(Part 2) Best paranormal & urban fantasy books according to redditors
We found 2,415 Reddit comments discussing the best paranormal & urban fantasy books. We ranked the 516 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
this is difficult choice i would say and probably it changes very much i would say i have always had kind heart towards REAMED BY MY REACTION TO THE TITLE OF THIS BOOK because it was first big meta tingler that i was proud of in this way. also SPACE RAPTOR BUTT INVASION because it made me a big timer. and last i would say NOT POUNDED BY ANYTHING AND THAT'S OKAY because i think this is important message of love that you can have a pounding way but sometimes its okay for our preferred pound to be 'no thanks' and i think this is important message and supports lifestyle of asexual way that is sometimes overlooked but VERY VALID AND IMPORTANT and also way of consent that its okay to say you are not interested of ANY REASON. you do not owe scoundrels anything when it comes to your boundaries buckaroo
EDIT: Thank you for the gold kind stranger. I just popped my reddit gold cherry, which has made an already special day even more memorable! ;)
My LitRPG novel Level Up launched a year ago today, and to celebrate I am making it free from now until Sunday.
Here's the blurb:
Virtual is Reality.
What would the world be like if video game rules suddenly applied?
Marcus is about to find out. After a freak accident he finds himself stuck between a game and the real world. He’ll need to fight his way through football hooligans, carnies and the dreaded RNG to get to the final boss and save the world. Anything less means it’s game over for good.
Along the way he’ll learn new skills, chase epic loot and most importantly of all, Level Up!
If you love light LitRPG you’ll be sure to enjoy this humorous take on the genre.
Here are the links:
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079JFM67F
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079JFM67F
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B079JFM67F
Aus: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B079JFM67F
Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B079JFM67F
All Trades Book 1: Master of None by Shane Walker (hey that's me) released today on Amazon
A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark is a great pacifist urban fantasy by Harry Conolly.
> After years of waging a secret war against the supernatural, Marley Jacobs put away her wooden stakes and silver bullets, then turned her back on violence. She declared Seattle, her city, a safe zone for everyone, living and undead. There would be no more preternatural murder under her watch.
It's funny and well-plotted, and I especially liked the interplay between Marley and her nephew Al, who just left the military and is convinced that he's going to need to go full Rambo any minute now.
https://www.amazon.com/Key-Egg-Unfortunate-Remark-ebook/dp/B00RAP3NLQ
Unfortunately, I can never pay attention to what characters look like in series (my brain just skips over most of the time). Unless it is said again and again and again, I'm just not noticing it. I literally have to be beat across the head with it to notice it.
I can give you some series I liked that I think there is a low probability of it happening though:
Cainsville by Kelley Armstrong (I know you said you didn't like WotO but the two series feel pretty different imo. This series does have a love triangle, though, but it is the best love triangle I have ever had the pleasure of reading.)
The Others by Anne Bishop, if you somehow haven't read it before.
Realm Walker by Kathleen Collins
Colbana Files by J.C. Daniels, like lupa280 suggested
Skindancer by Anthony Francis
All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness (this probably is focused on a bit, but mostly because love, it doesn't spread to the secondary characters.)
Elemental Mysteries by Elizabeth Hunter (book one is currently FREE on amazon)
don't do Downside Ghosts by Stacia Kane because I doubt we are ever getting an ending to that, despite it being so damn good.
Hunter Kiss by Marjorie M. Liu
October Daye by Seanan McGuire
Jaz Parks by Jennifer Rardin
My book is on there, it's an urban fantasy set in Australia about a guy who gets a job with the evil corporation that runs his city and what happens when his conscience finally kicks in.
War for the Oaks, by Emma Bull. Eddi, a singer and guitarist for a bar band in Minnesota, gets dragged into a war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. It mixes rock and roll, the faeries, and a lot of real world locations in and around Minnesota, and helped define "urban fantasy" as we currently define it. I cannot suggest this book enough.
>dark and serious toned
You should check out The Plucker by Brom. Incredible artwork, serious and dark toned but still with that element of fantasy and whimsy.
