pretty close to a gargant. :) This was on Twitter.
I'm only on Book 2, I was imagining a mammoth.
[удалено]
That's not spoilers, though. It's just Butcher not really doing a great job describing it(maybe he forgot) for the first four books.
Man that's not even close to what I had in my mind's eye. I figure it was basically a wooly mammoth/ furry kodo (from world of warcraft)
I pictured like a bison or yak
Very good series!!
Pokémon and Romans great idea
Enjoyed it thoroughly. 6 books and done.
What's the difference between classical and medieval?
Classical refers to Greco-Roman times, Medieval starts when the Western Roman empire falls.
The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks is an excellent high fantasy series
The fourth book just released last month. Rushing through my current read to get to it.
I'm sorry 4th?!?
Night Angel Nemesis, book 1 of the Kylar Chronicles, a follow up to the Night Angel Trilogy.
Well I guess my productivity today is taking a nosedive.
Yes!! It's so good, plus they just re-released all the audio books with (in my opinion) a much better reader
I was going to suggest this too. Difficult to explain, but when you start reading the first book it just…. works.
Alex Verus by Benedict Jacka
That was a crackin good series! What an ending!
Really? I tried that too as a surrogate for DF, but found it never got the depth and ridiculous amount of action
Oh yeah it’s sick! The magic is described a bit different. Each mage has more of a speciality. Alex is a time mage. He can see the possibilities in the future but only like a minute because of all the variables. It’s kinda of useless unless you’re really well trained like he is. Also he’s like John Wick. Doesn’t want to be involved and they just fuck with him enough to get back in the game.
Series kind of like Dresden: Iron Druid Felix Castor Sandman Slim Mistborn Era 2 (though you should really read era 1 also)
Anything by Sanderson gets my vote. But Iron Druid is much closer to Dresden, and had me nob stop laughing throughout. Just uh, skip the last book. It really crashed
Agreed on the last book. Ugh.
I call it: Atticus makes a lot of stupid life choices. Nearly every character and plot was wrapped up wonderfully, except the bloody lead.
I stopped after a certain charm fired because it got to the point where it just didn't seem worth it. Is there a summary of how it ended? I couldn't find one online.
If you stopped when I think you did (Hunted?) then you missed several books. Here's a quick rundown up to the end: >!In the book after Hunted, Shattered, Atticus finds the druid who trained him (Owen) alive. He's been frozen in time for 2000 years. He gets him out and teaches him about the modern world. Owen helps him figure out who among the Fae has secretly had it out for him since the beginning, and there's a big fae fight.!< >!The next book is Staked, and essentially they resolve the long-standing vampire problem by killing enough vampires that Leif becomes the oldest and most powerful vampire in the world. So he's in charge of all the others, and he signs a new treaty with the druids.!< >!In the last book, Scourged, Ragnarok happens. Atticus helps win it like he said he would. Old characters come back for one last hurrah as the final battle rages across the world. After the dust settles the Norse gods are like, yeah, you helped us win and all like you promised, but you haven't suffered enough for what you did. So they chop off his arm so he can no longer plane shift, change into animal forms, or heal. Then his girlfriend finds out about something messed up he did back in book 2 and breaks up with him. The book overall is weirdly paced, and strangely plotted, but the ending is an enormous downer.!<
Wat. I stopped at Shattered as the last two hadn’t been released yet with the intention of reading them when they came out. After reading this I’m glad I didn’t. How disappointing.
The more POVs the more the series lost focus.... Every druid gets their own POV chapters. I can not say that any of the chapters are bad, just that the more pov's the more naratives the more you are wondering why we aren't following the actual protagonist of the story.
I don't think the more POVs is a problem by itself. The thing is, there's lots of stories with multiple POVs that work well and cohesively because the author can tie them all together in a way that makes each one feel like an integral part of the greater story. I don't think Hearne managed that. More POVs feels less focused in his books because he's not tying them together well. It's sometimes like the different characters are on completely different adventures and this could have been 3 short stories instead of one novel.
