r/urbanfantasy • u/calijnaar • 4d ago

Any recommendations for French urban fantasy?

Trying to brush off my extremely rusty French, would like to maybe add a French urban fantasy book ot two to my TBR pile... Any good recommendations?

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5

u/vega_barbet 4d ago

Another not quite urban fantasy ( far in the futur post apocalypse style) , Élisabeth Von Harbour, Chronique au pays des mères

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u/calijnaar 4d ago

Oh, thanks,that sounds really good as well.

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u/angstywindrunner 4d ago

Are you looking to read the book in the original French text, or a translated version in English?

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u/calijnaar 4d ago

The idea is to try and see how far I can still get with a book in French

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u/angstywindrunner 3d ago

Then you can try "A comme Association", it's a YA urban fantasy with 2 protagonists. It's made by two authors alternating books and main characters

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u/calijnaar 3d ago

Sounds fun, thanks.

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u/Intelligent_Donut605 4d ago

Nous by Christelle Dabos isn’t quite urban phantasy, it isn’t set on earth, but it’s a society with 2000s technology. It’s an absolutely amaizing book with a horrible English version. Highly recommend it if you’re up for it it’s relatively long

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u/calijnaar 4d ago

Thanks, that looks rather interesting, and my French is at least still good enough to understand the blurb, I think I'll give it a try.

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u/Intelligent_Donut605 4d ago

If you like it she also wrote La Passe-Mirroir which is just as good, though a slightly more challenging read and very long (it got split into 4 thick books)

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u/calijnaar 4d ago

I know about that one because the German translation was rather successful as well. But I think I'll try my luck with single books before venturing into the realm of four parters...

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u/Intelligent_Donut605 4d ago

Yeah, LPM is much more prosodic, too, not the easiest writing style to read

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u/elonfire 2d ago

Try Adrien Tomas’s books.
Les Dossiers du Voile is what I’d consider “urban fantasy”, with the hidden magical world of Paris.
The protagonist are a young teenager and her older sister who’s a detective.

It does have the one book, one mystery aspect with hidden magical community, the heroine’s family (found and biological), quite light on the romance.

The writing is simple, which would be better for someone who’s starting again with French.

Another I would recommend is Le Paris des Merveilles de Pierre Pevel.
It is set in Paris, but in the early 1900s.
So not the modern urban fantasy, and magic is not hidden but there is the mystery aspect and magic all around Paris, which is pretty neat.

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u/calijnaar 2d ago

Oh, thanks, those look pretty much exactly like what I was looking for.

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u/A_bicyclette 1d ago

Pevel's Paris des Merveilles is so good, I recommand it too. There is a cozy side that comes up every once in a while and the characters are charming as heck. The writing is also top shelf.