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I'm a fan of urban fantasy. At least, I used to be, back in the days of SERRAted Edge, and Bedlam's bard, and the Adept series. But now, when I look for urban fantasy, I pretty much only find YA romance. Even worse, it's all written in 1st person, which always makes the protagonist annoying.

Has real urban fantasy just gone out of style? Is there anything out there with characters who have actually graduated high school? Not written in 1st person?

What kind of stuff you are talking about?? Yes I checked it out & find that it is written in first person

You could try Arbor Day, although it's more scifi than fantasy, but very light scifi. (More focused on the characters)

Thanks! I'll give it a look!

Yes, first person does seem to be the name of the game for a lot of these, so I agree with you there. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing if the author is a talented storyteller, and if the character is particularly unique, it can get you more in touch with who they are.

Have you tried "The Dresden Files" by Jim Butcher? The first one in that series is called "Storm Front." It was his first novel and I believe he wrote it for a college creative writing class, or something like that. In a lot of ways you can tell he was just starting to really develop, but from the second novel on the series gets phenomenal. I can't speak highly enough of the stories and the cast of characters that come and go.

I also just completed the second novel in the "Iron Druid Chronicles" by Kevin Hearne, which is called "Hexed". the first was "Hounded." These stories are a bit more simplistic in their delivery, but cleverly written and laugh-out-loud funny at times. You ask if the character is out of high school yet? Well this main character is thousands of years old, so right there that should answer your question. However, he doesn't look a day over twenty, which he uses to his advantage, and is the last surviving druid who is trying to live incognito in Arizona because a lot of old world gods want him dead. Problem is, they manage to keep finding him. I look forward to reading more stuff in this series.

I also just checked out two more urban fantasy novels that look promising, though I haven't read them yet. One is called "Tales from the Nightside" and the other is "Neverwhere"

I've noticed that most of them are written about teens now. It seems to be what's selling I guess. Neverwhere does sound good, will have to check it out!

I love the Iron Druid! Kevin Hearne actually gets a pass on the first person, because he's found a voice for his protagonist that isn't whiny or overly dramatic or narcissistic. I actually enjoy his wry commentary on the world. Not to mention his useful tips, like when you're drinking with Jesus Christ, you don't buy him cheap whiskey. I've avoided Dresden because it's in 1st person. Maybe I'll finally break down and give him a try.

The Dresden books are awesome and Hearne is writing a Star Wars novel starring Luke Skywalker. I'm excited to see what he does with it.

Hey there! The Disillusionist trilogy by Carolyn Crane is pretty kickass in terms of being different from the sea of vampires/werewolves/mages/angels etc, out there. Another series you might like is Vicki Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac - it's dark and gritty and kind of reads more like a comic book than anything. I can't remember which POV these were written in, but fwiw, they feature female protags.

Try "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.

I honestly have had trouble finding similar books but one that has not failed is indeed Snow crash

I am tired of all the first person POV mostly because it lacks variety but Hounded showed me that it can still be done. The humor is clever and adds to the enjoyment of the story instead of feeling forced which happens all too often.

derekpowell wrote:Try "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.

Awesome book. Anything by Stephenson, actually. Did you know that Snow Crash was actually the first place the word "Avatar" was used to refer to an online identity?

Another thing I might try is "Imajica" by Clive Barker. It's kind of urban fantasy, kind of epic fantasy, and wholly unlike anything else you've ever read.

It's a bit sexually ambiguous, but the worldbuilding is better than 99.9% of everything else out there.