Last week I talked about one of the mystery series I’ve been reading, this week I want to talk about a supernatural fantasy series. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been reading a lot of supernatural fantasy recently. Some just so-so, but much of it has been very good.

One series I am especially enjoying is Ilona Andrews‘ Kate Daniels series.

Kate lives in a world that used to be ours, but at some point magic surged and now magic and technology battle for predominance, so sometimes phones work while sometimes hexes work, and you never know from one day to the next what will work at any given time.

Kate is a mercenary who is both trained a trained fighter and a born magic user–however her skills as a fighter usually serve her in better stead than her quirky magic skills. And as this is a world in which both vampires and shape shifters are fighting for predominance, her physical skills are used quite frequently.

What I like most about this series is we learn now just about Kate as the series continues, but also about the world in which she lives, and how it came to be the way it is. It’s a fascinating idea that Ilona Andrews does a very good job of slowly unfolding. She also does a very good job with Kate. Sometimes in supernatural fantasy series, the heroines are a little too good, and things come a little too easy to them. Kate is very good at what she does, but it is made quite clear that she has gotten where she is through very hard work (this is further emphasized in the third book where she describes her childhood and her training).

There is a romance that is slowly developing over the course of the series, however this is in no way the focus of the series, which I believe some people find off putting about supernatural / urban / paranormal fantasy, so if you’re not certain about this type of fantasy, this may be a good series to put your toe in the water and see how it feels.

The nice thing about supernatural is it takes our world and twists it in some manner–supernatural creatures have come out of the closet and the world has changed because if it; supernatural creatures exist but are still in hiding; something changed the world and after that change magic and supernatural creatures became common. So the world is familiar, and yet very strange at the same time.

Although the story arc is complete within each individual book, Kate’s character develops further in each book, and in each book we learn a little more about her past and why she has been hiding. So although you could start the book at any point in time, the world is somewhat complex and takes a bit of getting used to, and you learn new things about Kate in each book, so I think one might prefer to start at the beginning and work their way forward.

Magic Bites (2007), Magic Burns (2008), Magic Strikes (2009)

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed that I love to read. And even that understates my relationships with books.

I started reading at the age of four (apparently because I’d memorized “Green Eggs and Ham”). I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t read. I don’t even remember being read to–but I have plenty of memories of being stretched out with a book in my hands.

I love mysteries from an early age: Nancy Drew, Trixie Beldon, and then I received “The Complete Sherlock Holmes” and WHAM, I wanted more. Soon after, I caught part of “A Caribbean Mystery” (this was 1983, so I would have been 13). I initially noticed the show because Jameson Parker was in it, and I loved Simon & Simon. But I quickly shifted my attention to Helen Hayes playing Miss Marple. What a marvelous character! What a marvelous actress!

And then I was off, devouring every single Agatha Christie I could get my hands on. But Miss Marple is still my favorite, and “A Caribbean Mystery” still holds a special place for me.

In junior high school I started reading through my parent’s bookshelves, going primarily for the action/adventure/mystery. I loved “The Odessa File” and sought out more Frederick Forsyth at the library. (I read “Roots” during this time, as well as all the James Baldwin on my parents shelves, but my it was mysteries I sought out.

But let’s not forget fantasy. I read “The Hobbit” when I was in elementary school, and up through my thirties tended to re-read it every year. I also read “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” when I was junior high, as well as the book adaptations of the Star Wars books.

Then I got my driver’s license, and gained the ability to escape the house and although I still read, I stopped devouring books, as I much preferred to be out of the house to home and reading.

Fast forward to my second year in college. I was given a copy of David Eddings‘ Belgariad, and suddenly I snatching up fantasy left and right. Two books at this point became favorites: Marion Zimmer Bradley‘s “The Mists of Avalon” and Mercedes Lackey‘s “By the Sword.” I adored reading books with strong female characters, and that’s been my penchant ever since. (I would say about half my fantasy books have main characters that are strong women.)

On the recommendation of friends, I quickly branched out to Guy Gavriel Kay and then Sean Russell.

Then at some point in there I discovered Robert B Parker‘s Spenser series, and then JA Jance.

Then several years ago I found my book Nirvana: they started combining fantasy and mystery. The first was Steven Brust‘s Vlad series. Simon R. Green remains a favorite. But soon followed Jim Butcher and quite soon I discovered Paula Briggs and remembered Tanya Huff. Fantasy and mystery with strong female characters? Awesome!

