What Is Romantasy, Anyway?
If you do a Google search for “romantasy,” you don’t get a clear definition. There’s no Wikipedia page outlining elements of the genre. Instead, the results largely include lists of recommended romantasy books to read, and they have a considerable amount of overlap. So there must be some generally understood definition that people are using to formulate these lists, right?
(How to Mix Romance and Magic to Write a Romantasy.)
I’m an avid reader, a former Bookstagrammer (someone who posts about books on Instagram), and a traditionally published author of the Seven Faceless Saints duology. I joined the online book community in 2018. All things considered, that’s not a very long time ago, but I suspect I’m not alone in remembering the calls for “fantasy romance” to make a return, specifically in the adult age category.
But the thing is, it never disappeared! Many writers—specifically women—pioneered and popularized the sub-genre. So what’s the difference between fantasy romance and romantasy? What about romantic fantasy? Are these all synonyms?
From what I’ve been able to glean, the answer is this: Nobody really knows. Or rather, people might think they know, but we’re far from achieving universal agreement.
I’m not claiming to be a topic expert by any stretch of the imagination. The books I’ve published thus far are young adult fantasy, and although there is a prominent romance thread, whether or not they’re considered romantasy depends entirely on who you ask. So that’s what I did—I asked!
I put out a call on social media for other readers and writers to submit their brief explanation of the genre. Quite a lot of people responded, and some answers were as follows:
Romantasy is when the romantic and fantasy aspects of the story are equally importantRomantasy is just a romance book with a fantasy world as a backdropRomantasy is when the plot would fall apart without the romanceRomantasy is a fantasy plot with a central romance that follows romance book “beats” (see: Romancing the Beat, by Gwen Hayes)Romantasy is just fantasy with “spicy” scenes
Most other responses were similar to at least one of these. Ultimately, I seemed to end up right where I’d started: at a crossroads where fantasy and romance intersect, but nobody can actually agree on when that intersection becomes romantasy.
Part of the problem—as so often happens with art—comes down to subjectivity. Who decides when the romantic and fantasy elements of a book are perfectly, equally important? If the inclusion of “spicy” scenes are romantasy’s sole requirement, is George R. R. Martin writing it? At what point does a plot “fall apart” past the point of redemption?
I’ll draw upon a timely, wildly popular example: Fourth Wing. From what I can tell, the book is universally acknowledged as being true romantasy. But if you remove Violet and Xaden’s romantic relationship from the equation, is it not still a tense story about surviving a deadly dragon-rider’s academy? Sure, it becomes considerably less compelling, but the plot is still there. The protagonist’s goals are still the same.
What does fall apart, I’ll suggest, is a prominent element of the protagonist’s characterization. In a romantasy novel, so much about your main character is revealed through the way they interact with—and react to—their love interest. A lot of page time is given to their internal monologue where the love interest is a key consideration. It adds a source of constant internal conflict that often runs alongside the external “fantasy world” conflict, for lack of a better term.
Perhaps, then, it is not the plot that falls apart when the romance is removed, but a specific and captivating set of internal stakes. And yes, I’ve noticed it often does follow the traditional romance “beats,” even if you’re not promised that happy ending!
Check out M. K. Lobb’s Disciples of Chaos here:
(WD uses affiliate links)
More Questions Arise
What about YA (Young Adult) romantasy? Many of the novels we initially thought of as falling into the broader category of “YA fantasy” are now being recategorized (at least in terms of marketing). In fact, depending on your definition, you might even say that most YA fantasy books published in recent years are romantasy.
(M. K. Lobb: On Working Through Lingering Teenage Rage.)
It depends on how widely you’re willing to cast that net—and those trying to sell books are casting that net as widely as they can. Why wouldn’t they? With romantasy becoming something of a buzzword with no clear definition, it’s easily capitalized upon. What if the romance isn’t physical? YA is, after all, marketed at teens. What if it takes a backseat to whatever other conflicts arise from the fantasy world? Does it matter?
Here’s a question that certainly does: Why is romantasy so white? I don’t claim to have read whatever number of books constitutes “a lot” of the genre. That said, I’m extremely (exhaustingly) online. I see what books are pushed over and over again. I see which ones are snapped up by traditional publishing from the indie pool. I’ve inhaled and enjoyed the popular ones just like everyone else. The lack of diversity, though, is glaring.
Marginalized authors are writing just as much romantasy—if you’re looking, you can find those books—but this fast-evolving trend seems to be leaving them largely behind. Don’t get me wrong: Traditional publishing as a whole seems to have pulled back in its commitment to diversity, especially when faced with legislation around book bans. It is by no means a romantasy-specific issue. However, it is most apparent there—at least from where I’m standing—because of the massive divide between the leading titles and… everyone else.
Right now, romantasy equals money, and publishers are a corporation first and foremost. They’re going to chase that profit, and much of the time, they don’t appear to see it in marginalized authors’ works, attaching labels that subcategorize those books even more. Romantasy becomes Asian-inspired fantasy or Black fantasy. For those looking to diversify their bookshelves or see themselves in stories, that might be great. From a broader perspective, though, it risks shoving those titles into boxes, which can translate to a lack of opportunities.
To sum up a very complex issue in a few words: Everyone’s writing romantasy. Who gets to reap the benefits of that label, however, is a different story—and one that has little to do with whether a book actually fits into the definition. Because apparently, we haven’t agreed upon what that definition is.
With a growing catalog of instructional writing videos available instantly, we have writing instruction on everything from improving your craft to getting published and finding an audience. New videos are added every month!
Then again, is the term romantasy just another way of keeping books by and marketed at women out of the wider adult fantasy genre? Is it gathering readers on one front, but alienating them on another? You can see how complicated this question really becomes.
In a final attempt to nail down an answer, I turned to indie publishing. I would be remiss to discuss the romantasy boom without tipping my hat to indie authors and publishers. While for a time traditional publishing seemed to have little interest in romantasy—or at least, little interest in calling it that—the indie world has been doing it forever.
I believe a not-insignificant amount of credit can be attributed to the marketing efforts undertaken by indie authors on platforms such as TikTok, where word spreads more efficiently than ever. Not just in terms of speed, but in influencability. Video reviews lend a sort of connection and sense of genuineness that other media simply can’t touch, and TikTok has made consuming that kind of media easier than platforms such as YouTube ever did.
Still, from what I can tell, even indie romantasy is all over the map. It encompasses an enormous variation in genre that ranges from closed-door romance to the kind of content traditional publishing previously wouldn’t have touched.
Cool, but What Is Romantasy?
My best answer, but certainly not the only answer, is this: Romantasy blends romance and fantasy in a way that incorporates what are widely agreed to be the “romance plot beats.” It often requires that your protagonist’s characterization hinge upon their relationship with the love interest. And these days, sadly, romantasy has also become a sort of manufactured marketing tactic. A catch-all way to say, “This fantasy novel has a central romance, and you should read it.”