Comments on: Dr. Demonlove: or how I learned to stop worrying and read Urban Fantasy

By: BA

BA — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:11:39 +0000

Although her latest books have become somewhat of a slog the early (1-9) Anita Blake books are great and I’m surprised they’re not on your list. They’re along the “ass kicking female cop” line but really fun to read. They go pretty deep into some hard core (very hardcore) sex scenes but that doesn’t start to dominate the series (no pun intended) until book 12 or so. After Cerulean Sins, I think.
it would be interesting to get a male perspective of those. also – do you consider Charles DeLint urban fantasy? I would but he might be read by more of the traditional fantasy fans.

By: Amemortis

Amemortis — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:15:11 +0000

You are right, Joseph. I do judge books by their covers, as that gives me some notion as to whom the publishers consider the target audience. However, you are also right that it is improper for me to judge anything of which I am ignorant. I grabbed samples (voracious Kindle reader here) of everything but Spellbent, which I could not find in Kindle form. I also grabbed a good number of the reader recommendations, for which I am grateful. They will be checked out as I get the time.

By: Joyce

Joyce — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:48:06 +0000

For women authors, I would suggest Patricia Briggs and CE Murphy. A good husband and wife writing team is Ilona Andrews. Male authors I recommed include Simon R Green and Mark DelFranco.

By: Kyle M.

Kyle M. — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:06:09 +0000

Dawn, that was a hoot! I’m going to have to run through the song a few more times if you want me to write down the authors mentioned (though I recognize most of them). I wonder if that will cause my co-workers to look at me funny…?

By: Marisa

Marisa — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:05:20 +0000

I haven’t read these but I like a lot Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series (skindeep, blood cross), D.D. Barant’s Dying bytes, Jes Battis’ OSI series (male writer, sorry *winking*
And in Paranormal romance I would recommend Sharon Ashwood, good books, quite a lot of UF and a solid love story.
And I agree with The Enchantment Emporium, too.
(Apologies for my English, I’m Spanish)

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:58:01 +0000

After reading the comments here, I thought I'd add this link: http://www.abnersenires.com/songs/urban-fantasy.html. Funny song about the genre. I thought it fits.

By: Kyle M.

Kyle M. — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:43:06 +0000

Hi Everyone!
Wow, first I should say thanks for even more recommendations. Feel free to keep them coming, I’ll be taking note of them all and working them into my reading list.
I’m worried that maybe I didn’t quite explain my idea enough in the post. I’m going to be exploring both Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. I know that the title of this post only talks about UF (an editorial decision I made because calling out both categories in the title would have made for a really long title), so please don’t feel that I’m going to exclude one for the other. I’m planning on carrying this through all year long and will be reading and listening my way through as many of these books as I can.
Also, I’m not going to read only women authors exclusively, but I probably will trend heavily to female authors. As I wrote, I’m pretty deficient in my previous reading habits when it comes to giving women authors a read and I’m hoping to correct that here (but not only here, I’m also here to tell you that I’m going to be more fair-minded in my reading habits outside of this adventure).
So don’t worry, no need to get too up-in-arms. I love the suggestions and if you would like to fill me (and everyone else reading) in on the history behind the titles, why you’re suggesting them, and so forth, I encourage you to have fun and share the wealth. But also, don’t worry, chances are I’ll be coming around to your favorites this year too.
Thanks again everyone! I haven’t even gotten my first reading “assignment” yet and it’s already been a blast; I love the passion everyone is bringing. Now I can’t wait to get reading!

By: Lianne

Lianne — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:59:54 +0000

How about some *classic* UF? Charles de Lint’s books. Megan Lindholm’s Wizard of Pigeons.
Or more recently there are books like Tanya Huff’s The Enchantment Emporium.
Just don’t limit yourself to the one *section* of Urban Fantasy that trends towards the Paranormal Romance. That’s what all four of your books fall into. The ass-kicking cop/PI/whatever woman with a mystic past and an enemy that turns out to be her OTL.
(And if you really want the kick-ass female blah blah blah, try Tim Pratt’s series, starting with Blood Engines. Kick-ass, amoral female with no romance! Or CE Murphy’s series starting with Urban Shaman)
(Can you tell that I’m really tired of the current fad, with their interchangeable covers and heroines and plots? My eyes just slip past them, they look so cookie-cutter)

By: Joseph

Joseph — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:01:59 +0000

Amemortis: you make the mistake of judging these books by their covers and cover copy, which in most cases the authors had nothing to do with. Why not read the actual books in order to decide if they’re worthwhile?
Of the list of candidates Kyle puts forth, I am only familiar with Spellbent, and I quite enjoyed it. Last I checked, I’m not a woman, and the book isn’t paranormal romance.

By: Amemortis

Amemortis — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:46:42 +0000

It would appear from your selections that you are going to read paranormal romance rather than urban fantasy. I am sorry about that. There is a reason that this is a female-dominated field, just as non-paranormal romance writers are almost (if not entirely) all female. Very few people feel that they are missing out because they do not read those books. Why not read the Joe Pitt novel given away In electronic form from this site? It has a romantic interest without the prurience of the paranormal romance heroines