Urban fantasy: Difference between revisions
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*[[Patricia Briggs]] (''[[The Mercedes Thompson Series]]'')<ref name="lj" /> |
*[[Patricia Briggs]] (''[[The Mercedes Thompson Series]]'')<ref name="lj" /> |
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*[[Emma Bull]] (''[[War for the Oaks]]'')<ref name="lj" /> |
*[[Emma Bull]] (''[[War for the Oaks]]'')<ref name="lj" /> |
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*[[Jim Butcher]] (''[[The Dresden Files]]'' series)<ref name="lj" /> |
*[[Jim Butcher]] (''[[The Dresden Files]]'' series)<ref name="lj" /> |
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*[[Rachel Caine]] (The ''Weather Warden'' series)<ref name="lj" /> |
*[[Rachel Caine]] (The ''Weather Warden'' series)<ref name="lj" /> |
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*[[Cassandra Clare]] (''Mortal Instruments'' series)<ref>Campbell, Heather M.. School Library Journal 53(2007): 130. </ref> |
*[[Cassandra Clare]] (''Mortal Instruments'' series)<ref>Campbell, Heather M.. School Library Journal 53(2007): 130. </ref> |
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*[[Sylvia Day | S. J. Day]] (The ''Marked'' series)<ref name="lj" /> |
*[[Sylvia Day | S. J. Day]] (The ''Marked'' series)<ref name="lj" /> |
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*[[Kat Richardson]] (The ''[[Greywalker]]'' series)<ref name="lj" /> |
*[[Kat Richardson]] (The ''[[Greywalker]]'' series)<ref name="lj" /> |
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*[[Rick Riordan]] (The ''[[Percy Jackson and the Olympians]]'' series). |
*[[Rick Riordan]] (The ''[[Percy Jackson and the Olympians]]'' series). |
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*[[Terry Spear]] (The ''Heart of the Wolf'' series) |
*[[Terry Spear]] (The ''Heart of the Wolf'' series) |
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*[[Jeanne C. Stein]] (The ''Anna Strong'' series) |
*[[Jeanne C. Stein]] (The ''Anna Strong'' series) |
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*[[Rachel Vincent]] (The ''The Shifters Series'' series).<ref name="lj" /> |
*[[Rachel Vincent]] (The ''The Shifters Series'' series).<ref name="lj" /> |
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*[[Terri Windling]] (The ''[[The Borderland Series|Borderlands]]'' series).<ref name="lj" /> |
*[[Terri Windling]] (The ''[[The Borderland Series|Borderlands]]'' series).<ref name="lj" /> |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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Revision as of 19:52, 13 August 2009
Urban fantasy is a subset of contemporary fantasy, consisting of novels and stories with supernatural content, set in contemporary, real-world, urban settings—as opposed to 'traditional' fantasy set in wholly imaginary landscapes, even ones containing imaginary cities, or having most of their action take place in them.
