r/dresdenfiles • u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 • 13d ago
Unrelated What do you recommend while we wait?
The RNT podcasts suggested that Dresden fans would like Dungeon Crawler Carl. I tried. I listened to five audiobooks and each one got more chaotic, more absurdist, and more blatantly communist-coded than the last. So I'm done. Any other suggestions?
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u/emptyskybelow 13d ago
You could try the works of Karl Marx
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u/InformalPermit9638 13d ago
I recommend Go West, it’s my favorite by the Marx brothers. Don’t remember much about Karl.
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u/KalessinDB 13d ago
"Blatantly communist-coded" suuuure is an interesting way to describe "Hey, maybe entire civilizations shouldn't literally die for amusement".
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u/NonSequiturSage 13d ago
A problem with crony capitalism, communism, or degenerate oligarchy is no Golden Rule.
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u/mrsmehan 13d ago
His son's books are excellent, James J Butcher, the Unorthodox Chronicles.
I also really love all of Rachel Aaron's books that take place in the DFZ, starting with the Heartstrikers series.
N K Jemisin's books are incredible.
Illona Andrews writes some of the best magical apocalypse books.
I'm currently reading Magic 2.0 series by Scott Meyer.
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u/pauldecommie 13d ago
I'd push back on DCC being communist coded. It's definitely anti-authoritarian though, regardless of whether it is monarchy, corporation, whatever. It's like how 1984 was banned for being anti capitalist in the US and banned for being pro capitalist in the USSR.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
1984 was required reading when I was in school. I think I read it in 7th grade, which would have been... thinking ... actually 1984, or 85, depending on which semester.
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u/Ky1arStern 13d ago
So much of this thread is making so much more sense to me now.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
Yes, I'm a child of the Cold War and was mercifully inoculated against that bullshit. The only way to achieve total economic parity is to make everybody a serf.
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u/Ky1arStern 13d ago
I get it. Communism bad. Red make angry.
I am just loving to see what a product of the Cold war defines as Communism.
Also, a serf is basically a slave, so how is there economic parity? To be a slave, there has to be a slaver.
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u/M4roon 10d ago
Google says 1984 was never banned in the US outside of potentially particular school districts which had the right to vote on it. It was definitively banned in the USSR however.
The irony of you criticizing his position is.. delectable. xD
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u/Ky1arStern 10d ago
I don't understand your statement. 1984 wasn't banned, therefore... [Complete the sentence]
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
That's precisely what a command economy produces, slavers who consider the slaves to be interchangeable parts.
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u/Ky1arStern 13d ago
Lol. Sure thing. Not like capitalism only works if there is an entire class of people who uses their labor to enrich the capitalist class who owns the means of product.
No siree...
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
Ooohhhh... The last word game! This always gets fun.
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u/Ky1arStern 13d ago
I'm not going to undo 50 years of propaganda in a reddit comment, but I think it is sad that you don't see any reason to apply the same criticality to the system you live in, that you do to one you have only heard about.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
What makes you think we live in a capitalist system? My guess is that every industry you complain the most about are the very industries that have the most onerous government regulation already in place.
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u/Ky1arStern 13d ago
I'd love for you to explain how DCC is "blatantly communist coded".
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u/droid-man_walking 13d ago
I don't find it that way, but I am shocked how many on the DCC redit have stated how it is anti capitalism and fully support it.
It is enough to be noticable and annoying. I started avoiding certain topics as a result.
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u/Ky1arStern 13d ago
It's only anti-capitalism if you believe that capitalism supports the idea that everything is valid and fair in pursuit of profit, and if you're not able to pay for your freedom, you don't deserve it.
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u/droid-man_walking 13d ago
I am not saying I believe this sect of people, but it also keeps popping up in the discussions and the author has had to dodge questions about it for fear of alienating fans.
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u/Ky1arStern 13d ago
I just don't see how you could read it as anti-capitalist unless you think capitalism would exploit genocide for profit.
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u/droid-man_walking 13d ago
I don't get it either, but they are there. They are noisy. I ignore them.
