AnotherSkip Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations check out Orson Scott Cards Wyrms, semi fantasy with something that resembles computers. Joel Rosenburg series The Guardians of the Flame has a definate non-mix element twixt science and fantasy however in book five they are building an urban out of the fantasy. Besides it's about roleplayers breaking the mold of a fantasy world. Check out Battle Magic by DAW books. the stuff spans the magic element of books from urban to rural but may have some good places to look. now then for another think Mercedes lackey, so to NOT rehash the fantasy stuff, check out Reap the Whirlwind which has CJ Cherryh working with ML. it is more of an alternate history to base a world on but it definately brings to mind the timline adventures stuff of .... forgot his name darn. Im more than willing to ship to you copies of a page or two to see if you can stand the writing rather than suggesting buying it, I remember your expressions about her writing style. it also goes for Her bedlam bard and her Diana Tregard series both set in similar if not identical universe, im willing to send you some to see if you won't toss it against the wall Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice may be a good choice Also definately check out Changeling by White Wolf. note DON'T Play Changeling but as a read it covers the genre well enough, the magic system stinks and is pretty much unplayable. having played White Wolf Editions: Vamipre 1-3, Werewolf 2&3, & Mage 2 Changeling just dosen't mesh nor operate well. A series of one trick ponies. decent enough to read (and the stories in the book felt like they were swiped from Mercedes with new serial numbers rivited in place over the old ones). If you want more western in your Urban magic check out Wild Wild West and Bonanza for rural fantasy tv shows. Some Deadlands could be useful, As a final caviat Don't expect a huge response, the genere in my xp seems to be a marginal niche something like giant robots or cyberware. None of these have had their Tolkein or Stan Lee yet, so there is little to truly enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archermoo Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Agreed (both comics and the movie) Books too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylint Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Steven Brust Agyar is one of my favorites thought it does kinda bleed into gestalts. Perhaps Storm of the Century by Stephen King. s'all I got Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations I haven't read them myself, but I was just told t'other day that Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events is also Urban Fantasy - modern world setting with magic. Like Harry Potter, I guess, but for an even younger audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alathan Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread yet, but I think it was in some other "urban fantasy" threads... The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump by Harry Turtledove And if you want to include movies, you could consider M. Night Shyamalan's movies like The Village and Lady in the Water. (My apologies if these were already mentioned, if so then I missed it.) Admittedly, The Village isn't "fantasy" in the "wizards and dragons" sense, but if that kind of scenario were played out in an urban fantasy world with magic, imagine how much more you could do with it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallet Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations This is a little different from everyone elses suggestions, but how about the Carlos Castaneda books? Supposedly true, anthopological accounts, of a scientist learning about the ancient native american magic and how to become a sorcerer. Sure it involved taking drugs, but the books were pretty cool account of learning and using magic in the present day (well the 70's). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted September 29, 2007 Report Share Posted September 29, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Artemis Fowl, anyone? Faerie police? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted September 29, 2007 Report Share Posted September 29, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Urban fantasy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Fantasy 'nough said QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted September 29, 2007 Report Share Posted September 29, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Would Aaron Allston's Doc Sidhe count? Or is that more of an modern pulp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted September 29, 2007 Report Share Posted September 29, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Does that qualify as Urban? It is kinda mixed I know, but how else would you classify it? Historical Urban Fantasy? QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted September 29, 2007 Report Share Posted September 29, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Most of the stuff that I could recommend has been suggested already. But 9tail Fox by Jon Courtenay Grimwood is quite an interesting little tale with an Eastern flair to it. If you can extract any coherence from Hal Duncan's Vellum then it might give you a few ideas. If you get tired of reading, (admittedly unlikely), you might want to look into the Shadow Hearts games, RPGs set in an alternative/paranormal version of the early 20th century. Also films like Dog Soldiers, Underworld and Dusk til Dawn for various befanged horrors. And of course all the moderately amusing tv series that perhaps were too obvious for anyone else to mention i.e. Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, Doctor Who, (shorn of the sometimes thin scientific explanations it has a few interesting creatures). Oh and definitely don't watch Charmed, NEVER WATCH CHARMED. (Well that's just my opinion). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted September 29, 2007 Report Share Posted September 29, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations There's a new show on CBS called Moonlight, about a vampire detective. I know it sounds like an updated Forever Knight, but I enjoyed the premier last night. I think this one has potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Just thought of something, it might have been mentioned but Think Disney (I'm serious) Gargoyles... Man that show was PERFECT for this, it really was... