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The Dresden Files => DF Books => Topic started by: YukonC on July 20, 2018, 02:57:55 AM
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I'm running through the entire series again on audiobook for about the 10th time and always enjoy the ride, but would like something else while I'm waiting for Peace Talks. I've finished Working for Bigfoot, Brief Cases, Codex Alera series and Cinder Spires. Audible.com suggested another character that was supposed to be "like" Dresden, but I couldn't even make it through the 1st chapter and returned the audiobook for refund.
What can you guys recommend to fill the void? Thank you.
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I’m listening to a series called Malazan, Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson right now and it’s really good. The first book is a bit of a drag, but it gets better and better. The writing is a lot better than the DF books, too. And, the series is complete, which is a big bonus. I listen to the series at night while my husband snores, so it has really been quite a lengthy experience with each book being 42 hours or more in terms of narration length.
Anne Rice’s vampire books are great, too. Well, not all of the books are great, but the earliest ones (Interview, Vampire Lestat, etc.) and a couple of the middle and one or two of the latter ones are superb. She started the books in 1976, so she went through many periods with her writing.
Her Witching Hour series was great, too.
JD Salinger wrote some really amazing shorts and a few brilliant books. My favourite is Franny and Zooey followed closely by the shorts, A Perfect Day for Bananafish and Teddy.
Another favourite book is Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Narcissus and Goldmund was also really good.
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I’m listening to a series called Malazan, Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson right now and it’s really good. The first book is a bit of a drag, but it gets better and better. The writing is a lot better than the DF books, too. And, the series is complete, which is a big bonus. I listen to the series at night while my husband snores, so it has really been quite a lengthy experience with each book being 42 hours or more in terms of narration length.
Anne Rice’s vampire books are great, too. Well, not all of the books are great, but the earliest ones (Interview, Vampire Lestat, etc.) and a couple of the middle and one or two of the latter ones are superb. She started the books in 1976, so she went through many periods with her writing.
Her Witching Hour series was great, too.
JD Salinger wrote some really amazing shorts and a few brilliant books. My favourite is Franny and Zooey followed closely by the shorts, A Perfect Day for Bananafish and Teddy.
Another favourite book is Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Narcissus and Goldmund was also really good.
Witching Hour should have been a stand-alone. What follows is not so good.
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Witching Hour should have been a stand-alone. What follows is not so good.
Yeah, the first was the best by far, but the others have their moments. I didn’t like the taltos, so that aspect was not great to me. I loved the Uncle Julian character in the series and the Deirdre storyline was tragic. A lot of the Talamasca stuff was interesting, too.
She wrote a Lestat, taltos crossover book later in her career. That was awful. She really went off the rail for a period of her career. She even stopped writing any supernatural stuff because she’d gone religious crazy and would only write about the Jesus character. Fortunately, she got over that and wrote some okay books afterwards. She did a new one about Lestat et al to tie up the stories for all the major and a lot of the minor characters in the vampire books a few years ago and it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great, but not terrible, either. Definitely worth a read if one enjoyed any of the series.
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How about The Demon Cycle? Awesome from start to finish. The last book in the original series was published a few months ago, so.... Complete! With 5 decent sized books, it'll take some time off your hands while you wait.
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Not a book, but if you have the metv channel Kolchak the nightstalker.
There's an article on the interwebz where Butcher describes whistling the Kolchak theme after a creepy experience, so I know he's familiar with it.
I've watched about six episodes and I think a lot of the episodes has a piece that corresponds to possible minor inspirations for the Dresden files.
It's B grade fun, so it won't be everyone's cup of tea.
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Kolchak was a big inspiration for the X-files as well.
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All things Brandon Sanderson. And if you like Audiobooks you might check out the Graphic Audio productions: they're audiobook productions but with a full voice cast, score, sound effects, etc. It's a Movie without all the distracting pictures...
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The tv show Supernatural is very reminscent of the Dresden files. And there are lots of seasons. Which are also crazy long. :)
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The Nightside Series from Simon R. Green is very similar to Dresden. It's urban fantasy and the main character is very similar in personality to Dresden. The main difference is that he's British.
That series has already been completed, so no more waiting for the next book from the Nightside.
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The President's Vampire series by Christopher Farnsworth is pretty good. There only seems to be one supernatural "good" guy. and half the story is told through the perspective of his human handler.
