Juno Books

These were originally notes for a con panel I was never on. I’ve added a few clarifications over the year or so it has been posted. Still they are just notes and not a formal anything.

Back in the summer of 2006, I wrote an introduction to an anthology and tried to make an argument that PERHAPS the term “paranormal romance” could possibly be broadened. I was wrong. It was already too late for such a respositioning and the term “urban fantasy” was being employed.

* * *

Depending on the context or the person using the term, there are various
definitions of “urban fantasy”. What all of these have in common: An intersection/transgression of
the numinous (that which is “wholly other”) with/upon the mundane. These worlds
can be open (”magic”, the “supernatural” is known to exist) or closed (where
“otherness” is concealed from common knowledge).

In other words:
“In urban fantasy you don’t leave the chip shop and go to another world to find
the unicorn. Rather, the unicorn shows up at the chip shop and orders the
cod.”–Elizabeth Bear

Examples of urban fantasy go back (especially in children’s fiction) to the
1920s but, generally, the term (and the fiction) gained popularity starting in
the 1980s. It was/is used in fantasy genre more or less in this manner:
Urban fantasy…A city may be seen from afar, and is generally seen clear; the
UF is told from within and from the perspective of characters acting out their
roles, it may be difficult to determine the extent and nature of the surrounding
reality. UFs are normally texts where fantasy and the mundane world interact
intersect and interweave throughout a tale which is significantly about a real
city.–J. Clute, “Urban Fantasy” in Encyclopedia of Fantasy, ed. by J. Clute &
J. Grant (1997)

These authors (and works) are most commonly cited as early examples of urban
fantasy:

• Jonathan Caroll (Land of Laughs, 1980)
• John Crowley (Little, Big, 1981)
• Charles de Lint (Moonheart, 1984)*
• Emma Bull (War for the Oaks, 1987)

When discussing urban fantasy in this larger context, authors like Neil Gaiman
(Neverwhere). China Mieville (King Rat), and Caitlin R. Kiernan (Threshold) are
often cited.

Within the last few years, the term has been applied to novels with a narrower
definition. How did this come about?

1) The term “paranormal romance” was being used by the media and reviewers in publications such as USAToday, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, etc. to describe books like those of Laurell K. Hamilton (Guilty Pleasures, 1993), Charlaine Harris (Dead Until Dark,
2001), and Kelley Armstrong (Bitten, 2001)–fantasy/mystery blends with a romantic element–as well as Christine Feehan (Dark Prince, 1999) who was
published as romance. Anne Rice’s novels were also termed paranormal romance.

[No offense to romance readers/writers/mavens, but the rest of the world didn’t see the term “paranormal romance” as exclusive to romance. Most of the world doesn’t define “romance” as narrowly either.]

2) In current standard romance publishing terminology, “paranormal romance” is a subgenre of romance. In this context, romance, to be romance, must have a plot about the love relationship between two people (usually one male and one female) and have a positive, satisfying ending in which the reader is assured the couple will remain together — if not “happily ever after” than at least happily for an extended period of time. (Romance fans shorthand this necessary “happily ever after” ending as “HEA”.) By this definition, Gone With the Wind is not romance and neither is Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and E.M. Forester’s A Room With A View are romance.

3) Readers of this marketing category called romance have these expectations for the books they buy. They resented books not fitting their definition being termed “romance”.

4) Around 2005, the term “urban fantasy” started to be used to differentiate novels that were not “romance-according-to-romance-genre” (plot about a love
relationship with a positive, satisfying–usually “happily ever after”–ending.)

5) Now, although we still have urban fantasy (China Mieville, Neil Gaiman, et al) in the broader context, we also have the current more narrow context “urban fantasy” has come to mean: Contemporary, urban setting with female or male protagonist usually (but not always) with a certain amount of “kickassitude” and supernatural powers or connection. Primarily a detective plot with (usually but not always) a romantic relationship subplot. Action-oriented; often has strong horrific elements balanced with humor.

