Welcome! On this page you’ll find answers to these common questions:
* What is Urban Fantasy Land? *
* What is Urban Fantasy? *
* Who are the Contributors? *
* What about those Book Reviews? *
UFLand is a collection of all the latest information from the many lands of urban fantasy. Stay current on all that’s happening in UF in one place!
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How to get the most from the site:
- - find news by author using the categories widget
- - find news by topic using the tag cloud
- - discover authors new to you on the UF Authors page
The Urban Fantasy Land definition: Fantasy in a contemporary, urban setting that usually stars a kick ass hero/ine, centers around a mystery (fixing something, finding something/someone), or getting things back to normal. The subplot includes a relationship/romance that usually does not end happily ever after. Though the stories are dark, edging on horror, there’s a witty side that keeps the tone balanced, and yet the main character is to be taken seriously.
[Urban fantasy is NOT the same as paranormal romance. In paranormal romance you have a story told 3rd-person, sometimes with viewpoints alternating between hero and heroine, that centres around the romance plot, and ends with a happily ever after. A contemporary, urban setting is optional.]
Everybody’s got an opinion:
From Book Think: “the world within a world, typically hidden or secret, usually involving mystical or supernatural elements, discovered by chance or fate by an outsider who finds something they’ve been lacking - adventure, freedom, acceptance, identity, romance.”
- Penguin group (Roc & Ace) definition: here.
- Wikipedia’s definition: here.
- Liz Scheier’s definition: here.
- Elizabeth Bear’s definition: here.
- All About Romance’s definition: here.
- Romantic Times’ definition: here.
- Fangs, Fur & Fey’s musings: here.
- Mrs Giggles remarks: here.
- Lazette Gifford’s idea: here.
- everything2’s definition: here.
- Hornswoggler’s thoughts: here.
- Tate Hallaway’s ideas: here.
- The pondering at Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review: here.
Lindsay York Levack
I first fell in love with urban fantasy in 1999, before urban fantasy had a name. I was reading Diana Gabaldon’s OUTLANDISH COMPANION, when I hit upon her “Methadone List” (recommended reading while we wait for her next book.) In this list she mentions Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. “A unique series (nine books so far), dealing with the adventures of Anita Blake, licensed vampire executioner and working zombie raiser, who– in the course of the series– is courted by a werewolf and a vampire, and battles just about every form of supernatural creature I’ve ever heard of– and not a few I hadn’t. Extremely violent and bloody, but never gratuitously so. Nonstop action, but the most interesting aspect of the series is the increasing complexity of the moral questions asked, as the chief character explores her own powers in greater depth, and begins wondering exactly what the differences are between the humans and the monsters.” (This, by the way, is as good a definition of UF as any.)
Gabaldon thought she was handing out methadone. Little did she know it was more like crack.
It didn’t take me long to speed through Hamilton’s nine novels and discover there was more like her out there. But the trouble for me has always been having to chase it down, having to seek and find UF. Unlike romance, SF, and crime, there was no gathering of all that is UF. Until now.
Critics thought urban fantasy was a mere blip in the trend charts. I’ve never grown tired of this genre. If anything, I want more. Is that the definition of an addict?
Lindsay’s blog
lindsayyorklevack at gmail.com
Lisa Trevethan
I discovered Urban Fantasy/Mythic Fiction through War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. It was the first book I’d ever read that brought the world of faery into a contemporary urban setting. From there, I moved on to DeLint and Hamilton (actually started with Merry Gentry series first and moved on to the Anita Blake series later) and it has just snowballed from there. I am constantly reading something and there are books that I will re-read with some regularity because of the way they make me feel. And that is key with me. The book needs to make me feel something.
Urban fantasy is a genre I never tire of, whether it’s faeries, vamps, shapeshifters or real people thrown into extraordinary worlds or situations. It never ceases to amaze me where a writer’s imagination can take them and how new life can be breathed into what some people might say is a tired out mythos when seen through different eyes. I think it’s an extraordinary accomplishment to create a story that makes the unbelieveable believable.
Some of my favorite authors are in the heavy hitting H’s: Hamilton, Harris and Harrison. I’m also very partial to Rachel Caine, Patricia Briggs, Faith Hunter and J.R. Ward (I’m a series slut, I can’t help it). I don’t think Urban Fantasy or its sub genres are going anywhere for a good, long time. As long as they are kicking out good reads, I’ll stick around to read about it, talk about it and write about it.
Lisa’s blog
lisa.trevethan at gmail.com
All reviews are the opinions of the reviewer. Please feel free to comment on our reviews and agree or disagree as you like. Here’s a quick guide to explain our letter grades:
A : Loved this book! Would buy it in hardcover! This one is a keeper!
B : Good. I would read it again.
C : Meh. I’m not sure I want to see this one again.
D : Waste of money.
If you are an author or publisher and would like to have a book reviewed at Urban Fantasy Land, please contact one of the contributors above.
April 7, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Hi there; I’ve been watching your site for the last couple weeks, and would like to know if you’d be interested in doing a review/interview on me and my work — I write gothic fantasy, often with an urban flair, and to date most of my work are short stories.
If you’re interested please send me an email.
All the best,
Heather S. Ingemar
April 12, 2008 at 3:36 pm
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