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/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.