TTT - Top Ten Urban Fantasy Books

It's time to link up with the Broke and the Bookish again!

Today's topic is to list our top ten books from a particular genre. I dithered for a really long time about which genre I'd go with - some seemed far too broad (YA), and others were far too narrow (non-YA dystopian). In the end, I decided on urban fantasy.

Urban fantasy is kind of a tricky genre because it's really open to interpretation. I know people who class Terry Pratchett's Discworld books as urban fantasy because they're set in a city. I, on the other hand, would argue that to count as urban fantasy, a book has to be set in the world as we know it, but with slight differences. Like, you know, vampires. Or magic. Or witches. And obviously, it has to be set in an urban environment. 

So. I hereby present my ten favourite urban fantasy books:

1. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews

I adore the Kate Daniels series. It's pretty much the dictionary definition of urban fantasy, albeit set in a semi-dystopian Atlanta. And Kate is sassy as hell while still kicking arse on a daily basis. It's occasionally gory and gross, but still insanely enjoyable and occasionally squee-worthy. And Magic Bites is the book that starts it all.

2. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series was probably my introduction to urban fantasy. And while I love the book that first got me into the series - Dime Store Magic - I love the first book in the series just a little bit more. Unlike the others, it focuses exclusively on the werewolves and deals with Elena coming to terms with who and what she is. I've heard decidedly average things about the TV series currently airing in North America, but don't judge the book by the series. It's well worth the read.

3. Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

A somewhat dubious addition to an urban fantasy list, but whatever. It's hilarious and quirky from start to finish - as one would expect from its authors - and a decent chunk of it is based in urban England so I say it counts. 

4. Halfway to the Grave - Jeaniene Frost

This series - like so many other vampire series (I'm looking at you, Sookie Stackhouse) - became increasingly ridiculous and cheesy as time went on. But the first book in the series was pretty bloody fantastic, and a really quick, fun read.

5. Death Most Definite - Trent Jamieson

A slightly unusual one in that it doesn't involve witches or magic or werewolves or vampires or any of the usual paranormal stuff. Instead, Steve is basically a reaper, ferrying the dead into the afterlife. Probably not for the squeamish, given that there's a lot of blood sacrifice stuff involved, but a really fascinating and unusual concept.

6. Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovich

Published in the US as Midnight Riot (really?!?!?!), this is a really great magic-meets-crime novel set in London. There's plenty of fantasy elements and a cast of awesome characters, with some added historical awesomeness. 

7. The Man with the Golden Torc - Simon R. Green

I love the Secret Histories series. Eddie Drood is basically Tony Stark meets James Bond, except he's fighting magical beasties instead of aliens/insurgents/Russians/whatever. And he's helped by a sassy and extremely powerful witch. It's Simon R. Green, so it can get pretty gory, but the whole series is well worth reading.

8. The Reckoning - Kelley Armstrong

It took me a while to warm up to Armstrong's YA series, The Darkest Powers. But the final book of the trilogy, where the kids are finally coming into their powers for real? Is absolutely phenomenal. 

9. Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison

Another series that I loved to begin with but was less taken with as the number of books increased. (It probably didn't help that I read them completely out of order, thanks to my local library) But the first one is still a great urban fantasy read.

10. Intangible - J. Meyers

A fun and fast paced story featuring a little bit of everything - suspense, action, romance, red herrings, and great dialogue. Another great YA book that falls firmly under the urban fantasy banner. Which is nice - a lot of YA books lean more towards paranormal romance! 

So there you have it. My ten favourite urban fantasy books. What are yours?

K xx

Movie Monday: Stardust

You guys, I just finished the first day of my internship/work placements/thing, so I'm a little braindead. Apologies if this entire post ends up making no sense...

Today's installment is brilliant. Yes, it differs dramatically from the book (probably for the sake of the rating), but it's still completely fantastic.

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Reasons why Stardust is awesome:
1. It's Neil Gaiman. He's a genius.
2. Wheeeeeeeeee, secret worlds!!!
3. Claire Danes. She's fantastic.

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4. A cart pulled by goats!
5. Michelle Pfeiffer. There are no words for how brilliant she is in this.
6. A flying pirate ship.

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7. Tristan flying across the room on a chandelier cord.
8. The old man beating Tristan up when he tries to cross the wall.
9. Mark Strong.
10. Robert de Niro. Holy hell, he is my favourite thing about this movie. HANDS DOWN.

