Urban Fantasy Books: A Reader’s Map to the Whole Genre
Urban fantasy is one of those genre labels that has been asked to carry too much. It covers a wizard […]
Seeing It Coming Is Not the Same as Stopping It: Divination as a Magic System
Foresight is the hardest power to write and the most satisfying when someone gets it right. The trouble is obvious
No Powers, No Backup, No Excuse: Urban Fantasy With an Ordinary Human in the Middle
Give the protagonist a power and you have solved your climax. You have also capped your tension, because the reader
Everybody Already Knows: Urban Fantasy Without the Masquerade
The masquerade is the genre’s default setting, and it is starting to show its age. You know the shape: the
The Power Comes Back at Forty-Five: Urban Fantasy Where the Protagonist Has a Mortgage
Most magic in this genre arrives at nineteen, when the protagonist has nothing to lose but a bad apartment and
From the Other Side of the Stake: Vampire Books Told by the People Hunting Them
Turn the camera around and the whole genre changes. Told from the vampire’s side, the story is about appetite, aristocracy
Long Memory: Vampires Who Actually Feel Their Age
Immortality is usually written as a costume. Better clothes, older accent, a house with a library. What it rarely gets
The Enemy Who Stays Dangerous: Enemies to Lovers Without the Discount
Most enemies-to-lovers books are not that. They are strangers-to-lovers with an argument at the start. The pattern is easy to
The Bond That Isn’t a Shortcut: Romantasy Where Fated Mates Still Have to Choose
A bond is a promise the plot makes on the characters’ behalf. The question is whether they ever have to
Magic With an HR Department: Fantasy Where the Supernatural Has Middle Management
Somebody has to do the payroll. It is the least glamorous observation in fantasy and one of the most productive.