Avery Flynn arrives for a visit at her Uncle Tam's, eager to rekindle her summertime romance with her crush-next-door, Daniel.
But Daniel’s not the sweet, neurotic guy she remembers—and she wonders if this is her Daniel at all. Or if someone—some thing—has taken his place.
Her quest to find the real Daniel—and get him back—plunges Avery into a world of Fae and changelings, where creatures swap bodies like humans change their socks, and magic lives much closer to home than she ever imagined.
But Daniel’s not the sweet, neurotic guy she remembers—and she wonders if this is her Daniel at all. Or if someone—some thing—has taken his place.
Her quest to find the real Daniel—and get him back—plunges Avery into a world of Fae and changelings, where creatures swap bodies like humans change their socks, and magic lives much closer to home than she ever imagined.
ARJ’s Top Ten Urban Fantasy Influences
1. The Borderland series,
which starts with an anthology
of the same name edited by Terri Windling, and moves on to some novel-length
works like Elsewhere
by Will Shetterly. It may have actually established the "collision
of the strange and the everyday" definition in my mind.
2. Ariel
by Steven R. Boyett is a cult favorite from 1983, which takes place in
a post-Apocalyptic landscape--where the Apocalypse was caused by technology
failing and magic returning to our world.
3. Books by Charles de Lint, who made Urban Fantasy popular
with his Newford stories. I recommend starting with Little
(Grrl) Lost for the younger YA set, or Svaha
for older readers.
4. Faerie
Tale by Raymond E. Fiest is a great example of UF that straddles the
line into horror
5. The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone, which starts with Three
Parts Dead, is a great example of what makes UF so hard to
compartmentalize--this fantasy novel takes place in an urban environment where
the natural laws on the existence of magic are completely different from our
world, and yet aspects of the city and its denizens still seem so universal and
relatable.
6. The
Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black can stand in for the vampire
books that are sometimes labeled "paranormal" (with or without
"romance" added to it), sometimes fantasy, but in my mind are UF.
7. Daughter
of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is another that fits the above
description (but not with vampires).
8. Gail Carriger's YA Finishing School series, which begins
with Etiquette
and Espionage, is another world that could equally be described as
steampunk or UF. Her Parasol
Protectorate series, which starts with Soulless, is more on the paranormal
end of the scale, in my opinion.
9. Cassandra Clare's books, especially her Infernal
Devices series, also straddles that steampunk/UF/paranormal line.
10. Christopher
Moore’s books, which are shelved in general fiction in most bookstores,
although they have elements of magical realism, urban fantasy, fantasy,
mythology, and horror to various degrees. My favorite is his A Dirty Job, and
there’s a sequel to it coming out in August.
BOOK TRAILER
And check out the illustrated companion, A Compendium of the Faer Folke! Available as a free download!
About the Author:
In keeping with her scattered Gemini nature, Angelica R. Jackson has far too many interests to list here.
She has an obsession with creating more writing nooks in the home she shares with her husband and two corpulent cats in California's Gold Country. Fortunately, the writing nooks serve for reading and cat cuddling too.
Other pastimes include cooking for food allergies (not necessarily by choice, but she’s come to terms with it), photography, and volunteering at a local no-kill sanctuary.
She blogs at Angelic Muse, and is a contributing member of Operation Awesome and the Fearless Fifteeners.
She has an obsession with creating more writing nooks in the home she shares with her husband and two corpulent cats in California's Gold Country. Fortunately, the writing nooks serve for reading and cat cuddling too.
Other pastimes include cooking for food allergies (not necessarily by choice, but she’s come to terms with it), photography, and volunteering at a local no-kill sanctuary.
She blogs at Angelic Muse, and is a contributing member of Operation Awesome and the Fearless Fifteeners.
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