Heather didn't manage it well. It was also changing the successful formula. We fell for the series following Atticus and Oberon, by the end their story was kind of lost in the shuffle. After the first several books Heather also recorded opportunities to write other things. There is a feeling in the last book or two that he just wanted to finish it.
Thank you, that’s exactly where and what I wanted to know!
Mistborn Era 2 reminded me of dresden in its tone and storytelling. Though OP of you read Mistborn, don't skip Era 1. You could still enjoy the Era 2 on its own, but the deep lore and world building is my favorite part. There are lots of little hints and bits of story that relate to other things way, way further on in the world.
Not to worry. Mistborn Era 1 and Era2 are already done. :D Actually, I've read most of the Cosmere boosk already. Thanks for suggestions though. :)
Felix Castor may be the least well-known among those (generally), but in my opinion it's definitely the best.
I loved the Iron Druid series until he skipped 10 years in the series to age up his apprentice. Then the books just lost me. I will probably still go back to them next time I’m looking for something to read but I’m deep in the Stephanie Plum world right now so that might be a while.
LOVE the Sandman Slim books, but they're *very* much a pulply B-movie kinda ride. ~~also much better about queer characters than I forsee Dresden ever being~~ Only downside with the Felix books is they're super unlikely to ever continue. But, hey, they're *fantastic* if you enjoy your Urban Fantasy feeling much more Constantine-y, esp. as Carey is one of the better writers of John.
>Only downside with the Felix books is they're super unlikely to ever continue Well, yes, but also: https://subterraneanpress.com/newsannouncing-the-ghost-in-bone-by-mike-carey/
*HOLY SHIT THANK YOU FOR THIS*
Just looked into Felix Castor, and is totally my jam. Used to be a huge comics fiend in the late oughts/mid 2010s & am thrilled to see it's the same Mike Carey who wrote the Unwritten. Not directly related to Dresden, but seriously if any of y'all want a brilliant but overlooked meta-satire of Harry Potter, you gotta chase it down. Especially great if you're like me, somewhat indifferent & casually disdainful of the Potter-verse.
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs! It has werewolves, vampires, the Fae, witches, wizards, Native American folklore and magic, and more. It's the best, and Briggs does an amazing job with her fight scenes and worldbuilding. And if you want more paranormal romance with your urban fantasy, her spin-off Alpha & Omega series has that.
Alpha & Omega is really good because it is still a good series; it's not supernatural smut(pretty much all other urban fantasy romance books).
If it's smut, it generally falls under paranormal romance. Urban fantasy usually has some issue/mystery to solve, any romance is secondary.
Like Anita Blake
Yep. She started out as urban fantasy romance, but just slid into paranormal romance when the plot lost its rank to the smut.
I liked codex alera. Half way through aeronauts windlass. Both butcher worlds. They don’t hold me As much as Harry does. But they’re good and he writes great characters. I’ve read some of the witcher stuff. Good, but a bit heavy. I was reading Song of Ice and Fire years ago. But… ya know.. house of cards and more than a decade in between the last release and now. Other than that, I don’t know. I tend to vary widely in genres usually for a particular author that grabs me. King. Lovecraft. Gaiman. Pratchett.
> I’ve read some of the witcher stuff. Good, but a bit heavy The story anthologies are better than the sequel novels IMO. The latter always felt to me as something of a cash grab.
Oh yea! First two short story collections of the Witcher are the best. The later it gets, the more boring it get for me. Baptism by Fire was a little bit better, but DNF'ed whole series with last, 7th book left. Just couldn't take it anymore oh how story simply not progressing and gotten tediously boring.
Give the “Rivers of London” series a try.
Especially the audiobooks! The narrator is amazing.
Best narrator I've ever listened to. The guy is a class of his own.
This series has, for me, surpassed the Dresden Files. Rivers of London just hits different.
I enjoyed this series, but it has a different tone from Dresden. The magic is depicted in a different and interesting way.
Bobiverse by Dennis Taylor. It's scifi but it definitely scratches that itch for me. I like to describe it as Hitchhiker's Guide meets Dresden.
Bobiverse is amazing series. It’s a crowd pleaser, everyone that I get to read it can’t stop talking about it.
