Urban Fantasy: An Experiment in Genre Inbreeding

Recently I mentioned to a few people at Comicon that I don’t like urban fantasy all that much anymore. They took a bit of umbrage at that. Something about how it’s wonderful that there are all these authors making all of these neat stories that everyone likes and that sell really well. I feel a rant coming on…

First of all I really don’t read urban fantasy as much as I did a few years ago. Since then, the fantasy shelves seem to have become glutted with the sub-genre. Now this would be less of an issue if they didn’t all seem to have the following characteristics:

“OK, I was supposed to find the book with a woman in a short skirt carrying a gun on the cover… Well, poo.”- I have a personal litmus test for all urban fantasy and I have to admit, it’s really awful and definitely prejudiced. First up is the cover of the book. If it features a sexily clad (or not clad) part of the female body, ignore the book. If it is obviously a woman who penned it, ignore unless previous experience with the author was good or someone I trust has recommended them to me (this will automatically remove 70% of all urban fantasy from one’s search and bypasses the paranormal romance sub-sub-genre). If some reference to vampires or werewolves is on the cover, ignore (I’m very burned out on those tropes).

During the course of trying to find the elusive urban fantasy that I might like, I’ve found that this personal preliminary rubric bypasses about 80% of all urban fantasy right off the bat before I ever even open the book. Marketing departments take notice, you should not want your products to look this formulaic. I realize that this is usually something outside the author’s control, but it is a gripe that I have with the whole sub-genre.

It’s all about the me- It seems rare to find an urban fantasy novel that doesn’t use first person narrative voice. My best guess is that they are trying to stick with a “familiar” genre voice or are trying to mimic the hardboiled detective novel. Since my perception is that a great number of these novels are actually romances with thriller aspects to them and magical critters in the setting, I would say that they are trying too hard not to fall into the dreaded pit of doom (also known as the romance section of the bookstore). While first person narrative doesn’t usually bother me in stuff like high fantasy or steampunk or almost any other sub-genre, the difference is that all those usually have a broader spread between first and third person narration and there’s a greater variety of characters to pick from as the story’s narrator. Which leads me to my next gripe…

Interchangeable main characters- Of course, first person narrative gets really boring really fast when most of the main characters in a genre are almost carbon copies of each other. The majority of main characters have at least three of the following (most seem to have more):
-are female
-have a day job as a private investigator
-have a supernatural/ paranormal love interest in the story somewhere
-are well known in certain supernatural circles
-have the characteristics of a badass (or may be perceived as such)
-have some sort of talent that allows them to meet the magical or paranormal critters on more equal ground

Now, yes there are exceptions to each of the individual characteristics here. But enough of them crop up with a high frequency to comment on. Couple that with the prevalence of first person narrative voice and then most of the sub-genre does start to sound the same. This isn’t a lot of variation to start with and the narrow field of main character/narrator tropes makes it even worse. There are a few other nits I could pick at, like how few of the investigator types can actually follow clues and actually investigate and how common the investigator type actually is, but that seems to be a more individual problem rather than a sub-genre norm.

Every ghoulie comes from Europe- The other gripes are annoying, but this one makes me actually angry. Find me an urban fantasy novel that doesn’t have some critter from European myth and legend and you will find a great gaping void in the subgenre. There are not that many novels out there that use creatures of legend from Australia and the Americas (to name a few examples) and yet the European monsters seem to be everywhere all the time. Wait a minute… Real critters aren’t the same continent to continent. Why should supernatural creatures be any different? To do otherwise is to rob the reader of another place to suspend disbelief and making an American creature into nothing more than a modification of a European critter is really quite insulting.

Now at this point, someone might start asking “Aren’t you supposed to write what you know?” or “But it’s their story they can do whatever they want!” or my personal favorite “It doesn’t sell and I don’t want to insult anyone.” Each one of these are what I like to call “lame excuses.” I know it sells because there are examples out there (like Liz Williams’s Detective Inspector Chen books). The first two are just examples of laziness (or a lack of inspiration if I feel charitable) and an unwillingness to do the research one would have to do for unfamiliar mythologies (or lack of time if I’ve had my chocolate that day).

