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Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance #2


lady narcissa

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5 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

The lawsuit does seem like bullshit, but anything that takes CC down is OK with me. I'd feel the same way if someone tried to sue Goodkind. Except Goodkind is possible a better person.

The only way Cassandra Clare could be a worse person than Goodkind is if Clare had murdered a half dozen babies in their cribs for the favor of her dark masters.

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Yeah, it's a clusterfuck. A lot of it she's tried to have buried with the help of her lawyer friend. From what I understand her first few novels are just fanfic with the names changed ala 50 shades. Im on my phone so I can't really post links plus I don't want to start shit that might bring negative attention but I believe if you look at her first book on good reads there's a takedown in the first few reviews.

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I've read the first few books of TMI a while ago, and my memory is there awfully derivative, not particularly great, but no more so that a whole slew of other UF books. 

On ‎9‎/‎02‎/‎2016 at 3:46 PM, lady narcissa said:

The fourth Alex Craft book came out last week, "Grave Visions" by Kalayna Price.  The author had problems writing it and there were a multitude of release dates pushed back so I wasn't sure if the book would suffer from the delay but it did not.  Quite a seamless continuation of the previous book and I enjoyed it.  This continues to be a solid urban fantasy series.  I like the emphasis on the fae and this book spends quite a bit more time in their territory and dealing with the repercussions that Alex is facing from her heritage.  Because of the progression in that aspect of the story, Alex's personal relationships are sort of pushed to the backburner but there was enough going on in this story that it felt right to just hold off on those for this book.

I bought this so long ago that I'll still be getting it at the price of 3.49 pounds! And release date for me isn't until tomorrow. Hmm, looking at the Amazon open orders, I have a few over the next few weeks. The 3rd Storm Siren book is coming out on 4th of March, the 3rd Immortal Vegas next week, and the 5th Steel & Stone book on 4th of March as well.

Also been waiting ages for the next Spellcrackers book. That doesn't even have a release date anymore. :(

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Started a few series recently, from the books I had in my unread folder so some have been around a while. I started (and finished) the Grigori legacy, started the Sentinels of New Orleans series (still reading) and tried the first few of the Blood Destiny books.

The Grigori Legacy was quite good, although a lot of bad things happen and the main character suffers from being way under-powered compared to the protagonists. But the philosophy was quite good, and I like that the police work was actually semi-realistic. The main character had some hang ups but did read quite well.

Sentinels of New Orleans is also not half bad, although the fact the main character is so inept in battle is annoying. And that she hasn't done anything to fix it. But I've been enjoying the series.

The Blood Destiny books are weird. There is a lot I hate about them, but I still enjoyed following the main character that I read through four books before giving it away. The character is a blend of Mary Sue, surrounded with the most misogynistic male characters ever. Its not like she isn't self-aware that they're crossing lines and/or treating her like crap. I'm not sure if I wasn't half reading further thinking "she has to lay the law down on one of these guys soon, surely? And that will be so much fun to read!". Instead while blasting the bad guys willy nilly, she takes so much crap from "friends". The fourth book just finally totally jumps the shark, and I'm giving up on the author.

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15 hours ago, ants said:

I've read the first few books of TMI a while ago, and my memory is there awfully derivative, not particularly great, but no more so that a whole slew of other UF books.

I just love that they are abbreviated "TMI" as well since every time I see that, I am like "nobody would want to read that". :P

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15 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

OK, so, is City of Stairs considered Urban Fantasy? The sequel advertises it as such. I really don't understand genres anymore.

I would say its urban fantasy because it is a fantasy novel set in an urban environment that actually emphasizes the magico-religious qualities of the city itself, although not to the extent that you see in Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift series. It is not about fighting monsters and being a tough chick, however, so it is not that kind of urban fantasy.

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I would say both City of Blades and the Craft Sequence are definitely urban fantasy.  There's what Luga said, plus both have mystery plots that are important to the story.  They're just secondary world urban fantasy instead of contemporary. 

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The thing about UF is that you could take it entirely literally and say 'it's fantasy set in a city', and some people do, but most people seem to use the term with the understanding of a certain set of parameters, the least of which almost always involves a contemporary, real-world setting.


Anyway, people should try the AbraHanover books. They're very good. Not mindblowingly, genre-changingly good, but well worth a look. Yes, they do use the same genre furniture and that might irritate, but they're also a (afaik deliberate) attempt to examine that furniture- in terms of the characters and relationships especially- and take it to places that actually seem real. And they do that while at the same time fulfilling, at least for me, the comfy-pair-of-slippers familiar joy that I tend to like from my UF.

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So several of Pratchett's are "Urban Fantasy" as well because many of his books take place in Ankh-Morpokh entirely.

I read only one of the "Craft Sequence" but I do not think that it is sufficiently similar to e.g. "Rivers of London" to be grouped in the same sub...subgenre whatever it might be called. The whole point of e.g. "Rivers of London" or "Anansi Boys" etc. seems that the fantastic/magic stuff is embedded in our modern world.

But this says probably more about the weakness of that label.

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2 minutes ago, Mars447 said:

I think of "Urban Fantasy" as being set specifically in the modern era.  Pratchett's books are just fantasy.

 

Pratchett's books predicted 9/11 and the aftermath (Jingo), and the credit crunch (Making Money). So if anything they're set in a reflective alternate universe just ahead of our time...

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