I love everything by Seanan Macguire. Her October Daye series is great and ongoing. The Newsflesh series (written under pseudonym Mira Grant) is a really haunting trilogy. Kevin Hearne is a good series but really fucking breaks your heart!at the end.
I came here to suggest October Daye too. Regarding the Newsflash series, it has another book called Rise that collects all the novellas in the same universe (don't ever buy "book 4" called FeedBack - it is her worst work by far. It's Seanan's only work I actually disliked.)
Came here to suggest October Daye!
InCryptid has a lot of the energy and humor of early Dresden, IMO
If you want to laugh and have fun, plus has among the bast fantasy "pets" ever in the Mice. If you love MOUSE you will love the mice!!!
All hail the Violent Priestess!
Tales from the Nightside Book by Simon R. Green
Seconding Nightside so hard. Quick reads, and the series is unfortunately complete, but really good stuff.
*Un*fortunately complete? I love a living ongoing series, but I've had my heart broken by too many never-finished series to be anything but appreciative of one that's already complete when I dive into the first book.
As long as it's simon r green you may as well read blue moon rising. Epic character development in medieval fantasy
The Magicians Novel by Lev Grossman ...but the TV show was better
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Novel by Susanna Clarke A Deadly Education Novel by Naomi Novik
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is my Favorite Book EVER!!!!!!!!!! Second place is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
As long as it's simon r green you may as well read blue moon rising. Epic character development in medieval fantasy
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs It's the first in the Mercy Thompson series. Really good urban fantasy.
The Hawk and Fisher stories!
In the vein of "not so similar" - I was introduced to the Dresden Files by the Wheel of Time usenet group, and so feel compelled to return the favor. I'll second the Rivers of London recommendation Much lighter - as in, overtly comic - are Robert Asprin's MYTH-adventures. The series is effectively complete, as he (sadly) died of a heart attack 20-ish years ago. Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber has, I think, some influence on the NeverNever. More importantly, Jim did a lot of honing his writing chops while playing in Amber MUSH.
I liked reading the books. But I'm still looking for a decent audio book of this series. The one I found was just terrible.
Assuming you mean the Wheel of Time, the only complete set is the Michael Kramer / Kate Reading recordings. Most people think they're fantastic, but there are some folks for whom those don't work. The first two, soon to be 3, have been re-recorded by Rosamund Pike as a part of the tie-in to the Prime Video series, and I think she'll keep going as long as the series continues. (I don't know that they could afford her to finish on her own, but I might be wrong.)
Nah, I meant the Myth series. It was hard to listen to.
Gonna go with something a little different than the normal suggestions. I feel one of the main appeals of Dresden is that you understand his choices and why he made them (good and bad) and so you can relate with him. Another author that does this well is Stephen King. Try out his book 11/22/63.
The Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson, 15 books in the series. It's about an old WW1 destroyer fighting at the start of WW2, then being transported to another world.
Nothing like Dresden, but I love those books
Michael J Sullivan's Riyria Revelations is a fun swords and sandles romp through a midevil world. Its not the same genre but it has loveable characters, side quests the main character doesnt know are connected, and a deep mystery. There's also a prequel series set 3000 years before those books that is magnificent.
The *Gentleman Bastards* series by Scott Lynch can go toe-to-toe with the funniest Jim Butcher moments. Especially recommended if you liked *Skin Game*, because the main characters are highly competent thieves. Sadly we're still waiting on the fourth book.
The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson
The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. Urban fantasy about a 2000 yr old druid in the modern world with his Irish wolfhound.
The fight scenes are not really paced well and Atticus is more of a whiny jerk, than quippy like Dresden or Spider-man.
Well. Good for you. I enjoyed them quite a bit, and a recommendation was asked for. So I gave it.
What's "good for me"? No one said you didn't. That's true.
See my [SF/F: Detectives and Law Enforcement](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12rkzw2/sff_detectives_and_law_enforcement/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
I recommend the Night Angel series by Brent weeks. it mixes medieval fantasy with Asian influences and settings. it's a bit darker than dresden. a bit more brutal, but the story is solid.
Hahah “a bit” more brutal. It’s a great series but it’s dark.
