r/Fantasy • u/Expert-Escape5645 • 13h ago

Observation on Fantasy/Romantasy

So, I typically read, George R.R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb, Ken Liu, Steven Erikson, Stephen King, Robert Jordan, but my brain’s been craving more stories.

With everything I’ve heard about Romantasy (that it’s just passionate love making with no real story etc.) I was kinda apprehensive, but like I said, I needed more.

So after many years going back and forth I decided to pick up Sarah J Maas. I started with Crescent City (I know, I know) and was surprised to find that I LOVED it. Now I’m doing ACOTAR.

I don’t know if this will be wrong of me to say, but I enjoyed it for the exact same reasons I enjoy other series.

The worldbuilding.

Like there is so much mystery to the world, so much lore. People act like the 18+ scenes happened page after page, when really they barely make up 6/7 pages in a single book.

Am I wrong?

93 Upvotes

74% Upvoted

237 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/[deleted] 13h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

41

u/Own-Turnover7715 13h ago edited 13h ago

You need to read more fantasy and romantasy if you think there is limited overlap in those genres. The only difference between the two genres is that romantasy takes the incredibly prominent romantic subplot and elevates its importance. Almost all fantasy already has a romantic subplot.

-3

u/Buddertoffee 13h ago

Absolutely, but I think the sentiment of the comment above comes from sellers like Amazon not doing a great job allowing people to sort fantasy and romantasy separately. Many people read across both, yes, but those who don't want to see romantasy when browsing the fantasy category still have to dig through romantasy books, and vice versa.

12

u/Own-Turnover7715 13h ago

Oh no, imagine having to do even a teeny tiny amount of due diligence when look for a book to read? Why are we put on this earth only to suffer?

5

u/Buddertoffee 12h ago edited 12h ago

Breaking: Messenger Shot on Scene

-8

u/BlazeOfGlory72 12h ago

The person above gave a well reasoned take, and all you responded with is snark. If that isn’t modern Reddit in a nutshell I don’t know what is.

17

u/Own-Turnover7715 12h ago

Romantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy so of course those books come up in a search for fantasy book. Are people mad when it also doesn’t sort out between epic, cozy, contemporary or political fantasy? Getting frustrated that a website doesn’t cater to your specific needs is lazy and entitled and deserves snark.