Cities, settings, and unique places in Urban Fantasy

PassionateIntensity

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So a large part of Urban Fantasy seems to be the setting - whether it's setting as a character or place as a grounding in reality. To that end, what are some of your favorite city locations for UFs? Which cities haven't been used that you are dying to see? And at what point does it become rural fantasy?

I'd like to see something set in Kansas City. It definitely has potential for Urban Fantasy.

I think it would become rural fantasy once you leave the "metro" area. If the skyline isn't dotted with buildings and smog doesn't hang like a dirty blanket over the streets...I'm not sure its Urban. :)

I'm working on a UF and I'm contemplating setting it in Anchorage, Alaska for a variety of reasons. I know it incredibly well. We have enough forest, and marsh, and ocean, tourists, transients, and so on. It's a feasible location for all sorts of things. And a great winter spot for the vampires. Snowbirds are already an established concept here.

I would enjoy reading a UF that was set in Alaska. I've never been but I understand it is breathtakingly beautiful.


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.

Perhaps not "urban" but at least modern?

I like the idea of a fantasy story set in a smaller town. I know around my small city there are plenty of places that would qualify as creepy and could be included into a modern fantasy type deal.
 

lindz

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How important is a real city vs. a made up city? A lot of books name the city but then never do anything to show the atmosphere or the layout of the city at all. Likely they've never been there so avoid any specifics. Is just using the name of the city enough to establish the setting in a reader's mind. Could more be done with a made-up city that is fully fleshed out or do readers like a real city so they can relate better?
 

Bolero

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

Hhm. Interesting. Saw a documentary on Minette Walters the thriller/crime writer a while back and she sets all her stories in scenic bits of the UK and that is an actual selling point for US readers, the documentary said. Now, different genre but.....

Also - Jasper Fforde - Swindon, Welsh border and Reading, all done off beat and wacky. Does he sell in the US?
 

Religion0

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Melbourne! Or anywhere in Australia, really. It seems most of the fantasy authors from Downunder aren't into UF. Does anyone know of a book set in Australia?
I also had one character pop out of nowhere and shout "Guess where I want to live? Melbourne!" And then she jumped out the window and dashed to the nearest hospital. She's, uh, she's a Healer who really wants to do her thing, and she wouldn't be polite about it and move to the northern hemisphere.
 

Tamlyn

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Keri Arthur has some series set in Melbourne. I've actually been struggling with that setting a bit; because it's American publisher/editor (or I presume this is the reason) lots of the terms used by characters are US. So they feel like American characters and the Melbourne place names really jarred for me. One of the acknowledgements made a comment on her editors putting up with Australianisms though, so maybe it'd feel more Australian to a non-Australian?

It's smoothed out a bit now in the series I'm reading (or I've gotten used to it - other problems I had with the series are smoothing out too, so maybe that's it).
 

CobraMisfit

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My series is set in Washington DC, but mostly because that was a city I am familiar with. Doesn't hurt that there aren't a whole lot of UF located there, either.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that a real or invented city doesn't matter so long as the author does a good job of painting the picture. If I can see it in my mind and feel the pulse of the people who live there, then I'll stick with that series till the end.

My two coppers.
 

Myrealana

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My first one was in NYC, because it was the location that worked best, given the characters involved. I did a ton of research. My cousin lives there, and I got a lot of info from her. Google maps and streetview got to be my best friends.

My newest UF is set in Denver, because that's where I live. I figure if there's any city I can get right, that's the one. In this case, it works in the Denver metro area in a way the last one didn't.
 

Myrealana

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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.

The "urban" part of UF can be pretty flexible. The Sookie Stackhouse books are usually classified as UF, and Bon Temps, Louisiana is about as non-urban as a town can get.
 

Riftrunner

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The series I'm working on is set in Colorado Springs, primarily the southern end. It is what I know and having everything from mountains to farms to a downtown that is eerie after dark I felt it has all I need. The large military presence helps too. Oh and Manitou Springs isn't far away and has a weird vibe plus was rumored to be home to all manner of witchcraft and devil worship back in the day.
 

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As for Anchorage - go for it! I don't think anyone's done one there, not that I know of.

Our very own hillaryjacques set the first book of her Night Runner series in Anchorage, but that's the only one I am aware of.
 

TheEchelon

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When I think of urban fantasy, I think it depends on the type of plotline and characters a writer is trying to create. If I were writing some sort of dark UF or vampire series, I would probably choose somewhere in Central or Eastern Europe. Perhaps a city in the Czech Republic or a city near the Carpathian Mountains. If it was something less dark, maybe a more secluded/rural area or highly populated city like Toronto.

I think Anchorage would be a cool idea! You could always tie in the northern lights as well as the longer days/nights during their seasons for additional plot elements or ambient descriptions.

I also have to agree with the idea of exotic locations, depending on the story. Paris, London, NYC have been overdone in a lot of works, and it would be refreshing to see some new UF to depict these exciting environments.
 

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Well, I have no issue with using the big name cities in stories. One of my WIP is set in London because I needed a city of that size. A smaller, less known city flat out would not have worked. For one, in a smaller city it would have been a lot harder for the supernatural side of things to stay secret. For another, the varied locations that are so close together makes it easy to have some things happen.

Plus, I have been to London so I have a bit of experience there.

Now in story two it is an alternate Earth situation so the main city is 100% made up. Hopefully I can put enough character into the city to make the reader accept it and to make it thrive.
 

Nogetsune

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I will echo the NYC and London being a tad overused, and it goes beyond books, even. Hellgate, the videogame? Oh, it's in London...or at least the main/first part of the game is, anyway......and lets not forget how NYC is the home of Kaiju, monsters, and superheroes the world over...but anyway....