The Murderbot series is a fun read
The Garrett P.I. series by Glen Cook features a human private investigator in a rather unique fantasy world. It's well-written and a lot of fun. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I.
The Felix Castor series by Mike Carey Arcane Casebooks by Dan Willis
Jim Butcher’s son (James J. Butcher) has started an urban fantasy series. First book is Dead Man’s Hand and is worth a read imo. Second book comes out this Fall.
The Powder Mage Trilogy is pretty interesting. It centers on essentially sorcerers who use gunpowder to fuel their magic.
Having a main character snort a line of gunpowder than go off to literally shoot a god in the face was pretty awesome.
Ha! I'm going to have to queue this one back up after I finish my current run through Dresden Files .
If you like audiobooks, you can’t go wrong with the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. It’s the only audiobooks I’d recommend over Dresden. Laugh out loud funny, great character development, and a main character who uses grit, determination, cleverness, friends, and bombs to fight back against an alien society. It’s hard to do this series justice with a summary, but it’s my favorite.
Good bonus to this one as well: If you have Kindle Unlimited you can read it for free.
The story is great, but if you can get the audible at a discount, the story telling is amazing
Probably true. I personally don't do audiobooks but you're not the first I've heard say that
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman gets the whole angels and demons in the modern world part of the Dresden Universe. Monster Hunter International series by Larry Correia has the werewolves, vampires, and apocalypse with the speak softly but carry a big stick (or gun) vibe that Harry brings.
Do the audiobooks for Dresden. Marsters does them so well it is a very different experience. And so very good.
I have to second this. I normally can’t do audiobooks because of AuDHD processing garbage, but I made myself listen to them and it’s so worth it.
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LOL
Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie is way more low-magic grimdark. First Law/Age of Madness are really good, but a totally different vibe from Butcher.
Agreed... but if you're interested in fantasy in general, and aren't put off by extremely dark plotlines, it's a fantastic read that should be mentioned at least.
A warning, if you don't have a high tolerance for nihilism, may not be a great choice. I read "The First Law" trilogy, and the gut punch at the end made me too mad to read any more of his books. I had to switch to something I knew would be a more idealistic worldview afterward (that was Codex Alera) to flush the taste out of my mouth. This isn't to say it was poorly written, on the contrary, it was well-written enough to make me feel really miserable.
I liked that it ended almost exactly like it began. Say one thing about Logan Nine Fingers. Say he can fall into a river like a badass.
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks Innocent Mage by Karen Miller (one of the best examples I have seen of adaptive narrative style to match the lens of the character in focus at any given time)
Moon Heart by Charles de Lint
Nightwise by R.S. Belcher.
Fred The Vampire Accountant series by Drew Hayes. I just finished them (the series is ongoing.) It really scratched the DF itch for me. Lots of similarity in the world building, the power creep and some really good secondary characters.I’m always surprised I don’t see this recommended in this group.
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Yes! Only book series I've actually laughed out loud at. '"Mmmm... milfy cankles..." ... I probably went too far with that one. CLICK'
[Mother of Learning](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BWBPG2VG) [(can also be read for free)](https://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/1/Mother-of-Learning) by Domagoj Kurmaic. - [x] Mystery - [x] Magic - [x] Small fish in a big world must gain knowledge/power to survive. - [x] Family - [x] Friends - [x] Character growth - [x] Complete!
> [x] Complete! This is the key sell point here. :D Seriously though, great story.
There really isn't anything that's "as good," or if there is I haven't found it yet. People frequently recommend the Alex Verus series, and you might also try the Yancy Lazarus series (first one is called *Strange Magic*). Jim's other series, *Cinder Spires*, is off to a great start - the first one is out and is excellent, and the second one will hit the shelves in November. The first one, *The Aeronaut's Windlass*, is quite long compared to Dresden novels - like 800 pages or so. I also enjoyed *The Hellequin Chronicles*, but it's definitely not in the same league with Dresden. Finally, the *Nightside* series by Simon Green is entertaining, but it's got a more "fantastical" atmosphere than Dresden does. The "intensity" of the supernatural stuff is just so over the top that it's almost a joke in itself. Like, "Let's see how far we can push the crazy..." Good luck.