Now the “it might upset someone” reason. The universe dictates that someone will disagree with you and call you a hack at some point. There’s no getting around it. If one is worried about cultural sensitivities, do some serious research, talk to people and make the appropriated whatsit awesome in whatever capacity it is used. There isn’t a better way to be respectful to something that is underrepresented and part of a different culture. But to not explore something in a speculative fiction book because it might upset someone… That is reprehensible and anyone who uses that excuse is a lazy coward.

********

You might be thinking “But wait! Fellshot, you intellectually stunted pseudo blogger with a writing style reminiscent of a lemur throwing mangoes at an acacia tree, these are the Hallowed Hallmarks of Urban Fantasy! How can you be griping about them! HOW DARE YOU!!” or perhaps the worst fan comeback of all time “If you don’t like it, don’t read it!” Okay, maybe not.

The simplest answer is that urban fantasy is a setting based subgenre where the modern world has creatures of legend and myth in it and some people know about them. Like high fantasy, it is not a narrative based sub-genre. It’s right there in the name. Why people seem to be pretending that it’s a narrative based sub-genre I have no idea. It’s unbelievably myopic to limit a (theoretically) broadly defined sub-genre into just a few narrative tropes. I love the idea of urban fantasy (which is why I’ll occasionally read one, even though I know the odds are stacked against me) but I hate the blinders it seems to cling to.

I want a little bit of magic in a setting I’m familiar with. And I know there are a few authors out there who use the broader definition of urban fantasy in their fiction. American Gods by Neil Gaiman springs immediately to mind as does the work of Charles de Lint. Why aren’t more people trying to imitate that? Maybe they don’t think they can play in the same sub-genre as the Chuck Norris of speculative fiction. I don’t know. But I do know that urban fantasy seems like it is inbreeding. It’s past time to get some variation in there. The genre diseases are already expressing and it’s stagnating.

mirrored here

Red Hood’s Revenge by Jim C. Hines

After having a pretty good time reading the Mermaid’s Madness (review here), I did go out and purchase Red Hood’s Revenge by Jim C. Hines. After plowing through it in about three days four days ago, I finally have the time to comment on it.

The story centers around an assassin named Roudette (better known as Little Red Riding Hood) targeting Talia (Sleeping Beauty) with the aim of bringing Talia alive to her employer (never a good thing). Mess ensues as Talia, Danielle (Princess Cinderella) and Snow (White) go to hunt down the bad guy in Talia’s old kingdom… while trying to stay out of trouble there (easier said than done, of course).

As one might expect from my duration of reading, the book progressed along at a good clip. Since this was a somewhat action-y book, I thought it worked rather well. The fights also tended to be rather short affairs (which is a good thing) so the quick pace is more a function of actual plot, character development and story (especially character development). The plot is pretty straightforward overall, consisting mainly of Talia’s past coming back to bite her in the rear and threaten the people she cares about. The book is also clearly Talia’s story for the most part as she undergoes the most development past her singular overpowering issue of how badly mistreated she had been in her past. It’s good to see her finally start to move beyond it with help from the people she cares about.

I liked most of the heroines to start with, but I was most pleased to find that Snow was much less annoying to me than the last story arc. Clearly putting some limits on how much magic she can use and those impacting her serial flirting have improved her character for me a great deal. The villains seemed more secondary in many ways, primarily because they were mostly defined with how they exerted power (or tried to) over Talia or how she perceived them to have power over her. The main driving force of the plot is how she’s trying to get them to leave her alone and how she doesn’t have the option from running, hiding or ignoring them in her life. I like how this played out with Roudette acting as a mirror and counterpoint for Talia and how this book was far more a character tale rather than a “save the kingdom” story. Maybe we can call it a “character saves self” kind of narrative instead. I liked how the ending was handled regarding Talia’s sons. It was very delicate.

Although it did not have the fun plot twists that The Mermaid’s Madness had (nor did it have the neat side characters whom I hope will show up again) I do think that this kind of story does have its place in any series and will happily read it again. It can sit on the shelf next to the Terry Moore graphic novels. ^_^

Let the Right One In (2008)

Most vampire movies these days are terrible. They’ve swapped out the terror for the bedroom tease and gone about defanging the monster into an emo person with long canines. Such things give me strange twitches and thoughts of doing things that no one expects on their whiny butts. Like the Spanish Inquisition. With the dishwashing rack. And a spoon.

Then there are those that actually remind you that yes, this is a monster that can eat you and not feel particularly bad about it. The idea of friendship around this kind of vampire gives a certain kind of uneasiness about the stability of the human involved. Let the Right One In is an example of this sort of horror.

