Storm Front

Storm Front is part of a subgenre called urban fantasy, which borrows many conventions from traditional fantasy and applies them to a modern, real-world setting. Known for embracing typical elements such as supernatural creatures, mythic quest narratives, and battles of good versus evil, the urban fantasy genre explores the ways in which these tropes interact with other popular genres such as mystery or suspense. Often, these modified fantasy tales take on a gritty, cynical worldview and speculate on the ways common fantasy themes such as vampirism, lycanthropy, or magic might be incorporated into the social patterns and bureaucracy of a modern world. In some cases, the existence of magic and supernatural creatures may be a known fact for the humans in the narrative, as in Ilona Andrews’s Kate Daniels series, or a hidden facet that only a select few know about, as in Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files or Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series.

The subgenre of urban fantasy has its origins in the sensationalist gothic fiction of the late 19th century, most notably Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the many works of Edgar Allan Poe, which depict intrusions of dark supernatural forces into the mundane world (Ekman, Stefan. “Urban Fantasy: A Literature of the Unseen.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 2016). Another precursor can be found in the category of “occult detective” fiction, such as William Hope Hodgson’s 1940s Thomas Carnacki stories, which feature detectives who specialize in investigating paranormal dangers (Barnett, David. “Thomas Carnacki, King of the Supernatural Detectives.” The Guardian, 30 June 2010). However, occult detective fiction exclusively depicts the supernatural as aberrant and inherently evil, while urban fantasy is far more nuanced, featuring supernatural creatures who possess complex motivations and moral codes.

Urban fantasy is also inspired by noir fiction, borrowing many of the genre’s aesthetics, narrative patterns, character archetypes, and plot tropes. For instance, urban fantasy series often feature a “hardboiled detective” or private investigator as a protagonist, and the character of Harry Dresden fits this description perfectly. Other common noir elements and plot points that frequently populate the world of urban fantasy include the “femme fatale”—a deceptively seductive and often lethally skilled female antagonist—and the McGuffin, a mysterious item that galvanizes the plot and the characters, even if the item is insignificant or irrelevant in and of itself. Finally, the genre also employs the pyrrhic victory, in which a character succeeds but loses so much in the process that the victory becomes meaningless. Both in Storm Front and throughout the Dresden Files series, Harry’s triumphs in the moment often deeply complicate his life and intensify the suspense, setting the stage for the next installment in the series, when he must deal with the consequences of these actions. Other well-known urban fantasy series that follow many of these patterns include Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series, and Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series.