I could go on and on, but that’s a post for another day. Here’s some of my reading history, over the next couple weeks perhaps I’ll discuss some of the things I’m reading now that I absolutely love.

Yesterday, I meant to write about urban fantasy versus supernatural fantasy, but instead went off on a tangent about why I stopped reading epic fantasy. (I also think it’s interesting that both Erin and I have made a similar shift in reading.)

So as I’ve said, I’ve been reading much more supernatural and urban fantasy, but–for me at least–there is a distinction between the two.

When I think of urban fantasy I think first and foremost of Charles de Lint and then Nina Kiriki Hoffman. In most of his writing, there is magic in the world, and it has always been there, but most people remain unaware of the magical world, or unable to sense/interact with the magical world. And sometimes even those who do see magic don’t always believe what they’re seeing.

Supernatural fantasy (at least for my classification), tends to focus on magical creatures or individuals with magical talents living in the modern world. That world may or may not be aware of these supernatural beings, but those beings have a strong influence on the world. A big theme seems to be either supernatural beings coming out of the closet or the world at large changed by supernatural beings.

It also tends to be more open to genre bending and combining. I love mysteries, and supernatural fantasy has a lot of series that are both fantasy and mystery. (Simon R. Green, Jim Butcher, and Kat Richardson all do this extremely well.) This combination expands the traditional mystery, not only because the detective or investigator has extra abilities, but because you then get to look at the idea of what constitutes a crime when the victim is undead, or when the battle for pack leader involves a fight to the death?

However, supernatural fantasy also tends to have a fair amount of boinking. There is often a strong romantic and/or sexual element. These supernatural or magical creatures are either super sexy or use their magical powers to make themselves super sexy. That’s my least favorite part of supernatural fantasy. I just don’t care to learn the details of supernatural noogie and how much hawter it is than regular human to human boinking.

I’m not saying they’re badly written sex scenes, I’m just saying I’d rather have more world building than boinking.

And that is one thing the good supernatural fantasy books tend to do very well, they have excellent world building, and have taken our world and twisted it just enough that it’s close to our world, but not quite the same, but those small differences are very well done.

But both types of fantasy are very good, and I’ve been enjoying reading both kinds, although supernatural fantasy is way more common right now. Will you find these distinctions in a book store? Unlikely. I’ve seen the term paranormal fantasy bandied about, but it seems to be used primarily for fantasy books with a lot of boinking. What if you want one and not the other? My recommendation is to check the covers. Sexy women (or men) on the cover tend to designate a fair amount of boinking. But it’s not a hard and fast rule (Charlaine Harris‘ Sookie Stackhouse books are an exception, although I’ve noticed that the reissues are going for the sexy covers).

And you can always check my reviews. I do try to note if there is a large amount of boinking in a book.

I’ve been reading a lot of supernatural and urban fantasy recently.

There are several reasons for this. First and foremost seems to be because unlike other types of fantasy, supernatural fantasy seems to be written more like mysteries. There is often an overarching story, but each book has a plot that begins and ends within the book. We may learn more about the character’s past or talents or secret or whatever, but the story arc is concluded.

Additionally, most supernatural and urban fantasy books are written so that you can start at any book in the series. Sure, there’s a past, and it’s nice to know the past, but you aren’t doomed to be lost if you miss the first (or second or third) book in the series. And when a new book comes out, you don’t have to reread every other book in the series.

Which is why I have all but stopped reading epic fantasy.

I like being able to pick up a book, read that book, and then go onto something else. I am not in the mood to pick up an eight hundred page tome that is the first book in what was supposed to be a trilogy but has stretched out to to five… seven… ten… whatever books. The idea of having to read hundreds of thousands of pages is just overwhelming right now. Not that I haven’t read hundreds of thousands of pages of supernatural fantasy and mystery, I just don’t have to read them all at once. I can read some Carrie Vaughn and then switch to Andrea Camilleri and then read something completely different.

So sorry epic fantasy.

I am over you.

Of course this wasn’t at all what I meant to write about when I started. What I wanted to write about was the difference between urban fantasy and supernatural fantasy.

Maybe next time.

And the Great Book Giveaway continues. These are supernatural fantasy books I’m giving away. Now let me warn you, these are books I’ve read, and didn’t particularly like, even though some of these books are highly rated.

Questions? Read the start of this post.
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