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What was the first book that was classified as urban fantasy? Who was the author and when was it published?

Molag Bal
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Bryan McClure
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    http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/blogs/2012/08/is-laurell-k-hamiltons-anita-blake-the-first-urban-fantasy-hero – Valorum Mar 10 '16 at 20:41
  • @Richard Good article, thanks. From what I've read, I would also tend to put Laurell K. Hamilton (or perhaps Kim Harrison) first, but I'm no expert. – rosesunhill Mar 10 '16 at 20:49
  • This seems very opinion-based. – Valorum Mar 10 '16 at 21:40
  • We have plenty of "first" questions, including What was the first sci-fi story –  Mar 10 '16 at 22:06
  • @CreationEdge - Yes, and most of those are very opinion-based too. – Valorum Mar 10 '16 at 22:10
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    It is a VERY ambiguous question, especially with its "can be classified" phrasing. If you take the definition of Urban Fantasy wikipedia, the genre is just a fantastic story that takes place in an urban setting. With that definition, you could go back to at least the penny dreadfuls of the 1800s for the first Urban Fantasy, and probably even further back. But is that something people would really accept as the definition of Urban Fantasy? It is so poorly defined. – KAI Mar 10 '16 at 22:12
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    There is this tale about the siege of a big city, with monsters and gods and mithological creatures. It's called Iliad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad – edc65 Mar 10 '16 at 23:10
  • @KAI I don't by it. It's never been an issue before with these first questions. There's always some ambiguity when a genre or trope or element is being defined (first portal?). Not grounds for closure because not everyone knows about a genre. –  Mar 11 '16 at 14:21
  • @CreationEdge - I voted to close because there's no real agreement on what constitutes Urban Fantasy. People were writing it long before anyone came along and started dumping novels into that category on bookshelves. – Valorum Mar 11 '16 at 17:44
  • @Richard It's good enough to have it's own tag! –  Mar 11 '16 at 17:45
  • @CreationEdge - You may wish to note that this poor question is (as would be expected) spawning a range of poor answers, – Valorum Mar 11 '16 at 17:47

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Well, I might as well give this a shot, although I'm not an expert and Richard was there before me with his comment from twenty minutes ago. I nominate Laurell K. Hamilton with 1993's Guilty Pleasures. See the link Richard posted in his comment above. Several other sites including Wikipedia agree.

rosesunhill
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  • While I agree that Jekyll and Hyde is older, Charles de Lint published 'Moonheart' with Ace in l984, it straddles two worlds but one of those is firmly Ottawa, Canada. – tgrignon May 06 '20 at 18:46
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Lord Dunsany - some of the Jorkens stories set in London, for example. 1920's.

mpez0
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  • I haven't read the Jorkens stories. I looked them up and they appear to have been set in a variety of locales. But there wasn't enough detail on them for me to assess if they fit the question. Which stories would you recommend? – rosesunhill Mar 10 '16 at 22:10
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By the straightforward definition: The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde must count as urban fantasy and it was published in 1886. So, sometime before 1886.

Jack Aidley
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Would The Vampire Lestat count as Urban Fantasy? It predates Hamilton's book. Published in 1985.

dlmcleo1
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  • Some consider it as within the definition, others view it as a precursor. Take a look at the article Richard posted above. It's definitely a possibility. – rosesunhill Mar 10 '16 at 21:32