Romantasy isn't just hot, it's shaping modern day fairy tales
Some describe it as a full-blown escape. For others, they'll jokingly tell you it's cheaper than therapy.
For millions of devoted readers, romantasy is a world unto itself and a way of life.
Romantasy-themed balls and book clubs, romantasy sweatshirts and tote bags, flowing romantasy-inspired gowns and even romantasy-inspired tattoos are a small part of a growing community.
Its home is predominantly on social media, courtesy of TikTok hashtag #BookTok, where impassioned fans rave about their favourite romantasy characters with videos that achieve viewing numbers in the millions.
It's where devotees whipped themselves into a frenzy over the long-awaited release of Onyx Storm earlier this year, the third book in the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros.
The latest misadventures of Xaden and Violet sold 2.7 million copies in its first few weeks of release and is now the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years.
And fellow romantasy author Sarah J Maas, who wrote the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, was the highest-grossing author in 2024, contributing $16 million to the Australian publishing industry according to her publisher Bloomsbury.
But what is romantasy and why does it attract such a loyal fanbase? And is it just about the sex lives of elves and fairies? Or something more?
Romantasy is a portmanteau of romance and fantasy or, as romance author and academic Jodi McAlister likes to describe it, "a collision of these two genres".
"A romance novel only has two rules. It has to have a central love plot, and it has to have a happy ending," she explains.
"In romantasy, we are thrown into a fantasy world. It's [the fictional kingdoms of] Navarre in Fourth Wing or Prythian in A Court of Thorns and Roses."
While the often-explicit sex scenes make it seem like these books are preoccupied by impressive wingspans and skilled swordplay, complex world-building sits at the heart of romantasy.
Much like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, romantasy features fantasy worlds with sophisticated political systems and unique cultures.
Referred to as "secondary world fantasy", it's what makes it so distinct from romance stories.
But according to Dr McAlister, romantasy is not a new phenomenon.
"We only have to look back as far as Twilight to see it, but it goes back so much longer than that."
It's this secondary world fantasy that drew Sabine Paglialonga to romantasy stories.
"I love getting completely swept up in a place that feels so real that I'm still thinking about it while I do the dishes or in the middle of work meetings," says the romantasy influencer who is known as @spellboundpagess online.
"It's a world that cannot exist in our reality, but we so desperately want it to be real", says Alexandra Squires, who runs romantasy-inspired social media account @readingandrapture.
"It sparks a feeling in me that reminds me of being a kid where you would imagine something into existence and have the most fun with it.
"We lose that as we get older so to be able to read something as an adult, which has those adult themes too … but which also sparks a childlike sense of joy and wonder? That is so special for me."
Fantasy and romance are a "natural marriage" that raises the stakes of the other, according to Dr McAlister.
"The romance genre is necessarily quite intimate because you focus on a central couple or a central throuple, but at the core of the romance is the relationship. But put that in a fantasy realm and you can crank the stakes up to 100 because now we're in the realms of life or death.
The reverse can be said for fantasy, which is often so expansive and complex it obscures the human element.
"It can get so big, so political, so concerned with the machinations of power and geopolitical intrigue, that you forget about the people at the heart of it. And no one cares about the people at the heart of it until they care about the people.
"Romance is a really good way to do that."
Steamy, graphic sex dominates much of romantasy fiction, often referred to by fans in online discussions as a novel's 'spice' rating. One chilli pepper signifies low-level sex, while three chilli peppers (or more) often means abundant explicit sex.
Female protagonists are vocal and enthusiastic participants when it comes to steamier scenes, but according to Dr McAlister, this centring of women's pleasure is "not new".
"Sex has been in romance forever so romantasy is not newly explicit," she says.
"Romance is a genre that's by women for women, so women's lives and pleasures have been centred in romance for a long time. As we've moved into the 21st century, this has really started to come to the fore with sex."
Tattoos as a declaration of love and loyalty however feels entirely contemporary.
Main male characters (MMC) are usually described as being swathed in large, inked markings that often cover their torsos and creep up their necks. They signify loyalty to a people or unbreakable mateship and fated love.
"Tattoos and the idea of magical marking is interesting … If you know someone is your mate because it's written on their body, that kind of bone-deep certainty is something I think people crave a lot in their real life," says Dr McAlister.
Our romantasy influencers are unequivocal about their love for the genre. For Alexandra, it's escapism in its "most pure form".
Sabine enjoys romantasy because "real life doesn't cut it".
"While contemporary or urban fiction is great and all, it doesn't take me far enough. I want a full-blown escape.
"Send me to live with the Fae, teach me healing magic, and throw in a dangerously attractive, brooding ancient MMC who falls hopelessly in love with a seemingly ordinary female lead. Bonus points if he's ready to burn the world down for her.
"It's the ultimate fantasy."
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