Trope Talk: Urban Fantasy
Overly Sarcastic Productions・2 minutes read
Urban fantasy blends real-world settings with fantastical elements and is more of a setting than a genre, allowing various types of stories to unfold. The genre focuses on the interplay between familiar and fantastical elements, often exploring themes such as romance, horror, and noir while cautioning writers to avoid cultural appropriation and insensitivity when incorporating real-world mythology or folklore.
Insights
- Urban fantasy is more of a setting than a genre, allowing for diverse storytelling within a framework that blends real-world elements with fantastical creatures and magic.
- Writers of urban fantasy must navigate the incorporation of real-world mythology and folklore with caution, ensuring cultural sensitivity, respect, and thorough research to avoid appropriation and insensitivity, as seen in Rick Riordan's acknowledgment of missteps in representing modern Hellenism in early Percy Jackson books.
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Recent questions
What is urban fantasy?
A genre blending real-world settings with fantastical elements.
What are some common urban fantasy formats?
Secret world, unsecret world, reality with mythical creatures.
What is paranormal romance in urban fantasy?
Romance between humans and fantastical beings as central plot.
How does urban horror fit into urban fantasy?
Involves spooky elements like ghosts or murderers.
What should writers be cautious of in urban fantasy?
Drawing from real-world mythology with cultural sensitivity.
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