The Monster Hunter series by Larry Correia is also pretty good.
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All things Brandon Sanderson.
This, however, The Mistborn Trilogy is the only one(I believe) of his series that is fully completed. The rest are serialized and in progress. Not to dissuade, however we could easily find ourselves in another situation where we're just waiting for the next book for years.
That being said, big fan of his newest series, The Way of Kings.
The Malazan Book of the Fallen starts slow, gets really good, but then, for me, unravels a bit. Erikson is a good world builder but his world got a little to big for me to keep track of. So many characters and places, magic systems, politics, it gets a bit much. There are some absolute standout books and characters however.
Everyone raves about the Kingkiller Chronicles, and the first book was excellent. The second book was...unsatisfying and now we've been waiting several years for the "conclusion" with no end in sight.
I'm torn about my feelings toward The Iron Druid Chronicles. I've read the whole series and while I liked the Atticus initially, he constantly chooses the wrong path. While we, as the reader, question his decisions they bring him more and more sorrow. It almost reads like a Greek tragedy. I liked the series and read it through to the end, even read most of the shorts, but I'm conflicted as to whether I can honestly recommend it.
I've only ever read Ender's Game, and not the succeeding books, because I heard middling reviews of them, but it's worth a read as a standalone.
In terms of non-series books, read American Gods and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, they're excellent. The nostalgia factor of Ready Player One kept me interested, but I think it could have been a better book with a stronger third act.
Bear in mind, any criticism I have is tempered by the fact that I am not creative and cannot write worth a damn. These are my opinions and I would gladly listen to any counters you have as maybe I've missed something.
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I just finished 5 ebooks that are the free type with kindle unlimited that's the Montague and Strong series. Worth a try if you have kindle unlimited. It has good and bad things about it, but I liked it. The character references that wizard in Chicago (meaning Harry Dresden) but he also references a wizardly type in Saint Louis in the same sentence. Anyone know who that is?
Anyway, the main character is cursed to immortality by Shiva, has a time stopping sigil on his wrist that causes a dominatrix librarian dressed lady luck to appear and slap him around a bit, a pet hellhound, and is best friend's with a mage who he operates a detective agency with.
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I've tried a number of series that are supposed to feel similar. Never found anything that didn't veer too close to tropy corny fantasy romance, or just wasn't all that good. Butcher kind of has a corner on this whole thing. Did really love the codex aleta. Sadly the new one is something I have failed to get through about a dozen or so times
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I've been enjoying the Laundry books by Charles Stross, where magic is a function of higher math, and if you discover one of the functions that can summon one of the outsiders (he doesn't call them that) the folks from the Laundry show up and make you a job offer you (literally) can't refuse.
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Try "Dead Man" by Domino Finn
"Strange Magic" by James A Hunter
"Fated" by Benedict Jacka
Those are all pretty good urban fantasy in my book!!
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<i>The Monster Hunter Files are a collection of stories by a whole bunch of really amazing authors, set in the Monster Hunter universe. I think we got something like nine New York Times bestsellers in here.
There are stories from <b>Jim Butcher</b>, Faith Hunter, Jonathan Maberry, Jody Lynn Nye, John Ringo, Sarah Hoyt, Mike Kupari, Jessica Day George, John C. Wright, Maurice Broaddus, Brad Torgersen, Quincy Allen, Alex Shvartsman, Kim May, Steve Diamond, Julie Frost, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, and me.</i>
"Me" being Larry Correia
For that matter, the Monster Hunter series by Larry Correia Is good. Mercenaries who's job is to stamp out monster infestations, so much money per head (or whatever they use for one).
Also recommended, "Hard Magic" also by Larry Correia, the first book ends with a zeppelin boarding another zeppelin starting a pirate versus samurai and ninja plus magic fight Really, what more do you want?
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Somewhat less like Dresden alternatives, but good and at least somewhat like (some Dresden like elements):
The (only 4, so far) "Unexpected Enlightenment" books by L. Jagi Lamplighter. Rachel Griffin goes to college (at 13) to learn magic (easier when you have perfect memory), immediately runs into a murder plot which turns into a much bigger plot (sorta Dresden-like), and basically has more things happen in just her first five days (*whew*) than even Harry Dresden usually sees. This has been described as "Harry Potter meets Narnia", but it is more than that, as you will see below.
