Urban Fantasy is often referred to as a subgenre of fantasy, and most people stop there. But it also has many subgenres—you just have to look for them.

It may seem a little odd at first to think about a series as a “Cozy Mystery Urban Fantasy”, or a “Thriller Urban Fantasy,” but if you do, you can classify books more accurately.

These are the general guidelines that we follow when putting titles into the database.

Key Elements in Every UF subgenre:

• Urban setting (mostly, but not always)
• Supernatural characters (vampires, werewolves, etc) either as the hero or prominent in the story in some way. If the hero is a supernatural character, it is (usually) obvious. If the hero is not a supernatural character, they are usually surrounded by or fighting against someone who is.
• Magic of some kind

Typically, most UF books will display these three elements immediately when you look at the cover, book description, and reviews. (At least they should!)

This classification system isn't perfect. No one system ever is. But whenever there's a conflict, we've done our best to group books so that they can get discovered with other books, because that's the ultimate goal here. 

 

Subgenres of UF:

Action/Adventure UF: Fast-moving story with lots of action. It may involve multiple cities or locations as the character races around the world, or it may include a hero helping a different cast of people from book to book. It may also include martial arts, swordplay, spellslinging, and special types of fighting. A general rule of thumb is, “could an action movie actor play the hero? (The Rock, Tom Cruise, etc.)” If the answer is yes, then it is probably an action-adventure.

• Examples: The Iron Druid by Kevin Hearne, The Templar Chronicles by Joseph Nassise

Alternative History: UF that takes place in an alternate version of our world where historical events differed slightly. (ie. The Nazis won WWII)

• Examples: Hellequin Chronicles by Steve McHugh (it’s more dark UF but it takes place in an alternate world), The Gray Tower Trilogy by Alesha Escobar

Cozy Mystery UF: In a cozy mystery, the main character is typically solving a murder that happens in a small town or village, with the reader often in the front seat finding the clues. Cozy mystery is not dark, and it tends to have an optimistic tone, humor, and colorful book covers. Differs from Mystery.

• Examples: Harper Connelly series by Charlaine Harris, Wicked Witches of the Midwest by Amanda M. Lee

Dark UF: UF that is darker in tone than your typical UF. May include antiheroes, more graphic violence and language than average. A general rule of thumb is that if multiple readers describe the book as “dark” or “violent”, then Dark UF may be a more accurate description, even if the story is a better fit for another subgenre, like Traditional UF or Detective, just so that readers know what they’re getting.

• Examples: Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey, Soul Eater by P DaCosta

Detective UF: A mystery where the main character is a detective or private investigator solving a murder. If the main character is NOT a detective/PI/police officer and it is NOT a cozy mystery, then we’ll classify series is classified as Mystery.

• Example: The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Montague & Strong series by Orlando Sanchez

Dystopian UF: UF that takes place an alternate version of our world or a distant future where life is pretty tough due to harsh government or leaders. This genre is predominantly YA.

Epic UF: UF on a big scale with longer word count and elements of epic fantasy, such as a huge cast of characters, an expansive world, and a complex plot. It may also take place in a fictional world, but with cities, supernatural characters, and magic.

• Example: The Last Dragon Lord series by Michael La Ronn

High UF: Typically, UF that has an urban setting and supernatural characters, but set in a fictional world. It's also not uncommon to see high fantasy mainstays like kings/royalty, castles, dragons, etc. Can be a modern city or a more traditional fantasy city. Think of it as a blend between urban fantasy and traditional fantasy.

• Example: Storm Princess Saga by Everly Frost and Jaymin Eve, and The Baine Chronicles by Jasmine Walt

Historical UF: Everything you would expect in a modern UF story (magic, vampires, etc) but taking place in the past.

Literary UF: A story where the writing style is as important if not more than the story. It has all the same UF expectations but it’s different. You can usually spot literary UF by reading the book description, press testimonials, or if the book has non sci-fi/fantasy awards associated with it. Most if not all books in this category tend to be traditionally published.

• Example: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, Moonheart by Charles deLint (kind of)

Mystery UF: Involves a hero solving a murder. We classify books in the database as Mystery if the hero is NOT a detective/PI/police officer and it is NOT a cozy mystery.