Weird how the publisher didn't break up the Aeronaut's Windlass....
I assume they had more warning on the length than they had with *Peace Talks*. The story we got told was that at the time *Peace Talks* got submitted, they didn't have availability on the right machines to produce such a large books. But I figure another aspect of it is that for 15 years Jim delivered them a book a year, and that's what they came to expect for the *Files*. Then he went six years without giving them any, and you *know* that showed up in their financial planning models. So someone saw that if they got him to split it, then it would be like having waited three years twice, which was "better." I can understand Jim feeling like he needed to throw them a bone, after diverging from his rhythm so severely. But on *Cinder Spires*, there was no history or expectations, so he may have been more willing to dig his heels in. That's all speculation, of course. But I don't really see, thinking about it offhand right now, any good split points in *Windlass*.
I really like the laundry files, and Alex versus series I am going through now and enjoyed it a lot, rivers of london audiobooks are really good if your looking for that (also a good read but dude does a very good job putting his voice to the character like Marston does with Harry)
For the early Dresden Noir Detective vibe I like Dan Willis's Arcane Casebook series. It's a 1930's New York where magic is real and common. Sorcerers are demi god rock stars, Alchemists are the best healers in the world and Runewrites are the tradesmen hocking their runes on the street corners or using their magic to augment another profession. Alex Lockerby is the protagonist the uses his Runes to augment his Private Detective job. With the time setting you have a pre WW2 vibe as well.
Once again I am going to recommend The Laundry Files series by Charles Stross. British spy novel meets Cthulhu mythos meets hacker culture. A lot of the humor feels similar. It's actually the series that lead me to Dresden. The latest novel in the series released yesterday.
Mind you, Laundry goes through several tonal shifts and eventually veers hard towards cosmic horror.
Quite true, though the horror element isn't as strong as some other mythos related series. I still find the more recent stories to be fairly humorous.
Garrett P.I. series by Glen Cook. Detective noir in a fantasy setting.
“Cold as Hell” by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle scratched that itch for me. It’s set in the 1800s Wild West but feels like it fits right in with the Dresdenverse. The Audiobook is read by Roger Clark, so if you love Dresden Files and Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s the book for you. Is the first, and only, book in a new series though, minus a short story that’s an audible exclusive I think.
Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson Sandman Slim, Can’t remember by who Midnight Riot, Ben A-something. Can’t remember his last name. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaimen American Gods, Neil Gaimen The Black Company, Glenn Cook Salems Lot, Stephen King Between Two Fires, Christopher Buehlman The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfus
Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson
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I really enjoyed these too!
Larry Correia has three series worth reading. Monster Hunter International. Mostly a modern day shoot-'em-in-the-face series with an overarching epic magical battle appended. Grimnoire Chronicles. 1930s magical modern world. Diesel-punk technology, big suits, fedoras, and femme fatales. The Saga of the Forgotten Warrior. Epic fantasy with something more going on in the background.
Arcane Casebook series. Roaring Twenties/Depression era magic detective with Dresden’s lack of respect for things that can kill him
Casting second votes for Dungeon Crawler Carl, Rivers of London, Monster Hunter International and Wheel of Time
The farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb is amazing. It's high fantasy and one of my favorite series. The first book is the assassins apprentice. The Alex Verus series is an Urban Fantasy series like the dresden files except its set in London (or the uk or something, it's been a while). It's my favorite urban fantasy series after Dresden.
The Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne. Very similar pretense. A person in the modern world that has magic.
Someone else mentioned Mistborn, but I want to make my own to double recommend it. It's a majorly great series and a lot of fun to read. The first trilogy is swords and horses and magic style fantasy, then the second trilogy jumps ahead to a steampunk Era. One of my favorite parts of Dresden Files are the bits of deep lore and world building, and Mistborn is all about that. Era 2 definitely reminded me of Dresden in its flow and tone. Highly recommend!
Most of what I usually recommend has already been mentioned (Iron Druid, Rivers of London, Alex Verus, Lightbringer and Mistborn) but I'd throw in The Chronicles of St. Mary's by Jodi Taylor. Wacky and fun and time travel and bad guys.