As for places I'd like to see, I agree with more non-US and non-Europe locations. There's a lot of great material all around the world that has bairly been tapped and while one may worry about audiences having issues identifying, an easy way to mitigate that would be to simply make the MC an American/European who for whatever reason is now living in X non-US/European city. They could even be a member of the majority population of the chosen city, but who is originally from America/Europe if you want to avoid having a white MC in a book filled with a mostly Asian/Middle-Eastern/Hispanic/Black cast.

There are just so many possibilities! I can see the reincarnation of a long dead hero who still has that hero's mystic powers running from the agents of a powerful and influential businessman in Mumbai who is actually a disguised Raksasha that was a powerful adversary of his past life out for revenge. Or how about an otaku in Akihabara who's given the once in a lifetime chance to be a real world "magical girl"....at the cost of making a pact with a evil nogitsune who needs her to find his stolen star ball so he may restore himself to full power. There are so many places and cities outside the US that just haven't been touched, and so many non-western mythologies that are teeming with cool creatures and even magic systems(Onmyodo, Taoist Sorcery etc..) to use in UF! So many possibilities to explore outside Europe and the US, and heck, even in Europe and the US there is a lot of places that have yet to be explored. Why can't we get more stories in the old Soviet Bloc countries, for example? Or Scandinavia? Lots of fertile ground there with all the cool Noris mythological stuff that could be going on! Oh..and lets not forget what could be done with Washington, DC. Conspiracy theories alone give you more then enough ideas to work with between devil worshiping Illuminati cultists for fantasy to shape-shifting Reptoid aliens and their Grey minions for sci-fi....and this isn't even getting into the non-crackpot lore that you could use for Washington DC like, for example, the various white house ghosts. So much fertile ground...

Yeah...I'm just tired of the same old london/NYC/X overused city already mentioned. Some switch-ups would be nice!
 
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auroranibley

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Michael Chabon's Yiddish Policeman's Union is set in Sitka, Alaska. It's an alternate history rather than UF but it does have a touch of magical realism to it.

Also, Sitka is not the same as Anchorage, so.
 

Dorian Graves

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Not to be biased because I've lived up here almost my whole life, but I would LOVE to see more stories set in the Pacific Northwest. Granted, there aren't a lot of huge cities (Seattle and Eugene get a bit of love, and Portland...have any UF stories been set in Portland yet?), so perhaps that's why we don't get a lot of Urban fantasy. Also makes me wonder if my novels currently count as "urban". I mean, they visit a few cities (the protagonists travel around a lot, so they hit San Francisco for a couple chapters in the first book, and will wander through Seattle in the third), but mostly they end up in small towns (think of Oregon's Cottage Grove, or Arcata up in northern California). Or they end up in a mystical side-dimension connected to our own world. Hrmm...
Google maps and streetview got to be my best friends.
Those are useful (unless you're on dial-up internet, like me), but I do always recommend visiting the places one is writing about. Sure, research and wandering the streets of Google can show a place, but there's something to be said about feeling it. The book I'm currently writing, for example, is set in Arcata, but I didn't visit there until I was halfway through the draft--and that changed EVERYTHING for the better. (And I had to restart the draft, but what else is new?). I'd seen the pictures, and had memories from visits a few years ago, but that was entirely different from wandering through the redwood forests and the beaches, lurking through the streets to find the local hangouts and dive bars, nabbing the local publications and see what folks are talking about...that's almost magical. And really helps with details.
 

BklynWriter

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My WIP is set in New York, where I was born and raised. But it is not set in The City, and will actually be set in the Queens/Long Island area....still NYC, but not. However, I left NYC pre-9/11 and while that will not play a role in my story....I am not as familiar with the post-9/11, gentrified playground-for-the-rich city that New York has become.

All that said, would it be okay to make my setting more reminiscent of the era I grew up in, but still plausible?

[important fact...while 5 boroughs comprise NYC, New Yorkers in the outer boroughs will call Manhattan 'the city'....as in "I work in the City, but I live in Brooklyn"]
 

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My WIP is set in New York, where I was born and raised. But it is not set in The City, and will actually be set in the Queens/Long Island area....still NYC, but not. However, I left NYC pre-9/11 and while that will not play a role in my story....I am not as familiar with the post-9/11, gentrified playground-for-the-rich city that New York has become.

All that said, would it be okay to make my setting more reminiscent of the era I grew up in, but still plausible?

[important fact...while 5 boroughs comprise NYC, New Yorkers in the outer boroughs will call Manhattan 'the city'....as in "I work in the City, but I live in Brooklyn"]

Sure. Just throw a date (or something) in there somewhere so readers know it's not taking place right now. Or I suppose it would be on the book blurb, so they might know going in.
 

PeteMC

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My WIP is set in New York, where I was born and raised. But it is not set in The City, and will actually be set in the Queens/Long Island area....still NYC, but not. However, I left NYC pre-9/11 and while that will not play a role in my story....I am not as familiar with the post-9/11, gentrified playground-for-the-rich city that New York has become.

All that said, would it be okay to make my setting more reminiscent of the era I grew up in, but still plausible?

Yeah I think so - this is pretty much how London works in my books.

They're set in the modern day but there are demons lurking in the alleys and a practising diabolist with a shop on the high street so it's not exactly OUR London in the modern day, so I've felt free to take a few liberties. I don't know NYC but London has also suffered a ridiculous amount of gentrification recently, which totally spoils the 1970s-ish cop show noir atmosphere I want, so I've basically just assumed that gentrification didn't really happen in MY London, or at least not as much of it.

No one's complained so far.