Jun 15, 2010
Posted by Lisa on Jun 15, 2010 in Authors | 0 comments
Urban Fantasy is a subgenre of Fantasy, where the stories are based in contemporary real-world urban settings instead of traditional fantasy settings of mythical cities/worlds/lands. Below is a list of authors who are popular in this genre.
Cat Adams
C.T. Adams
Ilona Andrews
Jennifer Armintrout
Kelley Armstrong
Keri Arthur
Jenna Black
Francesca Lia Block
Patricia Briggs
Emma Bull
Jim Butcher
Rachel Caine
Jonathan Carroll
Mike Carey
Karen Chance
Cathy Clamp
Cassandra Clare
Shirley Damsgaard
Sylvia J. Day
Carole Nelson Douglas
Jeaniene Frost
Neil Gaiman
Laura Anne Gilman
Simon R. Green
Justin Gustainis
Laurell K. Hamilton
Charlaine Harris
Kim Harrison
J.C. Hutchins
Chris Lester
Charles de Lint
Sergey Lukyanenko
China Mieville
C.E. Murphy
Tim Powers
Tim Pratt
Kat Richardson
Rick Riordan
Matt Ruff
Jeanne C. Stein
Rachel Vincent
Terri Windling
This list is by no means complete so if I have missed off any you feel should be included, please let me know.
May 30, 2010
Posted by Lisa on May 30, 2010 in Authors, Reviews | 0 comments
Blurb
They walk the streets no one else can walk, take the jobs no one else will take, and if you’ve got a problem – and the cash – they can solve it.
Of course, if your case involves rabid werewolves, cursed objects, the living dead, malevolent beings from another dimension, or other “unusual” circumstances, it may cost you a bit extra!
Mean Streets is a compilation of four all-new novellas by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson and Thomas E. Sniegoski. While I”ve read Jim Butcher and two of Kat”s books I hadn”t read anything by Simon and Thomas, so their stories were a foray into new territory for me.
Jim Butcher’s novella is called The Warrior and brings us back into the world of Harry Dresden – an excellent choice to kick off this book. The main plot is Harry trying to protect his friend Michael and his family from danger and ends up becoming a target himself. What I liked most about this novella is the ending.
Without giving too much away, the ending is not what you’re expecting throughout the whole tale and, as usual, Jim Butcher shows just why he’s such a fabulous author, weaving the story with skill and humour.
Next up is Simon R. Green’s offering – The Difference A Day Makes – taking us into his Nightside series with John Taylor, where John is hired to find the lost memories of a desperate woman. I’m in two minds on this one. While it’s written extremely well, I didn’t particularly enjoy the story. The whole tale just didn’t gel for me and I couldn’t enjoy the characters. I think it may be necessary to have “met” the characters before to really get a grip on the dynamics of both the characters and the Nightside. I was left with the feeling that the story was rushed and wasn’t very well thought out.
The third novella is by Kat Richardson and brings her Greywalker, Harper Blaine, to Mexico during the Day of the Dead, where she becomes enmeshed in a tangle of dark family secrets and revenge from beyond the grave. I’ve yet to read the two Greywalker novels (although I do own them) but I found the story easy to follow without having any prior knowledge of the main character. Overall the story was interesting, drawing on some of the beliefs of Mexico to give a very real feel to the whole situation. This story, for me, ranked as one of the two strongest stories in the compilation – the other being Jim Butcher’s.
The fourth and final offering is from Thomas E. Sniegoski – another author I”ve never read. In this tale, Remy Chandler - a fall-angel-turned-detective – investigates the death of Noah (yes, THE Noah). At first I wasn’t too sure I was enjoying this one, but I think it grew on me. Remy is an interesting character and I do believe I will be picking up some of the novels in this series. The tale Thomas shares with us relates to the flood and what happened to the animals that didn”t make it on the ark – I found this interesting on many levels and the story was woven well.
Overall, the book isn”t bad, and for any fans of the authors contained well worth picking up for the additional stories to the respective series.
Book Details
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: ROC (5 Mar 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0451462491
- ISBN-13: 978-0451462497
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.3 x 2 cm
