Urban Fantasy

Blackfish City is a book of two halves that don’t merge very well: it wants to discuss the problems of an ultraliberal society and the rise of a rebellion in a cruel city, all within a story where a family finally reunites after many years of being kept apart. That sounds great, but the novel fails to merge these two …

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a peculiar children’s story: its most striking moments are not of joy, adventure, discovery, or magic, but those that are traumatic, violent, and – unfortunately – realistic. The wondrous elements serve almost as an excuse to deal with those more grounded issues: fantasy is not the goal of the story, but …

Seven Faceless Saints is a competent YA novel that successfully builds a compelling central dynamic between its main characters, even if it forgets to properly develop the main conflicts that define their world. The story is set in Ombrazia, a city where people blessed with magic become disciples and live separate lives from the unfavored, as magic is considered a …

Foundryside is a great urban fantasy novel set in a world where people can change the properties of matter – an ability held by powerful merchant houses that, like any good company, monopolize the technique to maximize profit and gain political power. The protagonist is Sancia, a young thief with a very special ability: she can “communicate” with any object …

“I’m sure I can tell this story. I’m also sure no one will believe it. That’s fine with me. Telling it will be enough. My problem – and I’m sure many writers have it, not just newbies like me – is deciding where to start,” the narrator states in the first paragraph of Fairy Tale, a novel that actually starts …

The final chapter of The Divine Cities trilogy, City of Miracles treads a familiar path, putting an old side character, Sigurd je Harkvaldsson, under the spotlight, who once again must deal with a divine threat and, worse still, humans who yearn for violence. Although it never reaches the same heights as its predecessor, the novel represents a solid conclusion to …

Written by Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere is an urban fantasy novel that can amuse with its whimsical world as much as it can annoy with its unbearable protagonist. Offering a funny but shallow story, the novel is far from being one of Gaiman’s best works. Neverwhere accompanies Richard, a young Englishman who lives a quiet life, pretending to be happy with his …

At a time when the current president of the United States is known for frequently making xenophobic statements and policies, a work like American Gods becomes even more relevant: by presenting a pluralist America, this urban fantasy novel unveils the hypocrisy and monstrosity of those positions, tracing an overview of the multiplicity of peoples and beliefs that make up the …

Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, Genevieve Valentine’s first novel, is a different and ambitious book, presenting a strange world with a fascinating style. The Circus Tresaulti is known for its extraordinary members: people who have had various parts of their body – such as their legs, eyes, or even their heart – replaced by gears, scrap metal, and …

City of Blades – the second book in The Divine Cities trilogy written by Robert Jackson Bennett – manages to easily surpass its already great predecessor. The novel offers a complicated discussion on the problem of soldiering, juxtaposing the idealized purpose of the military with its real one in a narrative tinged with blood and violence, but also deeply melancholic. …