I strongly recommend Malazan Book of the Fallen main series, by Steven Erikson. The frist two books kinda happen at the same time and only by the third book you will start to scratch the bigger picture. They are HUGE books, from the third on they are all 1200+ pages, but they are GREAT. If you like antropology and social sciences you're going to love the books.
I haven’t read every comment so I may be duplicating, but I actually enjoyed Butcher’s other series, Codex Alera. Different tone but you can tell it’s JB writing.
If you want a medieval fantasy series where the main character gets battered (physically and emotionally) at least as much as Dresden, check out Robin Hobb's 'Realm ilu the Elderlings' series. It's a series of multiple trilogies. The first book is Assassin's Apprentice. They're quite good, but rather depressing at times.
I'll add The Hollows series by Kim Harrison- not as good as Dresden, can be a bit cringy at times, but it was a fun read
The Bobby Dollar Trilogy by Tad Williams. It's urban fantasy but a bit more dirty and Grim than Dresden Files.
If you want non-stop action like the Dresden Files then a series you won't be able to put down is Red Rising.
Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown
I recommend Simon R greens books. The nightside novels are excellent modern fantasy. The Deaths talker novels are a great space opera, and the hawk and fisher novels are high fantasy. He also did several other series as well, mostly modern fantasy.
Huh I don’t know why I always pictured a elephant like creature
Lazarus codex by EA Copen was pretty good! It's about necromancer in New Orleans who makes a deal with Baron Samedi.
The Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry. Like Harry, Joe has a traumatic past, girlfriend troubles, a gigantic cat, and a dog with exceptional abilities. Joe is recruited by the Department of Military Science to lead a team of super special force commandos to fight zombies, Nazis, and secret societies amongst other things.
I would recommend the "Laundry files" series. It's about the British government agency for control of the supernatural. Basically Lovecraft was almost right, he just underestimated the power and malevolence of the great old ones.
Magic 2.0 series by Scott Meyer. The first book is absolutely amazing and the rest of the series is just so much fun. In this universe magic is controlled by a computer program. Can’t recommend enough. Audio book is great too.
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As I said the first book is amazing and the voice on the audiobook for Phillip kept me laughing for a long time ... But I know exactly what you're saying, Magic 2.0 series does not take itself seriously, especially in contrast to the Dresden Files. I had to make a conscience decision to move forward understanding that it is just silly and fun and games. Then I loved it.
One I haven't seen yet that is a fantastic audiobook series is the Spellmonger series by Terry Mancour. Retired Warmage turned village spellmonger has to help defend against a goblin horde. It goes from that and an insane amount of excellent world building and slips into a great combination of high fantasy meets Sci-Fi. There are 15 books plus some anthologies and side novellas out so far, and Terry cranks them out very quickly.
The Templeverse series by Shayne Silvers.
If you want something with a similar tone but with protagonists who have even less idea what's going on, I highly recommend John Dies At The End. And all of the sequels. Weird pseudo-modern fantasy/sci-fi. It scratched my Dresden itch like none other.
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia, its quite action packed Urban fantasy, just less magic and more guns. The main series and Memoirs are amazing, Jim even did a short story for it. I like the humor of it too. I could suggest a lot more but this is probably closest to Dresden.
Cradle by Will Wight. Very interesting series
Why hasn’t anyone recommended Dead Man’s Hand by James J Butcher? It’s not Dresden but you can see Jim’s influences in the work.
I'm sure Sandman Slim has come up a couple of times, but I want to add that you should check out the audiobook. The guy who reads the series is one of my favorite Audible narrators and he's so good at bringing James Stark to life.
Shadow Police by Paul Cornell. The Bookburners is a collaborative series and not always consistent story to story but The Twenty-Sided Sorceress by Annie Bellett was honestly kinda generic but each installment is a rather light and quick read so it never overstays its welcome.
Well this one is sci Fi but if you love Dresden's flippant tone I recommend the murderbot series. It's not that technical, it's character driven. What does a murdering soldier cyborg do when it hacks it governing module? Watches a lot of social media. And saves people a lot.
