5 best Hardboiled Fantasy books
Welcome to the grayscale streets of imaginations untamed, where steel swords and razor-sharp wits are the only law. Here, within the murky depths of hardboiled fantasy, noir-style antiheroes navigate shadow-strewn alleyways teeming with magic and mayhem. Feel your pulse quicken as intricate plots unfold within the brooding cityscapes of a world where magic and reality seamlessly entwine. The gritty heroes of hardboiled fantasy seduce us with their bruised moral compasses and their willingness to find justice in a world often unwilling to provide it.
Jim Butcher's the Dresden Files Omnibus
By Jim Butcher, Mark Powers
How it fits the "Hardboiled Fantasy books" vibe: A perfect blend of fantasy and hardboiled detective fiction. Harry Dresden, the protagonist, is a wizard-for-hire, solving supernatural cases in Chicago.
Page Count: 480
Published Date: 2015-07-07
Rivers of London: Here Be Dragons
By Ben Aaronovitch
How it fits the "Hardboiled Fantasy books" vibe: Throws you into the magical underbelly of modern-day London. Detective Peter Grant becomes a wizard's apprentice, combining crime-solving with magic.
Publisher: Titan Books (US, CA)
Published Date: 2023-12-19
Sandman Slim
By Richard Kadrey
How it fits the "Hardboiled Fantasy books" vibe: Dark, gritty, and extremely edgy. The protagonist, a sorcerer hitman, navigating through a supernatural world, leaves no stone unturned to find his enemies.
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Published Date: 2012-07-31
Hounded (with two bonus short stories)
By Kevin Hearne
How it fits the "Hardboiled Fantasy books" vibe: Hardboiled fantasy at its best. Atticus O'Sullivan, the last of the Druids, fights off gods and monsters in current-day Arizona.
4.5 / 5 Stars on Google Books
Publisher: Del Rey
Page Count: 318
Published Date: 2011-05-03
Low Town
By Daniel Polansky
How it fits the "Hardboiled Fantasy books" vibe: Lower than low fantasy. The protagonist, a disgraced intelligence agent turned drug dealer, uses his wit and will to solve gritty mysteries.
Publisher: Anchor
Page Count: 354
Published Date: 2012-08-07