Special Collections
Urban Fantasy
Description: Stories set in our everyday world, have characters that include humans and fantastic or supernatural creatures, with plots that involve the interaction of the two. #adults
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War for the Oaks
by Emma BullAcclaimed by critics and readers on its first publication in 1987, winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel, Emma Bull's "War for the Oaks" is one of the novels that has defined modern urban fantasy.
Eddi McCandry sings rock and roll. But her boyfriend just dumped her, her band just broke up, and life could hardly be worse. Then, walking home through downtown Minneapolis on a dark night, she finds herself drafted into an invisible war between the faerie folk. Now, more than her own survival is at risk-and her own preferences, musical and personal, are very much beside the point.
By turns tough and lyrical, fabulous and down-to-earth, "War for the Oaks" is a fantasy novel that's as much about this world as about the other one. It's about real love and loyalty, about real music and musicians, about false glamor and true art. It will change the way you hear and see your own daily life.
Storm Front
by Jim ButcherFor Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name.
The Stonefly
by Scott J. HollidayIn this urban fantasy-mystery series opener, a tattooist cursed with the powers of a djinn must grant every wish he hears, even when it means murder. Jacob is bound by a mysterious curse he doesn&’t completely understand. Now, in order to save an innocent boy, he must find and kill a man he&’s never met. But there is another killer lurking these city streets. And Jacob is running out of time. The Stonefly series is a captivating mix of urban fantasy and traditional mystery. It explores the true commitment of friendship, and the moral conflict found within all of our souls.
Skinwalker
by Faith HunterJane Yellowrock is the last of her kind--a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. But now she's been hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie's Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who's killing other vamps...
Sixty-One Nails
by Mike ShevdonThere is a secret war raging beneath the streets of London. A dark magic will be unleashed. . . Unless the Untainted is found. Neverwhere's faster, smarter brother has arrived. FILE UNDER: Urban Fantasy [Hidden War / Ancient Legend / Secret History / Deadly Duel]
Rosemary and Rue
by Seanan McGuireThe world of Faerie never disappeared; it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival--but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born.
Outsiders from birth, these half-human, half-fae children spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October "Toby" Daye, rejecting it completely.
After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas...
The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery...before the curse catches up with her.
Neverwhere
by Neil GaimanRichard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinarylife, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them. And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew.
Moon Called
by Patricia BriggsMercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn't exactly normal herself.
Midnight Riot
by Ben AaronovitchProbationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London's Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he'll face is a paper cut. But Peter's prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter's ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.From the Paperback edition.
Midnight Crossroad
by Charlaine HarrisFIRST IN A NEW TRILOGY From Charlaine Harris, the bestselling author who created Sookie Stackhouse and her world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, comes a darker locale--populated by more strangers than friends. But then, that's how the locals prefer it... Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It's a pretty standard dried-up western town. There's a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There's a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there's new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he's found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own). Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...
Masters of Death
by Olivie BlakeFrom Olivie Blake, the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes Masters of Death, a story about vampires, ghosts, and death itself!Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the house has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on.Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death.When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with her ghost-infested mansion, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a few high-functioning creatures, Vi and Fox soon discover the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as they thought.Also by Olivie BlakeAlone With You in the EtherOne For My EnemyThe Atlas SixThe Atlas ParadoxAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Magic Bites
by Ilona AndrewsIlona Andrews invites you to experience the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring the intriguing fantasy world of mercenary Kate Daniels…
When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.
The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way...
The Last Smile in Sunder City
by Luke ArnoldA former soldier turned PI tries to help the fantasy creatures whose lives he ruined in a world that's lost its magic in a compelling debut fantasy by Black Sails actor Luke Arnold. Welcome to Sunder City. The magic is gone but the monsters remain.
I'm Fetch Phillips, just like it says on the window. There are a few things you should know before you hire me:
1. Sobriety costs extra.
2. My services are confidential.
3. I don't work for humans.
Walk the streets of Sunder City and meet Fetch, his magical clients, and a darkly imagined world perfect for readers of Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.
Hounded
by Kevin HearneAtticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old--when in actuality, he's twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: he draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.
Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he's hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power--plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish--to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.
Highborn
by Yvonne NavarroAward-winning author of over twenty novels enters the urban fantasy genre with a story of a fallen angel who returns to human form to gain redemption.
Half-Resurrection Blues
by Daniel José OlderFIRST IN A BRAND NEW URBAN FANTASY SERIES "Because I'm an inbetweener--and the only one anyone knows of at that--the dead turn to me when something is askew between them and the living. Usually, it's something mundane like a suicide gone wrong or someone revived that shouldn'ta been." Carlos Delacruz is one of the New York Council of the Dead's most unusual agents--an inbetweener, partially resurrected from a death he barely recalls suffering, after a life that's missing from his memory. He thinks he is one of a kind--until he encounters other entities walking the fine line between life and death. One inbetweener is a sorcerer. He's summoned a horde of implike ngks capable of eliminating spirits, and they're spreading through the city like a plague. They've already taken out some of NYCOD's finest, leaving Carlos desperate to stop their master before he opens up the entrada to the Underworld--which would destroy the balance between the living and the dead. But in uncovering this man's identity, Carlos confronts the truth of his own life--and death....