This takes place at a Harry Potter type school, but the school seems more real than Potter, since it is based on a unique, real life college that the author went to, takes place on the real Roanoke Island (which, conveniently, no one is allowed to visit), has many critters taken from legends of the Hudson Highlands (as well as elsewhere), has a magic system much more well thought out and believable than in Harry Potter, and characters that are both unusual yet seem more real than seems possible, because they are taken from a very long role playing game the author played in, thus, they are real, or as real as the players were (the authors husband played Sigfried the Dragonslayer, who isn't exactly a dragonslayer, but you'll find out). After you read this, Potter books will seem dry and dull and not fleshed out (I tried the first Potter book after this, the movies are better).
Also, 3 books by John C. Wright (also known as Sigfried the Dragonslayer< husband of above author), "Daughter of Danger". A young women finds herself dead (usually not a good sign), and is hastily revived/resurrected, and is told the rush is because she is about to be killed again. She wakes up in a hospital with total amnesia, barely has time to discover she is wearing a magic ring, has yellow skin (Japanese), that she is not Japanese, and then two werewolves and a seven foot goat guy with a trident come in and try to kill her. She uses the kung fu she did not know she had, escapes, and now must find out who she is (little things like her name, who were those guys and why, how did I get to be a superhero, etc). To be followed by a book about her boyfriend (now fiance) called "Mad Scientists Apprentice". While testing his new spaceship, he sorta made a new crater in the moon, which he named (after her) Yummy Cutie crater, she told him NEVER to say that again.
Oh, and Lamplighter also wrote 3 books about Prospero's children, starting with Prospero Lost, kinda Dresden like, the 500 year old daughter of the Shakespeare wizard Prospero has to go and rescue him, picking up her siblings on the way to help, magic and mayhem follow. In some ways, it's like Skin Game.
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Thank you. Good summaries, too.
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It was not the being dead that I minded, it was the hours.
That is the first line from a John C. Wright short story in The Book of Feasts and Seasons (short stories). The story can be described as Ghost Story like, but shorter (of course).
Gotta be the best opening line I have ever seen.
The series he wrote is:
Swan Nights Son, The Green Knights Squire book 1 (yes, that green knight) a modern (older) teenage boy (and his, er, dog, who talks, well, to the boy, who speaks animal) discovers his never seen father is a knight of King Arthur (despite Arthur being, uh, mostly dead), with the court of the Elves (pretty much the same elves Dresden fans are used to), he is, uh, "trained" as a knight to start by a, er, unusual trainer, which works surprisingly well, has adventures many of which are surprisingly funny, and things go on from there for 2 more books, followed by...
Daughter of Danger, book 1 of The Dark Avengers Sidekick, superhero'es sidekick wakes up in hospital with amnesia, picks up odd friends on way to learning who she is and whats up (such as a faerie who is cursed to always be happy and carefree regardless of the situation, and who naturally decides she wants to be a hard boiled detective type, despite being completely temperamentally unsuited to the job, she does surprisingly well despite her total naivety), three books.
To be followed by Mad Scientists Apprentice, 3 more books.
There is also, by the above author, SOMEWHITHER, an older teenage boy ends up in a parallel world (of several) which is the oddest most far out world the author thinks he can make believable. We are talking way out here, yet it works. Example, one of the worlds never had a Crucifixion, result, no crosses, result, it is overrun by vampires, makes sense, right? The author plans another book, but there is only the one right now, the next is in production.
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Pale Realms of Shade, read it here
http://www.scifiwright.com/samples/fic/pale-realms-of-shade/
Don't say I never gave ya nuthin'.
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My problem here is that there just ISN'T anything as good as Dresden, period. I've read some great books over the years - individual books - but never a SERIES that comes even close to what I get from these.
That's where I always fall back to when I find myself feeling frustration over the wait for PT. I believe a solid professional writer could produce something on a predictable timeline - but that's not what I want Jim to do. I want him to take his time and write when he feels like that's what he wants to do - I can't believe the quality could be like what we've seen if he tried to "force himself."
Yes, I'm eager and want the next book. But I want THE next book - the way Jim wants it to be.
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Yancy Lazarus, is the closest I've found to Dresden, it might as well be a spinoff or alternate to Dresden. Wizard Black Ops agent, been around since Vietnam takes on various supernatural creatures. There's a Guild instead of the White Council. It's very good.