​
Here's the description from Amazon:
The Plucker, now updated with new art and an afterword from world-renowned dark fantasy artist Brom, is a window into a world where fairy-tale tradition collides with vileness and depravity, love and heroism, suffering and sacrifice. In this shadowy land of make-believe, Jack and his box are stuck beneath the bed with the dust, spiders, and other castaway toys, and forced to face a bitter truth: Children grow up, and toys are left behind. Jack thinks this is the worst fate that can befall a toy. But when the Plucker, a malevolent spirit, is set loose upon the world of make-believe, Jack is thrust into the unlikely role of defending Thomas, the very child who abandoned him, and learns that there are worse ends for a toy than abandonment. As desperation mounts, Jack is thrown together with Thomas’s other toys—Monkey, the Nutcracker, and the ethereally beautiful porcelain doll Snow Angel—as they struggle to rise above their simple roles as playthings and save the boy they love.
[Cradle]
[Mother of Learning]
[Sufficiently Advanced Magic]
[Street Cultivation]
[The Land]
[The Divine Dungeon]
[The Dark Herbalist]
[Ascend Online]
[The Way of the Shaman]
[The Wheel of Time] (Low Quality)
[I Shall Seal the Heavens]
[A Will Eternal]
[Coiling Dragon]
[Patrick Rothfuss] (Author)
[The Thousand Li]
[Savage Divinity] (Low Quality)
[The Dao of Magic]
[Dante's Immortality]
[Forge of Destiny]
[Veilverse]
[Way of the Immortals]
[Sundered Soul]
[Edge of Eons]
[Soulship]
[The Wandering Inn]
[Delvers LLC]
[Dodge Tank]
[World Tree Online]
[Life Reset]
[Viridian Gate Online]
[The Crafting of Chess]
[Reverend Insanity]
[I Eat Tomatoes] (Author)
[Er Gen] (Author)
[The King's Avatar]
[Against the Gods]
[Martial World]
[Dragon Heart]
[Purple Days]
Ohh, the Night Watch series is fantastic!
Something I don't see on here often is Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift series. It's got its tropes and flaws, but it's also a very visual story, and makes for a good quick read.
Just bought them myself. Here's a link to each book:
Reminds me of The Plucker
It's a really cool book. Sort of an ultra-dark Toy Story. I don't remember too much about the plot, but the art is amazing.
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
amazon.co.jp
amazon.fr
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
For the lazy:
.ca link
.co.uk link
The thing is it has good ratings on amazon. To me what he said felt kind of whiney. It seems like it could be cool, the only thing that stops me from reading it now is that piece of writing. It feels like instead of saying "Hey I wrote something that hasn't really been done before" it feels like he was saying "misogyny has made older female protagonists taboo and you should all feel ashamed and buy my book."
Maybe I am a little sensitive to the whole people trying to make a problem out of characters not being the ones they want because I am also a big gamer. And everyone is always talking about how there aren't enough women.
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Immortals-Divine-Xianxia-Cultivation-ebook/dp/B07WW1V9FF/
Well, the best I can offer that hasn't already been said would be Zero Sight. It's an urban fantasy with university-aged students. However, it doesn't seem to be on audible yet.
Oh yeah, I've also heard The Blinding Knife has a lot of this trope in it. And this one is on audible. I haven't gotten around to reading it personally, though I can confirm that The Black Prism had a couple scenes involving the magic school trope.
