Cities, settings, and unique places in Urban Fantasy

I make them up, but one WIP of mine is loosely based on Buffalo NY, only set a fair bit further south - it doesn't abut a giant lake, border Canada or get ten feet a snow in a single weekend.

As for cities I'd like to see? Anywhere besides London or Prague, which seem overdone, imo. And if someone were to do any other city, so long as they've done some research besides looking at a couple of maps for street names. I like the idea of something set in Alaska and I'd be curious what they do in late June.

I've travelled fairly extensively and almost nothing irks me more than reading some scene set somewhere I've been and I can tell that they haven't.

I don't think so much in terms of a particular city I'd like to see, but in a setting that works well with everything else. I chose Spokane because it's in an area where the local tribes have Bigfoot stories, there are a fair number of modern-day sightings and it has a lot of parks and green space. For another story concept, it wouldn't work as well.

In some cases, it might be better to create a setting, because nowhere is quite right.

I do get a certain amount of setting fatigue if too many things are set in the same city. Sometimes authors can have very different takes on the same place, which is interesting. But I don't know if we need a hundred more books set in London. I won't reject a book for being in an often-used city, but I'm more likely to notice a book set somewhere different.

Detroit.

With all the ruin porn you see in the news I don't know why there isn't more of it. It's begging for more urban fantasy. There was a scene in the Iron King by Julie Kagawa... But it was only a scene or two and didn't really reflect Detroit in anyway. It easily could have been any other city in the US.

That's why I set all my stories in Detroit (or at least the metro Detroit area) they always say to write the books you want to read right?

I set my UF in Southampton and the New Forest because I grew up there, still know it pretty well and I've never come across it as a setting. Shame no-one wants to buy it.

I set my most recent one in Seattle because I live there, it's got plenty of nasty, and the idea of choosing an inhabited, populated place as the location to study something horribly dangerous seemed like exactly the sort of thing governments do.

The one before that was set in an anonymous city which morphed into NYC because everyone believed that's where it was. It wasn't to start with. I have been toying with the idea of suburban fantasy, where the city grows too weird, and a human-wide version of white-flight has the protagonist living on the outskirts, and heading into the heart of weird only when he must.

I'm partial to using Scottish cities (Usually Inverness, as Edinburgh and Glasgow see a decent amount of use) and the rural Highlands and Islands.

I get a lot of mileage out of it: Moor fight scenes! Deserted beaches! Woodlands! Fog and lots of rickety ferry crossings!

Antonin said:

Detroit.

With all the ruin porn you see in the news I don't know why there isn't more of it. It's begging for more urban fantasy. There was a scene in the Iron King by Julie Kagawa... But it was only a scene or two and didn't really reflect Detroit in anyway. It easily could have been any other city in the US.

That's why I set all my stories in Detroit (or at least the metro Detroit area) they always say to write the books you want to read right?

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It's sad to see some parts of Detroit. So many gorgeous old houses and buildings, just left to rot. Parts of Buffalo are like that as well.

BriMaresh said:

I feel like Chicago, New York, and Seattle show up a lot lately, too. Why would you specifically be interested in what we do in late June? Or do you mean the vampires, who are no doubt summering in Europe for three months, just until the darkness returns, or maybe going on a caving expedition?

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Dodging the midnight sun, of course.

NYC and LA are overdone for me too, as far as US cities, though surprisingly little seems to be set in Chicago. Gorgeous city though.

I always thought Erie, Pennsylvania would make for a good setting, depending on the genre, just on the name alone.

Some day I'd like to set something in Mumbai but I'd rather go one more time first. I only got a single afternoon to explore on my own and at least another couple of days would have been good. It would be a real challenge for a vampire to try to go undetected in that city because there's a constant stream of people around, everywhere, day and night - at least in the parts I was in.

I would like to see something set in Boston. Maybe it's been done, but I haven't seen it yet. It's one of the oldest cities in the US if the United States is your setting. Lot's of history to play with, urban legends etc.

I plan to set a novel in Dublin (write what you know), then Amsterdam and a third, more opulent, artsy city. Paris would be a great choice as the catacombs are the perfect location for creepy, monster action but Paris as a location is a bit overdone so I'm considering Vienna.

Basically the plot involves some mobsters who are quite literally connected to the Underworld. Dublin has a well established reputation of drug trafficking as well gangland assassinations and it's easier for a first time writer to hone my skills describing a familiar setting. While the story does not involve drugs (nor any metaphor for drugs) it does involve my MC transporting a mysterious 'package' for some wealthy occult buyer. Amsterdam was an obvious importing destination in general, not to mention Irish gangs being very active there. Obviously things won't go smoothly.

I have been to Amsterdam but not Vienna, so I plan on visiting during the summer. Switzerland could also be a good destination instead.

