Romantasy
Romantasy gives the romance and the fantasy equal weight. The love story drives the plot as much as the war, the court intrigue or the magic, and both need a satisfying ending.
Where romantasy came from
Romance and fantasy have shared books for a long time. Robin McKinley's Beauty (1978) and The Blue Sword (1982) put a love story at the heart of a fantasy plot, and Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart (2001) wove desire, espionage and court politics into one long epic. For years books like these were shelved as fantasy with a romantic streak, or romance with an unusual setting.
Sarah J. Maas changed the scale. Throne of Glass (2012) and especially A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015) found an enormous audience for secondary-world stories where the romance was as important as the war. Holly Black's The Cruel Prince (2018) and Jennifer L. Armentrout's From Blood and Ash (2020) followed, and “romantasy,” a word in use since at least 2010, spread through social media, especially BookTok, as the name for what readers wanted more of.
Rebecca Yarros's Fourth Wing (2023), a dragon-rider war academy story, became a major bestseller and helped bring the word into the mainstream. Bookshops now give romantasy its own tables.
What separates it from neighbouring subgenres
Romantasy is defined by balance. Remove the romance and the plot collapses; remove the fantasy and it collapses just as badly. That two-way dependency is what separates it from its neighbours.
Paranormal romance is a romance first, usually set in our world with vampires, shifters or fae. Romantasy is more often set in an invented world, with a fantasy plot at full scale alongside the love story.
Many romantasy novels start from a fairy tale. A Court of Thorns and Roses began from Beauty and the Beast. A retelling is defined by its source; romantasy is defined by the weight it gives the romance.
Epic fantasy often includes a romance as one thread among many. In romantasy the relationship is a main thread, and readers expect it to be resolved as carefully as the war.
Historical fantasy sets magic in the real past and leads with its history. Some romantasy borrows historical courts and costume, but its world is usually invented and its focus is the couple.
In romantasy, saving the kingdom and choosing who to love are the same plot.
How it reads
Expect a heroine at the centre, often in first person, pulled into a dangerous magical world: a fae court, a war college, a cursed kingdom. The romance follows recognisable tropes such as enemies to lovers, forced proximity or fated mates, and readers seek those tropes out by name. Heat levels range from closed-door to explicit.
Series are common, and the romance often builds slowly across several books while the fantasy plot escalates. The satisfaction readers want is double: a world that's been saved, or at least changed, and a relationship that has earned its ending.
Reader favorites
Popular in Romantasy right now
01
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses
02
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros
The Empyrean #1
03
Throne of Glass
Sarah J. Maas
Celaena / Throne of Glass #1
04
From Blood and Ash
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Blood and Ash #1
05
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black
The Folk of the Air #1
06
Divine Rivals
Rebecca Ross
Letters of Enchantment #1
07
Serpent & Dove
Shelby Mahurin
Serpent & Dove
08
Powerless
Lauren Roberts
The Powerless Trilogy #1
09
A Deal with the Elf King
Elise Kova
Married to Magic #1
10
A Shadow in the Ember
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Flesh and Fire #1
Book links go to Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores. Saga Reads may earn a commission if you buy through them.
Frequently asked
What does romantasy mean?+–
It's a blend of romance and fantasy, used for books where the two genres carry equal weight. The love story is central to the plot rather than a subplot, and the fantasy world is fully built rather than a backdrop.
What's the difference between romantasy and paranormal romance?+–
Paranormal romance is usually set in the modern world with supernatural characters, and follows romance genre conventions closely. Romantasy is usually set in an invented world with a full fantasy plot running alongside the romance.
Where should a new reader start?+–
Fourth Wing is a popular gateway: fast, high-stakes and built around a dragon war college. A Court of Thorns and Roses is the other common starting point, and the book many readers credit with starting the boom.
Is romantasy spicy?+–
It varies a lot. Some romantasy is closed-door, and some is explicit, especially in adult series. Many readers check content notes or reviews for heat level before starting a series.
Does romantasy need a happy ending?+–
Readers generally expect the relationship to end well, as in romance. In a series that resolution may wait until the final book, and the couple can go through real loss on the way.
Keep track of the long ones
Saga Reads follows your place across sprawling series and universes, remembers reading order, and asks Sage what to read next. Free to use.