Urban fantasy often crosses paths with a number of genres, including alternate history, cosmic horror story, dungeon punk, gothic punk, horror, magical realism, paranormal romance, paranormal investigation, supernatural fiction and supernatural thriller. Here are 15 complete urban fantasy series to occupy you during the. Urban fantasy is a subset of contemporary fantasy, consisting of novels and stories with supernatural andor magical elements set in contemporary, realworld, urban settingsas opposed to traditional fantasy set in imaginary locations. Urban fantasy series recommendations and the difference. Seanan mcguires personal top ten urban fantasy books for. Young adult books are booming, and the fantasy genre makes up a huge chunk. Trust real people, not robots, to give you book recommendations. But given those things, i can see why a primer of the top fantasy books for this age category might be necessary. How do you recognize a good urban fantasy when you see one, and if you. Tanya huff has written a series about a detective in toronto who deals with a vampire friend who is a kings son. Part crime novel and part fantasy, graveyard shift is a bloody good read.
With the different terms floating around out there it can be easy to confuse or overlook key sub genres. Heres some of the best urban fantasy books to read, both classics and new releases. Since this is not seanan starts a feud within her genre, i will not be specifying. This is a list of urban fantasy i would personally recommend. Carey is well known for her excellent epic fantasy series kushiels legacy, but she recently tried her hand at urban fantasy, to fantastic results. Urban fantasy stories are, essentially, stories that involve supernatural species and creatures that come straight out of a myth. Sometimes its difficult to tell whether a work qualifies, but generally speaking urban fantasy is known for showing the impact of modern society on the fantasy elements included in it. The agent of hel series, while on the short side for the genre, is full to bursting with wonderful characters and intense action. Finding a succinct list of the most notable ones particularly a list with definitions and examples is not always straightforward. Urban fantasy is a slippery sort of subgenre, but to me, calling a book urban fantasy. Cassandra clare is another huge name in the urban fantasy game, and her novel city of bones helped bring the genre into the twentyfirst century mainstream. Our guide to the best urban fantasy books in the fantasy genre, from a variety of. In this whirlwind tale, new york teenager clary fray discovers her identity as a shadowhunter, a supernatural entity with the power to kill demons. More to the point, it has an enormous presence on goodreads.
A beginners guide to writing urban fantasy writing tips. Many urban fantasy novels are told via a firstperson narrative, and feature supernatural beings such as vampires, shapeshifters, fairies, witches, sorcerers. The fantasy genre is rich with a myriad of sub genres, and each has its own conventions and trends. Today, urban fantasy is among the most popular genres, with urban fantasy titles often hitting the top spots in the ny bestseller list. Best strong female fantasy novels, the best urban fantasy, best adult urban fantasy, fantasy and paranormal. Charles delint has written some excellent urban fantasy, dealing with faeries, giants, brownies, and the like in urban toronto. Urban fantasy is no doubt one of the most fascinating genres in modern. Urban fantasy, as defined, is a sub genre of fantasy where the story takes place in an urban setting.
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