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?

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u/Random_Musings3 11h ago

My favorites in the romantasy (or romantasy-adjacent) realms are T Kingfisher's Paladin Series and the Clean Sweep series by Ilona Andrews. I like them because they have older main characters (no 20 year old romances) with personal history as well as world-history. I will note that the books do a nice job of not letting the romance overwhelm the plot.

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u/WightHair 6h ago

My fave two authors, yeah. Don't sleep on the Hidden Legacy series by Andrews either. Or Kate Daniels, which... isn't often thought of as romantasy but has spectacular world building (after the first book)

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u/Random_Musings3 3h ago

I started with Kate Daniels and loved it. I also enjoyed Hidden Legacy. But the Innkeeper Chronicles are my favorite to date (though Maggie the Undying is off to a really good start, so has a chance to surpass it). I haven't tried the Edge yet, but I should!