Grave Witch
by Kalayna PriceJust because Grave Witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, doesn't mean she has to like what they have to say . . . As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she's on good terms with Death himself, nothing has prepared her for her latest case.
Alex is investigating a high-profile murder when she's attacked by the ghost she is raising - which should be impossible. Then, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, thwarted only by Death's intervention. You know you're having a bad day when Death is saving your life . . .
To solve this case, Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Andrews seems to be hiding something, although it's certainly not his dislike of Alex. Despite all that, Alex is going to need his help to navigate the tangled webs of real-world and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer wielding a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex not just her life, but also her soul . . .
The Good Fairies of New York
by Neil Gaiman and Martin MillarThe Good Fairies of New York is a story that starts when Morag and Heather,two eighteen-inch fairies with swords and green kilts and badly- dyed hair fly through the window of the worst violinist in New York, an overweight and antisocial type named Dinnie, and vomit on his carpet. Who they are, and how they came to New York, and what this has to do with the lovely Kerry, who lives across the street, and who has Crohn's Disease and is making a flower alphabet, and what this has to do with the other fairies (of all nationalities) of New York, not to mention the poor repressed fairies of Britain, is the subject of this book. It has a war in it, and a most unusual production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Johnny Thunders New York Dolls guitar solos.
Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light
by Tanya HuffFirst published in 1989 and taking place in downtown Toronto, one of the earliest of the modern urban fantasies, Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light is the story of a fight against encroaching darkness by a developmentally handicapped young woman, a street musician with no idea of his potential, a bag-lady who's tired of picking up the pieces, and an adept of the light. Mixing actual Toronto ghost-stories with traditional Faire, a police procedural, and a cat, Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light opened a gate at street level to the urban fantasy that followed.REVIEWS"A mentally disadvantaged young woman who sees what other people don't, a street musician, a social worker, and a bag-lady join forces with an 'Adept of the Light' to fight the encroaching darkness that stalks the streets of modern Toronto. In a departure from the 'strict' fantasy of Child of the Grove (LJ 5/15/88) and The Last Wizard, Huff's real-world fantasy presents an enlightened, compassionate view of the forgotten heroes of urban society. Highly recommended." --Library Journal
Fated
by Benedict JackaAlex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex's own powers aren't as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future--allowing him to pull off operations that have a million-to-one-chance of success. But when Alex is approached by multiple factions to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever's inside must be beyond powerful. And thanks to his abilities, Alex can predict that by taking the job, his odds of survival are about to go from slim to none...
The Falling Woman
by Pat MurphyWinner of the Nebula Award: &“A lovely and literate exploration of the dark moment where myth and science meet&” (Samuel R. Delany). When night falls over the Yucatan, the archaeologists lay down their tools. But while her colleagues relax, Elizabeth Butler searches for shadows. A famous scientist with a reputation for eccentricity, she carries a strange secret. Where others see nothing but dirt and bones and fragments of pottery, Elizabeth sees shades of the men and women who walked this ground thousands of years before. She can speak to the past—and the past is beginning to speak back. As Elizabeth communes with ghosts, the daughter she abandoned flies to Mexico hoping for a reunion. She finds a mother embroiled in the supernatural, on a quest for the true reason for the Mayans&’ disappearance. To dig up the truth, the archaeologist who talks to the dead must learn a far more difficult skill: speaking to her daughter.
Dreams Underfoot
by Charles De LintWelcome to Newford. . . . Welcome to the music clubs, the waterfront, the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fey and the wild and the poor and the lost. Gemmins live in abandoned cars and skells traverse the tunnels below, while mermaids swim in the grey harbor waters and fill the cold night with their song. Like Mark Helprin's A Winter's Tale and John Crowley's Little, Big, Dreams Underfoot is a must-read book not only for fans of urban fantasy but for all who seek magic in everyday life.
Dream Born
by Michael La RonnThink dreams aren't real? Think again.I'm a dream mage. I can control your dreams, manipulate your darkest desires, and destroy your mind from the inside out—all while you sleep.
For the last two years, I've protected innocent people like you from demons who feast on dreams. When demons show up on my doorstep one snowy night, so does someone dangerous from my past. Someone that I’ve been running away from for a long time. But I’m done running. It's time to face my past…and end the nightmare that has been haunting me all these years.
Dream Born is a fast-paced urban fantasy with an African-American heroine, lovable heroes, and crazy mindscapes that you'll dream about long after you're finished reading.
Discount Armageddon
by Seanan McGuireThe Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity --and humanity from them.
Meet Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan to pursue her dream career in professional ballroom dance. That is, until talking mice, telepathic mathematicians, and a tangle with the Price family's old enemies, the Covenant of St. George, get in her way.
Dead Witch Walking
by Kim HarrisonThe first book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison's Hollows series!All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party . . . and to feed.Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining—and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized.A bounty hunter and a witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead . . . or undead.