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Oh... I just read the teaser for the first Yancy Lazarus book, and I actually do find myself wanting more. Thanks for the suggestion!
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http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/sample-chapters/
Sample first chapters of:
Unexpected enlightenment
Prospero Lost
Prospero In Hell
Prospero Regained
And, an extra bonus, from the Prospero books, Mabs Handy Guide to Surviving the Supernatural. Mab is Miranda's (the protagonist from the Prospero books, very Dresden like) "Mab Boreal here. You know me—the Northeast Wind who works for Prospero Inc. as a company gumshoe", an air spirit who appears as a hard bitten detective type, sorta Bob like http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/category/mabs-handy-guide-to-surviving-the-supernatural/ A good addition to your copy of Jane's Fighting Monsters, could keep you alive.
Short excerpt:
Name: Sea Drake
Where To Find It: Under water…usually in oceans.
However, Miss Miranda, her brothers, and I fought one in Hell. It was inside a giant kronosaur. Guess it had been eaten for lunch. Nothing beats being swallowed by a monster and then having to fight another monster while in its stomach.
Oh wait.
Almost anything beats that.
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Ok, knocked off Strange Magic in about 24 hours. Thanks, Con - that was really quite good. Maybe close to as good as Storm Front considered alone. I'll have to read more to compare at the series level. But yeah - you've thrown me a major bone! Much appreciated!
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Lol I'm glad I could help. He's got spin offs as well that you can check out once you've ran out of Yancy Lazarus books. One from the perspective of a Big Foot Princess, the other from a Golem with the memories of Holocaust victims.
Might also wanna check out Hellequin Chronicles, has Arthurian and Trojan links. I'm currently on the first one.
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Yes, I've read the Hellequin Chronicles. Those are quite interesting too.
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First, what are the Dresden Files books, so we can search for others like it? One thing they are is "Urban Fantasies", so this can help, "urban fantasy with male lead characters", https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5181._Urban_Fantasy_With_Male_Lead_Characters , you will note that Dresden files much of the top of this list, so we can expect that those also near the top are at least somewhat like Dresden.
Next, where did "Urban Fantasy" come from? I believe it started with Mercedes Lackey, specifically her "Serrated Edge" series, starting with "Born to Run", Elves, racecars, and a human mage who acts a lot like Dresden, and the "Urban Elves" sort of thing found here http://www.mercedeslackey.com/books/bedlam4.html in the "Bedlam Bards" series. As far as I can see, that is where the whole type of world we see Dresden inhabit, and the sort of story he is in, came from.
Therefore, it seems likely that these books by Mercedes Lackey and friends will be enjoyed by those who like Dresden.
As a side note, I noticed an ad for a new "Fantastic Beasts" movie, with two guys with wands. So, naturally, I broke out the old wand breaker spell, just in case, but it has been a while, so all I managed to do was ruin some gals nails (she said I did it just today, this actually happened). OK, so now I have a nails breaker spell in my spellbook, never can tell when you might need such a thing, next, I am working on a "Bad Hair Day" spell.
Don't tell the bigfoot.
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I just finished 5 ebooks that are the free type with kindle unlimited that's the Montague and Strong series. Worth a try if you have kindle unlimited. It has good and bad things about it, but I liked it. The character references that wizard in Chicago (meaning Harry Dresden) but he also references a wizardly type in Saint Louis in the same sentence. Anyone know who that is?
Anyway, the main character is cursed to immortality by Shiva, has a time stopping sigil on his wrist that causes a dominatrix librarian dressed lady luck to appear and slap him around a bit, a pet hellhound, and is best friend's with a mage who he operates a detective agency with.
Saint Louis is probably Shayne Silvers Nate Temple series and spinoff https://www.goodreads.com/series/250502-templeverse-chronological-order which by the way is a fun to read series.
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I just finished reading The Oversight Trilogy by Charlie Fletcher (The Oversight, The Paradox, The Remnant). Absolutely loved them. Set in London in early 1800's revolving around The Oversight, a group of humans with supernatural abilities who act as a sort of peacekeeping force between the supernatural and normal humans.
Very well written with some very imaginative takes on the genre. Gone straight to the top of my can't wait for the next instalment list, even, at the risk of blasphemy, ahead of Peace Talks. Cannot recommend highly enough.
