What is romantasy? Our experts explain the bestselling book trend

By Jodi McAlister, Deakin University, Kate Cuthbert, The University of Queensland

In 2015, Sarah J. Maas published A Court of Thorns and Roses, in which teen heroine Feyre is swept away from her human life into a world of magical fairy court intrigue and romance. The novel, which was marketed as young adult, was very popular. It hit, among others, the New York Times bestseller list.

However, the short-term success of the book pales in comparison to the longer-term success of the (five-book) series it belongs to. Maas has now sold 40 million copies of her books worldwide (as of February 2024).

A Court of Thorns and Roses (referred to by fans as ACOTAR) was already popular on bookish social media, but it hit truly extraordinary heights with the emergence of BookTok – the reader-generated, bookish arm of the social media platform TikTok. Almost as soon as BookTok became a phenomenon – in around 2020 – so too did A Court of Thorns and Roses.

As with the works of fellow BookTok sensation Colleen Hoover, A Court of Thorns and Roses’ popularity drove not just book sales, but conversations. Around this book and others like it, a new term crystallised: romantasy.

Romantasy is currently experiencing extraordinary visibility both on digital platforms and in local bookstores.

While concrete data are scarce, there is little doubt it is selling in remarkable numbers, both in Australia and internationally.

The marriage of romance and fantasy

To be clear: romance and fantasy are not new bedfellows – they have had a long and healthy relationship. The two genres have been in conversation since Guinevere first saw Lancelot.

Many authors have made successful careers by exploring romantic tropes in fantasy fiction, or fantastical elements in romance fiction. In the 1970s, Anne Rice famously did the former with her Vampire Chronicles, starting with Interview with the Vampire, adapted into a film in 1994 and a TV series in 2022.

Even earlier than this, Anne McCaffrey infused romance into her fantasy series Dragonriders of Pern, where humans and dragons form lifelong bonds.

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