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What is Romantasy?

  • Apr 3
  • 3 min read
Raphael, detail of Saint George and the Dragon, 1506. Oil on panel. 11.22 x 8.46 in (285 x 215 cm). Detail. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Raphael, detail of Saint George and the Dragon, 1506. Oil on panel. 11.22 x 8.46 in (285 x 215 cm). Detail. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

The other day, I mentioned the genre of “romantasy” to someone who wasn’t aware of the term, and they paused, looking a bit confused. "Wait," they asked, "is that a specific genre now, or are you just reading 19th-century poetry?" It was the perfect opening to explain that while "Romanticism" is a classic era of art and literature, the word on everyone's lips today is actually Romantasy. It’s a fairly new name for a very old kind of story: fiction where romance and fantasy are both central, rather than one being just a side plot. The label really took off in the 2020s through platforms like BookTok, turning this blend of love and magic into a massive, mainstream genre.







A Quick Trip Through Time

Believe it or not, the "fated mates" and "magical quests" we love today started centuries ago.

  • Medieval Roots (12th–15th Centuries): The genre traces back to chivalric romances featuring knights, magical objects, and monsters.

  • Classic Ancestors: Stories like Tristan and Isolde, The Romance of the Rose, and Le Morte d’Arthur are considered the true ancestors of the genre.

  • Renaissance to Gothic: Heavyweights like Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser blended magic and love in works like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Faerie Queene. Later, 18th and 19th-century Gothic fiction added the dark, supernatural mood that modern Romantasy still uses today.

  • The 20th Century Transition: By the early 1900s, pulp fiction like Edgar Rice Burroughs’s The Princess of Mars began shaping the modern form. In the late 20th century, books like Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks helped establish the modern market category.


The Pioneers You Should Know

Before the term "Romantasy" was a hashtag, these authors were doing the heavy lifting:

Author

Notable Contribution

Andre Norton

Her Witch World books (1960s) are early "romantasy-adjacent" classics with strong romantic elements.

Anne McCaffrey

Blended adventure and relationships in the Dragonriders of Pern series, influencing later crossovers.

Marion Zimmer Bradley


The Mists of Avalon (1983) is a landmark for mythic, romantic fantasy.

Sharon Shinn

Her Archangel series is a classic example of the modern fantasy-romance structure.

Tamora Pierce

Known for substantial romance alongside deep worldbuilding in series like Song of the Lioness.


Why the 2023 Explosion?

If it’s such an old style of storytelling, why did it suddenly become a phenomenon? It was a perfect storm of community and content:

  • The "Gateway" Titles: Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses remained a primary gateway, while Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing became a massive catalyst in 2023.

  • The BookTok Effect: TikTok’s algorithm rewards high-emotion, visual content, making Romantasy tropes—like enemies-to-lovers, fated mates, and slow-burn tension—incredibly shareable.

  • The Clear Promise: Readers love the genre because it offers high-stakes worldbuilding paired with an immediate, character-driven emotional core.

  • Publisher Momentum: The trend translated into massive sales, leading publishers to treat BookTok as a serious marketing engine, which further amplified the genre's visibility.


The Bottom Line

Romantasy isn't a brand-new invention; it's the latest evolution of a very old blend of love and magic. What is new is the massive scale of its popularity and the way readers and publishers now treat it as its own major genre.


 
 
 

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