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There's also the two series by Laurell K. Hamilton (though I expect most Butcher fans already know of Hamilton, there's probably a few who don't)...
Anita Blake, Vampire hunter (book 1, Guilty Pleasures)
It's a magic-is-out-and-public setting, rather than the hidden-magic of Dresden Files; there's still a lot of secret stuff, and stuff that the supernaturals by consensus agree it's better the Muggles not know.
Anita raises zombies for a living, generally for a brief (usually 1-night) purpose such as giving legal testimony, secret financial info, or other critical data only the departed knew. She also has one of the few licenses to execute vampires, so she gets called in by law-enforcement when a rogue vamp (and other supernatural threat) is on the loose.
The series drifts over time. The protagonist (Anita Blake) starts as a relative lightweight (like Harry) but ramps up in power such that by late in the series she has people -- well, monsters -- from all over the world who are variously admiring, afraid, etc. She begins even weaker than Harry, supernaturally speaking. By late in the series, she has (within her sphere) even more power than Harry does.
It also drifts in the romantic/relationship issue: the early books seem to be developing a cliche'd "thwarted love triangle" scenario, where Anita is being courted by a vampire AND a werewolf... but Nobody's Getting Any. By late in the series, she's Getting So Much, it's a problem in the rest of her life... and Hamilton doesn't draw a polite curtain, either: some early fans complain the series has "devolved into full-on porn." Well... no. I've read one porn novel, because I made myself. I tried to pick a "good" one with plot and characterization &c (it actually wasn't bad, though there were a few pretty contrived and unbelievable bits, to get moar S3X! into the book); however the least well-plotted and character-driven of the Anita Blake series was better (and had less sex) than that novel had... so, not porn (imho). Still, the tone of the series drifts a lot, from the police-proceedural/detective/semi-horror early on, to decidedly erotic-fiction/detective/semi-horror later; if explicit sex in the novels is an issue for you, stop reading Anita at book 5 (Bloody Bones).
Then there's the Merry Gentry series (book 1, A Kiss of Shadows)
Also an overt-magic (instead of hidden-magic) setting; also one where despite being "in the open" there's lots of "only the insiders know" magical secrets. Also sex. This one BEGINS with quite a bit of overt sex, and ramps up, so reader beware (or eagerly seek it out, if that's your thing)... one other point about the sex in this series -- it's often important to plot and character issues, so you can't always "skim ahead" if you dislike those bits. It moves smoothly along to another Reverse Harem series like Anita Blake (but sooner).
Reading both series, and many of those curtain-not-drawn details, I'm honestly left feeling a bit uncomfortably-voyeuristic about the author's own erotic fantasy life, and how her actual love-life has proceeded over the past decade or two (and she has "come out" to her fans about some of those details, enough for me to suspect I'm right about many more).
Merry (Meredith) is literally a faerie princess -- her dad was the Unseelie Queen's brother, she herself is nominally 2nd in line for the throne (after her cousin, the Queen's son). The faeries are mostly European-descended, exiled from Europe after WWII, where they were involved in the war and so fearsome that the European peace-treaty kicked out both Seelie & Unseelie courts, who came to settle in the USA (under threat of banishment if they behave badly again).
Merry is living in disguise, hidden among mortals (she's part mortal herself), because the Queen hates her, and (as a half-mortal) so do many other courtiers; after a duel almost killed her, she realized she wasn't safe (the duels would continue until she died), so she went into hiding.
Early in the 1st novel, her cover is broken. She is summoned back "home," with promises of protection. This is another one where the protagonist's power ramps up as the series progresses; but it ramps up much faster. As the series opens, her only substantive power is "Glamour" -- she can cast tremendously effective personal disguise magic, but not do much more than that. She gets a big powerup early in the first novel, and generally gets more and more throughout the series. By late in the series, she's up to world-spanning power (not entirely under her control) bordering on demi-goddess-hood.
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That was the first urban fantasy I read but I stopped after obsidian butterfly. The books changed after that one.
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I'm currently looking forward to the completion of the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks that will be released 9/Oct/2019. The first book in the series is The Black Prism. This is more of a fantasy based series but does take an interesting spin on the way magic works and is powered.