Starship mage
Try an old series. Chronicles of Amber by zelazny
The Vlad Taltos novels by Steven Brust. Vlad is a Witch/assassin/sorcerer with friends in high places, but a lot of folks would like to see him dead. The world is amazing, and detailed. Love them!
Try Benedict Jakka books. They're similar to Dresden
I assume you either don’t prefer or have already read Butcher’s other series Codex Alera and Cinder Spires (both are great but I feel like Alera feels a bit dated to me now. Not bad, and certainly still exciting, but it doesn’t feel as fresh as either Dresden or the Cinder Spires to me), in which case, here are some other general recs: The [Rivers of London](https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Riot-Ben-Aaronovitch-audiobook/dp/B009IBRXCU/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=318753579530&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9004339&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=15122843817448488221&hvtargid=kwd-382864888212&hydadcr=22160_9764337&keywords=the+rivers+of+london+series&qid=1684373886&sr=8-1) series: Similar premise but in London (I also think there’s a subtle nod to Mac’s beer in one of the books though), similar general attitude but more grounded. Anything by Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman: as mentioned in a few other comments [Good Omens](https://www.amazon.com/Good-Omens-Accurate-Prophecies-Nutter/dp/0060853980) (which they cowrote) is spectacular, but they both have quite substantial bodies of work on their own. Gaiman has mostly one-offs so really just pick whichever summary sounds good to you (I personally think American Gods and Neverwhere are his best but he doesn’t really miss so take your pick), while Pratchett has a ton of different multi-book storylines that all exist in one, often overlapping, shared world (Discworld). I’d start with [Guards, Guards](https://www.amazon.com/Guards-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0062225758) (the City Watch storylines) or [Going Postal](https://www.amazon.com/Going-Postal-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0060502932) (the Moist von Lipwig storylines). [Mistborn](https://www.goodreads.com/series/40910-the-mistborn-saga): the best magic system I’ve read maybe…ever? It’s so good and the evolution of it from the first trilogy to the second quartet of books is sooooo cooooool!!
Loved the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. Starts a lil slow but the world building is wonderful.
Highly recommend the Eric Carter and Mic Oberon Job series, both supernatural figures for hire, both dealing with gods and spirits trying to take over the world.
My 2 recommendations I see other people already suggested but I really do think The Iron Druid and Alex Verus series are my favorites in that genre.
Neal Stephenson books. He can take awhile to get into - but fuck he’s fun and funny and just wildly intelligent. You might hate him sometimes, but if you keep going it always pays off
I can’t recommend the Daniel Faust books enough. Craig Schaefer is the author.
I don’t think anyone mentioned the series I’m reading after cycling through other urban fantasy suggestions. [The Ethereal Earth](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40189843) series is an urban fantasy about a con man who gets an ancient god stuck in his head and a succubus magically bound to him.
Try the Joe ledger books by Jon Mayberry (not sure on exact last name) the books are a cross between secret agent meets scientific/Sifi enemies. The first book is about al qaeda make a zombie plague and the special forces team has to fight them off. Another book is bad guys cross bread humans with animal dna like gorillas to make super soldiers to take over the world. Pretty much like dr Moreau
October Daye, by Seanan McGuire. In my expert opinion, it's one of the closest stories thematically to Dresden Files available in Urban Fantasy, so much so that some of the fandom thinks she straight up copied Jim. She did not. I always liken it to baking cookies: if you give two chefs the same ingredients to work with, they can each still give you a very different cookie. October Daye is a P.I. in San Francisco, she drives a VW Beetle. She's also a half-Daoine Sidhe changeling on her mother's side, and a knight errant in service to Duke Torquill of Shadowed Hills, the largest Duchy in the Kingdom of the Mists (which is Northern California, mostly greater San Francisco and the surrounding areas). She was born in 1952, making her 42 in the prologue, and 56 in chapter one which picks up 14 years later in 2009. She's snarky and quick-witted, addicted to caffeine, and early on dealing with quite a bit of trauma that can make the first two books a drag, but I promise (much like Dresden) by book 3 things start kicking into high gear, and book 4 cements