usatoday24
With their colored loins, dream covers and mixture of romance and fantasy, novels Romantasy They are probably bombing you the subconscious in both social networks and in your library visits. What is more complicated is to elucidate exactly what we are talking about and which book or author enters this category, so we will try to shed some light on (sometimes unabarcable) term Romantasy.
What do you refer to Romantasy? We would be facing a subgenre either of the fantastic or romance genre that combines those two factors in their books. Within that construction, the fantasy world has to cohabit, yes or yes, with one or more love stories to adhere to this definition.
In a good novel Romantasy Or romantic fantasy does not prevail one genre over another, fantasy and romance are at the service of the narrative and enriches the entire plot on which the book or book saga is supported. The possibilities, as is usually the case with romance novels, are endless. Thanks to the multitude of tropes that authors can include, diversity within the romance part is very wide, but without a doubt the one that stands out the most in the best -selling books is a good Enemies to lovers (“Enemies to lovers”).
Romantasy It does not refer to something new. Romance and fantasy have always formed a perfect hybrid and have complemented themselves in stories for many years. Diana Gabaldon, the successful writer of the Saga ‘Outlander’ began publishing this romantic history of travel in time in early 1990. If we appeal to the most youthful public we also have the case of the saga ‘Twilight’. Stephanie Meyer’s absolute teenage 160 million copies.
At the time of its launch, marketing was not aimed at using a label like Romantasybut the truth is that they adapt perfectly to their requirements. The already omnipresent sales strategy linked to this term is something that we find more or less recently and thanks to social networks, specifically #BookTok.
Its origin is not clear or we can place it on a specific date. The editorial Bloomsbury He declares that he coined him to identify the genre of one of the most famous writers of romantic fantasy, Sarah J. Maas. But “Romantasy“It was already published in the Urban Dictionary Since 2008. These different versions do not overshadow the fact that their complete explosion happened from the pandemic and especially, since 2024 on social networks.
The queens of Romantasy
If there is an absolute queen of romantic fantasy that is Sarah J. Mass with its saga ‘a court of roses and thorns’ (saga limit). The series began to be published in 2015 but undoubtedly its peak, and when the conversation around Romantasy I copied it, it happens from 2021.
The author herself acknowledges that Tiktok He has played an essential role in his sales number. Bloomsbury, its editorial, affirms that videos with hashtags related to books have more than 14,000 million of visualizations on the Bytedance platform. Looking made the author the best selling in the United States last year, exceeding the figure of 7.7 million copies And, in turn, the English editions of his work exceed 55 million copies sold worldwide.
The key to Maas’s success is the ability to attract followers not only the saga to limit, but to all his previous work and loyalty for upcoming publications. Elucubrations and search for Easter Eggs In all your videos, in pure style Swiftie, They are the order of the day in #BookTok.
Sarah J. Maas has triumphed with ‘a court of roses and thorns’, which tells us the story of Feyre and her sisters in the world of FAE, a fantasy place where her loyalties both in war and love will be committed. But the truth is that with this series the foundations for knitting a magical universe that expands to other series of his as ‘crystal throne’ (2012) or ‘Crescent City’ (2020) were laid. With that methodology as planned, and reaching figures as 4.83 million Sales only in books printed in the first half of 2024, it is difficult not to catalog it as absolute queen of the romantic fantasy.
But the undisputed success of this subgenre is not only due to Sarah J. Maas. If we review the list of best -selling we also find names such as Rebecca Yarros (Empyre Saga), Callie Hart (Saga alchemia & Fae), Cassandra Clare (shadow hunters saga), Lauren Roberts (Powerless Saga), Jennifer L. Armetrout (blood saga and ashes), Holly Black (Holly Black (Saga of the air) among others.
But once again, nothing better than numbers to corroborate the success of Romantasy. Five of the 10 best -selling titles of 2024 were written by Sarah J. Mass and Rebecca Yarrosaccording to the statistics of Publisher’s Weekly in October. In addition, in 2024, romantic books reached 610 million dollars In sales, compared to 454 million in 2023. We talk about 11 million books of this subgenre sold in the first five months of 2024, almost double that in the same period of 2023.
Circana, a well -known analysis company, provides that The end of the bubble arrives this same 2025but it seems unlikely that the romantic and especially the Romantasy Stop having that privileged hole that you have been getting in bookstores. A proof of this is the large number of special editions and reissues that we find for the sale of the main titles of this category, with colored and print looms that have begun to be replicated by other authors of different genres.