Characteristics
The urban fantasy protagonist faces extraordinary circumstances as plots unfold in either open (where magic or paranormal events are commonly accepted to exist) or closed (where magical powers or creatures are concealed) worlds.[1]
Writing in the late 1990s, critic John Clute distinguished urban fantasy from other sorts of contemporary fantasy by the role of the urban setting in the story. In The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, he wrote:
A city is a place; urban fantasy is a mode. A city may be an icon or a geography; the [urban fantasy] recounts an experience. A city may be seen from afar, and is generally seen clear; the urban fantasy is told from within.... Urban fantasies are normally texts where fantasy and the mundane world interact, intersect and interweave throughout a tale which is significantly about a real city.[2]
Nevertheless, Clute also remarked that "Many texts can be described simultaneously as contemporary fantasy and as urban fantasy."[3]
This type of urban fantasy, which Library Journal calls traditional urban fantasy[1] arose as an acknowledged subgenre in the late 1980s and early nineties. Emma Bull's 1987 War for the Oaks, in which the geography and culture of the city of Minneapolis play an important role, is a seminal work.[4] Charles de Lint's Dreams Underfoot (1993) and its sequels, set in the imaginary city of Newford, are other early entries.[5] Both Dreams Underfoot and War for the Oaks were edited by Terri Windling, who also created the groundbreaking urban fantasy Borderland anthologies (1986 and following) with Mark Alan Arnold.[1][6] Traditional urban fantasy often mixes elements of balladry, folklore, and fairy tales with modern urban environments, and features subtle distinctions between good and evil common to other forms of mythic fiction.[1]
Mythic urban fantasy can be distinguished from works labeled "urban fantasy" by publishers today, whose roots lie in horror fiction rather than folklore. Library Journal calls these contemporary urban fantasy[1] and notes that they share many features with the paranormal romance genre, including
...tough female protagonists, stronger distinctions between good and evil, grittier urban landscapes, first-person narration, and sexual tension, often between the female protagonist and a male character who toes the line between good and evil.[1]
Writing in the industry publication Publishers Weekly in 2009, Gwenda Bond said
[T]he terms urban fantasy and paranormal romance are often used interchangeably. But most of the category's major editors work on books that fall into both categories and caution that while the two frequently cross over among audiences, there is a key distinction. Avon executive editor Erika Tsang explains: "In paranormal romance the relationship between the couple is the focus of the main plot. In urban fantasy, the world that the couple exists in is the focus."[7]
Laurell K. Hamilton's “Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter” novels (1993 and following) are early examples of this type of urban fantasy.[1]
Urban fantasy authors
- Ilona Andrews (The Kate Daniels series)[1]
- Kelley Armstrong (The Women of the Otherworld series)[1]
- Keri Arthur (The The Spook Squad series)[1]
- Holly Black (The The Modern Faerie Tales series).[1]
- Patricia Briggs (The Mercedes Thompson Series)[1]
- Emma Bull (War for the Oaks)[1]
- Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files series)[1]
- Rachel Caine (The Weather Warden series)[1]
- Cinda Williams Chima (The The Heir Trilogy). [1]
- Cassandra Clare (Mortal Instruments series)[8]
- S. J. Day (The Marked series)[1]
- Neil Gaiman (Neverwhere)[1]
- Simon R. Green (The Night Side series)[1]
- Laurell K. Hamilton (The Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter and Merry Gentry series)[1]
- Charlaine Harris (The Southern Vampire Mysteries series)[1]
- Kim Harrison (The Hollows series)[1]
- Tanya Huff (The Enchantment Emporium)[9]
- Mercedes Lackey (Elves on the Road universe)[1]
- Charles de Lint (The Newford series)[1]
- Sergey Lukyanenko (Watch tetralogy)
- China Miéville (King Rat (1998 novel), Un Lun Dun, The City & the City)
- C.E. Murphy (The Walker Papers series)[1]
- Tim Powers (The Fault Line series)[citation needed]
- Tim Pratt (The Marla Mason series)
- Kat Richardson (The Greywalker series)[1]
- Rick Riordan (The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series).
- Will Shetterly (Bordertown novels Elsewhere and Nevernever)
- Terry Spear (The Heart of the Wolf series)
- Jeanne C. Stein (The Anna Strong series)
- Carrie Vaughn (The Kitty Norville series)[1]
- Rachel Vincent (The The Shifters Series series).[1]
- Terri Windling (The Borderlands series).[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Donoghue, "The City Fantastic"
- ^ Clute and Grant 1999, p. 975
- ^ Clute and Grant, p. 225
- ^ Clute and Grant 1999, p. 148
- ^ Clute and Grant 199, p. 264
- ^ Clute and Grant 1999, pp. 264, 148, 859
- ^ Bond 2009
- ^ Campbell, Heather M.. School Library Journal 53(2007): 130.
- ^ "Interview - Author Tanya Huff". Retrieved 3 July 2009.
References
- Bond, Gwenda (25 May 2009). "When Love Is Strange: Romance Continues its Affair with the Supernatural". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- Clute, John and John Grant (1999). The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (2nd revised edition). Macmillan. ISBN 0312198698.
- Donohue, Nanette Wargo (1 June 2008). "Collection Development "Urban Fantasy": The City Fantastic". Library Journal.