urban fantasy

  • Our Favorite Fantasy Fiction of 2022

    I’d say Fantasy Fiction is enjoying a “renaissance,” but it never went away, and has garnered massive mainstream interest since a certain boy wizard’s first day at Hogwart’s, or even since Bilbo left the Shire. That said, today’s fantasy readers can choose from an unprecedented diversity of subgenres, settings, voices and themes. We recently compiled… Continue reading

  • Taking a walk on the weird side of Fantastical Seattle

    Taking a walk on the weird side of Fantastical Seattle

    We all know that Seattle is fantastic, but only fantasy readers know just how much so. Seattle not-quite-as-we-know-it has appeared in many fantasy novels. Urban fantasy fans will be familiar with Kat Richardson’s classic Greywalker series, in which psychic sleuth Harper Blaine solves crimes along the natural and supernatural faultline that passes right through our… Continue reading

  • Fantasy Checklist Challenge: Urban Fantasy

    ~posted by Lindsay S. If you like the idea of magic and fantasy, but think made-up worlds and pseudo-medieval times are weird, Urban Fantasy might just be the subgenre for you. In Urban Fantasy stories, magical and fantastical elements are plunked right down in the middle of modern day life. The results can be hilarious,… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Werewolf? There, wolf

    This post was inspired by that classic line from Young Frankenstein, you know, the one where Frederick questions Igor, “Werewolf?” and Igor responds, “There, wolf.” In paranormal romance if there isn’t a vampire, there’s a wolf. I meant werewolf. Sometimes there are both vampires and werewolves. Sometimes there are werelions and weretigers and werebears (oh… Continue reading

  • They see dead people…sort of

    Here are two paranormal series written on a theme, a woman who can see how and when people die, one in hindsight and other as foresight. The Harper Connelly Series is the invention of Charlaine Harris who is known for several series including Sookie Stackhouse in the Southern Vampire Mysteries. The other by Chuck Wendig is the Blackbirds Series.… Continue reading

  • Mysterious powers and New Mythologies

    Did you miss me? I’ve been reading. Here are some paranormal goodies for cozy autumn nights. Blythewood by Carol Goodman Avaline Hall survives. I was going to say what she survives, but there are so many things: grief, the mystery of her mother’s past, hard work and humiliation and the terrors of the Triangle Factory… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Paranormal New Orleans

    If you’ve ever walked the streets of New Orleans, you recognize that there is something beautiful and decadent and just plain eerie about the place. New Orleans is a city where you can feel the past walk beside you; its history creeps in between the cracks of its sidewalks and seeps along the alleyways of… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Paranormal romance vs. urban fantasy

    Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy are like kissing cousins. Considering all the vampires and werewolves involved, maybe that should be biting cousins. The big difference between Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance is usually where the focus is placed in the story. It’s not that Paranormal Romances can’t include an other-than-human hero or heroine, or that… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: You like Dresden? I like Dresden!

    Or at least, I really dig sarcasm with my paranormal adventures. If you’re looking for snarky, smart-ass dialogue combined with uncompromising ethics, well… there are fewer great picks out there than one might hope. However! Here are a few to tide us over as we wait for the next Dresden Files book to show up… Continue reading

  • Move Over, Twilight: Try Vampire Academy

    At this point, there are two kinds of readers (and media consumers) out there: those who can’t get enough of vampires and those who can’t stand to hear the word vampire. That being said, like any genre, there are some fantastic books and some that just don’t quite make the cut. I enjoyed the Twilight series even… Continue reading

  • Book Review: Changes by Jim Butcher

    In Changes, the newest novel by Jim Butcher, wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden learns that he has an eight-year-old daughter who has been kidnapped by some seriously evil vampires.  In the race to save the girl, Harry faces dangerous old enemies and makes some hard decisions that will irrevocably alter his fate — and even change the… Continue reading

  • ‘Tis (almost) the season for new books: Urban fantasies for 2010

    My favorite thing about the last part of any year is book anticipation.  Readers of urban fantasy know that the new year brings with it fresh installments in all our favorite series, and usually, these books arrive in stores (and libraries!) within the first  four months of the calendar year.  I have a very full… Continue reading

  • Life after Twilight

    Teens all over the nation—not to mention quite a few adults—are suffering from symptoms of withdrawal.  Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series is over, the fifth book is apparently not going to be published, and they have no idea what to read next.  If you or someone you know is suffering this terrible fate, the library wants to help.  We… Continue reading

  • Looking for ornery fae in the Tri-Cities

    Moon Called by Patricia Briggs tells the story of Mercy Thompson, an auto-mechanic in the Tri-Cities who can turn into a coyote at will. Mercy’s world is full of ornery fae, egocentric werewolves, and quirky, creepy vampires, all more supernaturally powerful than her. If Mercy can keep her head down and her mouth shut, she… Continue reading

  • Book Review: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk

    Magic to the Bone introduces readers to an intriguing new world of dangerous urban fantasy. In a new society of legalized, scientific magic usage, there is a physical price to suffer through everyone time someone casts a spell-sometimes it’s a mild cold, sometimes it’s a severe headache, and for Allie Beckstrom, the price is occasionally… Continue reading

  • Book review: The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M. Liu

    By day, Maxine Kiss is a super-powered demon hunter with inhuman strength and intricately tattooed, armor-plated skin. By night, the tattoos peel away and become a pack of deadly demons standing between Maxine and the creatures from across the Veil. When the veil drops, it’s up to Maxine and her demon “boys” to round up… Continue reading

  • Combining noir and urban fantasy

    In A Kiss Before the Apocalypse by Thomas E. Sniegoski, Death goes missing and the angels turn to the one person with the unique skill set they need to find him. Remy Chandler is a private investigator living in Boston and he isn’t all that surprised when some of God’s worker bees show up asking… Continue reading

  • Book review: Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow

    Night Shift introduces readers to a super-powered hunter called Jill Kismet. Jill is one of the few people brave enough to stand between humanity and all the demons of the nightside. When something from the dark tears through five cops and continues on with a killing spree that spreads death across the city, Jill must sift… Continue reading