What makes Urban Fantasy?
@bardicfool posted this to my bingo board, and I brought it over here to a new post so we can all talk with my seeing my bingo board over and over again :P
Such a good question! My first experience with urban fantasy was things like Holly Black's faery tales, or Melissa Marr's. Stories where magic can and does happen between the steam and steel of cities, where humans think they're safest.
But I've definitely expanded the term far beyond what I think it's natural borders are, at least when trying to tell people about what sort of books I love. That and "paranormal romance" are my two go tos for "what do you read?" questions, but neither accurately defines my interests. They're just what I'm going to ask for when I go into a bookstore and get lost, more or less.
So let's chat guys. What makes urban fantasy a genre? What are some adjacent genres that would cover things that aren't a catchall term like "new adult fiction" (which I love is a thing btw but like that's SUCH a broad strokes term). Do we call it magical realism, even when the magic becomes more than a little unreal? Do we call it contemporary fiction, even though that barely narrows it down anymore than New Adult does?
I'll admit this isnt a topic I'm well researched in. I'd love to hear what other think too.