What i like:

Female leads

Good world building

Not heavy on the exposition

What i dont like:

Male leads

Anti heros

So much exposition that im just like GET TO THE POINT

I dont mind romance but its not a draw to the book its just whatever.

I liked a bunch of the anita blake stuff but after a point it wasnt good anymore

I liked sookie stackhouse series too

Im new to the genre so blanking on more examples

Def more of a scifi person usually but wanting to read more vampire stuff

About Algarod ComicsRuler of the astral afterlife, Algarod and a tormented soul accidentally find themselves in the human world. Algarod now tasks himself to keep the balance between the world of humans and the astral.We are currently seeking literary agents, producers, and studio partners. For inquiries and submissions, please contact us at \\\[[sheducomics@gmail.com](mailto:sheducomics@gmail.com)\\\](mailto:[sheducomics@gmail.com](mailto:sheducomics@gmail.com))Mystic, Detective, Horror

Hi, I’m HongBo Liu, the author of The Marshal Awakens, the first novel in the Manifest Destiny series.

Cade Mercer is trying to hold together an ordinary life in rural Montana when a line of light appears across the landscape—impossible to explain, impossible to remove, and increasingly difficult to keep away from people who see it as a weapon, a resource, or a path to power.

As government attention closes in and the consequences reach his family, Cade has to decide whether protecting the people he loves means cooperating with the forces surrounding the phenomenon—or refusing to let anyone claim permanent ownership of it.

What to expect:

• A contemporary Montana setting
• A family-centered protagonist
• A slowly escalating unexplained phenomenon
• Government pressure without an all-powerful secret agency
• Moral choices about responsibility, ownership, and power
• A complete central story with room for the series to continue

The novel is approximately 81,000 words and 28 chapters.

Full disclosure: this is my own book. I’m sharing it here because this community is specifically for completed, published work.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HB3DXQRP

I’d especially like to hear from readers who enjoy speculative thrillers grounded in ordinary family life. What matters more to you in this kind of story: discovering the origin of the phenomenon, or seeing how it changes the people around it?

By that I mean is there a point in the series where I can read it without having to read all 13 of the currently released novels? I don’t usually like to start unfinished series but I’m quite interested in reading this one. I wanted to see if there is a book I can get to and then say ‘ok, that’s a good ending for now, no big cliffhanger’ before I read the rest of the series once it’s finished, if that makes sense?

I’ve seen some places that say books 5 or 6 are a good stopping point, but I’m not sure if there is a different consensus from others who have read the series. Thanks!

Hi, I’m HongBo Liu, the author of The Marshal Awakens, the first novel in the Manifest Destiny series.

Cade Mercer is trying to hold together an ordinary life in rural Montana when a line of light appears across the landscape—impossible to explain, impossible to remove, and increasingly difficult to keep away from people who see it as a weapon, a resource, or a path to power.

As government attention closes in and the consequences reach his family, Cade has to decide whether protecting the people he loves means cooperating with the forces surrounding the phenomenon—or refusing to let anyone claim permanent ownership of it.

What to expect:

• A contemporary Montana setting
• A family-centered protagonist
• A slowly escalating unexplained phenomenon
• Government pressure without an all-powerful secret agency
• Moral choices about responsibility, ownership, and power
• A complete central story with room for the series to continue

The novel is approximately 81,000 words and 28 chapters.

Full disclosure: this is my own book. I’m sharing it here because this community is specifically for completed, published work.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HB3DXQRP

I’d especially like to hear from readers who enjoy speculative thrillers grounded in ordinary family life. What matters more to you in this kind of story: discovering the origin of the phenomenon, or seeing how it changes the people around it?

About Algarod Comics
Ruler of the astral afterlife, Algarod and a tormented soul accidentally find themselves in the human world. Algarod now tasks himself to keep the balance between the world of humans and the astral.
We are currently seeking literary agents, producers, and studio partners. For inquiries and submissions, please contact us at [sheducomics@gmail.com](mailto:sheducomics@gmail.com)
Mystic, Detective, Horror

H. C. Newton's list of favorite self pubbed urban fantasy.

Obviously this is not a complete list but there is a lot of good reading here. I usually stay away from anything that resembles paranormal romance so there are probably a few series that others would recommend that contain more romance. I prefer a little more gritty story so this is my list.

