I actually love The Dresden Files, on the condition of 1: the character and the writer are sexist, and 2: the first 2 books are crap. Once the character starts realizing that he needs to ask for help and communicate what's going on, Dresden is one of my favorite examples of a long-running urban fantasy series in which people change as the events and times change them.
The thing about Dresden is it was kind of the Lord of the Rings of long-running, well-written gritty urban fantasy, and so even though it has some big problematic elements (and the first two books are worthless), it's kind of a touchstone for urban fantasy enthusiasts.
My go-to "gritty" urban fantasy series is T.A. Pratt's Marla Mason series, which has a similar solving-crime, fixing-problems, beating-people-up, doing-magic feel to Dresden, but the main character is a sarcastic, incredibly clever, powerful woman with a very skewed moral code.
Others in that detective-y urban fantasy mystery vein that I have tried: -The Kitty Norville series, about a werewolf who DJs a late night talk radio show for magical creatures (and gets away with it because people think it's a hilarious hoax). These are on the lighter end, but the author discovers early on that a lot of werewolf and vampire tropes are really abusive when taken to their natural conclusion, and so highlights that and comes up with other more functional ways for these communities to work. -Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels series, about a mercenary in a post-apocalyptic Atlanta that switches back and forth from magic to science functioning properly. The setting and characters are really interesting (although if you have ever lived in Atlanta you might have an aneurysm over the geography), but it suffers from no-one-ever-really-changes-itis. -On the other end, Seanan McGuire's October Daye series has events that actually matter to characters and the world, and a nice quippy sarcastic sense of humor, but the main character feels kind of like a cardboard cutout. -Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, about a coyote-shapeshifting mechanic. This has Werewolf Society Problems, and Alpha Male Romantic Interest problems, but the main character and side characters are interesting and the world is fun. The mish-mash of "Native American" legends/mythos smashed together is gross and appropriative, though (although the author has back-pedaled some and done some more research.) -Wen Spencer's Tinker (I couldn't get into the sequel, because the elves' POV nearly made me rage blackout)--Pittsburgh has been moved to another dimension, where there is magic and elves. An 18 year old girl mechanical genius, who is nevertheless surprisingly un-Mary-Sue-ish, ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time between the humans, the elves, and the enemies of the elves, and survives mostly by defying gender expectations and being stubborn as hell.
Did we already talk about how the first half of the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold should be in space opera? Really, really good.
I loved Discount Armageddon and Midnight Blue-Light Special and I am so-so on DeLint (I like his books, but I find by the end that I have caught the thought patterns of the characters and their world and that they are poisonous), so I will happily check out the Margaret Ronald trilogy. :)
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The thing about Dresden is it was kind of the Lord of the Rings of long-running, well-written gritty urban fantasy, and so even though it has some big problematic elements (and the first two books are worthless), it's kind of a touchstone for urban fantasy enthusiasts.
My go-to "gritty" urban fantasy series is T.A. Pratt's Marla Mason series, which has a similar solving-crime, fixing-problems, beating-people-up, doing-magic feel to Dresden, but the main character is a sarcastic, incredibly clever, powerful woman with a very skewed moral code.
Others in that detective-y urban fantasy mystery vein that I have tried:
-The Kitty Norville series, about a werewolf who DJs a late night talk radio show for magical creatures (and gets away with it because people think it's a hilarious hoax). These are on the lighter end, but the author discovers early on that a lot of werewolf and vampire tropes are really abusive when taken to their natural conclusion, and so highlights that and comes up with other more functional ways for these communities to work.
-Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels series, about a mercenary in a post-apocalyptic Atlanta that switches back and forth from magic to science functioning properly. The setting and characters are really interesting (although if you have ever lived in Atlanta you might have an aneurysm over the geography), but it suffers from no-one-ever-really-changes-itis.
-On the other end, Seanan McGuire's October Daye series has events that actually matter to characters and the world, and a nice quippy sarcastic sense of humor, but the main character feels kind of like a cardboard cutout.
-Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, about a coyote-shapeshifting mechanic. This has Werewolf Society Problems, and Alpha Male Romantic Interest problems, but the main character and side characters are interesting and the world is fun. The mish-mash of "Native American" legends/mythos smashed together is gross and appropriative, though (although the author has back-pedaled some and done some more research.)
-Wen Spencer's Tinker (I couldn't get into the sequel, because the elves' POV nearly made me rage blackout)--Pittsburgh has been moved to another dimension, where there is magic and elves. An 18 year old girl mechanical genius, who is nevertheless surprisingly un-Mary-Sue-ish, ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time between the humans, the elves, and the enemies of the elves, and survives mostly by defying gender expectations and being stubborn as hell.
Did we already talk about how the first half of the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold should be in space opera? Really, really good.
I loved Discount Armageddon and Midnight Blue-Light Special and I am so-so on DeLint (I like his books, but I find by the end that I have caught the thought patterns of the characters and their world and that they are poisonous), so I will happily check out the Margaret Ronald trilogy. :)