This month's releases:
​
R.A. Mejia , Joshua Swayne, et al. 2019/7/1 Project Alpha: Book 2 (Project Alpha series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TBSKRQF
Shane Walker 2019/7/1 All Trades Book 1: Master of None https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T2XMCH4
Blaise Corvin 2019/7/2 Accounts Payable (Nora Hazard Book 3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T8P8FJM
Wyatt Kane 2019/7/2 Enhancer 5 (The Enhancer Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T1FQ1CK
Arlo Adams 2019/7/8 Breaking Ground: A Fantasy LitRPG Gamelit Adventure (Enora Online Book 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TD73DPH
Elian Tars 2019/7/10 Gloominess +1: Gleam of Darkness. A LitRPG Adventure: Book 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TSBQ2W6
Nathan Thompson 2019/7/11 Lighting Distant Shores (Challenger's Call Book 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T6F55JM
Aaron Oster and Richard Sashigane 2019/7/12 Skyflare (Rise To Omniscience Book 3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T61SRXF
R.R. Virdi 2019/7/15 Beast Queen: A LitRPG/GameLit Action Adventure (Monster Slayer Online Book 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TLG2KCN
Dmitry Bilik 2019/7/17 The Time Master (Interworld Network Book I): LitRPG Series https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QWMRR8M
Michael Anderle 2019/7/19 Controlling The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TDN98S4
Benjamin Douglas 2019/7/23 Quest for Vengeance: A LitRPG Saga (Hero Online Book 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R4H9XCZ
Ivan Shaman 2019/7/23 Cannibal. Demon of the Mind. A Post-Apocalyptic Survival LitRPG Series https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RS4ZZJN
Troy Osgood 2019/7/30 Sky Realms Online: Grayhold: A LitRPG Adventure https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TKDQ34L
P.A. Wikoff and Sean Lenahan 2019/7/31 Imprisoned Online: Gaming the System (A LitRPG Adventure Book 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T7KTDKD
​
More books searchable through https://litrpg-newsletter.com/filter/ https://litrpg-newsletter.com/new-releases/ and https://litrpg-newsletter.com/upcoming-releases/
https://www.amazon.com/Plucker-Illustrated-Novel-Brom/dp/0810996022
I'm entirely too used to the idea of Jack being a heroic toy on a quest to rescue his porcelain princess (and his box) from the claws of an African soul stealing demon to run this campaign, but The Plucker is a criminally underrated book and might make a fantastic adventure on its own.
Distant Star (Reminiscent Exile series) by Joe Ducie.
The main character did a very huge thing to end a very big war. It was like the equivalent of the two atomic bomb drops that ended WWII. But only if it had wiped out like a billion people.
The protagonist isn't a villian per say, but he is basically hated by the significant majority (pretty much everyone but the politically powerless half of the soldiers who are just happy the fighting is over). And since he just nuked their version of the most significant place in the... was it Storythread? I forget what they called their fiction based universe (literally a multiverse composed of fictional worlds that they can visit and bring stuff out of).
Edit: Here is the link for the 3 book collected kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscent-Exile-Books-1-3-Distant-ebook/dp/B00LVJ8UBU/ref=la_B006HQCFQS_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415898715&sr=1-7
I read eight books in September. Between travel and general boredom, I finally started digging into the books on Kindle Unlimited and discovered a few series that I enjoyed, even though they are frustratingly incomplete.
The first was the Unsouled series (5 books) by Will Wight. The universe is a combination of high fantasy and sci-fi with an overarching flavor of Asian mythology. At first, I wasn't completely sold on it, but the characters have some interesting arcs, especially Lindon, the protagonist. If you're a fan of anime-style story arcs with underpowered protagonists bumblefucking their way to glory, you'll like it. Also, the books are really easy to read, but engaging enough to keep interest. 4/5 stars
Second, I read the Euphoria Online (2 books) series by Phil Tucker. It's a story about a dystopian future where humanity has surrendered control to an AI to help mitigate the damage that's been done to the environment. The AI has taken over government functions and put together a VR game for humanity. The game allows players who play on "Death March" mode, which can be fatal, to gain a boon from the AI and the protagonist decides to attempt it because his brother is on Death Row. 3.75/5 stars
The last book that I finished just last night is Pandemic by A.G. Riddle. It's a well written in a Tom Clancy/Dan Brown kind of way. The story involves a pandemic (shocking, right?), a secret society, and other airport paperback style shenanigans. It's an entertaining read, but not breaking any new ground. I enjoyed it simply for the rollercoaster ride of the plot. 3.5/5 stars.
Oh
my
god.
Are
these
all
actual
books?
Idk
why,
but
I
love
this.
Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee
The Elemental Mysteries series by Elizabeth Hunter is phenomenal.
Try these:
Zero Sight
Emperor's Edge
Level Up
First one's out on Amazon in Kindle format. Random Abnormality. Also, I still don't know how it ended up 500 pages...
Harry Connolly (author of the 20 Palaces series, which everyone should read if you haven't already) wrote A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark. It follows an elderly woman who formally fought against the forces of evil. Now, in her old age, she has declared Seattle a safe zone for everyone, humans and non-humans alike. Her nephew has been murdered and she investigates only to find the peace she has created has become threatened. If I remember correctly the protagonist is somewhat of a pacifist during the time of the novel.
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin. The series is fairly new, and I have never met another person who has read them. Here's the link, but the summary is:
>For Matthew Swift, today is not like any other day. It is the day on which he returns to life.
