Meloniki i rewolwery albo utopiec na bicyklu. O (retro)industrialnej adaptacji konwencji urban fantasy

Abstract

It is not a coincidence that urban fantasy is being identified with modern, futuristic metropolises. On its streets, two worlds are juxtaposed: the real and the magical. Unlike the first one, the latter is concealed in shadows, hiding elves, vampires, and other magical creatures from the watchful eyes of ordinary citizens. Only a handful of informed humans have the right to step into this world, which is presented only to the select few. The author of the article Guns and Hats, or a Drowner on a Bicycle: On the (Retro)Industrial Adaptation of Urban Fantasy Subgenre distinguishes between three main tropes of the eponymous convention: a presence of the city, a coexistence of magical and empirical world, and an influence of organisations guarding the secret of the otherworld. All three mentioned tropes are exemplified in two contemporary fantasy novels—Adam Przechrzta’s Adept (The Adept) and Charlie Fletcher’s The Oversight, both set in the nineteenth-century fictionalised reality, which bears resemblance to urban fantasy subgenre. In the end, nineteenth-century city turns out to be the best locale to set a fantasy story that addresses the primary sense of urbanization.