(BTW: The word “kickassitude” in slang, orginally meant “awesome, cool, something that ‘kicks ass’ in a positive manner.” I don’t know what others ever meant using it; to mean it never meant violence had to be involved. As far as female examples, the easiest comparison are women in rock who showed kickassitude like Joan Jett, Chrissie Hynde, Patti Smith, Janis Joplin, Lita Ford, Deborah Harry…)

6) “Paranormal romance”, on the other hand, generally relies on a plot that pivots on the romance more than any other element and adheres in other ways to the “romance-according-to-romance-genre” expectations. (Some exceptons made for series books in which the HEA is only eventually accomplished.)

7) Sometimes the “narrow context” UF, especially when it features a female protagonist, the term “urban fantasy/paranormal” has been used.

8) A lot of folks in the SF/F community (and the broader media) still lump everything from Anne Rice to Charlaine Harris to Patricia Briggs…etc. as “paranormal romance.”

ROOTS of KICKASSITUDE

By the narrower definition above, “urban fantasy” owes more to the American hard-boiled detective genre than most may understand.

Note: The literal meaning of the word hero/heroine is “protector”, “defender”,
“guardian” and is connected etymologically with the name of the goddess Hera.

George Grella, “The Hard-Boiled Detective Novel” (Winks, Robin W., ed. Detective
Fiction: A Collection of Critical Essays. Foul Play Press, 1988):

• heterogeneous nature of American society vs. the more formalized British
• society of the traditional formal detective novel
• first hard-boiled stories were seen as realistic portrayal of American
• society, a society populated by real criminals and real policemen
• private eye and the American detective hero:
  -deals out and receives a lot of physical punishment
  -isolates himself from normal human relationships
  -has own moral code which is usually stricter than the rest of society
  -often has inner voice that is listened to, even when it goes against
  traditional societal rules
  -quests for truth and expulsion of the undesirable is the guiding principle; the
  moral man who works in the city, the center of wickedness and perversion
• “the urban jungle” replaces the wilderness; Leslie Fiedler (Love and
  Death in the American Novel (Criterion Books, 1960): the detective is a “cowboy
  adapted to life on the city streets, the embodiment of innocence moving
  untouched through universal guilt.”
• hero fights against the evils of society, and is left cynical and
  disillusioned in the end, his strength remaining because of his own moral code,
  his own sense of truth and right and wrong
• The hard-boiled detective can never hope for full resolution of the
  crime and restoration of society because evil is too pervasive. He defeats only
  a small portion of evil while the rest of the evil continues–to be fought again

The other important prototypical-hero element is derived from “Sword and
Sorcery”. These are action-packed, fast-paced stories set in a quasi-mythical or
fantastic world. Unlike epic fantasy–in which the fate of the world hangs in
the balance–the prize and the danger are usually more personal and less than
world-threatening. This lends itself to series of adventures. Female heroes were
not unknown (example: C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry first appeared in story “Black
God’s Kiss”, Weird Tales, October 1934), but S&S had a strongly masculine bias.
Anthologies featuring skillful swordswomen and powerful sorceresses–Amazons!
Jessica Amanda Salmonson, ed. (1979), Amazons II, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, ed.
(1982), and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword and Sorceress anthology series (began:
1984)–as well as novels like Salmonson’s Tomoe Gozen trilogy (1981-1984) and
The Swordswoman (1982), popularized S&S heroines.

Female hard-boiled detectives:

• Gale Gallagher in I Found Him Dead (1947) and Chord in Crimson (1949) by
• “Gale Gallagher” (Will Oursler and Margaret Scott)
• Honey West in (first) This Girl for Hire (1957) by Forrest and Gloria
• Fickling
• V.I. Warshawski in (first) Indemnity Only (1982)by Sarah Paretsky
• Kinsey Milhorne in (first) A Is for Alibi (1982) by Sue Grafton

Non-literary UF Influences That Don’t Fit Elsewhere:

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series: March 10, 1997 - May 20, 2003) Darker
than the action-comedy/horror parody film (1992) the series also better embodied
Joss Wheldon’s concept of an empowered woman fighting monsters (metaphors for
problems that teenagers, especially, face).

* The Crow [comic book series (1989) created by James O’Barr] filmed 1992/1993,
released 1994. At its core, a love story.

