5 Top Urban Fantasy Fantasy Series! 

I appreciate the effort, but would probably prefer without. (A bit distracting to me.) Cheers!

good to know! I recorded one with and one without@@kurtschumacher8074

For me personally, I'd say the music is a touch too loud. If it was a little lower in the mix/your voice more in the front I wouldn't be oppose to it.

Thank you, Philip! (see, you are even getting me to use commas properly on occasion) Enjoy your walk!

Thanks Chris! And you as well! It finishes strong!

Very cool! I will add both Trail of Lightning and James Butcher's series to my list. Thank you!!

Awesome! For sure let me know what you think of them!

Thanks! I'll check out the Mercy Thompson books! I read book one of The Hollows and didn't love it as much as I'd hoped. Glad you are here for this journey!!

@@BrianBell7 Book 1 of the hollows is probably one the weakest in the series. Just kinda the setup. It gets more interesting.

@@fennecfox3893 Good to know. Thanks, I will revisit!

Let me know how you like them!

Thank you. I agree, the background audio levels are too hot on this one. Lesson learned for next time for sure!

Yes! Every interview I've seen with Jim Butcher has been wonderful. I'm surprised Iron Druid doesn't get more booktube love. Alex Verus really does seem like there's a lot to explore there and we don't see a ton about Benedict Jacka in this corner of booktube. Good suggestion! Thank you!!

Thank you so much for watching and subscribing. It means a lot to me when a message resonates with someone.

Cool! Will do!

yay fancy brian!! I think Hounded is 100% a Tori book!

so Stephen Blackmoore is both a writer for fiction and videogames. I'd personally start with Sandman Slim as I think Eric Carter pulls a lot from him, so that order would make sense.

Make sure to let me know what you think! We want lots of community discussion over here!

Thank you so much! I hope you do! They really bring their own vibe to the genre.

interesting! i'll take a look at those titles!

Right?! You really never know what you will get when you click on a BellTube video! This time, Lobo, THE MAIN MAN! Yeah, all of them rock!

yes, he for sure goes through character growth. but early on, very much the Monster who kills monsters :) Alignment system seemed to make it an easier way than to rank the series :)

Finally! We've found some books you haven't read yet!!

Haha right! That's what I love about booktube, there's so much out there!@@BrianBell7

Cool, I'll check out the Conroe and Zahn books. I read book one of the The Hollows, and, at least at that time, it wasn't for me. I can't remember why, but I only rated it 2 stars. It was several years ago.

Sort of agree. Could’ve been a couple books shorter of a series

His Paper & Sigil spinoff series is also good. 2 books of out it so far!

I have not finished the Iron Druid yet I will check out his spin off for sure after I wrap it up. @@BrianBell7

hell yes it is! fire up a Malediction!

Basically, we have Atticus O'Sullivan, a several thousand year old druid, who appears in his 20's. He has a fantastic animal companion who speaks, Oberon, an Irish Wolfhound. And Atticus is very concerned about the Earth, the environment, etc.. A very likeable main character for sure.

I’ve ordered “Hounded” and it should be here early next week, I’m on the last Dresden book so I’m ready for my next series :)

Hi, for sure let me know when you get to them. No, I haven't heard of Charles De Lint, but I will look him up! I'll check into standalone urban fantasy for you, but for the most part, they seem to be series.

it really is!!

I totally agree. The volume on it is too hot. Do you like the idea in general of background music if it were more truly in the background?

@@BrianBell7 honestly could do without it, or do it while introducing the book but have it fade out while you go into more detail

Dresden reads incredibly fast, so don't let the book count keep you away. And if you happen to listen to Audible, the narration there is fantastic. I think I agree with you on background sound volume. We'll get it dialed in better moving forward :)

@@BrianBell7 that sounds good, I’ll definitely check the first book from the library and see how it goes. Thanks!

fair warning.. you'll hear this from me and everyone else, the first 3 books of dresden are not generally regarded as the height of the writing... but, they read fast and the payoff is worth it. @@ChaptersWeLove

@@BrianBell7 ok, I’ll keep that in mind thanks for the heads up

Dissenting opinions are most welcome here! I certainly don't have a authorial claim on the definition. I just feel like, for me, urban fantasy is a better descriptor of our world and modern for others, lest we start calling events happening in places that are technically cities, as "urban." I also look at urban as basically a time period from about when electricity was invented. Voice away! Maybe I will come around to a different way of thinking about it.

@@BrianBell7 I mean, “urban” literally means “of, relating to, characteristic of, or constituting a city” (per Webster), which seems to me that any fantasy set in a cityscape of some sort should count. While I grant that a significant majority of urban fantasies are set in a version of our world, I think the label is much richer if it’s about any fantasy set in a city. First because it focuses our attention on the idea of city life and how that mingles with the fantastic elements. For instance, in one author it can comment on how people organize (and simultaneously disassociate) in large populations; in another it can be a colorization of the mythic glitz and glamour of urban life, whether or not it’s set in a Secondary World or our Primary World. Using a city as the setting, even in a Secondary World, can possibly be an even more powerful comment on the human condition than yet another fantasy set in a simulation medieval world. Second, if we limit “urban fantasy” to our world, then we create lots of difficult exclusions. For instance, a novel like China Mieville’s The City & The City is set in an urban space in a fictional Eastern European nation. It’s technically our world, but also it’s not. And something like Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence wouldn’t really work under your label “modern fantasy,” because his secondary world is too different from ours, while it’s powerfully defined by its sense of urbanity. Or there’s Sean Stewart’s amazing novel, Galveston, which is technically in our world, but one that’s been so blasted and altered that I wonder if it could qualify. Or there’s other fantasies set in the cities of a version of our world after some sort of catastrophe, (eg. Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning) so would those be urban fantasy by technicality or does an apocalypse change the landscape enough that it doesn’t count? I get the appeal of limiting the label to a version of our world, but to me that seems to steer the reader away from what I would consider the essential aspect of the genre: the valences and challenges and wonders of city life. A city functions like a world unto itself in microcosm, and I find that a far more compelling way of categorizing the genre. (And this doesn’t need to take away from the list you’ve provided here. I’m just quibbling about labels, because I’m an academic with thoughts and a bit of holiday free time🙃.)

I appreciate your well-thought out views. Leave it to an academic to pull Webster on me :) I'm kidding, of course. I haven't read those other works, except Gladstone's (and I didn't like it), so I'll take your word regarding them. If I'm understanding the gist of your point, we'd almost be better off calling the genre City Fantasy, and then incorporate all of it under that umbrella. But I'm sure there would be exclusions there as well. What about a farm in Wisconsin in American Gods? OMG, Paul. Did we just create Farm Fantasy?! Wait, I take that back. People may think it's something else entirely. But seriously, I'm still wondering why "Modern" fantasy wouldn't work for something like "The City & The City" (which I haven't read), as it's a modern location seemingly with modern conveniences? @@paulwilliams6913

@@BrianBell7 I would still argue that any city-centric fantasy, regardless of the nature of the storyworld, should be titled urban fantasy since “urban” literally means it’s about a city. I almost wonder if we might just flip the application of the labels suggested?

I haven't yet! I'll look it up!