Oskar is a misfit in his life, lonely and bullied at school. Eli moves in next door with her “father.” There’s a string of murders and attempted murders that Eli’s “father” has been committing to keep her fed. In the middle of that mess she and Oskar start talking and become friends.

I can honestly say that I am dumbfounded by the number of things to get uncomfortable over. Oskar’s incipient necrophilia… Eli’s “father’s” pseudo-pedophilia… Eli’s pseudo-pedophilia…  Now take into account that the film is eerily quiet for the most part and most of the attacks are are done as very long shots, with the action taking up just small part of the frame. Nothing quite like a feeling of cinematic isolation to give someone the creeps. Even most of the attacks are shot from a distance away, probably to emphasize the outsider themes running through the film. Neither Eli or Oskar really have friends. Then there’s the detail that Eli starts encouraging Oskar to hurt and get back at the bullies after she sees him pretending to confront them with a knife. It would be a very “stand up for yourself” moment… if I could shake the suspicion that she was checking him out as a replacement for her decoy dad.

This film is somewhat slower paced than some may like in their vampire movie. I found that the slower story pace worked as a means to give the audience time to get distinctly uncomfortable. The attacks are unheralded by non-diagetic music and further supports a feeling of unease and uncertainty. It’s rather amazing how well, just having a quiet film lends a sense of apprehension to the story. There aren’t going to be any clues for the audience that Eli is going to attack someone as soon as they turn a corner. There’s nothing really to prepare for the scene with the bullies in natatorium. I enjoyed the degree of care that went into keeping the suspense going throughout this film.

Curiously the film became more disquieting the more I thought about it later. It took time for some of the themes to percolate through. I think that’s the mark of a really good horror film.

mirrored here

The Orphanage (2007)

Having the misfortune of an excess of time where I have to remain mostly still, I decided to make the most of it by watching a few horror movies in broad daylight that I will likely never watch otherwise. I like Guillermo del Toro’s work overall and I’d heard good things about the Orphanage. I’m happy to say that it did indeed live up to my expectations.

The story concerns Laura who buys her childhood orphanage with the intention of making it into a home for disabled and sick children. Her adopted son goes missing and creepy things happen.

As is typical for stories involving  haunted houses, most of the weird stuff is centered around or noticed by the lady of the house. The theorist in me would say something about making the safety/sanctuary of the home into something monstrous and strange and turning nurturing into neglect, but… wait, I have time on my hands. So like many subgenres where the horror involved is the “womb that destroys,” Laura’s house becomes a place of danger and secrets. The one glitch that I found in the storyline was that Laura didn’t go back and take a look at things in the harsh light of day when she wasn’t freaked out by strange noises.

I don’t usually get surprised by the plot twists in a horror film. For me it’s usually the suspense and lead-in to the unknown scary noises in the dark and the little glimpses of shadow out of the corner of the frame. That being said, I did like the idea that someone was trying to make something of a little Eden for kids with bad luck from a former orphanage, a term that usually brings up images of  Oliver Twist asking for more soup, child abuse and bureaucratic apathy. It thought it was a nice little play on the standard trope, thought it even better that both Laura and Carlos were dedicated to it and really liked the ending in the context that even the little child spirits would be safe in that place. There is quite a bit of foreshadowing for the rather sad ending with a pinch of happy. The psychic telling Laura that those who are close to death in some way can see ghosts is a major hint to the ending.

The cinematography does an incredibly good job of emphasizing the house as a character. The little human figures are lost and isolated in its architecture and corridors. Hands and children are never immediately apparent the first time you look.  Noises with no apparent cause come echoing down the halls. Like any good horror movie, it’s what one cannot see that is the most terrifying. Much of the last part of the movie is about Laura being unable to see the things in front of her, although the more astute in the audience might have caught on a while back when they mention that Simon has been missing for 6 months.

The acting is well done, although I would have liked to see more of Carlos’s side of things. Since the “house that destroys women” is a fairly standard trope, I would have liked to have seen the secondary effect that Laura’s hauntings had on him.

This is definitely a movie one should watch with the lights on. But its an awesome movie for its visual style and care, more than its story.

Seven Pounds (2009)

So I saw Seven Pounds the other day. I found it to be an exercise in why I don’t venture away from my favorite genres that often. While it was splendidly acted, decently written and the visual devices weren’t that bad, I felt that it was missing something that I could not place.