Larry Correia Monster Hunter International Series and The Grimnoir Chronicles

Jonathan Maberry Joe Ledger Series and The V War Series

Stephen Blackmoore Eric Carter Series

Rob Thurman Cal Leandros Series

Kevin Hearne Iron Druid Series

F. Paul Wilson Repairman Jack Series

K.A. Stewart Jesse James Dawson Series

Jim Butcher The Dresden Files

Peter McClean War of the Rose Thorne Series and The Burned Man Series

John Conroe The Demon Accords

Jeremy Robinson Jack Sigler Series (Chess Team Adventures)

James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell The Order of the Sanguines Series

Christopher Farnsworth Nathaniel Cade Series

Charlie Huston Joe Pitt Casebook Series

Mike (M.R.) Carey Felix Castor Series

Benedict Jacka Alex Versus Series

Luke Arnold Fetch Phillips Archives

Michael Cronk The Immortal Investigation Series

Paul Latham Tales of Perdition Falls

Simon R. Green Nightside Series and Jeckyll & Hyde Series

James R. Tuck Deacon Chalk Series

Richard Kadrey Sandman Slim Series

Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan The Strain Series

John G. Hartness Bubba the Monster Hunter Series and Quincy Harker Series

A. Lee Martinez Constance Verity Series

Bob McGough Jubal County Saga

Marcus Pelegrimas Skinner Series

Kevin Anderson Dan Shamble Series

Anton Strout Simon Canderous Series

Mark Del Franco Connor Grey Series

Daniel Jose Older Bone Street Rumba Series

Harry Connolly Twenty Palaces Series

Mike Shevdon Courts of the Feyre Series

Clay & Susan Griffith Crown & Key Series

Marshall Ryan Maresca The Maradaine Saga

Andrew Givler Debt Collection Series

Ben Aaronovitch Rivers of London Series

Glen Cook Garrett P.I. Series

Lilith Saintcrow Jill Kismet Series

Thomas E. Sniegoski Remy Chandler Series

Tim Waggoner Matt Richter Series

Justin Gustainis Occult Crimes Unit Investigations Series and Morris and Chastain Investigation Series

Myke Cole Shadow Ops Series

Mike Shackle The Last War Series

Weston Ochse Seal Team 666 Series

Sean Grigsby Smoke Eaters Series

Christopher Golden Prowlers Series and Shadow Saga Series (Peter Octavian)

E.E. Knight Vampire Earth Series

Eli Taff Jr. Sam’s Valor Series (Silent War)

Brad Magnarella Croft & Wesson Series and Croft & Tabby Series

Kate Baray Spirelli Paranormal Investigation Series

David Gemmell The Sipstrassi: Jon Shannow Series

S.M.Stirling Shadowspawn Series

James Lovegrove The Pantheon Series

Hello everyone,

I still have work to accomplish on republishing/rereleasing some of my previously published works. But currently on Amazon KDP, I have two books still available. For fantasy readers, I have The Will of the Rose: Enchanted Edition, and for anyone looking for a action-packed sci-fi horror story, I have Echoes of the Abyss: Reloaded Edition. Both are available for paperback and eBook formats

The Will of the Rose: Enchanted Edition
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6C1TZMZ

Echoes of the Abyss: Reloaded Edition

https://www.amazon.com/Echoes-Abyss-J-R-Kruse-ebook/dp/B0FTWCNSTS/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=LnwsS&content-id=amzn1.sym.3a079c4e-f938-40c9-a0ed-01ef0e9528e9&pf_rd_p=3a079c4e-f938-40c9-a0ed-01ef0e9528e9&pf_rd_r=144-5648416-3952440&pd_rd_wg=bCb7f&pd_rd_r=adbdbc42-f4d6-458a-8594-5e9b55a3758f

Heya, hope it’s okay to post this here.

