No recommendations. This sub-genre has failed to capture me at nearly every turn, unfortunately. So I'm with you in your original feelings to this post. :(
I'm not sure why it is that urban fantasy, at least in its current incarnation, doesn't do anything for me. It may be that the books felt like they've been written for television, which some of them have gone on to become, like the Sookie Stackhouse mystery/romances, and I don't really care for a lot of tv shows either. Except I am really looking forward to Glee(!) which is not urban fantasy, woe is me.
I do like books that take place in the recognizable, contemporary "real" world with magical or fantastical spins on things, but most of those books aren't the sort that fall under the "urban fantasy" label, because they really do seem to be a different quality of writing, going for very different effects than the specifically labeled "urban fantasy" book. What I find "urban fantasy" novelists focus on is plot; and the sorts of books I enjoy, that fall into this same kind of definition but with different emphasis, are books more oriented to characters who don't feel like silly mockups of people; chintzy cardboard folk who would look good on the screen often don't look so good on the page, at least to me.
My two cents, and probably not going to get me far with anyone. ;-)
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Date: 2009-08-28 11:42 am (UTC)I'm not sure why it is that urban fantasy, at least in its current incarnation, doesn't do anything for me. It may be that the books felt like they've been written for television, which some of them have gone on to become, like the Sookie Stackhouse mystery/romances, and I don't really care for a lot of tv shows either. Except I am really looking forward to Glee(!) which is not urban fantasy, woe is me.
I do like books that take place in the recognizable, contemporary "real" world with magical or fantastical spins on things, but most of those books aren't the sort that fall under the "urban fantasy" label, because they really do seem to be a different quality of writing, going for very different effects than the specifically labeled "urban fantasy" book. What I find "urban fantasy" novelists focus on is plot; and the sorts of books I enjoy, that fall into this same kind of definition but with different emphasis, are books more oriented to characters who don't feel like silly mockups of people; chintzy cardboard folk who would look good on the screen often don't look so good on the page, at least to me.
My two cents, and probably not going to get me far with anyone. ;-)