If you’re a fan of romance AND fantasy, romantasy might just be perfect for you!

Romance and fantasy are two tried and true genres. Many readers, and many writers, enjoy a good ole romance (hello, Romance Lovers Anonymous readers — that’s why we’re all here, right?). Others love to dive into a high fantasy with a complex world, characters, and creatures all with rules outside of our reality.

Either way, readers want to escape — that’s why we read, and that’s why romance and fantasy are genres that have withstood the test of time. Both are some of the biggest genres out there today. Take a look at any bestseller list, and romance and fantasy will occupy it together, with authors from each genre sharing space with one another.

Something that has shifted in recent years, however, is that these romance and fantasy books have begun to overlap more than ever. While, historically, many fantasies have included romance, they haven’t always featured romance as a main plot point. That’s changed, however, as authors like Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo, Rebecca Yarros, and Victoria Aveyard have swept readers away to new worlds and crafted love stories that leave fans swooning.

But what exactly is romantasy, this new and heightened blend of fantasy and romance? And what’s the deal with creating a new word for something that has, let’s be honest, already been in existence?

Everything you need to know about Romantasy.

While the term has become a hot one in recent years, romantasy has actually been around for over a decade. It first appeared on Urban Dictionary in 2008 but became more prevalent in usage with the advent of social media. As with many writing and reading trends in the literary world, romantasy got a big boost from BookTok and the new ways in which readers are talking about reading online. According to stats from Bloomsbury quoted in The Guardian, for Sarah J. Maas, “videos with hashtags connected to her books have more than 14 billion views on TikTok alone.” Books like Fourth Wing (which I will admit I am finally reading this week as I write this) have achieved wild success due to the way they spread online, with swoon-worthy heroes like Rowan, Rhysand, and Xaden (#ifyouknowyouknow) fueling the fire. As with many genres, readers take to online spaces to talk about their new favorite books and characters, whether that be BookTok, Goodreads, Bookstagram, or other platforms. Romantasy has become so popular in part because it also becomes #Romantasy and spreads to readers around the globe via the World Wide Web.

So what is it? If you’re still unsure what this (sort of) newfangled genre entails, it is, at its most basic, simply a melding of two genres: romance and fantasy. But if you were to ask an avid romantasy reader to define the genre, you’d probably hear that it’s much more than just that. Here are some of the main elements of romantasy:

1. It relies on typical fantasy elements.

The biggest difference between romantasy and just a regular old (albeit often spicy) romance, is that it relies on typical fantasy elements. While I’m definitely not the absolute final say on what makes up a romantasy book, I’ve learned from my foray into this new genre that romantasies are definitely fantasies — suffice it to say that if you hate fantasy, you probably won’t like romantasy.

That’s because romantasies are fantasies — you can’t completely untangle the two. If you start reading the Throne of Glass series and aren’t a fan of magic or other-worldly creatures, you won’t like the book. In fact, with that series in particular, if you’re there for the primary romantic plot, you won’t even find it until several books into the series.

That’s often how romantasies work — they are fantasies first, and building the world, the magic system, and the dark forces at work that will lead to one (or many) penultimate battle scenes is crucial to the story. Romantasies are fantasies at heart.

2. It relies more heavily on traditional romance elements, including tropes.

While romantasies might be fantasies at heart, what sets them apart from a more traditional fantasy is the heavy romance elements. While romance is a part of almost every story ever created at this point (what’s more true to the human experience than love?), in a romantasy book, the romance plotline is just as big a part of the hero and heroine saving the world as their powers are.

Many romantasy books have entire segments of the book or, at minimum, chapters, that focus solely on a slow-burn romance. Some books are extremely steamy (ahem, A Court of Silver Flames) while some are a bit tamer, but still rely on traditional romance elements. I suppose you could even classify some of the introductions between love interests as meet-cutes (as long as those meet-cutes involve fae, magic, and tattoos — there always seem to be lots of tattoos). After the meet-cute, typical romance tropes come into play — enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, grumpy/sunshine, even the one-bed trope. It’s a romance and a fantasy, after all.

3. It’s character-driven (or perhaps more accurately, relationship-driven)

Often in romantasy, the relationship is a main part of the plot. The romance between the hero and heroine usually helps save the world (two hot, magically gifted people are better than one when it comes to stopping the destruction of the magical otherworld depicted in a map at the front of the book, after all). And it always, always at least helps save the protagonist.

As in a typical romance book, the main character is often fighting off some sort of demon. While in a classic romance, that demon is usually something a bit more tangible — or at least understandable — in a fantasy, sometimes it’s an actual demon come to ruin the very ground on which she stands. With a romantasy, it’s usually both — and, again, the relationship is a significant part of defeating those demons.

4. Most importantly, it includes a love story that is just as epic (if not more epic) than the epic battles fought.

Something perhaps a bit different in romantasy that sets the genre apart from many romances is that the love story spans numerous books. The epic-ness of the love story is exacerbated by the sheer scope of the story. Many romantasies occur over the course of several books — often quite thick, in-depth, and definitively epic books. This makes for some intense love stories and an intense reading experience. If you’re particularly into the series, there are often even specific ways to read certain books (I skipped the Throne of Glass tandem read — sue me. I still enjoyed the books, don’t worry). Because of this, you might find yourself needing a break from the intensity of the epic story (love and otherwise) and spread the reading of a long romantasy series over several months. Regardless of how you read, if you dive into a romantasy book or series, you’re sure to find an epic love story on the pages — dare I say it, a love story for the ages.

What are your thoughts on romantasy? Love it or hate it? Comment to join the discussion! I think I like it, but it still depends on the writing style, story, and characters. It definitely won’t be replacing my love of a good traditional romance any time soon, though!

Previously published in Romance Lovers Anonymous