Urban Fantasy

[WizardofOwls]

Thanks Lissa! I'll have to check out those samples at Laurell's site! The books by C.E. Murphy sound good too. Do you know the titles of any of the books in that series?

Oh and welcome to our growing community! So good to have you here with us!

[rune]

I like Hamilton's Merry Gentry series too. I would say Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series falls under the Urban bracket too

[Lissa]

Actually the first book in C.E. Murphy's series is called "Urban Shaman".
Sorry I didn't clarify. There is a second short story that goes with it. It is in a book with a couple other authors short stories. She has a website as well.
Happy reading!

[beenorthern]

Looks like we have two themes here, which combine in books like *The War for the Oaks* ... I have a few additions

Urban Fantasy:
*Dragons of the Cuyahoga*, *The Dwarves of Whiskey Island* S. Andrew Swann (portal from Elfland opens into Pittsburgh; sort of fantasy mystery)
*New York By Knight*, *Sphynxes Wild* (Las Vegas) Esther Friesner (minor, but entertaining)

Faerie:
"Queen of Air and Darkness", *The Merman’s Children* Poul Anderson (excellent work, languishing in undeserved oblivion)
*Tam Lin* Pamela Dean (wonder-tale retelling WT)
*Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses* Diane Duane (minor, but amusing)
*Ill Met By Moonlight* Sarah A. Hoyt (very good Shakespearean fantasy)
*Thomas Rhymer* Ellen Kushner WT
*Prince Ivan*, *Firebird*, *Golden Horde* Peter Morwood WT
*The Shining Falcon* WT, *A Strange and Ancient Name* Josepha Sherman

[Teresa Edgerton]

If we're going to wander off from Urban Fantasy into books about Humans interacting with the denizens of Faerie in any era or setting the list could become very long indeed. I myself can think of many, many good books in that mode ...

But perhaps that should be the basis for a whole different thread.*

So, returning to the sort of books that I imagine Wizard to be asking about,
Moonwise by Greer Ilene Gilman is in many ways very much in the de Lint mode, about modern people being drawn into a fantastic world overlapping with our own, which, though not actually identified as Faerie, certainly has that feel. It's the world that one catches glimpse of in ballads like Tam Lin.

It's an amazing book -- even though the main characters tend to talk in a sort of self-referential code that can become a bit tedious at times -- and one I would recommend to anyone who thinks they may be up for what is basically 373 pages of blank verse and the occasional hard slog through passages of an archaic rural dialect. The language and imagery are dazzling, and Gilman has the ability to invest the things of this world with a glamour and enchantment that is quite extraordinary.

__________
* In fact, I'm off to start just such a thread right now.

[murphy]

Originally Posted by Lissa

Actually the first book in C.E. Murphy's series is called "Urban Shaman".
Sorry I didn't clarify. There is a second short story that goes with it. It is in a book with a couple other authors short stories. She has a website as well.
Happy reading!

She has another book coming out in early summer/late spring. The novella can be found in Winter's Heart, which includes stories by Mercedes Lackey and Tanith Lee. I liked the C. E. Murphy story best (no relation).

The Laurel Hamilton Merry Gentry series is all right, but I wish she would get out of the bedroom already.

[Cricket - Best Sport]

My defination of urban fantasy is very simple – (non-epic) fantasy centred around, or based for the most part in, a city/suburbia.

As such, here are a few recommendations. I have tried to stay away from books which have already been mentioned.

1. The Light Ages (London) – Ian R. Macleod
2. Winter’s Tale (New York) – Mark Helprin [standalone]
3. Neverwhere (London) – Neil Gaiman [standalone]
4. Finder (Borderland) – Emma Bull [part of the shared universe created by editor Terry Windling]
5. Death of the Necormancer (Ile-Rien) – Martha Wells
6. The Nightside Chronicles (London) – Simon R. Green
7. King Rat (London) – China Mieville [standalone]
8. Illusion (Sherreen) – Paula Volsky [standalone]
9. The Borrible Trilogy (London) – Michael De Larrabieti
10. Woven Path (London) – Robin Jarvis

[WizardofOwls]

I have discovered a new urban fantasy author whose books have totally captivated me. He has written three books (that I am aware of) and 2 of them are part of a series.

The two I have are called The Summer Country and The Winter Oak. I have finised the first and am halfway through the second, and I HIGHLY recommend both!

He has written a third book called Dragon's Eye which does not appear to be part of the same series. I don't have it and haven't read it, so I can say how it is. I f you like urban fantasy though, read the first two books I named. If you like Charles de Lint and Emma Bull, you like these too!

[murphy]

Originally Posted by WizardofOwls

I have discovered a new urban fantasy author whose books have totally captivated me. He has written three books (that I am aware of) and 2 of them are part of a series.

The two I have are called The Summer Country and The Winter Oak. I have finised the first and am halfway through the second, and I HIGHLY recommend both!

He has written a third book called Dragon's Eye which does not appear to be part of the same series. I don't have it and haven't read it, so I can say how it is. I f you like urban fantasy though, read the first two books I named. If you like Charles de Lint and Emma Bull, you like these too!

Are these the books by James Hetley?

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by murphy

Are these the books by James Hetley?

Correct weight.

[WizardofOwls]

Originally Posted by murphy

Are these the books by James Hetley?

OOOPS! (Wiz blushes) I was so excited telling you about the books that I completely forgot to tell you that they are, indeed, the books by James A. Hetley. Sorry about that!

Have you guys read them? What did you think?

[Brown Rat]

Originally Posted by Lissa

C.E. Murphy also has a series going that is really good called Urban Shaman.

I second Lissa's recommendation of C.E. Murphy's Urban Shaman, and I'd also recommend Laura Anne Gilman's Staying Dead and Curse the Dark. All three combine fantasy with a touch of romance (not the heavy-breathing bodice-ripper formulaic romance, but the more everyday growing-over-many-years romance).

I wonder if Wen Spencer's Tinker might also interest you? It's set in Pittsburgh, which has been linked to a faerie world.

[jenna]

i second the Neil Gaiman recommendation, Neverwhere is a really fun book, really wacky!

[WizardofOwls]

I would very much like to thank Lissa for suggesting the books by CE Murphy! I was in a book story recently in a city a good deal away from home when I saw both books, Urban Shaman and Thunderbird Falls. I wanted to buy both, but I was afraid to spend the extra money on the second since it was by an author I had never tried before. I debated for a long time. In the end I went ahead and got both. Boy am I glad I did! I am about halfway through Urban Shaman, and I'm LOVING it! This book is excellent! I'll have to look for the short story too. By the way, have you guys read Sacred Ground by Mercedes Lackey? It also deals with a Native American shaman in a modern setting. If you liked Urban Shaman, I highly recommend Sacred Ground! I think you'd like it!

[BookStop]

Because of all y'alls recommendations, I am moving the de Lint books to my must read pile. What have you done! Have you ever seen my must read pile? I hope it doesn't topple under the extreme weight of these last..aaaghhh