Carrie’s Analysis of Urban Fantasy Part I: The Formula   

Something I get asked a lot is, Why is urban fantasy (in its current popular definition of kick-ass heroines with vampires and assorted magic) so popular right now? I’ve been thinking a lot about that. I have some ideas.

This analysis comes in three parts because I’ve been thinking about urban fantasy from two different perspectives, and interestingly enough bringing those two perspectives together led to the third perspective. That is, I think I need to do some explaining before I get to what’s really the heart of my analysis. Also, this is really long, which is another reason I broke it up into parts.

The Formula

Urban fantasy in its currently conventionally defined incarnation is a formulaic genre. This isn’t meant to be derogatory: I’m talking about formula as a framework that identifies a thing as one thing and not another. That something is formulaic isn’t necessarily an indication of quality: the James Bond movie formula produced both the recent, brilliant Casino Royale and the nearly unwatchable Moonraker.

Apart from the presence of the supernatural and a kick-ass heroine (often wearing leather pants and wielding a semi-automatic), which are big parts of the urban fantasy formula and traits readers look for in these books, I’d argue that the framework boils down to two things: character and world-building. This genre is primarily character-driven: the main characters are at the hearts of these series, and readers keep coming back because of the connection they feel with them. And world building: readers want a world they can fall into, that they can believe in, often similar to ours but the fun comes in seeing the differences, in imagining what it would really be like if these things really happened. When these two things come together, along with the tropes that cause readers to seek out these books in the first place (vampires, kicking ass, etc), you have a successful urban fantasy novel and series. I believe this is what readers are looking for, and what writers in the genre are striving for.

It so happens that this framework encompasses lots of different stories — mystery, horror, romance, chick lit, action, adventure, humor — while still maintaining a solid identity as urban fantasy. These books are found — in one form or another, with variations — in the romance, science fiction, and horror sections of the bookstore. They cross over. They’re hard to classify, precisely because they manage to cover so much ground within otherwise strictly defined boundaries. This makes them accessible to a wide audience, and I think accounts for some of the popularity.

The trouble with formula comes when formula turns into cliché, becoming predictable, boring, and symptomatic.  Up next:  My urban fantasy pet peeves.