For Urban fantasy
Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews is a 10 book series that is finished. The first book in the series is Magic Bites It is a world magic and technology "take turns " being in charge of the world and the books take place during a time when the world is swinging back towards magic. This isn't a smooth swing though so it fluctuates between the two during the series making for some interesting situations. Kate is something like an investigator at the beginning of the series and after reading both series I think that Kate and Harry would be friends and booth have the same snarky attitude. Also The way vampires are depicted in this series i thought was pretty cool and original.
Mercy Thompson series is an ongoing series by Patricia Briggs. The first book in the series is Moon Called. The world this series takes place in is pretty much mundane. Mercy is a mechanic that owns her own little garage in a small town. She has the ability to turn into a coyote. She has a vampire as a friend and lives down the road from a pack of werewolves.
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Mercy Thompson series is an ongoing series by Patricia Briggs. The first book in the series is Moon Called. The world this series takes place in is pretty much mundane. Mercy is a mechanic that owns her own little garage in a small town. She has the ability to turn into a coyote. She has a vampire as a friend and lives down the road from a pack of werewolves.
I agree. Love those.
I'm currently slowly re-reading all the Dresden Files with other books in between. Like Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series (including graphic novels). Also I like Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" and the spin-of "The Trials of Apollo".
Not so long ago I have been reading and re-reading the " Alex Verus"- series by Benedict Jacka. Very nice. Especially the protagonist's character development. There was the new book "Fallen" out in October.
After that I am planning to read the " Hellequin Chronicles" by Steve McHugh. Those have been recommended to me, but I still haven't read them.
I still haven't read Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" and Good Omens either.
... Oh dear. I really can't complain, I have nothing to read. ;)
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I'm currently looking forward to the completion of the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks that will be released 9/Oct/2019. The first book in the series is The Black Prism. This is more of a fantasy based series but does take an interesting spin on the way magic works and is powered.
For Urban fantasy
Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews is a 10 book series that is finished. The first book in the series is Magic Bites It is a world magic and technology "take turns " being in charge of the world and the books take place during a time when the world is swinging back towards magic. This isn't a smooth swing though so it fluctuates between the two during the series making for some interesting situations. Kate is something like an investigator at the beginning of the series and after reading both series I think that Kate and Harry would be friends and booth have the same snarky attitude. Also The way vampires are depicted in this series i thought was pretty cool and original.
Mercy Thompson series is an ongoing series by Patricia Briggs. The first book in the series is Moon Called. The world this series takes place in is pretty much mundane. Mercy is a mechanic that owns her own little garage in a small town. She has the ability to turn into a coyote. She has a vampire as a friend and lives down the road from a pack of werewolves.
Havent read Mercy Thompson yet, but I the last book of the Lightbringer series released yesterday so I'm all about that right now
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The Nightsider series by Simon R Green is extremely good about 13 books & is finished.
It's darker, more "adult" I suppose but it has a snarky jaded protagonist who everyone starts of with nothing but contempt for.
I highly recommend it, I loved it & the audio books are excellent too.
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Here is another vote for the Rivers of London series as a fun Urban Fantasy series. I really like it. I particularly like the narrator of the Audiobook, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. He is fantastic. He does some amazing voices.
An oldie but a goody is the Black Company by Glen Cook. Has nothing to do with Urban fantasy, but it's a classic series.
The Locke Lamora series is a good read, too.
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I'd second Mercy Thompson series and would also recommend the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. Nothing compares to DF but both are good
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FADE, BY Daniel Humphreys, book 1 of the Paxton Locke series (total 3 so far). Described as "Harry Dresden’s sorcery goes on a Supernatural-style road trip. Cool car sold separately." It feels like a Dresden book, even though it isn't.
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If you like the Locke Lamora books, you might enjoy The Palace Job, the Prophecy Con, and The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes.
A former noble who ran away from home to become a soldier (and is now a thief) must assemble a rather motley crew to steal back a family heirloom, and hijinks ensue. Their merry band of misfits includes a fast-talking tinkerer, a love priestess-turned-death priestess with a talking Warhammer (with three lines), an almost-wizard, an acrobatic fighting monk who refuses to battle people, and a unicorn shapeshifter whose fondness for virgins isn't quite what you'd expect... It's been described as a fantasy version of Ocean's Eleven or Leverage, with more than a dash of comedy. (For example, Lock's second-in-command Kail never fails to begin a fight with an insult about his opponent's mother.)
I really enjoyed the books, but I don't recommend starting them late at night. I've lost a lot of sleep that way over the last three days. ;D