McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
What do you wish would be done MORE in urban fantasy?
Quantus:
--- Quote from: Kristine on December 29, 2007, 06:26:58 AM ---Cooper, for inspiration you might want to read "Empire of the East" -(3 books in one) by Saberhagen. I don't want to ruin it for you but if you want a quick synopsis:
(click to show/hide)...Earth has experienced a dramatic Change not too distant from our own time. During a potentially apocalyptic nuclear war, an intelligent computer named Ardneh—Automatic Restoration Director/National Executive Headquarters—triggered a vast paradigm shift in the very fabric of reality. Physics died—saved for scattered technological remnants—and magic came to rule the planet. 50,000 years passed, during which a lamed Ardneh survived, guiding mankind, until a final showdown with the computer's evil nemesis, Orcus, during which both were destroyed and the role of magic considerably reduced.
--- End quote ---
Hold the frickin' phone.... I loved Saberhagen's other books in that continuity, but i didn't know there were more of them. I read his 11 Sword books (click to show/hide)(set years and years after Ardneh confrontation with Orcus, when a groupd of greco-roman "gods" make a set of twelve magic swords and scatter them amongst humanity for the fun of it...until they realize that the swords caneven kill them).
For those of you who keep saying you want to see more mundane people rise to hero-hood, I recommend most of Neil Gaiman's novels (American Gods, Neverwhere and others). He does just that, where a seemingly ordinary person gets swept up in supernatural goings-on, and usually is just looking for a way out the whole time. They are fun because the characters usually end up hitting this state of pseudo-insanity where they are no longer surprised by anything they see and begin to simply take everything in stride.
Kristine:
--- Quote ---They both have a unique view on how magic works and give us charcters that are less predicatable.
--- End quote ---
Speaking of how magic works, one of the best things I liked about the Tim Powers historical fantasy pirate book 'On Stranger Tides' was the fact that magic had a smell. Every time some one would do magic there would be a pungent smell of almonds in the air (something most of the non-magic characters didn't notice, but was a warning for the reader). I thought that was an original idea.
Quantas347, Empire of the East, in my opinion was a little more toward the urban fantasy setting because the characters would, once in a while, use some kind of modern convenience and at one point they find, and use, a tank. Where the Swords books seem to be in almost a wholly fantasy medieval setting except for the Greco-roman gods
Quantus:
And the occasional flashlight...which interestingly enough seemed to be the most common surviving technology. Hmmm...maybe I should invest some in Maglight... :P
MatthewD44:
Thank you Kristine I have been racking my brain for months trying to remember the name of that book "On Stranger Tides" I loved that book and wanted to reread it...
Shecky:
--- Quote from: Quantus347 on December 29, 2007, 07:02:05 PM ---Hold the frickin' phone.... I loved Saberhagen's other books in that continuity, but i didn't know there were more of them. I read his 11 Sword books (click to show/hide)(set years and years after Ardneh confrontation with Orcus, when a groupd of greco-roman "gods" make a set of twelve magic swords and scatter them amongst humanity for the fun of it...until they realize that the swords caneven kill them).
For those of you who keep saying you want to see more mundane people rise to hero-hood, I recommend most of Neil Gaiman's novels (American Gods, Neverwhere and others). He does just that, where a seemingly ordinary person gets swept up in supernatural goings-on, and usually is just looking for a way out the whole time. They are fun because the characters usually end up hitting this state of pseudo-insanity where they are no longer surprised by anything they see and begin to simply take everything in stride.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, and don't forget that in Good Omens, the one person who really does come out a hero is the most humdrum of the bunch. Sure, he's got this ability, but in every other situation, it's a BAD one to have. And he ain't purty.
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