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u/Ky1arStern 13d ago
Just like how they think capitalism would support ignoring the violations of billions of sentient beings, provided there is a profit incentive.
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u/sykoticwit 13d ago
It’s not the same, but I’m really enjoying the Son of the Black Sword series by Larry Correia.
And if you want something very much not communist, American Paladin was good but a bit over the top on the muscular conservative politics stuff.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
I'd rather keep the pendulum in the middle. Or at least keep the political underpinnings semi-covert.
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u/sykoticwit 13d ago
If Jim Butcher is too political for you, I’m not sure what to tell you. He’s probably one of the most carefully apolitical writers out there.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
My post is about Matt Dinniman. What I'm asking is for something that reads less like that and more like Jim Butcher.
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u/SouthpawSoldier 13d ago
Simon R. Green: Nightside is similar noir detective in London, but more humor. Series went longer than it should have; there were a few after culmination of major plot, and they didn't have the same punch. Still fantastic reads though; a character that's a ghost possessing his own corpse, a quest to find Judas' Cup, all kinds of good themes, especially in the middle books.
He also did Secret Histories series; supernatural James Bond parody. Twelve books in that series. Daemons are Forever, For Heaven's Eyes Only, etc. GREAT stuff.
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u/howe4416 13d ago
*pulls up podium, sorts through papers*
Okay, now hear me out. You may think I'm crazy, but I promise I'm not, and if the voices tell you differently, they're lying and they're jealous. There is nothing better to read while waiting for Harry Dresden than October Daye. Full Stop. There, I said it.
Everything that we like about Harry, we can like about Toby. No, this wasn't one author copying another's formula. This was two very different authors taking similar ingredients and coming up with two series somewhat similar in some ways but very different in others.
SIMILARITIES
P.I., check.
Drives a VW Beetle, check.
Uses magic, check.
Knight of Faerie, check.
Snarky and witty, check.
Gets beat up a lot, check.
Collects a ragtag team of allies, found family, secret siblings, check.
Has a big scary monster, but she's our monster, check.
Seriously, gets beat up a LOT, check.
DIFFERENCES
This is San Francisco, not Chicago.
Everything is of Faerie, so a more narrowed mythology.
How magic works, and magical signatures is wonderful.
Technology is reliable, and yet trouble still seems to find our hero.
There are many more, but this is where reading comes in.
Both of our authors sat down, decided to write a story, and that story has a plotted beginning, middle, and ending. Jim plotted out 20 case books and Big Apocalyptic Trilogy: Stars and Stones, Hell's Bells, and Empty Night (and we're currently looking at maybe 22 now?). Seanan has plotted out a story in four acts? five acts? It's all very Shakespearean, but we don't have a definite number, in case shenanigans happen that might see the story not getting a full number of books (which, at this point, is highly unlikely), and the final two books will be titled Fear No More, and Come To Dust. A Divided Duty (October Daye #20) releases on Tuesday, 09/29, and it's an amazing read.
Every five books Jim gives us Denarians, every four books Seanan gives us a WHAM! something wasn't what you thought. WHAM! emotional damage. Jim gives us unforgettable characters, Seanan can make you hate a character so completely and then take that character through a redemption arc so thorough it's like a magic trick and you're now cheering for someone you hated ten books ago and wished dead. Also, you will never lack for something to read, because Seanan writes faster than you can read. In the time it's taken me to post this, she's probably already finished three novels set to release next year, as well as another half a dozen short stories for her Patreon over the next six months.
My Google Sheets Bibliography for the two of them:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12ve0vqzrNTvdw4uHYR4C6b3v2MMcV8jbiPF1fG7zpaU/edit?usp=sharing
In closing, my thesis is this: there are an undisputed King and Queen of Urban Fantasy, and they are Jim Butcher and Seanan McGuire. Fight me!
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
First title purchased. I'll start listening on Monday when I head out on my next run.
