r/urbanfantasy

Hello all! 🌸

​I’m a long-time UF reader and a fan of Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh (Shame on me, I skip romance parts), and Anne Bishop. Lately, I’ve been struggling with the "Romantasy" boom and am looking for new authors/worlds where the romance remains well under 50%.

​Because I work in the industry and invested many hours to genre, I have a very low tolerance for editorial slips, clunky dialogue, or plot holes. I’m looking for deep world-building—ideally traditionally published or high-end indie.

I am already familiar with most major names published between 2010 and 2020.

​Who are the newer authors keeping the UF torch burning without leaning into spice or tired tropes?

Thank you for even reading this long help post. I hope I did not offend anyone. 🌸🧿

Addition: I don't hate romance, I just want it to be subplot, not the main deal. It adds colour, I am a happily married person. 🙈🤐🤣

This is just a thread to shout out humorous Urban Fantasy. I’ve got tons of respect for authors who can balance stakes that drive the story, interesting magic systems, and humor that doesn’t distract.

For me, the GOAT is Lauretta Hignett, I laugh out loud at least once every book of hers I read. I also love Anderle’s John Brownstone (I know it’s divisive), Dina Zales’ Dadha Urban, and Drew Hayes’ Vampire accountant.

Please shout out your favorite author, series, or character with a sense of humor in an Urban Fantasy story.

(obligatory admission that I’m releasing my own humorous UF, this one witchy and Chicago pizza-based. I’m trying to read as much funny UF as I can, so recommendations, pls!)

Besides this sub-Reddit, are there other venues or platforms you use to find Urban Fantasy recommendations? It's a wonderful genre of literature with a broad list of choices, but I'm having trouble finding more places devoted to this genre. Google has its recommendations, I know, but I feel like I can trust the opinions here much more.

Is there any UF where the protagonist isn't a chosen one, has some special bloodline or anything similar that other than being supernatural isn't all that special?

I like a good Urban Fantasy story, one that has decent characters, good storyline, and one that doesn't take itself too seriously (has some humour).
Lauretta Hignett has all of this and more.
She has written seven series now, each with a strong female lead, and each series has a lose affiliation with each other, but you don’t have to have read the other series to dive into any of the individual series, making it easy to pick and choose if something doesn’t quite interest you.
Each of the series follows a female lead.
The first series follows Imogen, an immortal who has been travelling through time, trying to understand what, or who she is, and why she is here, and to some extent, how she can end her existence. There is something dark following Imogen through time though, and in this series, it all comes to ahead.

The second series follow’s Sandy, a hairdresser who is in a bit of a bad relationship and things are not going well for her, that is until one day she eats a banana. Of course, the banana just happens to have a vengeance demon trapped in it, and she ends up sharing her body with the vengeance demon. The demon is called Mavka, and she is the rage of wronged women – and she is utterly hilarious. This is a series that will have you in stitches.
Her third series follow’s a young woman called Prudence. Prudence is a little different, in that she is a skeleton. Yup, just a walking skeleton with a soul and a good illusion to make is seem like she has all the coverings the rest of us have.

Prudence is taking on a new job – the role of Enforcer for Washington, keeping everyone in line. She’s not sure she’s up for the job. Everyone else has no doubt.

Series four is about Chloe. Chloe was originally in series two, as a young ditzy hairdresser, until she had a spell removed from her that had kept her as a ditzy braindead blonde for over ten years. Chloe is not a ditzy blonde. She is a highly trained, elite assassin, and now, she is on a mission of vengeance to find and pay back those that left her like that. This series is a little darker than the others, but is one of the best Hignett has written.

