My top five urban fantasy writers

I hate lists. Okay, I love lists. Hate them because I keep adding items or change my mind, and love them because they bring some cohesion to my fan-girl rants, especially when it comes to recommending authors.

But first, my history as a reader.

As a kid, I read all sorts. But as I got older, there weren’t many books that caught my interest. I was too old for the fantasy books of my youth, and the only thing I could stomach were crime books, typically “soft” crime like Agatha Christie or Martha Grimes.

It wasn’t until the advent of Harry Potter that I rediscovered the joy of reading. I joined at the second book, and soon had my entire workplace, let alone family hooked. Well, the women anyway. Thinking about it, Ms Rowling owes me a hell of a commission. Suddenly I remembered why I used to love books. So I read children’s fantasy books.

And then something marvellous happened. I discovered there were fantasy books for adults. But with the job and everything, wading through six hundred plus pages took commitment. Besides, most were a bit dry.

Finally, I discovered Kim Harrison. Her The Hollows series knocked me for six. She’s therefore number one in my list.

Then I discovered Keri Arthur and Laurell K. Hamilton. The latter was really good, but after a while, the sex took over and the plot became thin, at which point I lost interest. Keri Arthur is an author I read regularly, but she, too, missed out on a spot in my top five.

To make a lo-ong story short, I found Jim Butcher (number 2), Patricia Briggs (no. 3), Jennifer Rardin (number 4) and most recently, Darynda Jones. With Darynda Jones, here was finally someone who wrote the way I myself tried to write. Quite a revelation, and I’ve been a fan since her first book. I even named one of the characters in my book after her, but since she’s a rather nasty character (the one in my book, not the author), I changed the spelling to Derinda.

There are many more excellent urban fantasy writers out there. Amanda Bonilla, for example, who hasn’t yet received the recognition she deserves. Who knows? A couple of more books, and she’ll be in my top five. Another near miss was Mary Buckham, an excellent teacher AND an excellent writer, as I only recently discovered.

Anyway, to recap. My top five, in no particular order, are:

1) Kim Harrison

2) Jim Butcher

3) Patricia Briggs

4) Jennifer Rardin

5) Darynda Jones.