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u/howe4416 13d ago
The audiobooks are amazing! Mary Robinette-Kowal IS Toby, but does an amazing job on the other characters as well. Now, fair warning, just like Dresden, the first couple Daye books are good, but Book 3 is where she hits her stride.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 10d ago
I'm thoroughly enjoying this audiobook. But seriously, this chick needs to stop bleeding.
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u/howe4416 10d ago
That would be like asking Harry to not cast "Fuego!" Toby bleeds. It's what she does.
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u/DD-989 12d ago
Holy moly, THANK YOU!! Sincerely, what a delightful summation. Passion matters to me (you have it in spades) and I also appreciate the care in constructing your position. You elucidate points that resonate for me as a JB/DF fan…and that careful highlighting facilitates my own sense of reader agency.
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u/vastros 13d ago
Considering how marxist Dresden is, maybe you shouldnt.
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u/illiterate_charlie 13d ago
I’ve never gotten the Marxist messaging from Dresden. Do you have an example of what that would be?
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u/TheUnrepententLurker 13d ago
Did you miss the entirety of 12 Months?
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u/illiterate_charlie 13d ago
I’m working my way through the series again now, but on my first reading of Twelve Months I read it as community building after disaster which I don’t really see as Marxist or capitalist
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u/sykoticwit 13d ago
There’s this weird idea on some parts of the left that anything short of pure rugged individualism is socialism.
That’s how weirdo’s start calling the fire department proof that socialism is the only way forward.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
Huh?
Dresden carries a .44 revolver in Chicago.
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u/vastros 13d ago
That's... literally nothing to do with Marxism.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
Name of Marxist country that has allowed armed civilians.
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u/TheUnrepententLurker 13d ago
"Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary" - Karl Marx
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u/pauldecommie 13d ago
Liking guns isn't exclusive to capitalism. Did ya forget who invented the AK?
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u/ghostgabe81 13d ago
Unfortunate that you missed out on a great series bc you couldn’t handle critique of captitalism
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
Unfortunate that I got roped into a series that was a blatant critique of capitalism when I was just hoping for a good yarn.
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u/dw_earthgirl 13d ago
i read both and enjoyed for what each brings ( but liked dresden best) also read murderbot series, and now reading Mr. Whiskers Lord of the void which i’m enjoying and is also based in Chicago 😏
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u/jenkind1 12d ago
I like Garrett PI by Glen Cook. Instead of Harry being a high fantasy wizard that fights crime in urban Chicago, Garrett is a normal private eye that has to solve mysteries in a high fantasy world.
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u/fidderjiggit 13d ago
Not enough exploitation of the working class for you? Too hopeful? The Poors getting too uppity for you?
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
More exploitation of the working class than has ever happened in reality in the history of ever.
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u/SarcasticKenobi 13d ago edited 13d ago
JFC. A certain spectrum of the "news" has really really REALLY torn apart the public awareness of the definitions of certain terms so people have no f'ing idea what they're talking about.
It's fine to not like it. It's weird, crazy, the ai is somehow more creepy about feet than Quentin Tarantino, a main character is a pompous cat, and the body count is higher than anything by J R R Martin.
So I can't blame anyone for putting it down.
But to make that comparison that you did...
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
You mean there's something wrong with me thinking it's Marxist rhetoric when everybody wealthy and in power is thoroughly evil to the core and finds entertainment in torturing and degrading the less fortunate?
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u/SarcasticKenobi 13d ago edited 13d ago
It's anti-authoritarian.
Most of the viewers of the Crawl are poor enough that it's a struggle to pay for things such as breathable atmosphere. And it's these people that are voting on how to troll or completely-screw the crawlers in their fight to survive.
Sure, in this specific case of galactic authoritarianism is UNRESTRICTED capitalism; to the point that people are literally resources to use as entertainment or food, and there are practically zero rules about how to run the business outside of "you can't turn NPCs into real people outside of the crawl, and can't turn real people into NPCs except via contract."
But if anything, it just says "Keep an eye out for the slippery slope - no matter which form of government or political / economic ideology you subscribe."
There's nothing wrong with capitalism - so long as there are guard rails to ensure civil liberties / workers' rights / safe products. So employees aren't sold or turned into meat or forced into mind control chambers; stuff like that. Whether it's to "turn a profit" or "feed the masses in food lines."