Lillith1991 said:

I would like to see something set in Boston. Maybe it's been done, but I haven't seen it yet. It's one of the oldest cities in the US if the United States is your setting. Lot's of history to play with, urban legends etc.

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If you also watch urban fantasy television, the U.S. version of Being Human is set in Boston.

Wilde_at_heart said:

It's sad to see some parts of Detroit. So many gorgeous old houses and buildings, just left to rot. Parts of Buffalo are like that as well.

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It is, but at the same time I find the ruins rather fascinating and beautiful.

There are wonderful parts of the city around, I promise! (And I'm not just talking about the down-town area where all the sports stadiums are). I know I'm repeating myself here but we have the most pre-depression era skyscrapers in the country!

They just don't make headlines.

There's actually been an issue of all of the city's talent if-you-will leaving for Chicago... I expect a lot of stories set in the city in the coming years honestly.

Speaking of cities with history that I haven't seen used a lot--Philadelphia, PA. Loads of history there. I mostly write in Pittsburgh, PA, though, because I'm close enough to check out details.

I'd be interested in reading anything that was vivid but not set in Europe or North America. I wonder if it would be relatable enough to the majority of readers of English language fiction?

I picked San Francisco. It's close enough to visit if I need to check out an address/place etc. It has a great reputation, although that has been changing recently. It has several societal strata, although that too has been changing recently. The urban problems --where does a vampire park his car? Can he ride BART? Have the tunnels under the city survived the latest quake-- are amusing to ponder.

I have one in New Orleans and I haven't decided on the story.. I was thinking LA but I'm now leaning towards Denver.

London (twice). I know it.

Unnamed city (also twice). Because no-one knows it.

Antonin said:

Detroit.

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Awesome! I too, very much love Detroit as a setting.

While I am Canadian, I have been very partial to the rustbelt, and the areas of the United States that collapsed following the downsizing of their domestic manufacturing industry. If there is anywhere that a creepy crawly would want to hide, it would be there.

I don't like to say this because I find it very unflattering, but I find the United States on a whole to have some of the greatest dramatic potential as a setting in the industrialized nations, partially due to the disparities in cultures and locales that the United States envelopes, but also a lot of the problems and real life controversies that I read about on the news that can serve as a great starting point for a plot.

NO MORE CHICAGO.

NYC, London, Paris, all seem done to death.

I'd like to see more set in colonial-era cities. Philly, Boston, Baltimore come to mind. I've got a UF right now which is going to feature one if not all three of those locations.

I'm relatively new to writing UF, but as a reader I'd like to see more Urban Blight type settings. Not entirely- I don't need a whole book about crackhouses and condemned projects- but plenty of options provide both worlds. Baltimore, for instance, is a horrible place to live in some parts (personal experience), but there's also plenty of money in the nicer parts of downtown and in the WASP'ier suburbs (not to mention some rural areas not too-too far out in the county).

Also, EXOTIC LOCATIONS. At this point, places in England, France, or Belgium are not at all exotic. I'm talking Shanghai, Hong-Kong, Tyre, Beirut, Bangkok, Stalingrad. Maybe not as a primary setting- difficult getting a US audience to relate- but at least a lengthy side-quest type deal. My first attempt at UF roved between such locations and, while I've shelved it as a long-winded failure, I intend to return to the project. They say write what you'd like to read, and as something of a traveler myself that kinda setting's right up my alley. I'd LOVE to read about places I've been and these days there's so much research available and people you can talk to online, it's not like you need to have visited Moscow yourself to write it convincingly (though def doesn't hurt, heh).

My biggest problem with writing UF is that I can't manage the U part. I grew up in the country. The biggest town an easy distance from me (and that I know well enough to write about) is Huntington, West Virginia (population 49K). And I don't feel comfortable writing about Atlanta or Birmingham or other big cities, because I've never been, or only passed through briefly.

Speaking at Worldcon, Joshua Bilmes was of the opinion that non-US settings in UF/CF did not work for US readers and editors.

He's entitled to his opinion, and I'm ignoring it. My WIP is in Slough and Milton Keynes, and that's where it's staying.

jallenecs said:

My biggest problem with writing UF is that I can't manage the U part. I grew up in the country. The biggest town an easy distance from me (and that I know well enough to write about) is Huntington, West Virginia (population 49K). And I don't feel comfortable writing about Atlanta or Birmingham or other big cities, because I've never been, or only passed through briefly.

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Pick a city and read up on it, or even better 'travel' through it using Google street view.
There's plenty of ways to get a feel for a city even if you've never been there.

I'm planning on writing an UF set in 16th century Istanbul, I sure as heck can't visit, so history books and AC:Revelations will have to do