# Urban Fantasy... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538 "2010-03-23T21:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/41 "2010-04-01T02:10:56Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > What are the normal measurements of paperbacks? Normal paperbacks are 6.75" high, but now they’re coming out with some that are 7.5" high - same width, just taller, and of course more expensive. Particularly annoying for me, because I have custom-built bookcases in my bedroom for my unread paperbacks, and the taller ones don’t fit in them. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/42 "2010-04-01T02:15:59Z")
“Dresden Files in London” reminds me: I recommend avoiding _The Nightside_ series. At first glance it appears to be another “Dresden Files In London” series, but the writing is subpar, the protagonist is a Gary Stu, nearly all the characters are unlikeable and attempt to be epic but fail. While there are some interesting concepts, on the whole it just doesn’t hang together very well. And when I say the writing is subpar, keep in mind: _I like D&D novels._ ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/43 "2010-04-01T02:24:52Z")
If you like urban fantasy and don’t mind being seen reading comics, Jamie McKelvie’s Suburban Glamour might work for you. The collection’s available at Amazon, and the [publisher has the first issue up online.](http://www.imagecomics.com/iconline.php4?title=suburbanglamour_001&page=cover) I warn you, their browser is the result of fail and stupid having a drunken bang. Just hit refresh if it starts acting stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/44 "2010-04-01T03:27:30Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > “Dresden Files in London” reminds me: I recommend avoiding _The Nightside_ series. At first glance it appears to be another “Dresden Files In London” series, but the writing is subpar, the protagonist is a Gary Stu, nearly all the characters are unlikeable and attempt to be epic but fail. While there are some interesting concepts, on the whole it just doesn’t hang together very well. > > And when I say the writing is subpar, keep in mind: _I like D&D novels._ Aw, come on, John Taylor is awesome! Invincible Sue-type awesome, maybe, but he still kicks butt from a mile away. I mean, that’s the whole point of the series- you’re eavesdropping in on the lives of insanely powerful and dangerous creatures. If you want a Simon Green unapologetically-100%-Sue-with-cheese-on-top, try the Deathstalker books, aka “Mary and Gary’s Intergalactic Adventure”. They’re pretty fun as long as you’re reading them for the vicarious bad-guy bashing, and not plausibility. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/45 "2010-04-01T03:47:38Z")
Enlighten me. Is the Urban Fantasy that you all seem to be talking about just the same as classic mediaeval fantasy, but set in a city instead of in the forest? Or is it in contemporary settings? Or is it something very specifically else? Gothic, or Romantic, or Steampunk, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/46 "2010-04-01T03:52:00Z")
Urban fantasy is usually set in a contemporary time, and quite frequently in a recognizable city in an alternate Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/47 "2010-04-01T03:56:31Z")
I enjoy Neal Stephenson quite a bit for urban fantasy, especially Snow Crash; and William Gibson may be cyberpunk \ but books like Pattern Recognition and Mona Lisa Overdrive are great, and I think they do fall into the fantasy realm. Neither author does werewolves or vampires though, so I’m not sure that’s what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/48 "2010-04-01T04:05:31Z")
IMO, both Stephenson and Gibson are very firmly in the science fiction section of the spec fic rainbow. Cyberpunk is NOT fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/49 "2010-04-01T04:07:27Z")
Just remembered one that might fit the bill: Brian Lumley’s ‘Necroscope’ series. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necroscope\_(series)#Series\_bibliography](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necroscope_(series)#Series_bibliography)There’s 5 in the original series, and then more spinoffs after that, since people really liked it. It’s more ‘wampyr’ than vampire, but there’s plenty of teeth and bloodsucking 😃 I haven’t read them in about 10 years, but picked one up second-hand last week and just remembered it. I enjoyed them then, hope I still like them now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/50 "2010-04-01T04:12:52Z")
Bah, nm. Not really “urban”, as it’s set during a time the US population of whites was less than that of Boston now. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/51 "2010-04-01T04:18:06Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I enjoy Neal Stephenson quite a bit for urban fantasy, especially Snow Crash; Snow Crash is totally cyberpunk. Urban fantasy employs magic and supernatural creatures in a contemporary setting. Cyberpunk is typically near future in a dystopian but roughly functioning society with a strong cyberspace element (hence the name) and other advanced tech. Snow Crash made have bordered on the fantastical with its freaky cyberspace, but everything that happened in the book used technology and Reason, not magic. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/52 "2010-04-01T11:31:20Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > “Dresden Files in London” reminds me: I recommend avoiding _The Nightside_ series. At first glance it appears to be another “Dresden Files In London” series, but the writing is subpar, the protagonist is a Gary Stu, nearly all the characters are unlikeable and attempt to be epic but fail. While there are some interesting concepts, on the whole it just doesn’t hang together very well. > > And when I say the writing is subpar, keep in mind: _I like D&D novels._ I don’t disagree with your observations - but I read the Nightside anyway… 🙂 The writing is indeed subpar and it is a much lesser series. But it is a quick and easy read and can be a good time-killer if that is all you are looking for. Green can write some great villains - but just when you think you’ve seen the biggest baddest Big Bad, along comes another who is bigger and badder and for some reason I often feel - I’m not sure what word I’m looking for - cheated? ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/53 "2010-04-01T13:51:42Z")
I didn’t like the Nightside series either, **Bosstone**. But I probably jinxed myself because I ran across the first four books in a used bookstore, and took a chance and bought all of them. > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Urban fantasy is usually set in a contemporary time, and quite frequently in a recognizable city in an alternate Earth. I’m hoping for a new trend of urban fantasy in a historical setting. Tanya Huff has mentioned that she wants to write about Napoleonic-era werewolves. There’s a new author, Gail Carriger, writing now about vampires, etc., in Victorian times. I enjoyed her first book but it’s not very serious and may be too romancey for some urban fantasy fans. Naomi Novik’s books have Napoleonic-era dragons - the series is like a mashup of Dragonriders of Pern and Horatio Hornblower - and I can’t decide if that’s urban fantasy or not. There’s no real magic in the world - just dragons. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538/54 "2010-04-01T17:30:30Z")
In addition to Mike Carey’s novels and a lot of Gaiman, I’ll put in a word for The Dark Tower series by Stephen King - in particular, book 2, The Drawing of the Three. It’s not exactly like the other stuff mentioned here, but it is fantasy in an urban environment. Also, Clive Barker does a lot of contemporary settings for horrific/fanciful happenings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-fantasy/533538.md?page=2)