I don't know how many ex Harry Potter Fans there are in the world caused by the extremely disappointing Deathly Hallows, but it seems clear to me that it is time for a New Product to replace Harry Potter in the Witch and Wizard fantasy genre. I am not an author. I don't read fanfiction, and I'm not making this post to advertize or suggest any
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If you did decide to give Ol' Harry another go, maybe try Summer Knight; it's one of my favorites in the series. Still, it's no fun to read a first-person series from the POV of a main character you just don't like, so I dunno if the improved quality of the later novels would be enough to offset that for you.
I REALLY need to read some Gaiman, btw. I'm much more a crime-drama, suspense novel, police procedural and straight horror fan, so both the wizard Harrys were a little bit of a departure from my usual reading tastes. But I hear nothing but great things about Gaiman so I definitely need to give your rec a try. Would you say this The Books of Magic is a good choice for an introduction to Gaiman's work?
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In terms of straight-up reading material, Neverwhere or Anansi Boys might be closer to what you're after (also American Gods, but that's a bit of a chewy read). And to definitely feed the crime-drama/horror, Google around and track down the PDF of "A Study in Emerald." It's sort of Sherlock Holmes meets Lovecraft, but noooot exactly, and the PDF's a free download.
Also also, Good Omens; everyone needs a merry little tale about Armageddon.
(Sorry for butting in, but. XD)
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As to Harry Dresden, I’m still in the YAY camp, myself. For me, these novels are fun, solidly-written escapist fare with a likeable hero, and I do recommend them. But perhaps my taste is less discriminating than that of others, so those thinking about giving Jim Butcher and Harry Dresden a try can take that into account. Nice that we have a variety of responses to the same books in this thread too, makes it interesting.
Also, just remembered, though the Dresden novels are urban-fantasy, I understand Butcher also has a more traditional sword-and-sorcery fantasy series going too. I haven’t read any of them myself, not my thing, but I've heard those who do enjoy the Dresden series mentioning that they like these as well. “Codex Alera” or something like that is the series title.
The idea of commercial successors to HP is interesting as well. I'm thinking maybe Stephenie Meyers' publishers are trying to position the Twilight series in that spot? I personally don't think anything is going to equal the freakish commercial success of HP for some time, but I'm sure publishers would love to put their fingers on the next big thing if it were possible to predict.
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