Urban Fantasy

[murphy]

Originally Posted by 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

Poor baby. My heart bleeds for you

[Hawkshaw_245]

OK. I suppose 'Urban Fantasy' could also include elements of horror fantasy, too.

I'm working on a story/novela that involves a group of demon hunters, set in a modern urban/rural world.

Imagine 'Van Helsing' crossed with 'X-Files'.

[Cloud]

"Tinker" by Wen Spencer. Excellent, and there's a new sequel, called Steel City Magic (which I have not yet read).

[murphy]

Originally Posted by Cloud

"Tinker" by Wen Spencer. Excellent, and there's a new sequel, called Steel City Magic (which I have not yet read).

I've got Wolf Who Rules, which I thought was the sequel. Is there a third book?

[Cloud]

nope; you're right, sorry!

Apparently Steel City Magic is a book club edition of Tinker and Wolf Who Rules. Shame on me for my too-quick perusal of Amazon. Shame on them for confusing readers with re-treads. Plus, I think I got Wolf Who Rules confused with the Tainted Trail books by the same author, which feature wolfiness.

[murphy]

I think I've got all her books. My favorite, though, is the Tinker books. Hope she makes a series of them.

[Cloud]

2 is a series, no?

[murphy]

I'd say two is a duology. A series, I think would be four or more.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by murphy

I'd say two is a duology. A series, I think would be four or more.

I suppose, technically, that would be right... as in mathematics, at least three would be needed to define the nature of a series; though a set could be as few as two.

[Cloud]

Math-A-Matic? is that a calculator?

[murphy]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

I suppose, technically, that would be right... as in mathematics, at least three would be needed to define the nature of a series; though a set could be as few as two.

I guess I was thinking of a series being like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files or Laurel Hamilton's Anita Blake and Merry Gentry books. There is no set limit on the number of books in the series.

[WizardofOwls]

I've got a new book to add to the pile. It is called Tithe and it was written by a lady named Holly Black. You will most likely find it in the Young Adult section of your bookstore, but don't let that fool you - I'm a little over halfway through it, and all I can say is that if you are a fan of DeLint-style Urban Fantasy, then you will LOVE this book! I think that it is excellent! There is a second book by the same lady called Valiant which appears to be in the same series, but the characters are different. I'll be reading that one as soon as I finish Tithe, so I'll be sure and let you know what I think.

I've been thinking... there are a few more books I'd like to add to the list. These are all by one of my favorite authors, Mercedes Lackey. The first three are part of a trilogy called the Diana Tregarde Mysteries. They are Jinx High, Burning Water, and Children of the Night, and deal with a practicing witch who uses her magic to solve supernatural mysteries. The other is called Sacred Ground, and deals with a character named Jennifer Talldeer who is a Native American medicine woman. She uses her magic to solve a mystery dealing with the disturbance of a sacred burial ground which stirs up some vengeful spirits. If you liked Urban Shaman by C. E. Murphy, then I think you would like this one too.

So here is my list of favorite Urban Fanstasy books so far:

Charles DeLint - Almost ANYTHING!
Emma Bull - War for the Oaks
Raymond E. Feist - Faerie Tale
C. E. Murphy - Urban Shaman, Thunderbird Falls, and Banshee Cries (a short story in the book called Winter Moon)
James A. Hetley - The Summer Country, The Winter Oak
Mercedes Lackey - Sacred Ground, Jinx High, Burning Water, Children of the Night
Holly Black - Tithe (and probably Valiant, if it is as good as the first book)

Still looking for more books to add to the list, so keep those suggestions coming!

[beenorthern]

I just got Elizabeth Bear's new book *Blood and Iron* from the library, and was surprised to find that it is not SF like her trilogy, but rather urban fantasy (crossing over to Faerie). I think it's exactly what you're looking for.

Other fairly recent UF/Fey:
Sarah A. Hoyt *Ill Met by Moonlight*
James A. Hetley *The Summer Country* & *The Winter Oak*
Diane Duane *Stealing the Elf-King's Roses*
Wen Spencer *Tinker* & *Wolf Who Rules*
Martha Wells *The Element of Fire*
S. Andrew Swan *Dragons of the Cuyahoga*, *The Dwarves of Whiskey Island*

Older (possibly OOP) fantasy about fairies, Sidhe (whatever you call 'em):

Poul Anderson *The Merman's Children*, *The Broken Sword*
Judith Tarr *Kingdom of the Grail*, *Ars Magica*, *Alamut*
Greg Bear *The Serpent Mage* *The Infinity Concerto*
Elizabeth Marie Pope *The Perilous Gard*
Terri Windling *The Wood Wife*
C.J. Cherryh *The Goblin Mirror*
R.A. MacAvoy *The Grey Horse*
Diana Wynne Jones *Dark Lord of Derkholm*
Lynn Abbey *Jerlayne*
Theresa Edgerton *Castle of the Silver Wheel*, *The Grail and the Ring*, & *The Moon and the Thorn*
Midori Snyder *The Flight of Michael McBride*
Linda Haldeman *The Lastborn of Elvinwood*
Jackie Cassada *The Toybox*

And although it's not about elves, I think you'll enjoy Roger Zelazny's AMBER series.

[Cricket - Best Sport]

Tithe is one of the worst fantasy novels I have ever completed.

[Coolhand]

I've recently finished Keeping It Real by Justina Robson. It's an Urban Fantasy/sci-fi so you get Cyborgs chasing Elves on motorbikes and that kind of thing. It was readable but I wasn't exactly blown away by it. It sounds cooler in the blurb than it actually is (I put a full review in the review's section of the forum) but if people are looking for more UF to devour it might be what you're looking for.