NOTES ON LKH:

Laurell K. Hamilton came along with Guilty Pleasures in 1993. The novel was a
mix of horror, fantasy, mystery, action-adventure, romance in which Anita Blake
is a female hardboiled detective-type (contrary, sarcastic, and has a protective
streak). Since it was vampires, it was “horror” or, at best, “dark fantasy” and
likened to Elrod and Huff. (”A common (and wildly inaccurate) [and since
revised] way that we explain our sections at Borderlands [bookstore] is thus “If
the story takes place on a space ship, it’s SF. If it’s about a vampire, it’s
horror. And if there’s a vampire on a space ship, it’s still horror.”–Alan
Beatts) The US cover had a male vampire (and an “Anita” in slacks outside a
nightclub) and a blurb from PN Elrod; the “Anita Blake Vampire Hunter” logo was
a yellow full moon with a bat. UK cover showed a sexy female vampire with the
line “Now it’s the vampires that need protection…”

NOTES ON VAMPIRE DETECTIVES:

There are numerous examples of vampire detectives previous to (and after) these,
but note:

* Nick Knight: TV movie released in 1989 about Nick Knight (played by Rick
Springfield), a vampire working as a police detective in modern day Los Angeles.
In 1992, CBS picked up the series and produced as Forever Knight with Geraint
Wyn Davies as the vampire detective. It ran three seasons, ending in 1996.

* Bloodlist (1990) by PN Elrod: Jack Fleming is good-guy vampire PI in 1930s
Chicago; supposedly hard-boiled but really a bit too nice to be really boiled.
Eleven books, most recent was 2005.

* Blood Price (1991) by Tanya Huff: Vicki Nelson, an ex-cop going blind who
turns private detective and teams up with a vampire; set in modern-day Toronto.
Five novels and a story collection with follow-up series of (so far) three
books. Adapted for television as Blood Ties (Lifetime, 2007).

NOTES ON OCCULT DETECTIVES:

Wikipedia: “Occult detective stories combine the genres of the detective story
with supernatural horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective the occult
detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, curses, and other supernatural
elements. He or she is often a doctor inclined to metaphysical speculation.”

There are many, many examples of occult detectives, but note:

* Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s character Dr. Martin Hesselius (first appearance:
1872)
* Dr Abram van Helsing (Dracula, Bram Stoker, 1897)
* Algernon Blackwood’s John Silence (1908)
* William Hope Hodgson’s Thomas Carnacki (1913)
* Seabury Quinn’s Jules de Grandin and Dr. Trowbridge (1925)
* Mercedes Lackey’s Diana Tregarde:
1. Burning Water (1989)
2. Children of the Night (1990)
3. Jinx High (1991)
Wikipedia: [Set in] a real world with…elves who drive racing cars…The main
character, Diana Tregarde, is an American witch, practicing a fantasy version of
Wicca; by virtue of her position as a “Guardian” Diana has access to more
magical power than many, but she is required to give her help when someone asks
it of her. Her magical abilities do not pay the bills, however, and Diana is a
romance (genre) novelist in her day job. In the stories, she must protect others
from angry deities (Burning Water), vampires (Children of the Night), and a
sorceress who intends to remain eternally young (Jinx High). The books were
published under Tor’s horror imprint rather than as fantasy. At the time of
publication, positive depictions of what Wiccans and, more generally, neopagans
believed and did were rare. In the mid-nineties, Lackey’s books generally and
these three particularly were regularly cited as examples of pagan-friendly
fiction….The character Diana Tregarde first appeared in two short stories,
“Satanic, Versus…” and “Nightside”…

___________
*Charles de Lint on what to call his fiction:
“We liked the term ‘mythic fiction,’ which fits perfectly. ‘Urban fantasy’
doesn’t work because a lot of what I do isn’t set in an urban setting…’Mythic
fiction’ works because it has broader resonances and alludes to the heart of
this fiction, which is, of course, myth. It has the right tonality because these
are stories that have modern sensibilities, dealing with contemporary people and
issues, but they utilize the material of folklore, fairy tale, and myth to help
illuminate that. It also omits the word ‘fantasy’–a term for which people have
too many preconceptions….[because] I’m trying to engage an even broader
audience — people who normally don’t read fantasy, who get scared by the word
fantasy or by those types of covers. I think a lot of people who don’t like
fantasy just haven’t had the chance to have the right book put in front of
them.”–Charles de Lint (Locus, June 2003)

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