Urban Fantasy vs Other-World Fantasy
Note from 2021: subgenre definitions within fantasy are difficult to pin down. “Urban fantasy” in this post has the older sense of “fantastic elements in a more-or-less realistic modern setting,” and “other-world fantasy” was an attempt to avoid the epic connotations of “high fantasy.” Creating a world, if you do it right, is time-consuming work, but can be extremely rewarding. On the other hand, urban fantasy has a lot going for it–despite being a bit disorienting for some readers when they encounter it for the first time. In some ways, it’s easier. You can take descriptive short-cuts. If you mention…