The story starts off with a phone call where Will Smith’s character tells the 911 operator that he’s reporting his own suicide. Most of the rest of the movie is spent seeing how he got to that point. There’s a lot of care taken to illustrate his withdrawal from his brother, the guilt he feels concerning the car accident involving his fiance and the desire to leave a good mark on the world. I have to say that the flashbacks to time with the fiancee character did sometimes seem a little out of the blue and a bit confusing at first.

As I mentioned before, Will Smith does an amazing job of acting. He, more than anyone else, fools not just the other characters in his guise as the most terrifying federal agent in existence (an IRS auditor), but the audience as well. By the end of the movie, is becomes very clear that the line between what the character began to blur the line between recovering from his guilt and falling into the blackest of despair. I found it a curious contradiction that he lost the will to live but kept the drive to make a mark on the world.

I also found the romantic angle of the film well done. It certainly lulls the audience into a feeling of false hope concerning the final outcome of the film. But one does have respect that he did give his heart’s love to her.

The only major problem I really had was the chosen method of suicide mistreated the jellyfish involved and would be unlikely to be fatal given the scenario presented (although there would be some truly terrific scars after the fact). Oddly enough, this was enough to jar me out of my suspension of disbelief and rather dulled the impact of the last scenes of that character. I found this rather unfortunate, since my first reaction to such cinematic missteps is to make fun of them.

So if you can overlook that one little thing, it’s a very good movie, although not the sort of thing I would normally watch.

Time to go do my civic obligation…

No, not jury duty. Voting.

For reasons that remain somewhat nebulous to me, the Republican party thinks I’m affiliated with them. I seem to recall feeling very sorry for the poor lady at the voter registration table, so that might be why I’m registered as Republican… despite being for homosexual marriage, comprehensive sex-ed, protection of the wildernesses and the separation of church and state (among other things). I do like to see the public getting more for it’s tax dollars though and look at government spending carefully. I suppose I would be a republican then… just not a modern one. Can we please bring Teddy Roosevelt back from the dead? I’d vote for him in a heartbeat.

Anyway, being sure in the knowledge that my one little vote will not count in any way shape or form in any election ever (even presidential candidates tend not to campaign here unless they are from here), I have decided to write in a Democratic candidate for the Republican nomination.

I’m quite sure no one will notice. There are no fiscal conservatives nominated for the GOP this year in my area and the only human suitable for the job seems to be a Democrat this time around. Since I believe very firmly in casting my little vote for the best human for the job regardless of something so idiotic as party affiliation, I will therefore give the GOP the standard single finger salute and enjoy the opportunity to be subversive tomorrow.

You probably aren’t asking “What about third parties?” but I vote for them too. Quite frequently actually. Most of the time I can’t tell Democrats from Republicans as they are both going to overspend and both of them are going to try to curtail the civil rights they don’t happen to like. When this happens I always vote for a third party. I’d rather throw my unimportant vote with the person I think will do the best job rather than feel like a hypocrite and vote in a general election for mainstream candidates I think unsuited to whatever position. Then again, I’ve already determined that my vote does not matter in any meaningful way. But I will certainly cast it nonetheless.

The obligatory introductory post

Well I suppose I should get this out of the way… Although, come to think about it, I don’t actually introduce myself all that often. Usually I just start posting somewhere without all the pleasantries.

In any case, I’m Fellshot (or Lady Fellshot in some places). It’s an old pen name of mine and I’ve become rather fond of it. That and I’m too lazy to remember more than one or two screen names at a time.

Why “Fellshot”?  Why not? It beats Captain McSpankypants.

I’m likely to start double posting between here and my livejournal for a while, at least until I figure out what I want to do with each of them.

Oh, nearly forgot to say what I would be posting about, didn’t I? I like to read and watch movies. I also tend to write reviews about what finds its way into my hands. I am happy to say that I consider myself a fantasy and science fiction genre reader, mostly because modern fiction has a curious soporific effect on me. Also, I’ll take the extraordinary over the mundane any day of the week and twice on Sunday. When I branch outside my happy genre cubby, it’s usually towards nonfiction, especially film theory and biographies.

And now I’m quite sure that this will fall into oblivion as this sort of thing is a dime a dozen and maybe 10 people will actually read these posts anyway.