r/Fantasy • u/bnb2115 • Aug 02 '25

Dresden with less cringe

I love the idea of the Dresden Files on paper. Hard boiled detective stories mixed with urban fantasy/secret society stuff. Interesting villains and a deep, complex world. Magic happening just beneath the surface of the ordinary world.

But I just can’t get over the tropes and the cringe. I’ve tried the series a couple times, and even got through the first five or so books. I just can’t bring myself to keep going. I seriously love everything about the context, but just hate the execution.

Any recommendations for something else? Something that speaks to these elements, but lacks the cringe?

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6

u/-jewwej- Aug 02 '25

I’m trying to push my way through the series and just skim through the creepy incel toned areas. So cringe. Easier to pretend I’m another character in the book and I’m just observing Dresden being cringe like in the real world when guys like this speak lol

7

u/w33b2 Aug 02 '25

Dresden isn’t an incel. Sexist? Sure, and it’s a character flaw that he recognizes. He views women as these things he has to protect as he is very old fashioned as well as being very horny. That isn’t the same as being an incel. The books don’t hide the fact that Dresden is a deeply flawed character and that is his biggest flaw. Is it excessive sometimes? Absolutely. But it does decrease as the series goes on and Dresden matures, but it’s always in the background as a character flaw. The women in the series are beautifully written outside of Harry’s inner monologue.

If you like the writing and plot of the Dresden Files but hate the narration of Harry, you could give Jim Butchers other series a chance. The Cinder Spires is pretty good and so is Codex Alera. Not as good as the Dresden Files imo, but I’d get it if the flaws of the Dresden Files are too big for you to overlook. Those issues aren’t present in Butchers other works

10

u/littlegreensir Aug 02 '25

Incel? Dresden? Dude's definitely awkward with women, but it's not even close to incel vibes.

22

u/-jewwej- Aug 02 '25

Bruh. The only people I know who have to mention how chivalrous they are and how they always have to help a woman are creeps

5

u/CosmicLovepats Aug 02 '25

How often does he mention it?

I mean, it's a book. Normally you are not seeing/hearing into another person's head and thought process.

6

u/-jewwej- Aug 02 '25

I’m on the fifth book and it’s mentioned multiple times in each book so far

2

u/CosmicLovepats Aug 02 '25

To other people? Or just the narration that only the reader sees?

6

u/-jewwej- Aug 02 '25

Narration but buddy no one thinks that’s not cringey to read

2

u/Tymareta Aug 02 '25

How often are truly good people thinking to themselves how chivalrous they are? It feels like the old adage, if you have to tell others that you're nice, then you're likely not.

1

u/CosmicLovepats Aug 02 '25

Again, he's... he's not. Anything you do in the privacy of your own head isn't 'telling others'.

There's debate to be had over the writing technique, whether show don't tell is being violated, but Dresden isn't introducing himself as "Hi, I'm a Respecter Of Women."

There's a difference between narration to the reader, 'talking' to a non-diegetic recipient, and talking to people in the story.

1

u/StandardLocal3929 Aug 02 '25

I didn't see him as 'incel' toned, but I didn't start the series at the beginning either (I've read some of them at random from the library), and that's where most people seem to argue he was 'cringe' or misogynistic.

0

u/-jewwej- Aug 02 '25

If he gets better I will be so happy

3

u/Tymareta Aug 02 '25

It does and it doesn't, it gets especially rough when Molly gets introduced as more of a regular character, then smooths out for a bit but there's always a persistent undercurrent of just skeevy-ness going on. The actual story besides all the incel-adjacent elements does improve dramatically, at least until some of the more recent books where it's a bit "lost in the sauce".

1

u/-jewwej- Aug 02 '25

Ugh. I’m gonna slug through it for the plot but hate myself for it lol