Enjoy the Magic of London in These Must-Read Urban Fantasy Novels
Posted on February 18, 2025
by Amy H
There’s something so fantastical about the real-life city of London that it becomes the perfect setting for some of the best urban fantasy novels. It’s the perfect combination of serpentine history, highbrow yet quirky culture, dark humor, and imperial manners on the verge of collapse. Here are some of the best fantasy novels set in this wonderful city
the great when by Alan Moore
In 1949, hapless eighteen year-old Dennis Knuckleyard is employed by a second-hand bookshop. On an errand to acquire books for sale, Dennis discovers a novel that simply does not exist. It is a fictitious book, a figment from another novel. Yet it is physically there in his hands. How? Dennis has stumbled on a book from the Great When, a magical version of London beyond time and space, where reality blurs with fiction and concepts such as Crime and Poetry are incarnated as wondrous, terrible beings. But this other, magical London must remain a secret: if Dennis cannot find a way to return this book to where it belongs, he risks repercussions, such as his body being turned inside out (or worse). So begins a journey delving deep into the city's occult underbelly and tarrying with an eccentric cast of sorcerers, gangsters, and murderers - some from legend, some all too real, and all with plans of their own. Soon Dennis finds himself at the centre of an explosive series of events that may alter and endanger both Londons forever.
a darker shade of magic by Victoria Schwab
Kell is one of the last Travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne--and where people fight to control the last existing magic. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now. Officially, Kell is the ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see--a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world. Perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive--and that is proving to be very difficult indeed.
the moonlight market by Joanne Harris
Deep in the heart of London, a lonely young photographer named Tom Argent walks the streets and captures whatever catches his eye: an old man drinking coffee; a striking woman in St. Pancras station; a cloud of moths taking flight across the sky. Then he meets beautiful Vanessa who lives a dangerous double life, leading him to discover an alternate world, hiding in plain sight within bustling London. A world unseen by common folk and inhabited by strange and colorful beings, in which two warring factions-one nocturnal, one in the light-wage war for the sake of a long-lost love, which can only end with one side’s total annihilation.
midnight riot by Ben Aaronovitch
Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.
jonathan strange & mr norrell by Susanna Clarke
At the dawn of the 19th century, two very different magicians emerge to change England's history. In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician, the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome, and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. He becomes Norrell's student, and they join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, straining his partnership with Norrell, and putting at risk everything he holds dear.
london falling by Paul Cornell
Police officers Quill, Costain, Sefton, and Ross know the worst of London-or they think they do. While investigating a mobster's mysterious death, they come into contact with a strange artifact and accidentally develop the Sight. Suddenly they can see the true evil haunting London's streets. Armed with police instincts and procedures, the four officers take on the otherworldly creatures secretly prowling London. Football lore and the tragic history of a Tudor queen become entwined in their pursuit of an age-old witch with a penchant for child sacrifice. But when London's monsters become aware of their meddling, the officers must decide what they are willing to sacrifice to clean up their city.
the screaming staircase by Jonathan Stroud
A sinister Problem plagues London: haunts and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren't friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see and eradicate these supernatural foes. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business. Plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. First in a fantastic series.
the nightjar by Deborah Hewitt
Alice Wyndham has been plagued by visions of birds her whole life... then the mysterious Crowley reveals that Alice is an 'aviarist': capable of seeing nightjars, magical birds that guard human souls. When her best friend is hit by a car, only Alice can find and save her nightjar. With Crowley's help, Alice travels to the Rookery, a hidden, magical alternate London to hone her newfound talents. But a faction intent on annihilating magic users will stop at nothing to destroy the new aviarist. Is Crowley really working with her, or against her? Alice must risk everything to save her best friend--and uncover the strange truth about herself.
smoke by Dan Vyleta
In an alternate England, where people who are wicked in thought or deed are marked by the Smoke that pours from their bodies, Thomas, Charlie, and Livia notice that some people appear to be able to lie without triggering Smoke. As they dig deeper, they discover people with mysterious ties to warring political factions, a sumptuous estate with hidden laboratories, and revolutionaries who are fighting against a secret police force. They begin to suspect that everything they have been taught about Smoke is a lie; but if that is a lie, what else about their world is untrue? Who can they trust?
a taste for monsters by Matthew J. Kirby
In 1888 seventeen-year-old Evelyn Fallow, disfigured by the phosphorus in the match factory where she worked, has been hired as a maid to kindhearted Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man--but when the Jack the Ripper murders begin she and Merrick find themselves haunted each night by the ghosts of the slain women, and Evelyn is caught up in the mystery of Jack's identity.
clockwork angel by Cassandra Clare
Hoping to find her missing brother, Tessa Gray finds something terrifying waiting for her in Victorian London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks, and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos. Kidnapped by a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa learns that she is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform into another person, and the shadowy figure who runs the Club wants Tessa's power for his own. Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by-and torn between-two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone except Tessa at arm’s length. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world.
the drowned world by J. G. Ballard
In this classic first published in 1962, climate change has melted the ice caps and primordial jungles have overrun a tropical London. In 2145, biologist Dr. Robert Kearns and his team of scientists confront a cityscape in which nature is on the rampage and giant lizards, dragonflies, and insects fiercely compete for domination amid sunken spires and crumbling buildings. This is both an unmatched biological mystery and a brilliant urban fantasy retelling of Heart of Darkness-complete with a mad hunter and his hordes of devoted soldiers.
neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Richard Mayhew, a young London businessman with a good heart and an ordinary life, is changed forever when he is plunged through the cracks of reality into a world of shadows and darkness-the Neverwhere. If he is ever to return to the London Above, Richard must join the battle to save this strange underworld kingdom from the malevolence that means to destroy it.
the watchmaker of filigree street by Natasha Pulley
When a strange watch saves his life, warning him of a blast that destroys Scotland Yard, telegraphist Thaniel Steepleton goes in search of its maker and meets Keita Mori, a Japanese immigrant who remembers the future, and soon Thaniel discovers that nothing in this world is certain.
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