What's your favorite Urban Fantasy series?

My favorite Urban Fantasy series would have to be Devon Monk's Allie Beckstrom series.

I happen to like this series because:

1. Magic comes with a cost. In this Urban Fantasy, magic was broken centuries ago. As a result, casting a spell does nonlethal damage to the caster. To prevent this, a spellcaster has to perform a minor ritual called a disbursement where they choose what kind of nonlethal damage they are willing to suffer per short/long rest. A caster could use another person, known as a Proxy, to pay for the cost of using magic. It's illegal to use another person as a Proxy without their consent.
2. Casting a spell requires the caster to draw a glyph and hold it in one hand, and while drawing magic into it. It then has to be released for it to work.
3. Like the schools of magic in D&D, there are five Magical Disciplines in this series- Life, Death, Blood, Faith and Flux. Flux is the newest discipline and it involves the combining of magic and technology.
4. The majority of humans in this present day setting believe that magic was 'discovered' 30 years ago. In reality, magic had always been around but was known and used by a few humans throughout the centuries. Then a group of wizards did a Prometheus. ;)
 

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Mad_Jack

Legend
Hrrm. Tough call.

Kind of a tie between three (four):

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
Mercedes Lackey's Diana Tregarde and SERRAted Edge series
 


Ryujin

Legend
Hrrm. Tough call.

Kind of a tie between three (four):

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
Mercedes Lackey's Diana Tregarde and SERRAted Edge series
I still have to read "The Dresden Files." Feel bad that I haven't yet (friend of a friend).
 



The Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovich. A grim and gritty police procedural with wizards, river goddesses and a ghost-hunting dog.
I'd second this. It's just a lot better written and more thoughtful than the vast bulk of urban fantasy and really fun for the most part.
 

Cadence

Legend
Supporter
Does Neverwhere count as Urban Fantasy (it is not a series though)

First six of the Garrett File novels by Glen Cook are spectacular (For a D&D city style urban fantasy). The rest still have lots of things that really inspire me for D&D even if some parts of them really annoy me.

Dresden Files have been a fun read. I am still angry about <blank>.
 

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