Quote:
Originally Posted by carld
Urban Fantasy has basically swallowed up what used to be called Modern Fantasy.
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*chomp* *chew chew* *gurgle* *burp*
My view of urban fantasy is a tale with magical/fantastical elements set in a world pretty much identical to the real time and place the author sets the story in. In other words Dresden Files = Urban Fantasy.
Set the story in the past of our reality and it's alternate history/urban fantasy, unless it's in a rural setting or medieval type town/city/castle.
Set it in the future on Earth and/or add in items like an alien invasion and it becomes Sci-Fantasy like David Weber's "Out of the Dark". That's a pretty good one, plays out as straight Sci-Fi until near the end a rather, um, unique solution to the invasion happens. Could also have been done as straight Sci-Fi but the book probably would've been twice as long to show how the humans defeated the aliens.
If it's in a world that has absolutely nothing to do with Earth, but it's chock full of magic without any scientifictional underpinnings, then you have "straight" fantasy like the Discworld series, The Deed of Paksenarrion and a few million other books.