THE ROMANTASY LEAGUE
It's been a while since a single book could summon thousands, but in November and again in January, fans lined up outside bookstores in the cold, awaiting the stroke of midnight. The draw? Romantasy.
Rebecca Yarros' Iron Flame, which broke a preorder record, arrived on Nov. 7 and shot to the top of bestseller lists worldwide. Then came Sarah J. Maas's House of Flame and Shadow, the third volume in the Crescent City series. Released on Jan. 30, it sold more than 120,000 copies in the first week and was an instant bestseller too. Maas's biggest competition may be herself — she has four novels on the New York Times bestseller list and 13 on the USA Today list — and Yarros, whose books are on five bestseller lists.
Romantasy is hot, in more ways than one. It's one of the fastest growing genres, according to market researcher Circana, with sales increasing by 42 per cent, from 2022 to 2023. Maas alone has sold 40 million copies of her books worldwide.
What is romantasy anyway? Like all fun indulgences such as brunch, Botox and Bennifer, romantasy is a portmanteau combining “romance” and “fantasy.” These books feature all the fantasy hallmarks, such as magic systems, mythology, high stakes and abundant worldbuilding, but the love story is central to the narrative. Romance gets top billing in part because “fantamance” is a terrible name, and because there's a difference between a fantasy with romantic elements, and a romantasy: In the latter, without the romance, the book falls apart.
The fastest way to tell if you're looking at a romantasy is to look at the title. Is there a common noun, followed by two that involve something terrestrial and something corporeal? A House of Earth and Blood? A Song of Blood and Stone? You've got romantasy. You may also encounter a verb, followed by disaster and anger nouns (Fall of Ruin and Wrath, King of Battle and Blood) or authority figure of weather (Queen of Shadows). Don't worry, though: Click one and your friendly neighbourhood algorithm will show you many more.
Romantasy may be a new-sounding term, but the genre is not. Among the earliest titles is War for the Oaks, by Emma Bull (1987), which won the Locus Award for best first novel. It follows a young rock singer whose band and relationship fall apart just in time for her to be drafted into a fairy war. In the years since, romantasy has more often been found within other genre headings like “urban fantasy,” “epic fantasy” or “paranormal.”
With the increasing popularity of romantasy as a search term and a genre — the #romantasy tag alone has some 800 million views on Tiktok, for example — some of the early, influential books are getting new covers that move away from the classic clinch of two people fervently embracing in favour of more current styles, such as bas-relief illustrations of something on fire, encased in ice, or both. C.L. Wilson's Lord of the Fading Lands, originally published in 2007, has a new cover that reflects romantasy's influence on marketing imagery.
If you're new to romantasy and want to see what the fuss is about, here are a few recommendations:
House of Flame and Shadow
Sarah J. Maas
The latest in the spicy and rich Crescent City series that began with House of Earth and Blood in 2020, this story finds the lead characters worlds apart and yearning for home, and may include special surprises for Maas fans as well. And, an added treat for audiobook fans: A new audio version of the first book featuring a full cast of voice actors, with music and sound effects, will release in two parts.
These books feature all the fantasy hallmarks, such as magic systems, mythology, high stakes and abundant worldbuilding, but the love story is central to the narrative.
The Mead Mishaps series
Kimberly Lemming
The titles say it all — That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon, That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf. Lemming is having blast playing with the tropes and clichés of romance and fantasy.
Consort of Fire
Kit Rocha
If you like your romantasy with dragons, particularly horny ones, look no further. Rocha's new series features a seductress, a handmaiden/assassin, and a dragon who wants to possess them both. Much of the hot dragon romantasy can trace its lineage to books like Dragon Actually, by G.A. Aiken, the first of a series that features a ferocious heroine named Annwyl the Bloody, who trains with a mysterious, arrogant knight during the day and shares her secrets at night with a dragon named Fearghus the Destroyer.
The Bliss Wars trilogy
L. Penelope
In Savage City, a captive Fai must heal a princess of the Nimali, his sworn and hated enemy, in a world that blends high fantasy, fae and shifters in an urban post-apocalyptic landscape. The concluding book in this trilogy, Brutal Fortress, arrives this month.