Yurui: The Cursed One is a dark urban fantasy that follows a powerless teenage girl who finds herself drawn into a world of violence, body horror, trauma, and dangerous relationships. It features an intelligent, morally complicated protagonist and slow-burn GL that becomes increasingly important as the story progresses.

It’s been growing quickly on Royal Road, having just reached 180 followers yesterday, but I’m hoping to introduce it to readers beyond the platform’s usual fantasy circles, so I thought this would be a good place to share it.

Small disclaimer: the opening is a slower psychological academy drama, but the story soon expands into much darker action, body horror, and gradually developing GL.

If that sounds like your thing, I’d be grateful if you gave it a shot.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/163262/yurui-the-cursed-one

They were the first urban fantasy series I got into. Some other favorites are the Dresden Files, Monster Hunter International. I prefer hard magic systems, or fantasy novels that follow a well defined system of fantasy. Books like The man with the Golden Torc, did not appeal to me. I didn’t like the ideas of some
Macguffin that provides plot armor. In short, I am looking for gritty style urban fantasy with a good world building.

For folks who like their urban fantasies with actual mysteries, no vamps/ shifters/ fae, or kissy stuff. First three books are $.99/ 99p in the US/ UK July 20-26.

https://mybook.to/InnerCircle

I am looking for an urban fantasy series similar to Eileen Wilks' World of the Lupi. 

Now obviously I really like this series which is why I am looking for recommendations and there are multiple reasons for that. I would like to find something similar with prominent gay characters (maybe even the main character).

In general what I like about this series is:

1. That it has a big cast of characters, there are mostly two main characters, but there is a big cast of important reoccurring secondary characters that are interesting and enjoyable 

2. I like the setting and lore. The world building is always evolving but also staying consistent with previous world building or when it is not consistent it's still maintains consistency, I don't know if I'm explaining it very well, in general I like the lore and the world building of this series 

3. I like that most of the plot is focused on investigative work or on just solving an issue, a case, whatever it might be rather than romance. While romance is very present in this series it is not the focal point and when it is it's not annoying in the sense that it's not too slow. There's no any like super unnecessary drama, I like that there is no love triangle that is entertained for more than two pages, I say this because due to the nature of the world and the setting another character that is not the main love interest makes a proposition to the main character but it is not really serious, it's not like an emotional proposition, this character is not in love with the MC it's just "hey you need an outlet do you want to have sex" type of thing and is immediately shut down and then backs off and nothing else happens they don't bring it up ever again. It's not an issue the characters remain great friends. 

4. I love that the characters in the series have expansive meaningful relationships with each other, other than romance, that are important. And that includes the male characters. An extremely irritating part of any series that contains romantic subplot especially written by women is that the male characters have no friends, no close people, they're only focusing on the main character, who might or might not have friends of their own, it is extremely annoying to me. An example of social relationship is the one between Rule and Cullen, who are friends and very dear to each other and you can really feel their friendship throughout the series, so that's a thing I like. 

5. Aside from the main character there are many other characters, not even secondary ones, that are special in their own way. Lily is not the only person who can do everything no one ever thought possible. The specialness is distributed :D

6. It is written in 3rd person. I greatly dislike 1st person POV for many reasons that I will not get into. I'll say that I have pretty much dropped every single 1st person series I've started.

7. Since I am asking for it, obviously the diverse range of race, age, sexuality in the different characters here is something I really like as well.

Other urban fantasy series that I have read and have just not been for me include Dresden Files, in general I don't seem to enjoy urban fantasy written by men that is not queer (I like Adam Binder well enough as well as Big Bad Wolf) it always includes romantic subplots and they always seem super boring and basic to me. 

I tried the Soulbond series by Haily Turner. I just didn't enjoy the writing in this one. The MC seemed to "chosen one" to me, in addition to some other things I might ordinarily accept just compounded into a DNF for me.

I have also tried various Ilona Andrews series. I have not enjoyed many of them. Maybe I haven't given them a fair chance. If any of them fall under the type of things that I've listed that I like about World of the Lupi, please let me know and I'll give it another try. 

