Third Person POV Urban Fantasy Writers

Silver-Midnight · Mar 8, 2012

Since one of the questions that I both see and ask a lot is relating to authors of Urban Fantasy who write in third person POV, I thought it would be a good idea to have thread where you either post a book and/or author recommendation.

Here are some that I've found; I have not read all of these people, but they were suggested to me:

Note: If an author writes more than one series, and one of the series is in first and the other is in third, please specify which series is in third.

Stacia Kane
Neil Gaiman
Patricia Briggs (Alpha and Omega series)
Eileen Wilkes
Laura Bickle
Emma Bull

pandabot · Mar 19, 2012

Tanya Huff's Victoria Nelson books are third person with multiple viewpoints I think. I'm not sure about her other series.

Silver-Midnight · Mar 20, 2012

Does anyone have any more third-person POV Urban Fantasy writers to add?

Silver-Midnight · Mar 23, 2012

Ilona Andrews (The Edge series)

brkingsolver · Apr 24, 2012

My new novel, The Succubus Gift, is in 3rd person.

baileycakes14 · May 2, 2012

Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series is written in 3rd.

Silver-Midnight · May 24, 2012

Does anyone have any other suggestions for Third POV UF writers? (I just want a really compiled list is all. :tongue

Thanks to everyone who has already replied.)

Jess Haines · May 25, 2012

I can't think of any off the top of my head that haven't already been listed.

I know they're out there, and I've read some--they just didn't stick with me enough to remember. :tongue

Yāoguài · May 25, 2012

There's M.L.N. Hanover's Black Sun's Daughter, and J.A. Pitts' Black Blade Blues.

A couple of the authors listed here, like Gaiman and Bull, aren't really the kind of fiction that people mean when they talk about urban fantasy nowadays. A couple of the others, like Ilona Andrews' The Edge and Patricia Briggs' Alpha and Omega, were probably written in third at least partly to distinguish those series from the authors' better-known first person series.

rugcat · May 25, 2012

Tim Pratt's Marla Mason series.

Silver-Midnight · May 25, 2012

Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress World books look to be in Third POV as well.

Yāoguài · May 25, 2012

Silver-Midnight said:
Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress World books look to be in Third POV as well.

Yes, the Night Huntress World series is. It's a spinoff from the Night Huntress series, which is written in the first person.

Silver-Midnight · May 25, 2012

Yāoguài;7305478 said:
Yes, the Night Huntress World series is. It's a spinoff from the Night Huntress series, which is written in the first person.

Yeah. I know.

Kind of like how Mercy Thompson is in first POV but Alpha and Omega is in third.

Mark Desires · May 27, 2012

I can't think of many really. I know an Indie author who does it, but not too many official authors.

Evangeline · May 28, 2012

L.A. Banks

Cairo Amani · Jun 18, 2012

thanks for opening this thread! Most of the UF i've read has been first person but my project is 3rd. Nice to see it has been done!

also I love Gaiman. ^_^

TJ Masters · Jul 6, 2012

I'm currently drafting an urban fantasy book that's third-person - and has two POV characters. I'm starting to think that might place it in the minority in urban fantasy :/

Silver-Midnight · Jul 7, 2012

TJ Masters said:
I'm currently drafting an urban fantasy book that's third-person - and has two POV characters. I'm starting to think that might place it in the minority in urban fantasy :/

Well, if it makes you feel better to any degree, I write with multiple perspectives some of the time.

rwm4768 · Jul 7, 2012

If I ever get to work on urban fantasy, I will probably write it 3rd person with multiple viewpoint characters. My interests in writing tend more toward the epic, so I'd kind of like to use that model in an urban fantasy at some point. (I'm not talking GRRM epic, though. 30+ viewpoint characters are too many.)

RevanWright · Aug 11, 2012

The Keys to the Kingdom, if that counts. Though they're more children's books. Nix always writes in the 3rd person, from multiple POVs.

Unfortunately, I haven't read a lot of UF lately that's written in a 3rd person perspective. I've been wondering if it's the minority, since my WIP is 3rd person from just the protag's POV.

Silver-Midnight · Aug 11, 2012

I don't want to go out on a limb and say that Third POV is the minority. However, even I admit that I see more first person Urban Fantasy than third. I really wouldn't know the exact rate of how much third is used or under what situations it gets used for truthfully. It really looks like it varies from author to author and situation to situation. So,.... :Shrug:

tlsclarke · Oct 11, 2012

Shameless plug... but I do.

psyche_13 · Apr 24, 2013

Just found this thread, since I'm doing some thinking about this myself!

I'd actually argue that Patricia Briggs' Alpha & Omega, Ilona Andrews' The Edge series, and the Night Huntress World Books by Jeaniene Frost are all actually paranormal romance, not urban fantasy, and possibly the reason for the third person - unlike these authors' other series, which I would consider urban fantasy (Well, the Night Huntress books usually call themselves "urban fantasy romance", so that's a horse of a different colour again. . . ).

One more to add is Adrian Phoenix's Hoodoo Series (starting with Black Dust Mambo). Definitely urban fantasy, and also third person. Not sure about her other series, because I don't have it to check.

Third Person POV Urban Fantasy Writers

Silver-Midnight

pandabot

Silver-Midnight

Silver-Midnight

brkingsolver

Urban Fantasy Author

baileycakes14

Silver-Midnight

Jess Haines

Boldly going nowhere in particular.

Yāoguài

Strange Monster

rugcat

Lost in the Fog

Silver-Midnight

Yāoguài

Strange Monster

Silver-Midnight

Mark Desires

A writer of many things.

Evangeline

Twirling in a glass of champagne

Cairo Amani

Cairo

TJ Masters

Silver-Midnight

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW

RevanWright

inconveniently drunk

Silver-Midnight

tlsclarke

With our thoughts we make the world

psyche_13