• Examples: Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris, The Lazarus Codex by E.A. Copen

Mythological UF: Involves mythological beings from cultural pantheons (Greek, Roman, Norse, etc.) usually as main and/or supporting characters. American Gods by Neil Gaiman is a great example of this—it’s often referred to as UF, but it's actually a mythological UF if you think about it.

• Examples: Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, The Gods War series by Daniel Mignault & Jackson Dean Chase

Police Department UF: Slightly different from Detective UF in that the main character is a police officer or a police chief. The hero may or may not solve murders. May have the same tone as Detective UF, or it may be lighter and more humorous.

• Examples: Paranormal Police by John P. Logsdon

Post-Apocalyptic UF: Supernatural heroes and creatures in a setting where the world has ended. The key is that it involves UF mainstays such as mages, vampires, werewolves, etc. and has magic—along with typical post-apocalyptic tropes.

• Example: The Rogue Mage by Faith Hunter

Science UF: Story with science/technology as a focal point of the plot, and it may or may not coexist with a magic system. It's as close to science fiction as UF can get, and as close to UF as science fiction can get.

Space Urban Fantasy: Story that takes place in space. It could be an urban city on another planet, or involve travel between our world and other planets. The key is that there should be space elements, cities (maybe), supernatural characters, and magic.

• Example: The Kurtherian Gambit series by Michael Anderle

Spy Urban Fantasy: Exactly what it sounds like. 

• Example: Secret Histories seres by Simon R. Green

Steampunk UF: Story that takes place in an urban setting where steam is the main source of power. There are Victorian characters and gadgets, but the key is that there are supernatural creatures and magic. Just like a modern UF, except it takes place in the Victorian era. If the book marketed as a steampunk book or readers call it steampunk, then we’ll classify it as Steampunk. If not, then we may classify it as Historical UF if it seems like a better fit compared to other books in both genres.

Superhero UF: Story with a hero that has powers that are more in line with what you'd see in a comic book as opposed to being a supernatural creature such as a vampire, werewolf, etc. 

• Example: Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine

Thriller UF: Usually involves a chase of some kind, the hero rushing against time to either save their reputation or someone's life. The stakes are either the death of a single person, many people, or the world. A “clock” is a prominent part of the story and is always there reminding the reader of urgency. Many urban fantasy books submitted to the database are classified as thrillers but are actually not—thriller has very specific expectations from a cover, book description, and story perspective. If a book doesn’t meet those criteria, we will likely re-classify it for readers’ sake.

Traditional UF: UF that doesn't neatly fit into any of the other categories listed here. In other words, it's supernatural heroes in a city doing what they do best: hunting, trying to survive, or getting embroiled in supernatural conflicts. There are many Traditional UF books in the database—it’s the perfect subgenre for readers who just want a good, quick and easy urban fantasy read. This is what people think when they think UF.

• Examples: Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, The Twenty-Sided Sorceress by Annie Bellet

We will continue to update this database with new subgenres as we find them.

Subgenres that mix with UF

 

Paranormal Romance (PNR):

We originally excluded paranormal romance from this database, but we didn't realize that PNR writers/readers have had a history of being excluded from the science fiction and fantasy genre. That's not our goal. 

We also originally tried to draw a clear distinction between UF and PNR, but the more books we came across, the more we realized that it's not that easy to do.

Think of it like a sliding scale. Does a book have 50/50 action and romance, or does it lean more heavily on one side or the other? If it leans more heavily on the romance side, we classify it as PNR so that readers know what they're getting. 

The tricky part is that a story may appear to be an urban fantasy on its face, and even have the same mainstays and tropes, making it hard for readers to tell the difference.

 

Reverse Harem UF (RH): A new trend in all genres where a heroine is courted by several male protagonists, and must choose between them. Differs from a love triangle in that the heroine is polyamorous. As with PNR, it can be tricky to spot because it often uses the same elements as urban fantasy. Because of coding limitations, we are including reverse harem under the PNR category. 

Pro tip on spotting reverse harem every time:

• Click on the reviews on Amazon and simply search for “reverse harem.” If it is, readers will let you know in the reviews.

Erotica: We are unable to include erotica in the database at this time mainly because we don't think there's a demand for it here, but if readers ask for it, we will try to find a way to accommodate it. 

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