While attending the 20Books conference in Las Vegas this past November, I found myself in a breakout group with dozens of other urban fantasy writer talking about a subject near and dear to all our hearts – urban fantasy books.
I know, go figure, right?
As the conversation progressed, I became a little bewildered. I would mention classic urban fantasy series and authors, books that literally helped define the genre in several cases, and many of the other writers present would look at me with blank stares. They had never heard of them. Sure, they knew names like Butcher and Briggs, Harris and Harrison, and many of the newer indie players like Silvers, Mayer, and but had never heard of Charlie Grant and his Ethan Proctor series (which I’ll admit goes back a ways and is a little obscure) or Rob Thurman’s excellent 10 book Cal Leandros series. among others.
I’d encountered the same issue in the horror genre back in my days as president of the Horror Writers Association – earnest, well-meaning writers with no firm grounding in the history of the genre they were writing in. Then, as now, this bothered me. I mean, there isn’t any place that teaches this stuff, so how are they supposed to even know what to look for given the gazillion of books flooding Amazon each day?
This blog series and accompanying Pinterest board is my attempt to set some of that to right.
I’m going to be highlighting urban fantasy series that I’ve not only enjoyed as a reader but that, as a writer, I think are stellar examples of titles in the genre, books that essentially define what urban fantasy is and should be.
Yes, this will be a subjective list. It is my opinion, after all. But I’ve been writing professionally in this genre for seventeen years at this point, with books and series published by Simon & Schuster, Gallery, Tor, HarperVoyager and others. It may be an opinion, but it is, at least, an informed opinion that has allowed me to work full-time in a genre that I love for some time and hopefully, many more years to come. So take that as you will — your mileage may vary and all that.
Still with me?
Good. Let’s take a minute then to note an important distinction about the titles that are going to appear on this list, a distinction that some might not like but has to be said upfront.
Books on this list will be urban fantasy titles.
You will not find paranormal romance titles on this list. Nor will you find cross genre mashups that try to combine urban fantasy tropes with half a dozen other genres. No urban-fantasy-romantic-space-westerns featuring scary, superhero robots from faerie that can change into cuddly bear shifters at the drop of a hat. I’m not trying to highlight a new genre or justify why that schizophrenic genre mashup should be considered an urban fantasy title.
Not gonna find that here.
To me, urban fantasy titles are those that are set in the modern world (or close to it) where the supernatural exists but is often hidden from the average Joe and that have a hero with a foot set firmly in both worlds.
There may be romance in the storyline (just as there can be romance in a thriller or a mystery or a western) but the search for love is not the primary goal of the main character (which would make it a paranormal romance.)
Posts in the series will be marked with the hashtag #mustreadurbanfantasy and will contain information about the book/series, including the author, the description, the cover art, what I liked about the book/why I think you should read it, and information about where you can get the various editions that are still available.
After that it’s up to you to pick up a copy and see for yourself if they belong on your own list of must read urban fantasy titles.
We’re going to kick things off in the next post with one of the hardest working writers I know who also happens to be a damn good guy and who wrote some absolutely kick-ass urban fantasy back in the day…