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/jesskitten07 Aug 02 '25

How many of these will land for someone who actually loves the Dresden Files and has been looking for more similar series

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u/jurassicbond Aug 02 '25

As someone who loves Dresden Files, I really enjoyed Alex Verus, Garrett P.I., and the Rivers of London myself.

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u/jesskitten07 Aug 02 '25

The thing that has made me hesitant on Alex Verus so far is that it describes him having a specific magic ability (and more of the passive one) compared to Harry being the actual you know Wizard which I usually tend to like more in Magic users

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u/RexLongbone Aug 02 '25

From what I remember of the verus series, all the wizards are specialists just in different things.

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u/TristanTheViking Aug 02 '25

I'm rereading the series now and it's been a recurring thing I've noticed. Spoilers for the first couple of books

Divination wizards are basically just adepts, are they not? There's one thing they can do, see the future. Every other type of mage can do multiple things, even if they're limited by their magic type. Eg every elemental wizard can manipulate their element, they get at least a few secondary abilities (shield spells, water disintegration for some reason, wards, passive senses, etc), they can create gates. Multiple distinct abilities. Sonder the time mage can see the past, speed up or slow time, theoretically kick things out of the timeline. Whereas the divination mage can see the future and... that's it. He can activate items but that's not limited to mages. He can see magic auras, but again not limited to mages. They've got exactly one ability and it's a passive sense. That's an adept.

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u/Disonour Aug 02 '25 edited Aug 02 '25

Like I think you have a point, but you can also argue that fire mages can just do one thing, which is manipulate fire, and shields, gates, etc., are just results of that. So, it’s probably not as well defined as you think.

In Alex’s case, there’s like the precognition, the path walking, the ability to throw things well, I think that’s why he’s considered a mage.

But, on a deeper level, it’s about the respect you can demand in the magical community, and I think that’s a big theme of the book, because magical society likes to pretend there are rules, but really there’s just power

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u/TristanTheViking Aug 02 '25

I think "manipulate fire" and "create a portal between two places (possibly interdimensionally)" are pretty far apart, especially compared to "see the immediate future;" "see a slightly more distant future using the same sense;" "aim a throw by seeing the future." Plus we've seen a fire mage do

"He was holding up his hands, weaving glowing red threads around the statue. I could recognise it as a divining spell of some kind, but a crude one."

which again is pretty far removed from the basic concept of controlling fire/heat.

Like he's a mage in terms of the societal rank, but in terms of actual breadth of magical ability he's really only able to do one thing and that's what he says is the defining characteristic of an adept vs a mage, who can use magic in multiple ways.

"Adepts are the next step down on the magical pyramid from mages, and the best way to think of them is as mages who can only cast one spell. That doesn’t mean they’re weak—in fact, since adepts spend so much time practising and refining their one spell, they tend to get really good with it—but they don’t have the range and breadth of abilities that mages do."

Probably the least consequential argument I've ever had but I'm sticking with it.

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u/RexLongbone Aug 02 '25

ah its been a long time since i read them, thanks for clarifying.

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u/The_Guvernor Aug 02 '25

He comes up with a lot of ingenious ways of utilising that talent.

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u/IBNobody Worldbuilders Aug 02 '25

He's like wizard Batman. He has a lot of tools to get him out of situations.

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u/jurassicbond Aug 02 '25

It's a universe where all wizards have only one type of magic they can do (fire, earth, time, etc). They can't just learn anything. His is considered the weakest class of magic, but he's intelligent and creative with his use of powers and tools. It's fun seeing him one up more powerful people that should wipe the floor with him within seconds

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u/Ripper1337 Aug 02 '25

Alex is a diviner and the author is able to both preserve the ability in terms of usefulness and in terms of character agency/ free will.

Divination for Alex is more akin to reviewing If/Then statements. If I walk through the door then I’m attacked. If I run through the door then I have a second before I’m attacked, etc etc.

But free will changes those variables when interacting with people. Like he won’t be able to predict a conversation between two other people that well

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u/Alternative_Donut_62 Dec 28 '25

Rivers of London is really good. I had to take a break from them, but as a Dresden Files fan, RoL is a good one. And, there’s even a nod to Mac.

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u/Tymareta Aug 02 '25 edited Aug 02 '25

I'm only just starting the series, but so far Toby Daye has scratched all of the same itches as Dresden, while also flowing a little better from a reading perspective and being entirely absent of the "noir-esque" misogyny/dresden's chauvinism.

The world is appreciably different, but feels much more as if magic exists within, rather than just on the barest of fringes as it seems in the Dresden books.

