SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I was thinking about whether anyone knew fantasy-books where the characters works in a type of "secret agency"? Probably taking place in modern times. However, it doesn't have to be.

I tried to google it but I found nothing.

Try Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

The Man With the Golden Torc by Simon R. Green

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley'

Ambrose Ibsen's Raw Power.
Anton Strout's Dead To Me (I didn't much like this series, but you might feel differently).
Paul Cornell's London Falling.
Harry Connolly's Child of Fire.
Charles Stross The Atrocity Archives.
Kate Griffin's series ends up that way - first book is A Madness of Angels.
Jamie Davis Extreme Medical Services: Medical Care on the Fringes of Humanity (sort of).

interesting , I find this a great list of books to reread.

I think Chu's The Lives of Tao would fit in this category.

Betelgeuze wrote: "The Rook by Daniel O'Malley'"

That's the first one I thought of :)

Tiffany's list is excellent, but I'd add:

Hammer of Angels and Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi. The origins of the super-powered agents are pseudo-scientific but it's basically superhero spies and superheros tend to be a bit of a mish-mash of genre.

For a humorous take you might want to try The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez.

The books about Bureau 13 fit this bill.

More recently American Craftsmen and The Left-Hand Way: A Novel are in this ballpark.

If comics are allowed, then there is the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, the guys who found Hellboy. B.P.R.D., Vol. 1: Hollow Earth and Other Stories is the first one.

There are numerous similar organizations throughout comics, but the B.P.R.D. is a good place to start.

You can try the Riftwar Legacy series by Raymond E Feist starring Jimmy the Hand. However, though I like Jimmy's character (he features in quite a few of Feist's books) I really can't recommend the series: Feist is one of those up -and-down writers, when he's good he's very good but when he's not you find yourself wanting to skip to the end.

Leon wrote: "You can try the Riftwar Legacy series by Raymond E Feist starring Jimmy the Hand. However, though I like Jimmy's character (he features in quite a few of Feist's books) I really c..."

you need to take a break in the series, otherwise I disagree with you I enjoyed all.

Wow! Thanks, guys and girls. Those suggestions are really helpful. :)

Lindsay wrote: "Tiffany's list is excellent, but I'd add:

Hammer of Angels and Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi. The origins of the super-powered agents are pseudo-..."

Lindsay wrote: "Tiffany's list is excellent, but I'd add:

Hammer of Angels and Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi. The origins of the super-powered agents are pseudo-..."

I'd add to that list The Automatic Detective by A Lee Martinez. Detective noir, animal citizens, weird future - can't go wrong!

Thief of Midnight by Catherine Butzen (basically, agents go after boogeymen).

If you're okay with sci-fi, there's The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn.

Debatably, The Manual of Detection . . .

I'm glad you asked, because clearly I need to read more. I'm definitely going to look up the books others have left -- I've only read two of them.

Shadow Unit 1 by Emma Bull is modern about a secret(ish) group who goes around examining people who've mutated. It's interesting, but the book isn't cohesive, fyi. It's really a bunch of short stories about the same cast of characters, and several of the stories are done by different authors. It made an interesting read, but maybe not quite what you're looking for :)