The Fantasy Review’s list of 10 Great Urban Fantasy Books for Beginners.
Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1) by Kami Garcia
From the blurb:
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever…
Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse
From the blurb:
Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last best hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much more terrifying than anything she could imagine…
The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence, #1) by K.D. Edwards
From the blurb:
Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Justice’s missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home.
With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, Rune questions Addam’s relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. He must navigate old friends and enemies, and a growing attraction to a handsome nobleman…
Nightlife (Cal Leandros, #1) by Rob Thurman
From the blurb:
Welcome to the Big Apple. There’s a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side—and that’s only the beginning. Of course, most humans are oblivious to the preternatural nightlife around them, but Cal Leandros is only half-human…
Greywalker (Greywalker, #1) by Kat Richardson
From the blurb:
When Harper comes to in the hospital, she begins to feel a bit …strange. She sees things that can only be described as weird-shapes emerging from a foggy grey mist, snarling teeth, creatures roaring.
But Harper’s not crazy. Her “death” has made her a Greywalker-able to move between our world and the mysterious, cross-over zone where things that go bump in the night exist…
Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles, #1) by Ilona Andrews
From the blurb:
On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is…different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, “normal” is a bit of a stretch for Dina…
Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1) by Jim C. Hines
From the blurb:
Isaac is a libriomancer, a member of a secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg to protect the world from supernatural threats. Libiomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects…
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
From the blurb:
Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a stranger offers him a job and Shadow, with nothing to lose, accepts. But a storm is coming. Beneath the placid surface of everyday life, a war is being fought – and the prize is the very soul of America…
Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1) by Jim Butcher
From the blurb:
As a professional wizard, Harry Dresden knows firsthand that the “everyday” world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most of them don’t play well with humans. And those that do enjoy playing with humans far too much. He also knows he’s the best at what he does. Technically, he’s the only at what he does. But even though Harry is the only game in town, business—to put it mildly—stinks…
Bitter Night (Horngate Witches, #1) by Diana Pharaoh Francis
From the blurb:
Once, Max dreamed of a career, a home, a loving family. Now all she wants is freedom…and revenge. A witch named Giselle transformed Max into a warrior with extraordinary strength, speed, and endurance. Bound by spellcraft, Max has no choice but to fight as Giselle’s personal magic weapon — a Shadowblade — and she’s lethally good at it. But her skills are about to be put to the test as they never have before….
