From BookTok to book shops, why Romantasy is our new must-read

Bored by traditional airport thrillers, horror and crime yarns? There’s a new genre taking over Aussie fiction – and social media’s bookworm community is leading the charge.

The first Star Wars trilogy came out when I was a kid.

I spent countless hours playing on our swing set with my sister and the boy who lived a few houses down, pretending to be Jedi in that rich sci-fi/fantasy world.

The original Clash of the Titans movie came out around the same time and introduced me to the lore of Greek gods, dangerous labours, and romance!

Add in cartoons like X-Men, He-Man and She-Ra, and Transformers, and then the rise of vampires – I’m looking at you Anne Rice! – and I guess you could say I’ve been a fan of fantasy all my life.

‘A fan of fantasy all my life’ … and it started with Star Wars.

Meanwhile, as I got a little older, I delved into a different genre. Romance books became a true passion (no pun intended). In a world where reality can sometimes turn not-so-happy, there is just something spectacularly wonderful about knowing that a story will end with a happy ever after.

Unfortunately, for the most part, the fantasy books I found during those years didn’t combine my love of big, magical, imaginative worlds with the kind of swoon-worthy, Happily-Ever-After-Ending romance I loved and read just as much. There were some that touched on romance, but, for me at least, not enough and not always with the happy ending I was looking for.

It wasn’t until Twilight that I learned there were stories out there that combined my two favourite things. Not only that, but there were more books out there for me. I just had to know where to look.

‘It wasn’t until Twilight that I learned there were stories out there that combined my two favourite things’ … actors Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in the movie adaptation of Twilight: New Moon.

Can you imagine how spectacularly happy I was, as a reader, to discover this combination? Seriously. Life-changing.

Because, at this point in my life, I had started writing and never finished probably forty books. Then I tried my hand at a paranormal romance – and I finished it in six weeks. Was it rough and did I have a lot to learn? Absolutely. But I had found my calling! All I can say is a huge thank you to Stephanie Meyer for introducing me, and millions of other readers, to the magic of this genre!

After Twilight we got even more fabulous content perpetuated buy books and TV shows like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries. And the key element to all of these, at least for me, was that the fantasy and romance elements shared equal page or screen time.

‘I had found my calling!’ … Texas-based Abigail Owen is now a best-selling author.

But as happens in the entertainment space, the paranormal romance genre waned a little bit. As an author, it became harder to get books into bookstores. The good news is, thanks to e-readers and indie publishing, the thousands and thousands of fans out there still were able to find tons of new fantastic books and authors. Again, we just had to know where to look.

Fast forward to more recently, and bring on Sarah J. Maas’s ACOTAR, Jennifer Armentrout’s Blood & Ash, and Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing.

These absolutely banger books have added huge high fantasy worlds to the mix. BookTok, meanwhile, helped give a broader reach and voice to fans of the genre. This combo gave us a new rise of stories that combine fantasy and romance – Romantasy – taking over the bookstores!

A great example is When The Moon Hatched, by Australia’s own Sarah A. Parker, which has been riding high in the charts for months now. And if you’d like some stats, sci-fi and fantasy book sales in Australia increased 31 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022, the highest growth of any genre – followed by romance and historical fiction.

‘Proposed to on an aeroplane by a total stranger because I knew who Darth Maul was.’ … so there’s an upside to the Dark Side.

I am beyond thrilled to see this, because it means that new readers are discovering this genre just like I did back in the 2010s.

I am often asked these days if I’m surprised that romantasy is as huge as it is now. The answer is no! Not even a little bit. The audience has always been there for it. I think what makes romantasy such a hit is that has the equal appeal of both genres.

The more I talk to other readers of romantasy at conventions and signings, the more I realise how much the combination attracts readers who originally read the fantasy/sci-fi and romance genres separately (or only one of them). But combined, we are reaching readers of both who either don’t mind the addition of the other, or learn to love it just as much. This means that romantasy has UNIVERSAL appeal. So why choose?

‘There are millions of readers like me’ … The Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen

I used to think that I was weird for being a girl who liked fantasy and sci-fi stories. There was a lot that fed into this perception, primarily being told directly that I was weird all through high school and college.

But also fun things, like I was teasingly proposed to on an aeroplane by a total stranger because I knew who Darth Maul was. Now that I’m an author in the romantasy space, and attending cons and seeing sales numbers, I can tell you there are millions of readers like me. And when you give us really good stories that blend our favourite genres we will show up. And I’ll be first in line!

The Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen is out now, published by HQ Fiction. Stand by for US-based Abigail’s Inferno Rising series later this year – and tell us what you think of Romantasy at the Sunday Book Club group on Facebook.

Originally published as From BookTok to book shops, why Romantasy is our new must-read