Goodreads Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors discussion
Writing and Publishing
>
Urban realism / magic realism
date
newest »
newest »
There is certainly a trend towards urban fantasy, but you might say that the realism is overlooked to some extent --- the troubles of the day: economic crisis, global warming etc are mostly ignored. My opinion though, is that there is a responsibility, and opportunity for urban fantasy writers to, not only tell a great story, but also highlight some of the troubles we face. In fact I recently blogged about it (http://quintonwall.com/?p=497)
As for the magic realism part: that one almost seems like an oxymoron to me; but I am the first to dive deep into a whimsical adventure full of magic regardless of where it is set.
Quinton
http://quintonwall.com
Breakthrough debut novel, The Seed of Hope, available now: http://bit.ly/takeabite
Connect with me on facebook @ http://bit.ly/theseedofhopefan
Get exclusive book tweet updates by following @quintonwall
The Seed of Hope
I wonder if you would consider my book "Kill the Messenger: Gemini" urban fantasy. http://killthemessengergemini.synthas...
Johanna wrote: "I wonder if you would consider my book "Kill the Messenger: Gemini" urban fantasy. http://killthemessengergemini.synthas..."Someone explained for us in a convention panel that urban fantasy needs a strong trait of a city - the city almost needs to be a character itself. Which would land your book more in the magic realism subgenre, I think, or sci-fi considering that "off fighting in space" comment.
For magic realism - it's a bit of an oxymoron, I agree. Perhaps we should rename it "modern magic" or something? At least that's how I imagine it.
Malin wrote: "Are there other people out there interested in these or similar subgenres to fantasy and sci-fi? Myself, I've been writing a lot of it but haven't found that many books in these genres. Anyone got ..."I think that Kim Harrison's series with Rachel Morgan, and Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series would fit the magic realism "subgenre". Have you read either of these series?
Anna wrote: "I think that Kim Harrison's series with Rachel Morgan, and Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series would fit the magic realism "subgenre". Have you read either of these series?"No, but I've heard of the latter one. Aren't they vampire? *worried look* What I HAVE read and can think about at this very moment is Wraith by Phaedra Weldon and Storm Front by Jim Butcher. I tried to read a werewolf story called Bitten but didn't get through it.
I'm trying not to succumb under my Mount To-Be-Read but I'm storing away any suggestion for later!
Malin, Bitten is, I think, the first of the 'Women of the Other World' series by Kelley Armstrong. Personally, I liked Dime Store Magic & Industrial Magic, the 3d & 4th books (again, I think) better. Very different from the books before & after, for me, anyway. I made it through 'Bitten' but barely.
Jim wrote: "Malin, Bitten is, I think, the first of the 'Women of the Other World' series by Kelley Armstrong. Personally, I liked Dime Store Magic & [book:Industrial ..."Oh! That's why I recognised her(?) name. I thought the characters and the relationship between them weren't believable and I couldn't relate to it, so I quite at the second chapter, I think.
Malin, it depends on what you are interested in reading.Vampire:
Laurell K Hamilton (Anita Blake--includes werewolves, vampires, psychics etc, has a police element...and lately lots (AND LOTS) of sex)
Jennifer Rardin (Main charater is a secret agent witha vampire partner)
Were-creatures:
Kelley Armstrong (also writes witches, etc.)
Patricia Briggs (includes Fey, vampires etc.)
Carrie Vaughn (Werewolves)
Rachel Vincint (Werecats)
Witches/Magic:
Kim Harrison (also includes werewolves, vampires etc.)
Illona Andrews
Devon Monk
C.E. Murphey (Walker Papers: combines Cherokee mythology with Celtic mytholgy, she has another series...can't remember its name but the main charater is a lawyer who gets involved in the supernatural world)
Jessica Andersen (New author in the paranormal romance category, she uses Mayan mythology/end of the world timeline)
Ok, I have more--I just won't include them all here. If you want more specifics on the one's I've posted or different one's let me know.
Ellen wrote: "Malin, it depends on what you are interested in reading.I like the sound of the two last authors. Thanks for the suggestions!
I'm currently reading Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn. I'm almost tempted to give the last book, Kitty Goes to Washington, 4 stars even though it was mostly a candy book (fun, quick read, but not very memorable) because it took an interesting look at the legalities of 'supernatural creatures' in our current society. There wasn't any depth, but it was a pleasant surprise in this kind of book.I don't think I've read a paranormal/urban fantasy that I didn't consider a candy book. I like most of them & my daughter reads a lot of them, too. Gives us more to talk about.
Jim wrote: "I'm currently reading Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn. I'm almost tempted to give the last book, Kitty Goes to Washington, 4 stars even though it was..."I've never heard the expression "candy book" before but I think I know what you mean, and I agree. That's why I'm looking for something more "advanced" - either in philoshopical depths or in style.
I try to write less candy stuff, but it's not easy to keep it both intelligent and reader-friendly (and writer-friendly!). I don't write solely in modern fantasy genres, but you could try some of my short stories and see if you like them (I got some here and a lot of on Elfwood - there's link on my profile).
Candy tastes good, is a quick hunger fix & is fun, but I don't want to live on it. Not nourishing for the long term, usually quickly forgotten. So a candy book is just a logical extension of that. Fun to read, not particularly memorable, but good escapism. I'll doubt I'll ever have an in-depth conversation about one, but it's fun while it lasts.
Malin wrote: "I like the sound of the two last authors. Thanks for the suggestions!"You're welcome Malin, I have more if you are interested. I got tired of forgetting which author's I liked and which I didn't so I started a database (Excel) to keep track...yes I can be a little obsessive over my books.
Of course I'm limited to the books that my library gets in so its pretty much the mass market books and not the smaller press books.