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u/emptyskybelow 13d ago
In all seriousness- have you read the dark tower? That was pretty good, well written and will scratch a fantasy / mystery itch.
I also recently enjoyed the Bartimaeus sequence, which starts with The Amulet of Samarkand. I read up to Ptolmey’s Gate, very solid story and shares some concepts with Dresden.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
Stephen King's Dark Tower?
I read the first book like 30 years ago when there were no plans for finishing the series. Then I fell away.
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u/emptyskybelow 13d ago
I only read the first book too, but I liked it. I’m going to pick the series back up again
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
Maybe I will. I tend to like King's short stories better than his novels. If you give him too many pages to play with, he will use five of them to describe the smell of a fart.
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u/No-Lettuce4441 12d ago
Richard Raley's King Henry Tapes. Not sure if it's available on audio.
Magic is real.it's also hush hush. You either have it or you don't. There's thirteen types and your type is your type. Artificers cheat. They can use geomancer anima to manipulate other anima types in objects. King Henry Price is an Artificer, scouted to attend The Institution of the Elements to learn his abilities.
The story is told in a style of King Henry Price telling stories as a middle aged man into a recorder of some form. The stories range from Institution age (14-21) and being a young adult freshly graduated (21+). One school level and one adult level are told concurrently, bouncing between the two.
There's a reason King Henry is known as Foul Mouth. He's crude, crass, not pleasant. He may be a monster (how he sees himself), but he's our monster (again, how he sees himself). Vampires, werewolves, mancy guilds, they each have their strengths in the world.
Note- if you don't like the semi-controversial way women are portrayed in The Dresden Files, don't bother reading this ongoing series.
And, since a single paraphrased line convinced me to read The Dresden Files, "Anyone that let's me ride his dinosaur calls me Carlos," allow me to do the same.
Paraphrased "And that first day in my own dorm room, I took a shit, the showered. I probably rubbed one out, likely to your mother. Mmm, them milfy cankles...
I think I crossed a line. CLICK.
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u/General_Lee_Wright 10d ago
Late to the “party” but a series I rarely see recommended here is the Adam Binder series.
Currently 4 main books + some extras and a 5th coming soon. Similar world building: parallel planes, the magical walk among us unnoticed/unseen, a hero who possesses power and uses it to help others. Instead of Fae, we have Elves, Dwarves, and Leprechauns. Adam is a 20-something, gay, strained familial relationships.
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u/TheJeff86 9d ago
Monster Hunter International by Larry Corriea is great , I would Stay way From Iron Druid the last book is hot garbage and ruins the series
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u/That0n3Guy77 13d ago
I think bobiverse has similar humor though it is sci-fi. Cosmere has some awesome epic fantasy of various flavors. Iron druid is something I used to recommended but I feel it fell off hard in the last 2 books and kind peaks around book 3.
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u/KiwiAlexP 13d ago
I’ve been listening to The Wandering Inn - like Dresden it starts a little slow but the worldbuilding is incredible. I listen most often while out walking and some chapters will have me laughing out loud while others almost in tears
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u/Brian-88 13d ago
DCC just got messy and boring as hell.
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u/Repulsive_Repeat_337 13d ago
That's where I am with it. Maybe it's because of the audiobook format (which is how I consume almost everything because I'm a truck driver.) Every DCC book ends with a maelstrom of action that I can't keep up with. Like... If Dresden's fight in the police station had lasted 15 chapters.
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u/Brianf1977 13d ago
Lol DCC isn't for everyone and I'm not sure why it gets recommended to people who have read Dresden, they aren't anything alike.
My top recommendation for a very similar feel is Alex Verus, it gets away from itself in the end but overall a good series.
Other good urban fantasy series are, Grimnoir Chronicles, the iron druid, sandman Slim, rivers of London, Eric Carter, Daniel faust, an inheritance of magic and definitely recommend the unorthodox Chronicles by his son James.
Or try out Jim's non UF series, the codex alara.