>
>Two years after his untimely death, Matthew Swift finds himself breathing once again, lying in bed in his London home.
>
>Except that it's no longer his bed, or his home. And the last time this sorcerer was seen alive, an unknown assailant had gouged a hole so deep in his chest that his death was irrefutable...despite his body never being found.
>
>He doesn't have long to mull over his resurrection though, or the changes that have been wrought upon him. His only concern now is vengeance. Vengeance upon his monstrous killer and vengeance upon the one who brought him back.
The books are amazing, and I found them so compelling that I got a tattoo of my favorite line.
Zero Sight by Justin Shier
http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Sight-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B004UB2WME/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1331727297&sr=1-2
e-book only though. I read the first and it's great, only 2 books out for the series and it's like 250 pages
Another great book: Talion Revenant http://www.amazon.com/Talion-Revenant-Michael-Stackpole/dp/0553576569/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1331727432&sr=1-1
about 450 pages
If you're into this, I'd highly recommend checking out a book called Plucker in which a Jack in the Box, who's been abandoned by his boy, has to fight off a demon which threatens to consume the boy. Dark fantasy with really adult themes, but centered on the love shared between children and their toys.
Y'all muthafuckas need consent.
Ohh. I see.
Cradle Series
Overgeared
Red Mage
The Gam3
Limitless Lands
Divine Dungeon
Mirror World
The Good guys
War Aeternus
Dest March
Bushido Online
Dark Elf Chronicles
Djinn Tamer
Hero of Thera
Morning Wood
The Two Week Curse
Party Hard
Axe Druid
Ryan DeBruyn
Equalize: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG (Ether Collapse Book 1)
The way of the shaman
Galactagon
I believe the book you are looking for is Biting the Sun. Read it in college for a dystopian fiction class and it has remained one of my favorites since.
You might enjoy some of Barbara Hambly's work, starting with Those Who Hunt the Night.
You also have Equalize: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG (Ether Collapse Book 1) and Shadow Sun Survival: Shadow Sun Book One .
Some older books: War for the Oaks by Emma Bull (early example of urban fantasy) and Jack the Giant Killer and Drink Down the Moon by Charles De Lint, collected as Jack of Kinrowan (nice urban fantasy mashup of some of the Jack tales).
Also seconding Patricia McKillip, her books are wonderful. I walk around in a daze after I finish one because her worlds are so tenacious.
Not as gritty as Apocalypse Gates, but still great apoc stories:
Shadow Sun Survival and it's sequel. Kills those that need killing, sets up safe spaces across the country, kills monsters, dungeon dives, and all to high quality writing.
Equalize: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG. Earth wakes up and gets pissed that humans have been stealing her (magical) lifeblood (oil, and their derivatives). Reclaims everything oil-based (that it can reach) by absorbing it into monsters, which also focus damage onto anything containing oil-products or that look industrial. That's just the premise, and there's lots of death/dying. MC gets some decent magic and magic luck, and does some killing.
If you can handle bad Russian translations and OP MCs, then I would also suggest the 2 Transformation books.
I've come within a hair of buying the Craig book many times.
Another poker/fantasy book that I enjoyed was The Devil's Hand.
Expedition: Summerlands and Superpowereds both have the kind of character you're looking for and both play big roles but aren't MCs. There's a "kind of rogue" MC in the amusing Master of None. Rogue-ish?
Technically The Dead Rogue does have a slightly rotting Rogue MC but I didn't really feel it was especially rogue if that makes any sense.
And if you want to just give up on the whole rogue thing and go for someone without any subtlety who just bashes everything and everyone on the head, I had a lot of fun reading the latest "The Good Guys"/Home Siege Home last night.
While it's not solely about a gay character, the Soulkeepers series by GP Ching is great. She just released the final book in the series. In book 4 though, one of the characters introduced in book 1 meets an openly gay Soulkeeper (kind of like guardian angels except human) and finds himself falling in love with him. I won't say much more but at the time I read these books I was still very far in the closet and it really tore me up in a good way to where it helped push me out of the closet.
