Dungeons, dragons and sex: The new genre that’s slaying publishing

Twilight and The Hunger Games are going to have to make some room because there’s a new pop-cultural force dominating the publishing world: Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean books.

In its first week in Australia, Onyx Storm, the third instalment of the US author’s romance-fantasy series, sold more than 119,300 copies, a record result for a title in the Science Fiction & Fantasy category in this country.

Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series has been topping bestseller lists since 2023.Credit: Compiled by Jamie Brown.

According to data from Nielsen BookScan, that figure is about six times the strongest weekly figure for Suzanne Collins’ mega-popular Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2009).

Yarros has published three books in the series in less than two years, and collectively, they have sold more than 774,000 copies in Australia. The first book, Fourth Wing, and its sequel, Iron Flame, were the two most-read books on Goodreads last year.

Last week’s release of Onyx Storm saw midnight release parties at bookshops around the world, where costumed fans flocked to snag a copy.

So, what is it about Yarros’ novels, and the booming romance-fantasy (aka romantasy) genre in general, that has such a chokehold on readers?

What is Empyrean?

Yarros has been a prolific writer of novels since releasing Full Measures in 2014. However, it wasn’t until Fourth Wing, her first foray into romantasy, that she really took off.

Released in May 2023, Fourth Wing follows 20-year-old Violet Sorrengai, a wannabe scribe and daughter of a strict army general, as she’s pressured to attend a magical university. There, she learns how to fly dragons, which are used as a weapon against a rival neighbouring nation, and gets steamy with her enemy-turned-lover, Xaden Riorson.

Rebecca Yarros has been a prolific writer for over a decade, but it was her foray into romantasy that really caught readers’ attention.Credit: Phoebe Powell

In a nutshell, the series is filled with magic, dragons, betrayal, and a whole lot of sex (or, as romantasy readers call it, “spice”).

The series was initially meant to consist of three parts. However, after Fourth Wing sat at the top of The New York Times bestseller list for 18 weeks, Yarros signed a lucrative five-book deal.

Why is it so popular?

BookTok, the corner of TikTok where users share book recommendations and reviews, has been inundated with Empyrean content since the first title dropped. There are more than 3.4 million TikToks with the hashtag “How was Onyx Storm”, while 7.8 million videos include the hashtag “Explain the Empyrean series to someone who’s never read it”.

BookTok is a haven for readers who enjoy high fantasy, adult fiction and, of course, romantasy. It’s common to see videos by female creators promoting books written by women and about women. This aligns perfectly with Yarros’s female-centric work since, according to her Australian publisher, Hachette, her readership primarily consists of women between the ages of 20 and 40.

Social media can’t be given all the credit, though. Fans of the series have praised Yarros for creating a protagonist who’s capable and feisty, and secondary characters that are nuanced and well-conceived. She has also received applause for writing from the perspective of a character with what appears to be Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a rare connective tissue disorder that Yarros herself has. This kind of disorder is not yet common in the romantasy space, helping some readers with chronic illnesses feel more seen and understood.

What about other romantasy titles?

It’s not just Yarros’ novels that are enjoying a moment in the sun. Alysha Farry, Hachette’s marketing and communications director, says the romantasy genre has performed particularly well over the past 18 months.

“It began gaining significant momentum around 2020, as readers began gravitating toward more escapist, immersive stories that blend romance and fantasy elements and discussing these books on TikTok,” she says.

Farry says Callie Hart’s Quicksilver is performing well, and pre-orders for The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig, which isn’t dropping until May, are already strong.

However, Sarah J. Maas is arguably the best-known author of the romantasy revolution. Her A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015) is a consistent BookTok favourite and has been on the New York Times top 10 combined print and e-book bestseller list for 42 weeks straight. Her book and Yarros’ Iron Flame were, respectively, the sixth and seventh highest-selling novels in Australia last year.

Considering overall sales in the Australian book market dropped 1.3 per cent in 2024, from 69.8 million to 68.9 million units, the surge in romantasy is a welcome outlier for publishers.

Stories like Onyx Storm, Farry says, are resonating with readers who seek more diverse, complex characters and storylines. “They often feature strong, empowering heroines and intricate romantic dynamics.”

And with a free marketing tool as influential as TikTok on its side, it may be a while until romantasy runs out of “spice”.

The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday.