Romantasy books have been around since the beginning of genres. Lately, it’s been having a bit of a moment in the sun. On tik-tok, it’s been really, really popular and not without reason. Looking back through my books, I am completely unashamed to admit that the vast majority of my books can be labeled Romantasy books. The genre combines, in my humble opinion, the best of both worlds. The ability to suck you in and make you completely lose yourself within a world, and the ability to make you fall in love with characters falling in love.
That being said, the genre is being treated as though it’s relatively new. And it’s not like there’s been more books being published in that genre. It’s definitely been getting more attention so it might seem like it. But that isn’t the case.
Romantasy, much like Young Adult and New Adult, is simply a new word that describes a larger group of books. The genre Young Adult was actually started by a group of librarians that put together a display of books that might appeal to the ages of 11-18 years old. Obviously, everyone can enjoy those books, there really isn’t an age limit that can and cannot read them. But! The point is that the genres are pretty much all made up.
By and large, the general public decides what genres are popular as well as what genres even exist. New Adult is also very new. It just used to be called mature Young Adult. But librarians as well as the public, noticed that there were some topics that might not have been appropriate for the Young Adult crowd, the New Adult genre was born.
Romantasy is much like that. Instead of just being labeled Romance, Fantasy; it’s now being labeled Romantasy. It’s much more unified as well as much more clear in its labeling. The genre requires that world building take precedence as well as having the emotions and relationship of the main characters being the focal point of the story. It’s about making sure that the story is about the characters and their growth within their world.
The new genre has the potential to give budding authors more confidence and established authors more wiggle room to write whatever they want.
I genuinely love that more and more people are being vocal about their reading habits to the point that we have essentially created a new genre. It’s pretty awesome, don’t you think?
Now, with new genres, we are seeing more and more indie imprints or indie authors… Another discussion perhaps?
Until next time,
Bookishly Nerdy 