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Why romantasy Is So Popular and
Why Readers Need It?

In the 2020s, romantasy has became the most developing literary genre. Gaining fans around the world, romantasy created not only a passionate community but also a space for all the books between fantasy and romance, making lives of both authors and readers easier. However, as a person that didn't experience the publishing bussiness before the official existance of romantasy, you may wonder: why romantasy is so popular? And why did readers need it?

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas Book Review
Read my review of 'Throne of Glass'
• bestseller by Sarah J. Maas •

When I was twelve, my friend accused me of reading romances, naming my favourite books 'The School for Good and Evil' (SGE) one. Then, my shelves only held serious fantasy books. In response to my friend, I proudly called SGE 'fantasy with a romantic thread' which, there's no denying it, is 100% true. I couldn't call SGE a romantasy, because that subgenre didn't exist at the time. What is more, the statement that SGE is a romantasy is also incorrect. In my understanding, romantasy is a category that requires special conditions, it is something different than the term 'fantasy with a romantic thread' that I came up with in a hurry which, by the way, seems to me to be very accurate.

My Division of Romantasy

I believe that fantasy literature can be divided into several categories when it comes to the supervention of romance as a plot element. I see romantasy as a very specific group of books whose essence does not rest in an existence of a romantic plot, even a very erotised one, but in the ratio of its importance and scope to the entire plot and the world presented. In my opinion, fantasy literature with a very developed romantic subplot will not be romantasy, as long as the other aspects of the plot and the world significantly outweigh the romance.


An example from the Polish publishing market would be the entire body of work by Aneta Jadowska set in Thornversum, especially 'The Hexalogy of Dora Wilk'. This is a series in which the complications resulting from the presence of a love triangle are presented in a broad way, and there is no shortage of bold and vivid scenes between the lovers. However, 'Hexalogy' is not considered a romance although the love story is not insignificant to the plot. But the expansion of the world and other storylines make the romance story disappear among the other elements of the book. 'Hexalogy' remains simply urban fantasy, not earning the 'rom-' prefix. 

My Childhood Trauma: why we needed romantasy?

Due to the relatively recent creation of the term 'romantasy' literature that should be considered as such was simply called fantasy for a long time. I remember how Sarah J. Maas' sneaky labeling of 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' as fantasy triggered a destructive process in the introduction of her prose to me. ACOTAR should have included a trigger warning about the amount of romantic and erotic content in its plot a long time ago.


That way I wouldn't have picked up Sarah J. Maas' books with the conviction that I was reading a fantasy book which the name of the library section suggested (where ACOTAR is, by the way, still located). The location of Maas' books in the library in the fantasy shelve and the cover with the brave heroine misled me. It wasn't until I had started reading that did I realise I wasn't reading a story about a magical world, but a full-fledged romance in disguise. 

When was romantasy Created? 

Maas, unlike Jadowska, focuses painfully on the love story in almost all of her books (except, of course, 'Catwoman'). The world of Maas may seem expansive, especially after the pitiful attempt to merge all the worlds into one big Maasversum, but upon closer inspection, you can see how flat and repetitive it is, which cannot be said of the abundant Thornversum.


Fun fact, it wasn't until 2024, when the term romantasy was actually in use, that Sarah J. Maas's 'House of Flame and Shadow' was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards as 'romantasy' rather than 'fantasy' as 'House of Sky and Breath' was just two years prior. And believe me, the entire 'Crescent City' series is all too worthy of the term romance. (There is a possibility that I will also write a post about this series, but I am not specifying how big it will be at this point). I am therefore extremely pleased with the recent official classification of books like those by Sarah J. Maas as romantasy - it will certainly save many fantasy readers lost between library shelves.

Why Romantasy is such a Popular Genre?

I think that romantasy always has been popular but we didn't call it straight-forward 'romantasy'. Sarah J. Maas and her books are only one of the examples, as well as 'Divergent' or 'The Sellection'. All of these books are so focused on romance that now, they would be romantasy. Back then, when this term didn't exist, we just call them fantasy or YA. And notice that all the books I made as an example were as popular then as romantasy like 'Fourth Wing' is today! So, it isn't about the current fashion - the romantasy writers just answear the old call for the advanced romance!

Are you looking for my reviews or analysis of romantasy books?
You will find them here:

Romantasy

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