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11. It's written and directed by Matthew Vaughn, who also wrote and directed X-Men First Class.
12. Ricky Gervais. Apparently he ad libbed half his lines.
13. The ghost princes. They're brilliant.

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14. Ian McKellen is the narrator.
15. The voodoo doll of Septimus.
16. Charlie Cox.

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17. Yvaine bearing her soul to Mouse Tristan.
18. The coronation ceremony.
19. The witches' palace/house/thing.

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20. The ghosts giving a round of applause when the witch is defeated.

Plus, the following quotes:
- "Nothing says romance like the gift of an injured, kidnapped woman!"
- "You'd better be telling the truth, you two faced dog." "I can get you one of them, actually. Very good guard dogs. They can watch the back and the front door at the same time."
- "We're in the crater, this must be where it fell." "Yeah, this is where it fell. It is, or if you want to be really specific, up there is where this weird bloody necklace came out of nowhere and knocked it out of the heavens where it was minding its own business!"
- "I'd go to Africa and bring up back a diamond as big as your fist."
- "Murdered by pirates. Heart torn out and eaten. Meet Victoria. I can't decide which sounds more fun."
- "Yvaine, I have some lovely dresses, take your pick." "I'm fine." "Honey. You're wearing a bathrobe."
- "What do stars do? They shine."
- "A philosopher once asked 'Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we're human?'. Pointless, really. 'Do they gaze back?' Now THAT'S a question."

Have you seen it? Do you love it? If not, why not?

K xx

101 in 1001 #94

And so we come to the last day of NaBloPoMo. I'm sure you're all rather relieved that I won't be clogging your Google Readers every day from now on! And that I didn't resort to entire posts featuring nothing but gifs of David Tennant and Jake Gyllenhaal. WARNING: While I won't be going QUITE that far today, it is going to get a *wee* bit Tennant-y in here. 

For several years now, I've had to put up with listen to my BFF Sara telling me all about how awesome Doctor Who is. And then when I started working on the gallery, I discovered there are an *awful* lot of Whovians working in the museum sector. So it was only a matter of time before I caved. Task #94 was to watch Doctor Who, starting from the 2005 revamp.

So when I moved back to Melbourne in July and signed up for Quickflix (and seriously, if you guys still rent DVDs the conventional way, WHY??? Also, Quickflix don't know I exist. I just think they're awesome!), one of the first things in my queue was Doctor Who. I'd actually seen one or two episodes over the years when there was nothing else on TV, but out of sequence it was never compelling enough for me to add it to my TV schedule.

The Bloggess (and if you don't read her blog, GO AND DO IT NOW BECAUSE SHE'S AWESOME) started watching Doctor Who earlier in the week, and I think she said it best:

EXACTLY

I made it through series 1 and part of series 2 before I left for the US. I *may* have flailed with fan girl excitement when Lyndsy was showing me how to use Netflix streaming and Doctor Who was available. I made it through the rest of series 2 and most of series 3 in Denver. An excellent use of the $1300 airfare, I think!!

I haven't QUITE finished series 6 yet (and thank you, Steven Moffat, for the mind fuck that is series 6...), but suffice to say I've added Whovian to my already lengthy list of fandoms (which also includes Scooby, Salt Gunner, Browncoat, and Gleek).

I love it all, from Christopher Eccleston:

"I bring you air from my lungs!" Also, Billie's face is priceless. Also also, source.

To Matt Smith:

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Though David Tennant will always be my favourite, hands down:

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I love it from the brilliance of the Neil Gaiman episode in series 6:

The look on Matt Smith's face is hilarious. Also, source

To the creepiness of The Weeping Angels:

Sorry if this makes anyone have a seizure/pee their pants. Also, source

And I'm doing a lot of internal fan girl squeeing over the fact that my parents have agreed to buy me this for Christmas:

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(Also, if you live in Australia, you can order that from Amazon UK for £45 with free shipping, rather than paying the $287 that it costs here. And the one from Amazon is Region 4 compatible!!)

In short(ish), Doctor Who is best summed up by John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness:

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Allons-y!

Please tell me I'm not alone in my nerdy Whovian fan girl corner?? Also, thoughts on classic Who - worth it or not?
K xx