Fantasy real world.

[Dancer]

Hiya, I'm still fairly new here, but I've read a lot of threads and so on.

I was wondering if someone could point me in the direction of books that contain fantasy elements but are based in a world that resembles Earth. I read books like The Stand, American Gods, Neverwhere and found the mesh of fantasy and grounded characters interesting. Thanks in advance.

 

[rai]

I was reading a book called "Lost Souls" by Poppy Bright which has a slight American Gods flavor, but I could not finish reading (it was really not my taste) but that's one book that comes to mind.

I am reading "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" in which he shifts between our world and the fantasy land, but that's not so much about the real world. Also, "The Chronicles of Amber" shift between our world and the fantasy but mainly the fantasy world.

If you like "The Stand" you will also like "Cell" by S.King which is what I like to call "The Stand-lite" and come to think of it (no pun intended) .. "It" and "Insomnia" also by S.King and "The Mist" novella by S.King, I guess just about anything by King would be good.

 

[j d worthington]

Quite a lot of this sort of thing has been done, at least since the 1940s, and you can find examples of it in much of the work of Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Fritz Leiber, Harlan Ellison, J. G. Ballard, Michael Moorcock, and so on....

To me, it sounds as if you're looking for the urban fantasy and contemporary fantasy genres, more than anything else; so you may find the following helpful:

Urban fantasy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contemporary fantasy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As you can see, there's a great deal to choose from....

 

[Hypnos164]

What you are looking for is probably most commonly known as 'urban fantasy' its a pretty broad genre so heres some stuff you might consider - read some reviews and see if the various concepts appeal to you:

The cream of the crop in the supernatural / detective cross-over sub-genre is probably:

1. Already Dead - Charlie Huston
2. The Devil You Know (Felix Castor #1) - Mike Carey
3. Through Violet Eyes - Stephen Woodworth
4. Storm Front (Harry Dresden #1) - Jim Butcher
5. Blood Price (Blood #1) - Tanya Huff

In the "I kick a lot of ass and am, at least in theory, on the side of good" sub-genre (tends towards the more disposable "action" style)

1. Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake #1) - Laurell K Hamilton
2. Hunters Moon - David Devereux
3. Nightlife - Ron Thurman

At the more thoughtful and less action based end of the scale there is the secret history / hidden magic - sub -genre try:

1. The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
2. Three Days to Never - Tim Powers
3. The Atrocity Archives - Charles Stross
4. Moonheart / Greenmantle / most others by Charles de Lint (he rarely disapoints)
5. (maybe) Faerie Tale by Ray Feist

 

[Urlik]

Clive Barker's Weaveworld or The Great and Secret Show
elements of horror but also rich fantasy in a modern setting

 

[DeepThought]

Try these:

King Rat by China Mieville
Un Lun Dun
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys
Stardust
The Night Watch Trilogy by Sergei Lukyanenko
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Tales of Alvin Maker by Orson Scott Card
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
Otherland series by Tad Williams
Song of Kali by Dan Simmons
Temeraire series by Naomi Novik

 

[Fried Egg]

Darker than you think by Jack Williamson

 

[Ian Whates]

One not mentioned yet that's well worth checking out is:

Wizard of the Pigeons by Megan Lindholm.

These days the author's better known for the high fantasy she writes under the name Robin Hobb, but Wizard of the Pigeons is a wonderful book.

 

[dask]

Darker than you think by Jack Williamson

Yes, good choice. For an extra treat read it in October for a Halloween book.

 

[Urlik]

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman

shouldn't that be Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman?

and if we are including humerous urban fantasy, Tom Holt has a few worth reading

Expecting Someone Taller
Who's Afraid of Beowulf?
Grailblazers
Faust Among Equals
Odds & Gods
Djinn Rummy
Paint Your Dragon
Open Sesame

 

[DeepThought]

shouldn't that be Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman?

Oops. My bad, part of the reason it's such a great novel is the collaboration between the two.