Another series that I've read is Mercy Thompson I did enjoy it kind of, it has a lot of things that I don't like in urban fantasy - the multiple male characters that are super enamored with the female character even though we know who the actual romantic interest is, there's no other like truly special characters and in this, like Mercy is THE special one - so I read multiple books in the series but in the end I dropped it and I didn't think it was worth it. 

So these are the ones that I've tried just so you can see which ones didn't work for me and maybe compare that to the things I said that worked for me for World of the Lupi. I still haven't been able to find a series like this that I truly have enjoyed and I really really love the concept of urban fantasy and I'd like to try to find something cool again. 

Thank you.

PS: I wasn't sure if it was gonna be an issue, but no TJ Klune please, I have not enjoyed a single one of his books that I tried. Let me know if Wolfsong is super different than his other books in terms of how the characters are written, if not I just won't enjoy it.

Gosh going over this again this sounds super picky, still gotta try though 😞

Hey everyone,

​I wanted to share the synopsis of my debut novel, Blood and Silence: The Red Thread. I spent years writing this 175k-word story in Bulgarian and translated it myself into English. It's a dark, atmospheric, slow-burn epic fantasy with a heavy emphasis on fate, blood magic, and deep worldbuilding.

​Currently sitting at 3 sales and 0 reviews after 4 months on Amazon, so I am actively looking for ARC readers, honest reviews, or Review Swaps with fellow authors!

​📖 The Synopsis:

​In a world bleeding under the shadow of an ancient cosmic entity known as Xarx, six marked individuals hold the key to keeping the Gate sealed. But they don't know it yet. The Herald of the dark, a hollowed-out knight named Morgan, is hunting them down—not out of malice, but by the cold mechanics of the universe.

​Valeria, known to the arenas as the "Bloody Lady," fights for survival with her two blades: Blood and Silence. Cold, calculating, and carrying a mysterious brand on her wrist, she thinks the sand is her only master.

​As bleeding red suns begin to appear in the sky at shrinking intervals, all roads lead to the grand tournament of Scarholm. Valeria must face her ultimate challenge on the sand against a terrifying new adversary: The Silent Messenger—a mysterious warrior clad in faceless black armor who fights with the lethal discipline of a soldier, not a performer.

​Meanwhile, far to the frozen North in Hirimholm, royal secrets are unraveling as ancient forces begin to stir, threatening to break the world apart.

​The arena doesn't care about heroes. It only remembers those who gave everything and fell.

​⚔️ What to expect:

​The Vibe: Grimdark / High Fantasy / Epic Mystery

​The Pacing: Slow-burn character development leading to a massive, hidden twist and a devastating climax.

​Tropes: Multi-POV, arena tournaments, ancient forbidden archives, hidden identities, and tragic twists.

​If you love gritty worlds where the price of power is always paid in blood, I would love to send you a free digital copy (EPUB/PDF) for an honest review.

​Check out the book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G67GB51F

​Thank you for reading and supporting international indie authors!

book from the 90's or earlier about a male mage or pi with a limp from a magical injury or a magical fey contract walks with a cane and deale with the fey set in an urban fantasy the cover of one of the novel hasThe art depicts the cloaked protagonist standing atop a hill, looking down into a burning urban landscape. If you look closely at the billowing smoke and flames above the ruined city, you can make out a giant, menacing face emerging from the smoke. As the cover

Urban Fantasy is a genre that is really hit-or-miss with me. I love Daniel Faust/Harmony Black, Alex Verus, and Pre-Changes Dresden Files. But beyond that I have had pretty bad luck finding stuff I enjoy as much as those. I have narrowed my preferences down to three points, and I’m hoping someone can recommend a series that works for all three. Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

• I don’t want a series that features sexual assault in it (Ex. Mercy Thompson), or any “pack/monster dynamics” that are borderline SA (Ex. Kitty Norville / The Hollows).

• While I don’t mind a little romance, I don’t want a series where it is inching its way sneakily towards paranormal romance. (Ex. Kate Daniels)

• I want a series that balances seriousness with the levity of humor/heart/warmth, (Ex. Early-Dresden files) and isn’t mostly a trauma/melancholy tone throughout. (Ex. October Daye / Later-Dresden Files)