Guest post on Urban Fantasy
Posted on: October 24, 2012
I have a guest post over at Bastard Books today, and we’re talking Urban Fantasy. Or, to be more specific, why most UF turns me off. There’s already some interesting conversations going on the comments.
leave it to Bastard to get me to lay my soul bare.
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snarky snippet:
So much of the urban fantasy I see when I go to Barnes and Noble these days seems like a fashion spread for really tight pants, anorexia, and neat tattoos. A stupid reason to be sure, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say the cover art on a lot of these books is a major turn off to me. Judging a book by the cover? Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing. . .
Read the rest here!
4 Responses to "Guest post on Urban Fantasy"
October 24, 2012 at 10:34 pm
very true. UF is nothing new. remember we used to read DeLint and call it magical realism? boils down to yes, I’ve gotten old, and much of the new breed of UF just doesn’t appeal to me, for one reason or another.
October 25, 2012 at 4:49 am
UF is a difficult genre that rather encompasses quite a few different kind of books. I’m with you on the cover art though. WTH? I mean, someone (a guy?) reckoned it’d be great for sales, and then the rest followed? I’m not completely against UF either, but I try to avoid books with covers featuring pretty, tough, scantily-clad heroines. They do make me suspect that there won’t be anything original (or anything I’d like to read) in them.
[...] Guest post on Urban Fantasy (littleredreviewer.wordpress.com) [...]
October 24, 2012 at 9:53 pm
I think its a sign of the times, really. Its a gateway “drug” to other forms of fantasy. Its not like Urban Fantasy is new: its been kicking around for at least twenty years or more, perhaps being popularized by the Anne Rice era vampire craze, Nancy Collins “Sunglasses After Dark” and all that stuff began creating a niche that the mainstream could “hang onto”, without going “all the way” so to speak.
Its just where the cool kids hang out these days. Most will check it out, move on, ignore their roots and some will stay to see other things. Maybe you’ve just gotten old, like the rest of us, and need to dismiss the craze because its not your generation anymore? Hheheh. We’re all just aging hipsters now. I went through it with Cyberpunk and someone had to tell me ten years later that Cyberpunk was dead and I just shrugged and said “It is? News to me…”