Here are some urban fantasy recommendations. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive list of books in the genre, or even necessarily of all the urban fantasy books I’ve enjoyed. And I may not always list every book by a particular author (or even every book in a series).
The books on this list are some of my favorites, the ones that I think feature really interesting characters or unique worlds. Many of them have romantic subplots and a few have some steamy scenes, but the focus is still firmly on action and character development.
This is very much a work in progress.
Ilona Andrews
Kate Daniels
A woman fights supernatural threats in an urban landscape changed by magical fluctuations.
Jim Butcher
The Dresden Files
The adventures of Chicago’s only professional wizard-for-hire.
Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Night, Small Favor, Turn Coat
Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson
A shapeshifting mechanic raised by werewolves helps various supernatural groups.
Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed, Silver Borne (Feb. 2010)
Alpha and Omega
Two werewolves with unique powers solve problems for their pack.
Simon R. Green
The Nightside
A detective with a versatile ability works in a secret (and extremely dangerous) supernatural community.
Something From the Nightside, Agents of Light and Darkness, Nightingale’s Lament, Hex in the City, Paths Not Taken, Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth, Hell to Pay, The Unnatural Inquirer, Just Another Judgment Day
The Secret History Series
A secret agent with magical armor helps keep humanity safe from otherworldly threats.
The Man With the Golden Torc, Daemons are Forever, The Spy Who Haunted Me (June 2009)
Charlaine Harris
Southern Vampire Series
A telepathic waitress in Louisana gets drawn into the newly-exposed world of vampires.
Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, All Together Dead, From Dead to Worse, Dead and Gone, A Touch of Dead [anthology] (October 2009)
Harper Connelly
A young woman with the ability to locate dead bodies works on missing persons cases.
Grave Sight, Grave Surprise, An Ice Cold Grave, Grave Secret (October 2009)
Kim Harrison
The Hollows
A witch struggles with both criminals and relationship issues in an alternate-reality Cincinnati.
Dead Witch Walking, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, Every Which Way But Dead, A Fistful of Charms, For A Few Demons More, The Outlaw Demon Wails, White Witch, Black Curse
Marjorie M. Liu
The Iron Hunt (my review), Darkness Calls (June 2009)
L.J. Smith
The Vampire Diaries (ya)
A high school girl falls for a vampire and tries to resist his seductive older brother.
The Secret Circle (ya)
A coven of young witches deal with both supernatural and social drama.
The Initiation and The Captive Part I, The Captive Part II and The Power
The Forbidden Game (ya)
A girl and her friends play a strange board game that becomes all too real.
Dark Visions (ya)
Students at a school for gifted teens learn about an experiment that threatens them all.
David Sosnowski
Carrie Vaughn
Kitty Norville
A werewolf starts a supernatural radio show, but not everyone is pleased with the publicity.
Kitty and the Midnight Hour, Kitty Goes to Washington, Kitty Takes a Holiday, Kitty and the Silver Bullet, Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand, Kitty Raises Hell
July 31, 2008 at 3:33 pm
[...] of great books that I haven’t had time to post about. That’s why I decided to add a book recommendation page to suggest some of my favorites. There are quite a few more books I already plan to add in the [...]
March 27, 2009 at 1:29 pm
[...] a bit sad because Kindle 2 can hold a lot of books. I’m not sure if everything on my recommendations list is available for Kindle. But if they all were, then they’d all [...]