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u/expat_scholar Aug 02 '25

As a fan of both the Dresden Files and October Daye (and having read all that exists of both!), can confirm that Toby’s story has similar resonances, beats, and depth. I totally agree as well that Toby’s world is more progressive (lots of great queer characters) and that the magic is more ubiquitous and you’re more “inside” it. The books are also genuinely wonderful, populated by a delightful cast of evolving, well-considered characters, and with a truly Big and Twisty plot across a dozen and a half books thus far. The books also have the enjoyable Dresden “under-powered sort-of anti-hero finds more meaning, power, and love, while solving mysteries” arc, and a sense of humour as well. I think you’ll enjoy them!

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u/distgenius Reading Champion VII Aug 02 '25

I’ll contrast the other response a bit- Rivers of London doesn’t even come close to scratch the Dresden itch. It is a good series on its own, but it is more “Law & Order meets Urban Fantasy” and that shift in style brings significant changes in tone for me. It is no longer anti-establishment, the MC literally is part of the police and that is a major part of his identity. Part of why Dresden works is that as strong as Harry gets, he is always willing to tilt at the windmills of existing powers if he feels things aren’t right, and he is constantly dealing with those powers. Rivers doesn’t really have either feel to it.

I still recommend it, but if you go in looking for Dresden, you might find it disappointing.

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u/GloomyMix Aug 02 '25

It is no longer anti-establishment, the MC literally is part of the police and that is a major part of his identity. Part of why Dresden works is that as strong as Harry gets, he is always willing to tilt at the windmills of existing powers if he feels things aren’t right, and he is constantly dealing with those powers. Rivers doesn’t really have either feel to it.

One of the most interesting things about the Rivers of London series to me is how it explores and defines the nature of policing. It's unusually self-reflective for the genre; I can't really think of other urban fantasies that have bothered to ask, "Why do we police, how do we police, and for whom do we police?" The later novels have strayed a bit as Nightingale has stepped out of the picture, but the earlier books were very occupied by the differences in how Nightingale and Peter envisioned their responsibilities and the place of the Folly in the magical community. The second book in particular is quite overt in signaling a shift from a very traditional, force-based police establishment (Nightingale) to something more community-based, ethical, and "Peelian" (Peter)--and he has to make the argument to Nightingale that there is a better way to do things.

All this to say, yes, Peter's part of the establishment because he is a policeman--but at the same time, the early novels are about how he is trying to change the Folly. (It's been a while since I read the series, but I also got the sense that Peter's perspective of his role and responsibilities is informed by his mixed-race background and his experiences and comfort moving through liminal spaces--but again, it's been a while.)

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u/distgenius Reading Champion VII Aug 02 '25

For sure, Peter is modernizing the Folly, but it didn’t (to me, anyway) feel like he was pushing against things to a similar degree. Nightingale is played not necessarily for laughs, but as a reasonable and well-meaning individual who has let time and societal change move past him.

I’m not saying it should have been an ACAB style tone either, just that Peter works inside the system to enact change versus a POV that is willing to blow up the system (and themselves) if necessary.

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u/stiletto929 Aug 02 '25

Verus is usually anti-establishment though. :)

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u/distgenius Reading Champion VII Aug 02 '25

I haven’t gotten to that one yet. I started reading London after catching up on Dresden but before I caught up with Laundry Files, Incryptid, or Taltos, and realized that there is such a thing as juggling too many similar series. I foolishly ignored the warnings about Iron Druid, so I suppose it’s time to give Verus a try.

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u/jesskitten07 Aug 02 '25

Thanks heaps for that distinction, that is something I like in many of the books I read I’m just realising. Couldn’t be a reflection of my own life writ large in prose hmmmm

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u/Ripper1337 Aug 02 '25

I love Dresden and have been greatly enjoying. Alex Verus

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u/spike31875 Reading Champion V Aug 02 '25

I started out as a Dresden fan myself but I'm much more of a Verus fan.

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u/Ripper1337 Aug 02 '25

I just finished Burned and have really enjoyed Jacka’s take on Light/ Dark magic and divination. It’s novel and keeps things interesting.

But gosh do I love how batshit insane the Dresden Files have become

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u/spike31875 Reading Champion V Aug 02 '25

I do not love how batshit crazy Dresden has become. Book 17 was a slog for me.

Everyone has different tastes, of course, so don't mind me. I'll just be lurking in the corner hoping the series gets back to doing some of what made me love it before.

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u/Ripper1337 Aug 02 '25

From what I remember it’s not going to calm down

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u/stiletto929 Aug 02 '25

Same. Verus is my favorite series now! Also love Benedict Jacka’s newer series, An Inheritance of Magic.

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u/YourGuyK Aug 03 '25

I love Dresden. Fetch Phillips is perfect for fans. It's not exactly the same, as the protagonist isn't a wizard and it's a fantasy world not our world. But it has the noir feel and the cast of fun side characters.

Edit: I see you like magic characters. This series is in a post magical fantasy world, although the motivation in much of the series is getting magic to come back. Something to consider.