The first book happens to be free and the rest aren't expensive: http://www.amazon.com/The-Soulkeepers-Series-ebook/dp/B004RR1NZI
Two of the characters in Random Abnormality and the rest of my series (Twisted Fates) are fairly desensitized to horrible violence, but have completely different outlooks about it. Physical violence, to one of them, isn't a big deal because, by her logic, it's not as bad as any lasting psychological effects, while the other has the more rational opinion of it being generally all pretty messed up. As a result, while both of these ladies won't hesitate to kill someone/something, one of them is as nice as possible outside of those situations. The other is just generally not nice to people outside of her circle of safety, which would be trust, but almost all of my characters have at least mild trust issues. This leads a lot of the MCs to having a great deal of negative PR situations, because casual violence is very common in the setting but the average person isn't aware of it. For example, any scene where more than two of my main characters in the series are filmed by any kind of news crew, or even cell phone camera, somebody is going to get very hurt in a brutally efficient way. Negative PR and mild trust issues are central to portions of plot throughout my series, I just need to get around to getting the second book out, third book edited/fixed, and dealt with.
It's not apparent in the first book, but throughout the series, most of my MCs resort to long periods of drinking as a means of coping. It would've actually solved a couple of problems in the third book for one character, and two more would've actually been useful at that point if they weren't borderline alcoholics. Oh, then there's the cheesy humor. All of my characters can be funny, but one of them has a seriously inflated opinion of cheesy humor, nerdy references, and overall weirdness. This effects the plot by him being full of surprises, even when he's flung into situations he has no experience in and should, I mean if he doesn't want to, you know, die. How do you beat a situation you shouldn't win? Change the logic. His "surprises" and innovations (as well as his friend who helps with that but gets very little credit initially) are usually coupled with humor, since he's not the best at what he does, he's just really good at getting away with it. Also, duct tape and zip-ties, they are his friend.
That, and most of my characters within the series fit a weird concept I had when I made it. The standard movie-monster thing, what if...you know, they were really people too? At least one, if not two, of my MCs could be considered physically intimidating, though one of them was meant to be a counter-point to standard associated imagery. One is usually considered by sideline characters as a monster, but isn't. That's the nice one. The one that bears a superficial resemblance to an angel? Right, sorry. She'll take your kidneys if she has a buyer that pays enough to make it worth her while.
Kindle version is here:
http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Hand-Drawing-Thin-ebook/dp/B005EM2PE8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1321134136&sr=8-2
It's 2.99 give it a shot.
C.S. Freidman's Coldfire trilogy
Barbara Hambly's Those Who Hunt the Night
The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez
The two books collected in Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee
Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly
If you've read and enjoyed linkffn(Harry Potter and the Wastelands of Time), you should check out Joe Ducie's original fiction series, The Reminiscent Exile, that was derived from that fic. The entire premise of the magic is based upon the reading of fiction novels.
https://www.amazon.com/Distant-Star-Reminiscent-Exile-Book-ebook/dp/B0085SYSDE
"War for the Oaks" by Emma Bull
http://www.amazon.com/War-Oaks-Novel-Emma-Bull-ebook/dp/B00699QWXA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415893694&sr=1-1&keywords=war+for+the+oaks
"Faerie Tale" by Raymond Feist
http://www.amazon.com/Faerie-Tale-Raymond-E-Feist-ebook/dp/B001M5JVH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415893777&sr=1-1&keywords=faerie+tale+raymond+e+feist
both excellent :)
This it?
Oh it's free in the UK too. Nice one.
The Elemental Mysteries series is not really smutty. It's a fantasy series, though...
The Rosie Project might interest you.
From this very subreddit, I found A Thousand Li, by Tao Wong. There are only two books out so far, and the second one is a lot more expository than the first, but I enjoyed it.
I've also started Way of the Immortals, by Harmon Cooper but I literally just started it today and don't have an opinion yet.
Biting the Sun
A bit of Google-fu has turned up The Soulkeepers Series.
It's on sale ATM as well. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DB3FSNW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
I read and enjoyed the first 3-4 of the series years ago. They are on sale often, so it's not an unprecedented deal or anything, but I noticed it in an email this morning.
I have no idea what all the garbage at the end of the URL is, I had just googled Amazon night watch and that's the link. Not a referral From me or anything.
As far as I know he's still around. I bought Distant Star, and it was good... even if it did borrow far too heavily from Wastelands for my taste (e.g. the scene where Harry escapes those demons in the hotel, and he meets the Lady in Red is copy-pasted almost word-for-word into Distant Star).
Dude! I had no idea this was a thing! This'll have to be next on my reading list.
It's $1.99 on Kindle!