Fritz Leiber “Our Lady of Darkness” – cover of edition published by Orb Books in 2010
(16) MEGAPOLISOMANCY
Are you a lucky little lady in the city of light?
I didn’t make this one up – fantasy and SF writer Fritz Leiber did, the plot concept behind his literal urban fantasy novel Our Lady of Darkness.
Essentially it’s a type of divination or magic formed from large cities (Leiber’s city of residence San Francisco), that essentially coalesced from the psychic energy (in the Jungian sense) of masses of people.
It’s proved a particularly resonant concept, both for me personally and for the fantasy genre since. Neil Gaiman did something of a spin on it with his magical underground London Below in Neverwhere – I particularly like how each city has its mystical Beast at its heart.
And I understand N.K. Jemisin is doing something similar with human avatars of cities in her Great Cities series.
RATING: 4 STARS****
X-TIER (WILD TIER)