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Direbadger Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations (I don't think I've seen these mentioned already) Kelley Armstrong - Women of the Otherworld series Kat Richardson - Greywalker Sergei Lukyanenko - Night Watch Kelley Armstrong isn't a favorite of mine, but her books cover a wide variety of supernatural and are quite popular. Kat Richardson does a good job of capturing my style of Urban Fantasy gaming. A typical tough PI with supernatural abilities helping out the underdog against the big baddies. Importantly, though, is the concept of the "twilight" or another plane the hero can cross into where the bad things live. This concept is prevalent in a lot of urban fantasy and should definitely be touched on in a game supplement. Night Watch and the other books in the series are great reads. The supernatural forces of the world are largely divided into two camps, light and dark, which patrol and monitor each other, all the while scheming and conspiring. The book also works in a great deal of ambiguity between light and dark, good and evil. The concept of "twilight" or another dimension is prevalent as well. With regards to other books that have been mentioned already, Laurel K. Hamilton's early Anita Blake novels are some of the defining books of the genre in my opinion. The social power plays between characters are amazing. The various rules and customs of supernatural societies are very well fleshed out. This should be required reading for any urban fantasy game designers. Patricia Briggs is extremely entertaining for a light read with a little different take on how things work in a supernatural world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Can't believe I forgot these and sorry if they have already been mentioned. Witchblade and The Darkness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrunnicles Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Can't believe I forgot these and sorry if they have already been mentioned. Wychblade and The Darkness. Ooh, good catch, although the first one is actually spelled 'Witchblade' IIRC. Great stories though. Never saw the TV show, I heard mixed things about it - anyone out there see it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations My bad. Fixed it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Fritz Leiber - Our Lady Of Darkness (something of a must for this genre ) and Conjure Wife Alan Aldridge - The Gnole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Would Aaron Allston's Doc Sidhe count? Or is that more of an modern pulp? Awesome book I think I remember a sequel..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations (trying to avoid most of the current crop if nearly identical trashy vampire novels...) [*]The Adept books -- by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris Thanx for the recommendations so far, everyone! I'm not sure I can ever read these. I morally object to them on the grounds that Kurtz should write more Deryni novels, dammit, not this other stuff. Two comments 1) the Adept series is most definitely a must read. It takes magic into the modern world without being just a repeating cliche'. A great world view that would be great to roleplay. 2) Please, no that is not right....PLEASE OH PLEASE don't let the Urban Fantasy book be overrun with endless overdone vampires and werewolves. If they were left as afterthought footnotes on the last page after the index I would be ecstatic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flames Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations On the subject of urban fantasy, I was going to link to this YouTube video but I'm afraid of getting in trouble for making a reference to this late-60s British sketch comedy series that I'm sure no-one here has ever heard of. okay, here it is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketchpad Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations As an example of Superheroic Urban Fantasy, how about Matt Wagner's Mage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations Is there going to be a thread going on this supplement in regards to suggestions for sections or topics? Yes, of course, but that's months away. Please stick to literature recommendations only in this thread. Thanx for the suggestions so far, folx, and feel free to keep 'em comin'! There's only so much I can read and watch during the course of a year, but it helps to have a lot of options to pick and choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations but The Names of Magic by Dylan Horrocks wasn't bad and provided a lot of addition background info on the main character and the magical world. Heh. I thought they were OK, too, but Dylan calls them "the most horrible thing I've ever written" and wishes everyone would forget them. That said, they certainly fit the genre. Most of the books I would mention have already been listed, so I'll just add Gene Wolfe's books Free Live Free, Castleview and There are Doors: with the caveat that Gene Wolfe is something of an acquired taste. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Re: Urban Fantasy Recommendations This is a little different from everyone elses suggestions' date=' but how about the Carlos Castaneda books? Supposedly true, anthopological accounts, of a scientist learning about the ancient native american magic and how to become a sorcerer. Sure it involved taking drugs, but the books were pretty cool account of learning and using magic in the present day (well the 70's).[/quote'] They're cool books (well, the first 4 are), but they're "true" in the same sense as "Harry Potter" is true. Meaning they're interesting works of fiction. I enjoyed the heck out of them anyway. You might be able to get something out of them for an urban fantasy game: they give a different take on magic from your traditional mage, for sure, but my feeling is that they are a little specialized to be really inspiring reading for something like this. But you'd want to avoid making nay claims about "real-world" practice - on examination, the books are full of contradictions and verifiable errors of fact. For example, the hallucinogenic mushrooms described as being harvested, don't actually grow anywhere near where we are told they grow (meaning not within hundreds of miles). We're told Don Juan only spoke Spanish, but in the book he makes puns which are meaningless in Spanish - they're colloquial English jokes which only make sense if translated in a certain way. The "traditional yaqui beliefs" actually bear little or no resemblance to "traditional yaqui beliefs" but do mesh closely with "newly-traditional new age beliefs" and Asian philosophy. Castenada's never been a poster boy for accuracy. For example, he claimed to have come from a wealthy Brasilian family (though he spoke Spanish, not Portuguese!), but his immigration and school records show he was born and went to school in Peru, where he was the son of a craftsman. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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