The best urban fantasy books with marvelous monsters

Veterinary student BJ Vaughn journeys through the Crossroads to treat amazing creatures such as griffons, centaurs, and unicorns, while dealing with a full course load and all the stresses of being a student. After reading The Magic and the Healing (many, many years ago), I fell in love with supernatural creatures. It made me think, “I want to write something like that!” I’ve never forgotten it.

Ilona Andrews sets the bar for post-magic apocalypse books with this first novel in the Kate Daniels series, and it is the book that made me fall in love with Urban Fantasy. While Kate tries to keep her unusual talents hidden, she can’t help but make a splash in post-shift Atlanta, among the ruling elites of the creature world. Here, the normal monsters like shifters and vampires take on all new roles with Ilona Andrews’ unique world building. In the fifteen years since its first publication, there still isn’t anything to compare with Kate Daniels.

Heather G. Harris reimagines fae creatures of all kinds in her Other Realm series. Unflappable Jinx finds herself plunged into a world she didn’t even know existed where political machinations between wizards, dragons, vampires, and werewolves cause deadly consequences. The background world building in Glimmer of the Other is subtle and yet robust. Jinx is a hero that I can truly root for, caught up in a slow-burn romance that was just right. And she has a hellhound for a pet. Who doesn’t love a wickedly cute hellhound?

There just isn’t enough Urban Fantasy written about cats. Off Leash, with its nerdy human guy turned mountain lion, satisfied my craving for kitty lit. This story takes off like a rocket, and what a ride! It’s full of unique magic, talking animal familiars, and snappy one-liners. Daniel Potter really nails the feeling of what it would be like to live as a big cat. If you’re looking for a fast-paced story of the “all slaying, no laying” kind, this is it.

Some books stick with you long after you close the cover. The House in the Cerulean Sea is one of those for me. It’s a deceptively simple story about a man whose job is to inspect orphanages. But when the orphans are a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist, things don’t go smoothly. The creatures come to life on the page in an exploration of the simple pleasures in life and the extraordinary measures we must take to safeguard the liberties of everyone, even those who resemble us the least. I know I will come back to this book time and again when I need something to lift my spirits.