Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance #2

[williamjm]

I just had to have a go at answering these, like a quiz. See how many I could get after 7 years living in the UK.

I got 22 out of 33. Interesting, since I've read (and loved) those books, so either I got a lot more when in context or it shows I just don't give two stuffs about prose!

The ones you didn't get:

Tannoy is a brand of public-address system.

Calor glass bottles - I think this is probably meant to be 'Calor gas bottle', they're containers of propane to be used to supply fuel for heating or cooking

Episode of time team - Time Team was a documentary TV series about archaeological digs hosted by Tony 'Baldrick' Robinson.

Fireman says he has two appliances - I think appliances would be fire engines in this context

Lfb trimming - if it's next to the previous one I'm going to guess LFB is 'London Fire Brigade' but that's just a guess.

Ex-panda car- ex-police car

IRV - not sure about this either

Doing a ton down --- you're right about the general meaning but it would be 100 mph rather than kph

Doing blues and twos - having the flashing lights and sirens switched on while driving the police car

RP accent - A 'Received Pronunciation' accent, a posh accent associated with the upper classes

Sweeney - it was a 70s TV show about the 'Flying Squad', an elite unit of the Metropolitan Police

Nick --- depending on context, either a name or to 'nick' someone (arrest them) or put them in the nick (prison) - could also mean to steal something.

[felice]

I know a few more of these:

[ ] Tannoys - loudspeakers/public address system of the type that makes announcements at railway stations and airports?
[ ] Calor glass bottles - ?
[ ] Episode of time team - TV show, I think about archaeology
[ ] Fireman says he has two appliances - probably two fire engines?
[ ] Lfb trimming - ?
[ ] Ex-panda car? - ex-police car (because black and white)
[ ] IRV - ?
[ ] Doing blues and twos - with flashing blue lights and siren on (of a police car)
[ ] RP accent - Received Pronunciation - the accent you'd hear from a newsreader on the BBC.
[ ] Obbo - ?

"Lig it into the cinema" is surely used wrongly there. I thought it was about turning up at functions and snaffling (that one's for you Mandy) the free booze. Not for buying a concession ticket in the cinema, that's not ligging it.

Would sneaking into the cinema without paying be appropriate use of the term?

[john]

Would sneaking into the cinema without paying be appropriate use of the term?

I don't think so. For me it means some cheeky way of taking advantage and getting free stuff. Specifically turning up at an event purely to get things they're giving away. Could be it's also used more generally than that for all I know.

I like this thread derail, it's interesting because I don't know if it works the other way. I grew up reading loads of american books where the language wasn't changed and you got used to seeing all these weird phrases and you had to work it out from context. Aaronovitch is a tough one though, it's all in london copper vernacular.

btw, an obbo is like a stakeout

IRV has got to be something-something-vehicle :P

edit - Incident Response Vehicle!

[peterbound]

Well.

Had to give up on Magic Bites.

It just... Wasn't good. For a crowd as well read as you guys I expected a little better quality. This does nothing for the genre other than reinforce shitty tropes. I felt like I was reading a kim Harrison novel at some points. And my god, the dialog and writing was cheesy as all get out. How is this on some of your top lists?

I'm willing to accept some amount of cheese when I read uf, but this one was beyond bearable. So many better books out there in the genre. Baffled how this one gets such a following. What am I missing?

On to something I hope is better.

[Mars447]

Eh, different strokes, etc. I liked the Kate Daniels books and dropped Peter Grant after Midnight Riot because he is just too fucking stupid to be a copper. I'd probably enjoy that series more if Leslie were the protagonist, because at least she actually knows how to tie her shoes and boil water.

Just rushed through the three Generation V books. They're pretty great, and yeah, Suze is awesome. Now the only problem is that book 4 won't be coming out for another month.

[RedEyedGhost]

Eh, different strokes, etc. I liked the Kate Daniels books and dropped Peter Grant after Midnight Riot because he is just too fucking stupid to be a copper. I'd probably enjoy that series more if Leslie were the protagonist, because at least she actually knows how to tie her shoes and boil water.

