Tag: urban fantasy

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Middling Affliction” Author Alex Shvartsman

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date May 23, 2022
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Most stories set in New York City happen in Manhattan. But there are four other boroughs in Big Apple, each with their own stories to tell. Which is where we find Alex Shvartsman’s new urban fantasy novel The Middling Affliction (paperback, Kindle, audiobook) — in the “outer borough” of Brooklyn. In the following email interview, Shvartsman discusses what inspired and influenced this story, and why he decided to set in “The Borough Of Trees” as opposed to “Midtown” or “The Home Of Thomas Alva Edison.”

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Exclusive Interview: “Harbinger” Author Wen Spencer

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date April 4, 2022
4 Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Harbinger” Author Wen Spencer

They say no good deed goes unpunished. Just look at Tinker, the main character in Wen Spencer’s urban fantasy series Elfhome, who saved an elf’s life, and ended up in the middle of something for her trouble. But what’s bad for Tinker is good for anyone who wants to read about her adventures. In the following email interview, Spencer discusses the latest of these, Harbinger (hardcover, Kindle), including what else she might be putting Tinker through.

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Exclusive Interview: “Suicide Kings” Author Stephen Blackmoore

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date March 24, 2022
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For those keeping score at home, Stephen Blackmoore’s new novel Suicide Kings (paperback, Kindle) is the seventh book in his ongoing series of urban fantasy stories about L.A.-based necromancer Eric Carter. But as he explains in the following email interview about it, Suicide Kings is also the beginning of a third trilogy of Eric Carter novels.

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Exclusive Interview: “Comeuppance Served Cold” Author Marion Deeds

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date March 23, 2022
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Seven years ago, when I interviewed writer Adam Christopher about his noir science fiction novel Made To Kill, he said it was his attempt to write what he imagined iconic noir author Raymond Chandler would come up with if he tried to write a sci-fi story. But usually writers aren’t that…exact when it comes to paying homage. So much so that it took this long for someone to say something similar. Though what’s interesting is that the book in question — Marion Deeds’ noir urban fantasy novella, Comeuppance Served Cold (paperback, Kindle) — would also be inspired by Dashiell Hammett, an iconic noir author who himself inspired Chandler.

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Exclusive Interview: “Kundo Wakes Up” Author Saad Z. Hossain

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date March 15, 2022
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Usually when we think of djinn, we think of fantasy tales. And usually when we think of AI overlords, we think of cyberpunk sci-fi. But one day, not so long from now, when we think of stories involving djinn and AI, we’ll think of Saad Z. Hossain, author of the cyberpunk sci-fi / cli-fi / urban fantasy novella Kundo Wakes Up (paperback, Kindle). In the following email interview, Hossain talks about this genre-mashing story, the novella that narratively preceded it, The Gurkha And The Lord Of Tuesday, and the new novel that narratively precedes both of them, Cyber Mage.

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Exclusive Interview: “The Quarter Storm” Veronica G. Henry

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date March 3, 2022
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As anyone who’s read any non-fiction books about it, Vodou in the real world isn’t like it is in the movies. It’s this stark difference — as well as other things — that prompted author Veronica G. Henry to write a more authentic work of Vodou-related fiction with her new urban fantasy / noir mystery novel The Quarter Storm (paperback, Kindle, audiobook). In the following email interview, Henry explains why this was important to her, and what else inspired and influenced this story.

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Exclusive Interview: “Shoggoths In Traffic” Author Tobias S. Buckell

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date November 8, 2021
2 Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Shoggoths In Traffic” Author Tobias S. Buckell

You know someone writes a lot of short stories when their work covers multiple genres but they can still put together a story collection that covers just one. It’s what Tobias S. Buckell is doing with Shoggoths In Traffic And Other Stories (paperback, Kindle), a new collection of his fantasy stories. Though as he admits in the following email interview, he is using the term “fantasy” somewhat loosely.

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Exclusive Interview: “The Hidden Ones” Author dave ring

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date October 25, 2021
1 Comment on Exclusive Interview: “The Hidden Ones” Author dave ring

The cardinal rule of real estate is “location, location, location.” And apparently the same rule applies to calling a story an “urban fantasy.” Which is just one of the things I learned doing the following email interview with writer dave ring about his urban fantasy novella The Hidden Ones (paperback, Kindle).

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Exclusive Interview: “The Last Days Of Hong Kong” Author G.D. Penman

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date October 6, 2021
1 Comment on Exclusive Interview: “The Last Days Of Hong Kong” Author G.D. Penman

With The Last Days Of Hong Kong (paperback, Kindle), writer G.D. Penman is concluding the Witch Of Empire trilogy they started in 2017 with The Year Of The Knife, and continued in 2020 with The Wounded Ones. In the following email interview, Penman discusses what influenced this noir hardboiled detective urban fantasy mystery, how it connects to the second installment, as well as why you should never leave your cats alone. Ever. Not even for a minute.