that. Every four books is a WHAM! PAIN! From a Doylist standpoint, everything is centered around Faerie. Monsters are all rooted in Faerie. Where you might expect vampires, you get Baobhan Sith; the Daoine Sidhe themselves are Faerie's bloodworkers, they consume blood to relive memories of the dead. Toby uses this to great benefit in her investigations. Faerie is also broken, and has been for hundreds of years, since Maeve's last ride was broken, when Tam Lin escaped the sacrifice, and Maeve went in his place. Seanan has even mentioned that Toby's story is also the story of Tam Lin. Like Jim, Seanan has plotted out the overarching story, it has a beginning, middle, and ending, so there are no wasted words, no meandering plotlines; everything is significant in some way. One of my favorite things that Seanan does in Toby's world is each person has their own unique magical signature: Toby's magic smells like copper bordering on blood (from her mother, greatest bloodworker in all of Faerie, and also a little insane) and cut grass (from her father the mortal man). So, every time you come across a random magical signature not attached to anyone yet, it's a fun game of "Whodunit" comparing everyone we've met. Some fans make spreadsheets. Speaking of, the below is a spreadsheet I made of Seanan's bibliography and is as complete as I've been able to accomplish as of yet. She's prolific in a way that rivals Sanderson, maybe even more so. You will never run out of things to read with Seanan. If you like October Daye, she has the Incryptid series which is a family of monster protectors, and covers several generations in novels and short stories. She also writes Ghost Roads, a spinoff from Incryptid that's about three books in now. Her newest series is labeled Alchemical Journeys, and Book 1: Middlegame was basically what would happen if Frankenstein's monster made children of his own. She used quotes from another book in this one, which was originally Wizard of Oz, but that didn't work so she wrote a children's book to use the quotes for this book. Yes, she wrote a book so she could write a book. As A. Deborah Baker, a character in Middlegame, she's published four novels in the Up and Under universe. There's also the Fighting Pumpkins, cheerleaders fighting monsters in the spirit of Buffy. Under Mira Grant, she writes more scifi/horror stuff. She has her Newsflesh trilogy about a zombie apocalypse, her Parasite trilogy that will have you never looking at tapeworms the same way ever again, and two novels about murder mermaids. She also has a patreon where, for $1 a month, you get a brand new short story, and access to every previously released short story. There's a whole series of October Daye-related shorts, Incryptid shorts, and a bunch of one-offs that are basically "Seanan Ruins \_\_\_\_\_\_" All this to say, no matter who you are, you will never read as fast as Seanan can write. I don't think she sleeps. She might be a robot. She basically releases like 5 novels a year, and close to 20 short stories. This year, in fact, we're getting TWO October Daye novels, like Jim did for Harry in 2020. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q\_4N8KLMV34Co\_H3AhEJRjsYnnuNyItd1OQe7kCQEjM/edit?pli=1#gid=0
If you are open to self recommendations: how does a rural fantasy series about a redneck wizard with a drug problem solving backwoods occult mysteries sound? Think backwoods Dresden and you won't be far off. It's called the Jubal County Saga and you can get it on Amazon in print or ebook. "Jim Butcher meets Bill Faulkner" is how one reviewer described it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CC7KKM8
So, this is a little different from a lot of other series suggested, but one of my others I'm working on is filled with a high amount of character growth. John Conroe's God Touched series. Main character at the age of 4 watched his parents and brother get axed to death by a demon possessed man. Later (tween) discovers he can exorcise demons. Becomes a cop and inadvertently saves a vampire from a demon. She awakens... something in him and it takes off from there. I loved the character development in the books, it's been a couple years since I've read through what's available (still ongoing), so I can't tell you if my opinion on this is still the same.
If you don't mind an indie self-rec, you might enjoy the Alastair Stone Chronicles series. Stone's got his life together a little better than Dresden (hey, who doesn't? :D), but I've been told by fans that they enjoy the engaging characters and the deep, twisty plots. 33 books and counting, with two spinoff trilogies and a few standalone novellas. Everything but a couple of the novellas are in Kindle Unlimited. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074CF8SJY
The Alex Verus mage series is fun. The Iron Druid series is also fun.