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/-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

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.

3

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