The Hidden City follows on from Chloe’s series, and reintroduces Daphne. Daphne was a young girl the last time we saw her, but things have happened to her, and she is now a young woman. She has grown 13yrs in only a few years due to some things that happened to her (they will be explained). Daphne now works for the Otherworld Child Care agency, investigating child welfare. This series is set in an alternative reality for otherworld people – an event has happened that has changed things. Daphne is a brilliant character, she is slightly naïve due to her experiences, but also a lethal weapon, again, due to her experiences. There are some of the best characters in this series, Dwayne is back, the chaos god in the form of a goose, the Countess, and many others. Easily the best of her series.
Her latest series follow’s a young woman, only 17, who is genius level intelligent (think Sheldon), but has been attacked by a vampire. Now unable to attend MIT like she wanted, she has to attend a college that does night schooling and takes on otherworld students. This series is like if a female Sheldon was bitten by a vampire, and had to survive – it is incredibly hilarious, Marie is funnier than Sheldon, she has sarcasm down so well, she can strip people like peeling paint.
Hignett has also written another series, Susan you’re the Chosen One, about a woman who has what she feels is a pretty perfect life, husband, house, good friends, and then it is all taken away. Susan finds herself being accused of being a bit nuts – because, well Susan has magic, and she may well be the chosen one. And she can see otherworld creatures, and no one else (well, ‘normies’) can’t. Funny, witty, a little crazy – but brilliant!
Lauretta Hignett is not to be missed if you love great Urban Fantasy!!

  

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I finished book #1 of Alex Verus series and liked it well enough. Can I jump straight to book 4 and still follow the story?

I'm more interested in the abusive mentor backstory than the monster of the week, and I understand that Richard reappears in book 4, so I don't want to wait through 2 books for that.

I'm looking for beta readers for my completed urban fantasy novel, Shadow Pine Lodge.

The Pitch: Vera is a 300-year-old vampire who has gotten very good at not being known. She works in a library basement, keeps careful distances, and has built a life that functions as long as nobody looks too closely. Then her concealment charm breaks at a supernatural sanctuary in the woods, and everything she's managed for three centuries stops being manageable at once, including how she feels about the woman she's been carefully not falling for. Her coworkers see everything. That's the problem.

The Book: 65,000 words - Character-driven urban fantasy with slow-burn romance - Found family, no chosen ones, real supernatural stakes -

Content warnings: violence, blood, sexual content, references to past trauma

What I'm Looking For: 3-5 readers who like character-focused speculative fiction with genuine emotional weight. You don't need beta reading experience — just honesty and 4 weeks to read. I'll send you a simple feedback form with specific questions. I'm looking for what worked, what didn't, and whether the story lands emotionally.

Interest? Comment below or DM me.

Happy to answer questions about the book first. Thanks!

Anyone know any good UF series where the protagonists power is summoning creatures, spirits, monsters etc to help them?

The Ethan Drake Infernal Justice Series and Summoner for Hire are all that come to mind for me.

Hi! I am looking for 2-3 willing readers who are part of my target audience: enjoying female-lead, mystery-forward Urban Fantasy, with a romantic subplot.

What I will share: my first 10 chapters of a series starter, and I am specifically interested to hear from readers of the genre if the pacing is right. Plus, I will have some questions for each chapter.

Comp series (heroines): Jane Yellowrock, Gin Blanco, Kate Daniels. If you enjoyed these gals, I need your help 😍.

Timeline: will ask for this end of May/start of June.

Tropes/Themes: found family, urban setting (altered London), partially hidden magic, humans v. witches v. creatures, murder mystery cases; romance will NOT be heavy in the first chapters but if you hate romantic subplots this is not for you.

If you are still reading and interested please comment with what's your favorite UF series so that I have an idea of your reading experience.

Is there any UF series where the protagonist is a ghost or ghost adjacent like a draugr , The Max Porter mysteriws by Stuart Jaffe has a secondary protagonist who is the ghost of a dead PI

For example Dresden files has a hidden magic world, "real life" myths included in the story, noir detective, downtrodden protagonist (in the beginning), magic system isn't overly complicated.

In Book 3 Stephen ist struggling to sell the essentia they claimed. Why does he not consider selling it to the Ashfords? Or why is ne not asking his father how to sell? I am very confused, when he seems kind of smart, that he is not utilizing is connections at this point.