The two of the most confusing genres you will come across in modern day literature is contemporary and urban fantasy.
By all appearances, they seem to be the same thing. It takes a far closer inspection to recognize the difference. But its there. So, what is the difference between urban and contemporary fiction?
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The difference between urban fiction, and contemporary fiction is that urban fantasy is takes place in a metropolitan urban place, while contemporary fiction takes place in the contemporary period of the author.
So the two are often mistaken because a modern day author may write a story taking place in the 21st century, so it will feature urban locations. The difference being a fantasy story that takes place in a single town will be urban fantasy.
This subtle difference leads to far-reaching differences within these stories. In this article, we will cover those topics by looking at:
What Is The Difference between Urban and Contemporary Fantasy?
The main difference between urban fantasy and contemporary fantasy is that urban fantasy is fantasy that takes place in a single 21st century city, while contemporary fantasy takes place in the contemporary time of the writer.
These two tend to be similar because modern contemporary writers tell stories that take place in modern world with modern technology like cars, and cellphones.
Meanwhile, urban fantasy takes place in a city that may also be from modern day times. It’s also worth mentioning that the modern fantasy tropes we see were crafted by Tolkien, as a result we don’t normally see contemporary fantasy that takes place within our world, prior to Tolkien’s time.
What makes urban fantasy?
Urban fantasy takes place in a modern single city.
The reason for this boils down to the fact that in urban fiction the city is as much a character as the protagonists, and antagonists. Usually, the central theme of the story revolves around the idea of community or whatever that specific city embodies.
As a result, the only way for the central conflict to be resolved is with the use of the city.
What makes contemporary fantasy?
Contemporary fantasy is a fantasy story that takes place in modern times.
However, these stories tend to be similar to epic fantasy than urban fiction. The characters often travel from city to city, with no single city being of chief importance to the theme, or central conflict of the story.
You may be interested in this good reads article: Contemporary fantasy examples.
This does not mean the characters may not have a specific city they wish to save. It just means that in contemporary fantasy, usually you can replace any of the cities with any other, and there would be no real difference in the story.
Examples of each
Contemporary Fantasy
- Percy Jackson series (And most Rick Riordan verse stories)
- Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
- American Gods
Urban fantasy
- Twilight series
- Mortal Instruments
- Harry Potter series
How To Tell If My Story Is Contemporary Fantasy or Urban Fantasy
I’ve already written a list on what makes urban fiction, thus it would be easier for you to go check that out if you want to know your book’s classification. For Contemporary fantasy, well…
- The story needs to take place in modern day times.
- The story needs to travel extensively between cities
- We need to have a method of defeating the villain without needing a specific city, or it’s symbols
- Finally, the themes of the story need not revolve around a single city.
If you manage that far, then you are on your way to telling if your book is urban, or contemporary fantasy. And consequentially, on your way to mastering mastery.