Welcome!

Hi Guys - welcome to the group. I'm not sure how much I'll be posting here, but you are all more than welcome to join the LJ group that I have linked to above. :) Jenn

My favorite Urban Fantasy books/authors are - the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, the Weather Warden Series by Rachel Caine, and Kitty Goes to... by Carrie Vaughn.

I'm currently working on the second book in a series of UF based in Las Vegas that I'm going to be pitching to agents this spring.

I just received Rachel Caine's Weather Warden series for Christmas :-)

I was kind of curious what defines "urban fantasy". Is it fantasy set in the contemporary world? I have recently read a couple books which were cataloged as urban fantasy, Moon Called and The Blue Girl. Has anyone else read these books? What did you think?

Would Charles De Lint's books count as urban fantasy?

Comtemporary world is the key, although some like Lilth Saintcrow's setting is a mixture of Cyberpunk and magic in the future. But it still works.

I always say - pointed ears and fangs in the forest = fantasy.
Pointed ears and fangs at the mall = urban fantasy.

I didn't finish Moon Called. But you will love Rachel's books. Her Morganville Vampire series just started, and it's terrific.

I haven't read Charles De Lint's books, but I've had other people say they are Urban Fantasy.

That's actually how The Blue Girl was cataloged on the spine, "urban fantasy". It's one of the first times I had seen the term used.

I have read Rachel Caine's Glass Houses book and loved it (except the cliffhanger ending!). The next Morganville Vampires book is on my amazon wish list.

goth-I love your explanation on "urban fantasy" (post #4)that's great and makes total sense!

Are you stalking me Demonlover? Charles De Lint is very much Urban fantasy, I tend to think of this as something slightly different from contemporary fantasy. more thoughtfull less derivative and less action driven than most contemporary fantasy. a lot of contemporary fantasy fills the same role as space opera. urban fantasy is more thoughtfull closer to magic realism. not that people never shoot werewolves to save their true love in urban fantasy. but you have to put up with a bit of character development.

Simon - LOL I was just thinking the same thing when I saw you had the new post! I was here first (going by the members list), but happy to have you as a fellow groupie in so many different places :-)

Don't play the innocent you knew I would Be here because you have been through my bins to build up a psychological profile and decided to lie in wait.

Simon- Hmmm... paranoid or unusually perceptive....

only time will tell **insert Twilight Zone music here**

Last year i read working for the devil by Lilith Saintcrow the first of the dante valentine novels. I enjoyed it quite a bit and am looking forward to finding out more about Dante's world.

I wonder does Perdido street station count as Urban Fantasy?

Hi there.

Does Neil Gaiman qualify as Urban Fantasy?
Regardless he is a great author and exceptionally talented at story telling. Love his books (own most of them).
I've also read Emma Bull's War for the Oaks which I thought was pretty good.

I'm also looking at reading more urban, as I have focussed mainly on High Fantasy.

yes most Neil Gaiman is Urban fantasy, specifically American Gods Anansi Boys and Neverwhere are all urban fantasy

I would even say that while they are technically graphic novles, a lot of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, or the Death graphic novels would qualify as Urban Fantasy.

I presonally loved Moon Called and I cannot wait for the next in the series. Patricia Briggs normally does more of the regular kind of fantasy of but I am very excited about this new series.

Charles De Lint is most certainly urban fantasy, but as someone else stated fairly eloquently, he is a bit deeper and more cerebral than many other books. His urban fantasy I find more heartfelt and thought provoking - it makes me think about my life and the life of people in the world, whereas many othe urban fantasy books are fast paced and action packed. Both types of urban fantasy I find appealing, as I have a tendency to read based on my mood.

Some recent-reads in the genre I really enjoyed:
Greywalker by Kat Richardson
and the "Retrievers" series by Laura Ann Gilman:
Staying Dead
Curse of the Dark
Bring It On

the grey walker sumary sounded good when amazon reccomended it to me but the reviews here seem a bit bleeh.

Re: Greywalker

I just read the reviews here and felt they were a bit unfair. It's true the book wasn't fantastic, but it was good. It explored the paranormal and near-death experience in a very intruiging way. At times, the author really emphasized the "grey" in mood and environment which may have inadvertantly dulled the story for some people.

Given the fact this was a "first book" and both the author and the readers are learning about the characters, I didn't feel they were too cardboard. The main character was not "accepting" of the weird stuff happening to her/around her. A couple of the secondary characters were designed almost so-open-minded-their-brains-fall-out, but they came across as flaky eccentrics-- more like comic relief, in my opinion.

What appealed to me most was the greywalker concept. The main character, a P.I, can cross into a 'place' which is a cross between a dark astral plane and a parrallel universe, peppered with monsters, and co-existing with "reality". Personally, I hope the author writes a sequel, soon. :D

Hmm, I just read Brother Odd; never read any Dean Koontz before but mostly liked it. Not exactly an urban setting, but would it qualify?

# 18 IMO it qualifies although I would still put it in the thriller/suspense category. I think the first book Odd Thomas was better than the second. I haven't read the third because the second was terrible. Some of Dean Koontz books are okay but mostly I find him over-rated. My favorite by Koontz is Hideaway. But I read it so long ago that I don't know if it would be as good a read now. I've heard the Frankenstein series is good but I haven't read it myself.

Can time travel stories be considered urban fantasy? Just curious.

I'm so excited! I just found this group when Demonlover quoted it in another group. Here are people talking about some of my favorite books that nobody I know has ever heard of! Some of these authors I have never heard of either, but I will be looking for them now. Thanks guys. Oh Hi my name is Cheri

I recently read The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint and quite liked it. When I start reading new books again (stress has me rereading old favorites) I will try some of his other books. My favorite book is Sunshine by Robin McKinley, which I think qualifies as urban fantasy.

>21 callady: Hi Cheri and Welcome! I was happy to see some new posts on here.

>22 bluesalamanders: I totally think Sunshine would qualify as urban fantasy. Charles de Lint has a werewolf story, can't think of the name right now, but it looks very interesting. Unfortunately I have too much in my TBR pile to get to it *sigh*