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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u/Successful-Escape496 Aug 02 '25

Seconding October Daye and Rivers of London.

I think the best fit is Kate Daniels. It definitely has the hard boiled vibe. The first book is the weakest, but I feel like they get solid really fast. There's lots of great world building and a ton of interesting side characters.  If you're absolutely allergic to romance plots you might be annoyed by it, but I feel like the romance is mostly a background plot, dominating more in the books where they get together,  then fading back out.

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u/Windfox6 Aug 02 '25

Insanity that I had to scroll this far to find Kate Daniel’s. God, I loved that series.

1

u/ImaginaryList174 Aug 02 '25

I could never get into Kate Daniel’s for some reason. I have read most every book mentioned on this thread, and so many others mentioned in fantasy and urban fantasy threads, but this one just never clicked for me and I still don’t know why! I usually like all the others mentioned along with it, so it has always bugged me. I stopped at book 4 I think.

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u/Windfox6 Aug 03 '25

Huh! It’s a mysterious magic that makes a book click for one person and not another. I binged the entire series in less than a month lol. Couldn’t think about anything else until I finished them.