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meganbmooreIn one of the WisCon panels I attended, the subject was brought up that part of the increasing popularity of urban fantasy may be caused by the fact that most of its target audience (meaning, for the purposes of the panel, Americans) has no real concept of the traditional idea of a wilderness (Trees. Shadows. Beasts. Unknown depths. Etc.) as an unknown threat, and that “the streets” are the modern wilderness. During the panel, Sherman’s Changeling* was brought up as an example. Changeling is about Neef, a human changeling who was stolen as a baby and raised in New York Between, the fae otherworld that co-exists with our world. New York Between is, in essence, the urban wilderness transformed into a traditional wilderness, while still being, well, urban.
In Changeling Neef met and had adventures with the changeling who took her place in the human world. They had adventures (quests, actually) and both decided that they were perfectly happy where they were, and absolutely did not want to change places. Ever. The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen follows up on some remaining threads of Changeling, as well as the political ramifications of Neef’s adventures. More importantly, we see the other human changelings who live in New York Between, in one of the few fantasy schools that I actually find entertaining.
In the school setting, I was a bit put off initially when school dynamics initially fell into the typical “outsider newcomer bonds with other outsiders against evil meanpretty girls cheerleaders” but that’s pretty much demolished by the end, and a lot of the book is about Neef and her friends on a new quest.
This isn’t nearly as dear to me as Changeling was, but I had a lot of fun with it, especially the school rules.
*Trufax: All but one panel focusing on fiction** that I attended spent a portion of the time on YA. I had read every single book mentioned except for Emily Horner’s A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend. It hadn’t been released yet.
**And that was a manga panel.
In Changeling Neef met and had adventures with the changeling who took her place in the human world. They had adventures (quests, actually) and both decided that they were perfectly happy where they were, and absolutely did not want to change places. Ever. The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen follows up on some remaining threads of Changeling, as well as the political ramifications of Neef’s adventures. More importantly, we see the other human changelings who live in New York Between, in one of the few fantasy schools that I actually find entertaining.
In the school setting, I was a bit put off initially when school dynamics initially fell into the typical “outsider newcomer bonds with other outsiders against evil mean
This isn’t nearly as dear to me as Changeling was, but I had a lot of fun with it, especially the school rules.
*Trufax: All but one panel focusing on fiction** that I attended spent a portion of the time on YA. I had read every single book mentioned except for Emily Horner’s A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend. It hadn’t been released yet.
**And that was a manga panel.