Ilona Andrews is one of my new favorite authors. Her world premise is that magic is returning to the world in waves. It alternates between tech (Technology) and magic. The main character Kate Daniels, is a little mysterious, but is a very powerful magic user. The world also has werecreatures, and vampires (although the vampires are not your typical vampires--they are creatures that necromancers use/control for their own purposes).
Devon Monk's world is that magic is available and is able to be used by everyone--only that there is a cost for every use. You can preform a spell but there will have to be a consequence to pay: a headache, stomach ache, or even loss of memory.
Sorry I didn't explain those two earlier.
By the way...how do I get the links to work in here? Like Jim did for Carrie Vaughn and the rest?
Ellen
Ellen, click the "add book/author" link just above the comment box. Search for it & when found, you can click the add button next to the book or author. Besides giving other readers an easy lookup, it also lists on the side bar & in any searches that others do about the book or author on GR.The easiest way to find a book or author is to click the book tab & put in a word or two from the title & then the author's last name.
this Immortal zelazny
is an example. Putting in just a title or author name can make it difficult to get correct results. If you put in 'of' instead of 'the' in the title or put in 'M." instead of "M" for a middle initial, you won't get the book(s) returned in the search.
Thank you Jim!Let's see if it works. I'm just going to go ahead and list the author's I've already said though.
Ilona Andrews
Magic Burns
Magic Strikes
Magic Bleeds
Devon Monk
Magic to the Bone
Magic In the Blood
Magic in the Shadows (not sure about this one...I haven't read it yet)
C.E. Murphy The Walker Papers:
Urban Shaman
Thunderbird Falls
Coyote Dreams
Again, I have more. Just let me know if you want them.
Once again, thanks Jim!
Ellen
Malin,Have you read Charles de Lint's Someplace to be Flying, Trader or Waifs and Strays or his most recent Mysteries of Grace? The first three are set in his madeup city of Newford, a somewhat Canadian, somewhat US Northeast Rustbely city where homeless people, pverty and magic coexist, for those who can see it.The fourth book takes place in the new to de Lint Southwestern city of Solana.Waifs and StraysTrader (Newford Book 7)Someplace to Be Flying (Newford Book 8)Charles de Lint
Just this week I read Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring -- and I recommend it strongly! It's science fiction *and* fantasy and who knows, magical realism and no way candy! It takes place in the future where there is organ transplantation and Voudoun, as a fact of life. I haven't read other Hopkinson, but intend to, now.
Nalo Hopkinson
Also look at the work of Emma Bull. Some readers find War for the Oaks dated, but it was written in 1985, about a musician, so yeah, it might be, but get over it! It's great stuff! Finder is by Bull set in the shared Borderlands 'verse. More recently she's written Territory set in Tombstone in 1860-whatever. There is magic, if it's not urban fiction , is it historical fantasy?Emma Bull
So, no, all urban fiction isn't candy. Or if these are, they are very dark chocolate truffles, full of complex flavors.
I read de Lint's "The Little Country" and liked it a lot - and I never thought of it as magic realism! Though, I didn't think much of genres some years ago. About "dated" stuff I remember reading a book that I thought was published 2002 (it was reprinted then) and when I was done I realised it was from 1947. I couldn't tell - it felt perfectly 'today'.
Malin wrote: "Jim wrote: "I'm currently reading Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn. I'm almost tempted to give the last book, Kitty Goes to Washington, 4 stars even t..."Malin wrote: "Jim wrote: "I'm currently reading Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn. I'm almost tempted to give the last book, Kitty Goes to Washington, 4 stars even t..."
If candy is becoming boring and you want meat & potatoes, try GALACTIC EXODUS: Counterdance of the Cybergods, a world where sweetness is not absent; nor is it paramount.
To Malin:Well, the father of Magical Realism is definitively Gabriel Garcia Marquez, his best known book is '100 years of solitude' that can be readily found in any book store. Magical Realism as a genre is pervasive in most latin american authors, so I should add to this list: Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo and Juan Jose Arreola.
Essentially, Magical Realism tries to give real accounts of historic events but has magical characteristics and a lot of mythology interwoven. Sometimes its just about magical events in an otherwise normal or urban setting.
If your looking for contemporary writers on the genre, then I must say Jose Saramago, Nobel Prize winner of 1998 in Literature. Pretty much any book you pick up from him is good, though I have only read him in Spanish, I'm sure you can find him in English. The books I most recommend from him are: 'Death Intermittent' and 'Essay on blindness'. Enjoy.
I second Charles de Lint's urban fantasies, which are anything but candy books. Some of the best written fantasy out there.
I have read and *loved* Junot Diaz' Brief Life of Oscar Wao. From what I've read it's a lot like magical realism, in that the main character in explaining the Dominican Republic and Trujillo uses the language, ideas and motifs of fantasy and science fiction.Also Michael Chabon in the Yiddish Policeman's Union takes a sf trope: like alternative history to explore what a Jewish state in Sitka Alaska would be like. How they would speak and live and pray (and kill for it also a mystery) are all explored. This won a Nebula, or maybe a Hugo last year. And it deserved it.
But if your looking for writers whose work you'll find in the fantasy and science fiction area look for Octavia Butler, Emma Bull, Charles de Lint, Ellen Datlow, Ellen Kushner, Terri Windling, Kurt Vonnegut, Harlan Ellison.
Goodreads Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors
Books mentioned in this topic
The Seed of Hope (other topics)Kill the Messenger: Gemini: A Small Novel (other topics)
Bitten (other topics)
Industrial Magic (other topics)
Dime Store Magic (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Kelley Armstrong (other topics)Carrie Vaughn (other topics)
Devon Monk (other topics)
Ilona Andrews (other topics)
C.E. Murphy (other topics)
More...
//Malin