Another fact that makes us doubt that imminent end of leadership we find it with the numbers harvested with ‘Onix wings’ of Rebeca Yarros. The third installment of the empyreo saga, which continues the story of Violet Sorngagail at the Higher School of Basgiath, where candidates live or die in the attempt to become dragon riders, has gone on sale at the end of January 2025 and has sold more than more than 2.7 million of specimens in its first week.
These data make it the best -selling adult novel in 20 years. Only in Spain exceeded 120,000 copies In less than a week. The three novels we have so far (‘Blood wings’, ‘Iron wings’ and ‘ónix wings’) have sold more than 12 million specimens in the United States in total, according to data from its editorial, Entangled.
Callie Hart, the author of ‘Quicksilver’, is another of the big names of the Romantasy. The story starring Saeris Fane, a young woman who has hidden from the world her strange power and who accidentally opened one portal to another kingdom meets death itself, has generated a real stir in Booktok since its launch. Not in vain the mentions on the vertical video platform reach the 3 million of visits during the first two months; what is endorsed with commercial success by occupying Sales number 1 on Amazon After his debut last summer.
For not adding that it has also been incorporated into the fashion trend among the main authors of Romantasy (Maas, Armetrout either Yarros) and has sold the Rights of your novel By estimated agreement in the seven figures.
The keys to its success
The numbers support the success of romantic fantasy, but what makes the public hook so much?
One of the strengths of the romance genre is the Security and comfort generated when reading a story with a happy ending. Whether the couple gets an end forever (the acronym “Hea” for the usual romance and #BookTok) as if, as it happens in most sagas, they end up being happy at the moment (a “hfn” ending). In the case of Romantasy The same happens; The intrigue and uncertainty is acceptable in the fantastic or warlike plot that corresponds to the creation of the world, but the protagonist couple usually ends with an HFN.
As was the case with sport and we told you in an earlier articlethe tropes of romance find a multiplication factor of possibilities with fantasy. In the fantastic world we can find academies of dragons, faes, magicians, vampires, wars between lobo men … all combined with a Enemies to lovers, Friends to lovers either Arranged Marriage.
The author of ‘The Queen Sun’ Games’ Nisha J Tuli He talked about that freedom that gender provides: “What I like most about novels Romantasy It can have a great outcome that cannot be achieved with a romantic office comedy (…) I love that ‘has killed your whole family, but now you are going to fall in love’, something that can only be created in a fantasy world. “
Authors must juggle combine key factors in fantasy As the construction of worlds or the creation of magic systems, with the development of romance and at the same time not neglecting the main plot. The only narrative livelihood cannot be the romantic plot nor is it advisable to overwhelm with a world and structure creating an incomprehensible mixture that leaves aside the essence of the characters. As in many occasions in romantic, it is possible that many readers underestimate this subgenre, but you have to recognize some mastery must have to monitor all these elements keeping the suspense for five or more books in some cases.
Many works are inspired by mythology, in medieval legends and some go one step further, mixing humans with dragons, fairies, demons or angels. But what stands out throughout this immense universe of Romantasy It is the emphasis on showing female characters with which, despite their supernatural adventures, we can find a connection point.
Maas He explains it clearly: “I always try to give a feeling of hope in my stories. Not only hope of a happy ending, but also hope of growth and self -esteem (…) the heroines on which I write go through many things, and I always want people who read my books come out with joy and hope that tomorrow can be better. It is worth fighting.”
Perhaps the physical and attractive appearance is personalized by the male characters, but the intention of the authors in which their motivations and actions get out of the norm is clear. In Romantasy The male characters called as Morallly Gray (characters neither good nor bad, but do not hide their dark part) live their peak in popularity and sometimes the first romantic interest may not be the definitive in this subgenre.
With all these points it is quite possible that if the romantic genre is yours, taking the step to romantic fantasy is something that adapts to your preferences. But if your case is the opposite, you are a fan of pure fantasy and Brandon Sanderson is your king, you may find satisfaction on issues such as world construction or magical systems. But the reality will be complex that the introduction of romance and its balance with the plot and the previous factors are of your liking.
Image | Elin Melaas
In Xataka | A chemically pure love: how a neuroscientific is revolutionizing romantic literature with its books
In Xataka | There is an authentic fever for ice hockey. The reason is unusual: the new romantic literature
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings