Urban Fantasy is an easy way to add a twist to a familiar setting. Essentially, it takes a modern (or near-ish future) setting and mixes it with fantasy elements; usually magic. Generally, but not always, this is used as a backdrop for another genre, such as horror.
It’s a very malleable sub-genre that combines the familiar with the fantastical. It may take place in a real-world city or a fictional town, but it’s a place we’re all familiar with. However, the presence of magic or other fantasy elements brings their share of whimsy and an escape from the ordinary. Here are some of the best you can check out now.
City of Bones – Cassandra Clare
City of Bones is the first in the series of The Mortal Instruments novels, and is a good introduction to her world featuring the Institute and Shadowhunters and her family’s connection with them. The series consists of six mainline novels that follow Clary Fray as she discovers herself and grows into her new role as a protector of mundane humans.
Fire and Hemlock – Diana Wynne Jones
Based on (and around) the Scottish ballads of “Tam Lin” and “Thomas the Rhymer,” Fire and Hemlock is one of the foundational titles that helped shape Urban Fantasy as it is today. As such, it isn’t as overt when it comes to mixing fantasy with familiar. The fantasy aspect comes from portentous stories and the involvement of the Fae.
Mostly, it tells the story of Polly Whittacker and follows her relationship with Thomas Lynn over the years. It’s told retrospectively, looking back at alternate memories. It’s a bit difficult to describe, especially because parts of it are somewhat nebulous. Many of its fans suggest that it’s important to read it at least twice to really grok the ending.
Moon Called – Patricia Briggs
Moon Called is the foundation upon which Patricia Briggs built up the Mercy Thompson series. While the “Mercyverse” (as I’m first hearing it called now) is rather vast now, this is where it started. The series, in general, follows Mercy, a shapeshifter who can change into a coyote, as she deals with other supernatural-related problems. In Moon Called, this takes the form of an investigation into missing Werewolves that balloons from there. It’s a solid introduction to the characters and world the series is based around.
A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab
Following a magician who is capable of jumping to four different versions of London (White, Grey, Black, and Red, A Darker Shade of Magic has a nice adventuresome tone to it. An envoy with the side hustle of smuggling, Kell winds up in possession of sinister stone and thrown together with a thrill-seeking thief.
V.E. Schwab has continued the series with two more books, and a movie adaptation is reportedly in the works.
The City & The City – China Miéville
This is perhaps here mostly because I like a good police procedural, but having won countless awards, The City & The City is worth a recommendation regardless of your expectations for Urban Fantasy. It follows the exploits of Tyador Borlú as he works to solve a murder that takes him from the Eastern European streets of Besźel to its twin city of Ul Qoma.
The City & The City is a bit more surreal and weird than a lot of the relatively grounded fiction found elsewhere on this list. That’s something to keep in mind when you’re searching for something to read.
The Atrocity Archives – Charles Stross
The Atrocity Archives is technically two short novels that set up The Laundry Files, a series of stories following the eponymous agency “The Laundry.” Many of the books (including the ones in this collection) have Bob Howard as the protagonist, as he helps the Laundry protect the world from supernatural and extra-dimensional threats.
The series brings a technological side to unknowable threats from beyond the veil of reality, giving them a unique hook to its world-building. The threats in the books range from elder gods to elves, giving the world no shortage of antagonists.
Sandman Slim – Richard Kadrey
A hitman from hell is an idea where the concept alone gets the endorphins pumping. It’s almost like Doom, but not the Doom novels. Sandman Slim follows James “Sandman Slim” Stark who, after spending 11 years in hell, arrives in L.A. to exact his revenge against those who wronged him. There’s plenty of action, but it’s also packed with dark humor. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which helps make the flex of a concept easier to swallow.
Borderland – Various (Edited by Terri Windling and Mark Alan Arnold)
Borderland, in itself, is actually an anthology of stories by a handful of authors. However, they’re all based around a shared Urban Fantasy universe. The series is set in and around a city called Bordertown on the, er, border of the Elflands (appropriately inhabited by fantasy elves) and the World (inhabited by us).
The series is generally aimed at teenagers, but there’s enough thematic variety that it can even appeal to those of us who have left the traumas of puberty behind for the vacuous emptiness of adulthood. Wait, I got sidetracked. I just meant to say “young at heart.”
Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch
Another Urban Fantasy book that focuses on law enforcement in a world bent by the supernatural, Rivers of London has Peter Grant, an up-and-coming British police officer, as he deals with a wave of murders, as well as the gods of the Thames. It’s a fun and personal story written with an enjoyable amount of sass.
Like many books on this list, Rivers of London also spawned a series after it and has also been adapted into graphic novels.
American Gods – Neil Gaiman
This list could have basically been entirely Neil Gaiman novels, as the author is one of the most prolific and influential Urban Fantasy writers. As such, it’s really difficult to pick one particular example to recommend. Adapted into a TV series back in 2017, American Gods seems like a great starting point.
It follows an ex-convict who, while grieving the loss of his wife, takes a job for an enigmatic figure, which leads him on a trip across America. Along the way, he meets the physical manifestations of the Gods and becomes entwined with their struggles.