Wow, you just completely missed the point of the series.

[C.T. Phipps]

Well, I'm not going to recommed my own Urban Fantasy novel here (Esoterrorism, FTW!) because that would be cheating.

However, I generally have the viewpoint of separating Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy based on whether or not the romance is the focus of the storyline or not. It's a pretty self-evident distinction but I generally prefer hybrids where there is romance but there's also a strong plot as well as world-building beneath it.

I also tend to take a dim view of complete heteronormality in my own writing and it's influenced my general view of the genres I read as well. Basically, as I was told by someone, "It doesn't hurt to put other ethnicities, genders, sexualities, and more to your characters. They often add nuance that can bring to life otherwise straightforward identities." I've tried to live by that code and it means I get annoyed with authors I love. I even through it in my superhero novel (Rules of Supervillainy) because if ever there is a genre which needs an addition, it's the world of caped superheroes.

X-men aside.

Jim Butcher, I love you, but can we get some people of color other than Sanya? And I love Sanya!

If anyone has any recommendations for the kind of books that have both, I'd love to hear them.

[Darth Richard II]

Court of Thorns is marked as YA here in the U.S. I've poked at it in the store a few times. The cover is pretty.

[RedEyedGhost]

Jim Butcher, I love you, but can we get some people of color other than Sanya? And I love Sanya!

Rashid, Carlos, Susan...

[C.T. Phipps]

Over on the Independent scene, I'd like to recommend Demon Squad and Clandestine Daze.

I did an interview with Tim Marquitz over on my blog, The United Federation of Charles. I know the man so take my recommendation with a grain of salt. Still, if you're willing to hear me out, here's the interview.

Interview with Tim Marquitz

2. What separates Clandestine Daze from other urban fantasy series?

There are a lot of bad boy/girl urban fantasy series out there where the characters are hyped as being these horrible people yet you never really see that. You end up seeing the stock attitude of snark and gunplay/magic/whatever while those same characters dance around what really needs to be done. The characters in Clandestine Daze don’t do that. While there is some measure of restraint, some idealistic reserve, Z does exactly what he has to. He’s more than just a bad boy playing a role, he truly is bad. It’s where he chooses to draw the line that makes him so interesting, to me at least.

Clandestine Daze is a novella and novel series which errs on the dark side of urban fantasy. Z is a doppleganger of the fairy-like Ael race, which exists in a dimension alongside humanity but in a modern 21st century world of their own. They work to keep the supernatural under wraps and humans ignorant. Z owes his life to his masters because dopplegangers are persecuted and killed in his world but the price for their protection is that he has to do terrible things to keep humanity in the dark.

The opening one is the worst one yet as he is forced to kill an innocent (who turns out to be not so innocent) man and assume his life. This includes living with the man's family, though, thankfully Z isn't going to be with her and is trying to keep her from his job's blowback until he can depart. It has a strong supporting character in Jace who is the real master of their partnership and one I rapidly enjoyed since she is the much-much stronger character of the two as a full-blooded high Ael.

Lots of scheming, plotting, backstabbing, and twists in the two volumes I've read so far.

There's also Demon Squad, which is a long-running funny series in the vein of the Dresden Files. Frank "Triggaltheron" Trigg is the Devil's Nephew and after both God and Lucifer agree to leave the universe because human free will should be respected, this leaves him in the uncomfortable situation of being in a world where both angels and demons have no idea what to do with themselves. Frank is perfectly content to live a sleazy pseudo-human life with his two pistols and occasional hook-ups but others want to either take over humanity or take over humanity for its own good.

So Frank is the uncomfortable aid to the titular Demon Squad in preventing Armageddon because angels and demons can't get along.
They're a bit over the top and Prophecy-like when Frank isn't snarking up. I found them to be a lot of fun, though.

[C.T. Phipps]

[Double post]

[C.T. Phipps]

Rashid, Carlos, Susan...

