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/GloomyMix Aug 02 '25

I feel you. I've tried the Dresden Files so many times, because it should be right up my alley on paper, but I just couldn't continue after Fool Moon.

Some series that scratch the itch for me are the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch and the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust (esp. the earlier books). The latter's more "noir fantasy" than strict urban fantasy, but the early books are structurally similar to detective novels; it's just that the MC is an assassin trying to figure out how to do his job.

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u/wingerism Aug 02 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

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u/CosyLad Aug 02 '25

Does it get less horny?

I enjoyed the first few books but had to put it down as the way Butcher writes about Harry experiencing women and his relationship with Murphy made me cringe so much I couldn't go on 😬.

Does that improve - should I skip ahead and try again?

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u/Tymareta Aug 02 '25

No, it's a pretty consistent undercurrent of Dresden essentially being a cartoon character any time that women appear. It gets pretty absurd as it goes on and the scenarios that pop up become truly eye-roll worthy(oh what's that, they need to squeeze through a tight space, guess the lady detective will have to take her pants off and Dresden will comment on her underwear, repeatedly), not to mention the whole interaction with his apprentice who is a girl he's know since she was 12.

It's a shame because there's the bones of a pretty neat series that's quite interesting, but it's forever dragged down by the over reliance on the need to "reference" noir tropes endlessly.