However it's not all bad. Although some are a stretch to fit in the modern fantasy genre, here are a sample of decent books I can recommend:
Night Watch by Sergei Lubaynenko 3.5 Stars
Light and dark sorcerers maintain a Cold
War-style truce, maintaining a balance between good, and chaos. Each side has a group of sorcerers (“Others”)
who oversee the others – the Night Watch are Light magicians responsible for
policing dark others like vampires, werewolves etc. It is a massively popular Russian series
which, pleasantly, avoids the usual clichés.
This series is an enjoyable change of pace from the usual urban fantasy. There is actually a very good movie that goes
with it – but I recommend you read the book first or you may not grasp what is
going on.
Why you’d read it: An excellent urban fantasy with an
interesting take on a rather tired genre.
The books (at least the first) work as standalone. However the “Twilight” (a series of dimensions
where Others can walk/draw their power) had a very cool “reveal” about it in a
later book.
Why you’d leave it: It has a very European style of writing and
may be a bit different in its style and ‘voice’ to mainstream novels. The books are a hefty ~500 pages. Whilst I really enjoyed the first few books,
I became a bit jaded by the series end (book 5).
Blood Oath: The President’s Vampire by
Chris Farnsworth 3.5 Stars
This reminds me a of a Hellboy ripoff – a young White House staffer becomes the handler of
a 100-year old vampire who serves the United States. It even comes with a
secret-base-under-the-Smithsonian. That
said, this is a surprisingly good series, and the author gets better with every
book. I like how he weaves myths and
conspiracy theories through the series.
Why you’d read it: Because you’d like to know what REALLY
happened at Innsmouth (spoiler: involves vampire and secret service with
flamethrowers); how Osama Bin Laden actually died, and where Dr Frankenstein is
living today.
Also, you liked Hellboy.
Why you’d leave it: You’re as sick of
vampires as you are of zombies, even if the vampire is more a blood-spattered
superhuman secret assassin. The author is no Hemingway, though he is quite good
and improves with each book.
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey 3.5 Stars
This is the most ‘conventional’ of my round-up; a
detective who can whistle up ghosts.
It’s perhaps typical of its kind, but the author is a Hellblazer(Constantine) comic writer who
has proved very adept at novels, and in fact has some outstanding books in
different genres. It’s more
“British” than the usual urban fantasy
fare, and there is a distinct lack of succubi, vampires and werewolves.
Why you’d get it: A “British” Harry
Dresden. If you prefer British movies and comedy over the US equivalent, this
is for you.
Why you’d leave it: You find the whole “supernatural sleuth”
cliché tired, no matter who is writing it.
The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey 4
Stars
This is a weird but excellent book. I’m not
sure what genre it fits in. It’s like 28 Days Later (but with fungal zombies) meets
Roahl Dahl’s Matilda. For once I agree with the hyperbole on the
dust jacket – “warm, surprising, chilling, enigmatic, unexpectedly poignant,
gripping.” In fact I’ll quote from it:
“Every
morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When the come for
her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap
her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite. But they don’t
laugh.”
Why you’d read it: This borrows from a range of books, games and
movies yet makes something unique, compelling and original. For once, the critics are right.
Why you’d leave it: Because you are sick of
zombies, no matter how uniquely they are packaged. And
you like by-the-numbers, predictably familiar books by Dan Brown or Mills &
Boon.
Bitter Seeds (The Milkweed Trypych) by Ian
Tregillis 3.5 Stars
Weird War II. Nazi psychics with superhuman powers battle
British warlocks using blood sacrifice to summon “Eidolons” - demons from
another dimension.
Interested?
The series expands into the Cold War before concluding in a bittersweet
third book. This is definitely a spy
book with a twist. Sometimes, the sacrifice necessary to defeat evil can be as
terrible as losing to it.
Why you’d read it: A well-written Weird War
II book? That’s as unusual as good
Twilight fanfiction. Grab it while you
can. It’s quite gritty and “realistic” –
so far as the subject matter allows. The
characters are flawed and believable.
Why you’d leave it: It’s quite dark and unrelentingly grim. I felt like I needed to get out into the
wholesome sunshine after reading it.
Pashazade (Arabesk Trilogy) By John
Courtney Grimwood 3.5 Stars
This is a kind of alternate history, where
WW1 never happened and the Ottoman Empire exists in the 21st
century. A detective story set in
Alexandria (which is a kind of spy Casablanca), with an enigmatic main
character (genetically/drug enhanced, and accompanied by a hallucinatory fox)
who must clear his name of murder. The
story is intercut with flashbacks. A
fascinating, unusual book set in a rich world.
Why you’d read it: If you like your
detective books with a dash of the unusual (cyberpunk Arabia + alternate
history.) The author is probably the
most talented of the books recommended on this page
Thanks for these recommendations. I'll have to check some of them out.
ReplyDeleteAnother modern fantasy series you might like is the Laundry series by Charlles Stross. It's about a secret British agency nicknamed the Laundry that investigates and attempts to co-op supernatural threats--when it's not drowning in paperwork. The series has been described as The Office meets MI5 in a battle against Lovecraftian horrors from beyond space and time.
And that author's name is spelled Charles Stross, if anyone's planning to do a google search.
ReplyDelete