*sniff* Susan.

[Mars447]

Rawlins! The one black man in Chicago.

Seriously, Jim Butcher needs to get out of his lily-white Midwestern town and into the real world.

[lady narcissa]

Accurate sense of place is really important to me in urban fantasy. This is the main reason I could never get into the Dresden series. Dresden Chicago in no way resembles Chicago. It's like some weird suburban variation written by someone who has never actually lived in the city.

But its why I love the Peter Grant books so much. You can sit there with a London map and follow along with Peter's journeys and even when building has been made up to be made fantastical, you can still know which real building they were inspired by and look at pictures of them. From comments on this board, I think "Broken Homes" was the least popular of the series but its my absolute favorite because of the real buildings that were featured in the story and how Aaronovitch tweaked them to work them into the story.

[polishgenius]

In terms of London-ness in the pages, my list goes Matthew Swift (absolutely dripping with sense of place) > Peter Grant (clearly knows the city well, but does have a tendency, especially early on, to go a bit heavy on landmark tourism) > Alex Verus > Felix Castor (could be set anywhere. It's not that it's untrue to London, it's just treated as a generic city setting).



I've never been to Chicago, so Dresden's reputed complete mess of things doesn't bother me at all. It would have been good of Butcher to visit the city before he started a series set there, but there you go.

[C.T. Phipps]

Honestly, I'm so iffy about the whole thing I've started to make sure I don't use real-cities.

[Puntificator]

Well, I'm not going to recommed my own Urban Fantasy novel here (Esoterrorism, FTW!) because that would be cheating.

Well I will! Coincidentally, I posted a recommendation yesterday for Esoterrorism on a Facebook page dedicated to grimdark (Grimdark Fiction Readers & Writers). The novel is surprisingly funny while deliciously grimdark. I loved it. I don't get why it's not getting more blog publicity.

[Puntificator]

If anyone has any recommendations for the kind of books that have both, I'd love to hear them.

By "both," I assume you mean romance and strong plots? If so, I can recommend a few urban fantasy series that I think fit this criterion:

Souls of Fire series (Fireborn; Wicked Embers) by Keri Arthur.

Sentinels of New Orleans series (Royal Street; River Road; Elysian Fields; Pirate's Alley) by Suzanne Johnson.

The Golden City and its two sequels The Seat of Magic and The Shores of Spain by J. Kathleen Cheney (these take place in an early twentieth century alternate world Portugal).

Crescent City series (House of the Rising Sun; City of Eternal Night; Garden of Dreams and Desires) by Kristen Painter (this is near future New Orleans urban fantasy).

Agent of Hel series (Dark Currents; Autumn Bones; Poison Fruit) by Jacqueline Carey.

And there's contemporary "rural" fantasy: The Tufa Novels (The Hum and the Shiver; Wisp of a Thing; Long Black Curl) by Alex Bledsoe.

Also, if you're okay with an "industrial age" steampunkish pseudo-Victorian Europe setting, then there is The Spiritwalker Trilogy (Cold Magic; Cold FIre; Cold Steel) by Kate Elliott.

[C.T. Phipps]

Well I will! Coincidentally, I posted a recommendation yesterday for Esoterrorism on a Facebook page dedicated to grimdark (Grimdark Fiction Readers & Writers). The novel is surprisingly funny while deliciously grimdark. I loved it. I don't get why it's not getting more blog publicity.

Thanks!

That reminded me to check it out. :)

Glad you enjoyed the book.

Edit:

Oh and thank you VERY much for the recommendations.

[Clariana]

By "both," I assume you mean romance and strong plots? If so, I can recommend a few urban fantasy series that I think fit this criterion:

 

Agent of Hel series (Dark Currents; Autumn Bones; Poison Fruit) by Jacqueline Carey.

 

 

 

I thought this was awful stereotypical heroine, pedestrian mystery... I only got halfway through the book and I'm usually a sticker.

 

Such a come down after the Kushiel series...