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[seekingferret]

9) Blood Pressure by Terence Taylor

It's sequel to Taylor's excellent vampire/zombie novel Bite Marks, and I believe it's book 2 of what will eventually be a trilogy. It jumps the action 20 years ahead, from the 1986 New York of the original novel to Summer 2007. Taylor is fantastic at grounding his story in that particular sense of time and

Comments

[marina_bonomi]

Thank you, this sounds very interesting, I'll put this trilogy on my TBR list for sure.

This passage has me wondering, though: >>I don't think it felt like classic urban fantasy. Instead, I'd compare the story to the work of contemporary fantasists like Susanna Clarke, with its rich secret histories, sprawling cityscapes, and vivid and complex characters.<<.

If I may, how do you define 'urban fantasy'? To me 'rich secret histories, sprawling cityscapes and vivid and complex characters' definitely qualify, although I must say I started reading UF way before the current conflation (or confusion) of UF and paranormal romance.

[seekingferret]

Hmm... You know, I'm not completely sure what I meant. I suppose what I see most often under the label urban fantasy is a lot more action-oriented and a lot less cerebral- a lot more relation to cyberpunk and steampunk than to classical fantasy. (Though Taylor does action well, when it's called for) Certainly the present conflation of urban fantasy and paranormal romance has to do with it as well. Perhaps what I mean is that usually urban fantasy is a lot more 'urban' than this, in the sense of fast-paced, hectic, dangerous. Whereas the urban in this urban fantasy is more City as Habitat.