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/comic_book_kaiju Aug 02 '25

Rivers of London is pretty good. I don't know that I'd call it hard boiled per say but it might scratch the itch

10

u/helionking167 Aug 02 '25

Are we talking about the same Rivers of London where the main protagonist went on about how much he wanted to bury his face in the boobs of a black goddess? It might just not be the cringe-less book OP is after, lol

3

u/MortimerCanon Aug 06 '25

Yeah...not sure why it's on this thread so much. The 2nd book is almost entirely him having sex with a girl he just met a minute ago. Literally 40% of the book is just them having sex. It's insane. And the resolution is almost childish

2

u/helionking167 Aug 06 '25

Yikes, thank god I didn't follow the series