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Noir Fantasy Books: Where Crime Meets Magic
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items If you like your fantasy dark, gritty and hardboiled, I've got some reads for you. These books mix crime, espionage and magic for a new take on old fantasy tropes. I write noir fantasy myself, and these books are some of my favorites in the genre.
Gritty, dark and mysterious – China Mieville's novel is set in a vaguely Eastern European, Cold War era city that happens to share space with another city, sleek and modern with its own language and customs. It's noir fantasy at its finest, and it's ...
China Mieville, The City & the City
Noir fantasy has many subgenres, one of them being mythic noir, featuring gods and other mythic creatures on a modern day Earth. Neil Gaiman's novel sets the standard for this kind of dark, brooding urban fantasy. American Gods was also adapted for t...
Neil Gaiman, American Gods: A Novel
Glen Cook is. a master of hardboiled noir with a dash of humor. This series chronicles the adventures of Garrett, a human detective in a world of gnomes, elves and vampires. It's a good introduction to the world of noir fantasy fiction.
Sweet Silver Blues (Garrett, P. I. Series #1) by Glen Cook | eBook
Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim series features a detective/magician who's spent eleven years in hell. Now he's returned to the human world to hunt those who sent him there. There are several in the series, following Stark's journey through underworlds...
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
Noir shows up everywhere. This is a gripping, dark tale of vampires and survival on the tough streets of Mexico City. It's a moody, atmospheric tale that takes some stunning twists and turns.
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Christopher Moore is an expert at blending genres, poking fun at tropes, and throwing everything but the kitchen sink into a preposterous plot that somehow turns out all right. This one leans hard into the cliches of noir with a story that includes aliens, government conspiracies, alternate realities and poisonous snakes.
Noir by Christopher Moore
Daniel Polansky's Low Town is a must read in the noir fantasy world. In a gritty fictional city, a failed intelligence agent and former drug dealer becomes an unlikely hero. This is the book that launched the series.
Low Town by Daniel Polansky
Luke Arnold's debut novel features a world that's lost its magic and a former soldier turned detective on a mission to make amends for past misdeeds. Fun fact: the author is actor Luke Arnold, best known for his role as Long John Silver on the popular TV series Black Sails!
The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold
The Iron Druid is an ancient being, the last of the druids, trying to lead a quiet life in the Arizona desert. But his quiet life is shattered by a series of magical events. It's a unique mix of Irish lore and hardboiled noir, with an Irish wolfhound...
Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne
Not a private detective, but a freelance exorcist, is the hero of Mike Carey's Felix Castor books. He rids the gritty London streets of ghouls, demons and other dark spirits in this hardboiled noir series with a dash of dark humor.
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch blends police procedural with otherworldly elements as a young police constable who can speak to the dead is recruited for a very special investigative unit. Each book in the series takes on a new case.
Rivers of London byBen Aaronovitch
A teen age runaway with psychic powers must make her way across the English countryside while avoiding supernatural entities out to exploit her. It's not technically noir because of the rural setting, but it has a dark, gritty feel that fits right in.
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
No list of noir fantasy would be complete without a nod to one of the “founders” of the genre. Mercedes Lackey's Diana Tregarde series follows a novelist turned occult investigator through cases involving all kinds of supernatural creatures. An oldie but a goodie for fans of the genre.
Children of the Night: Diana Tregarde Investigation
Victor la Valle's Ballad of Black Tom shows us another side of noir – curses, sorcery and mystery in the heart of Queens, as Black Tom makes a risky delivery to a woman of magic.
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
Noir doesn't have to be limited to dark and dirty city streets. This one takes it to the backwoods, where a marshal and a witch get tangled up with myth, magic and violence in Pitchfork County. If you enjoy it, there are several more in the series.
Dead-Eyed God (a Pitchfork County book) by Sam Witt