The Fastest Growing New Genre - Romantasy

 


If you’ve spent any time browsing Amazon’s bestseller lists in the last few years, you’ve probably seen the same pattern over and over: books with magical worlds and emotional romances near the top of the charts, selling not just well but astonishingly well. That’s not a coincidence — it’s the rise of a whole genre that’s redefining how readers think about fantasy and love.

That genre is known as romantasy — a deliberate blending of romance and fantasy where the emotional journey between characters matters just as much as the magical stakes around them. And right now, it’s one of the most commercially successful categories in fiction, especially on platforms like Amazon where dedicated categories and bestseller lists highlight its growth.

From Niche to Market Force

Romantasy didn’t come out of nowhere. Fantasy and romance have been popular genres for decades, but they didn’t always overlap in meaningful ways. Traditional fantasy tended to focus on quests, magic systems, political intrigue, and world-scale conflicts. Romance, by contrast, was often grounded in familiar settings where emotional arcs took centre stage.

Romantasy changes that. In this hybrid genre:

  • The fantasy world-building gives readers an immersive escape,

  • The romantic relationship gives them something personal to invest in,

  • And the combination creates emotional stakes that feel both intimate and epic.

What makes this blend commercially powerful is the way it engages multiple reader communities at once. People who might usually read fantasy are drawn in by the emotional depth, and romance readers find themselves exploring worlds they might not normally choose. That intersection expands the potential audience significantly — and Amazon’s categorization reflects that. Many bestsellers are tagged under both fantasy and romance categories, showing how publishers and retailers treat it as its own phenomenon.

The Amazon Effect

On Amazon particularly, romantasy titles have consistently appeared on bestseller lists — not just within niche categories but alongside major mainstream releases. The Fantasy Romance and Romantasy bestseller lists feature titles that regularly hit the top of genre rankings, with readers snapping them up in print, Kindle, and audio-book formats.

Take Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros as a prime example. This novel became a viral hit — boosted heavily by the online BookTok community — and reached the #1 spot on Amazon’s bestseller list as well as on The New York Times lists, spending many weeks near the top. Its huge popularity helped cement “romantasy” as not just a buzzword, but a commercial category.

Its sequels, including Iron Flame and Onyx Storm, also performed extraordinarily well — with Onyx Storm selling millions of copies in its first week and setting records for adult fiction sales.

Another recent example is Quicksilver (Hart novel), which found success on Kindle through viral promotion and self-publishing, later debuting at #1 on multiple bestseller lists and earning a film adaptation deal after catching fire online.

These examples show two things at once: romantasy sells and it thrives in digital markets like Amazon where discoverability and reader engagement are tightly linked.

The Numbers Behind the Buzz

Market analysis makes it clear that this isn’t a passing trend. In the United States alone, romantasy books collectively generated hundreds of millions in sales — with reported figures showing a jump from $454 million in 2023 to over $610 million in 2024, an increase of roughly 34 percent. That’s significant growth for any genre, let alone one still emerging in the public consciousness.

At the same time, broader fantasy and science fiction book sales also increased sharply (more than 40 percent between 2023 and 2024 in the UK), and romantasy was a major contributor to that surge.

Just as importantly, the genre’s popularity is not confined to one demographic or platform. While younger readers on social media — particularly BookTok — played a huge role in sharing and recommending these books, the appeal stretches across age groups and formats.

What Makes Romantasy Work So Well on Amazon

So why does romantasy work so well, particularly on a platform like Amazon?

There are a few reasons:

Discoverability and Categorization
Amazon has refined genre categories to the point where romantasy now exists as a searchable niche. That means readers can find it easily, and algorithms can recommend it effectively. This is powerful because readers who enjoy one romantasy book are likely to discover others nearby in the platform’s ecosystem.

Multiple Engagement Channels
Romantasy isn’t just read — it’s talked about. Viral hashtags, online discussions, Goodreads reviews, and social media trailers all help titles gain traction. Those reader-driven marketing cycles often start on Amazon (searching, reviewing, bookmarking), which then feed back into visibility.

Series-Friendly Consumption
Romantasy is often written in series — and series sell extremely well on Amazon because readers who enjoy a first book are more likely to buy the next. The pace of release cycles and ongoing narrative arcs keep readers engaged over months and years, not just a single week.

Cross-Genre Appeal
Because these books sit at the intersection of fantasy and romance, they benefit from visibility in multiple genre categories. A reader searching for “fantasy romance” or “romantasy” will find books grouped together, which improves conversion and discoverability.

Culture, Community, and the Future of Romantasy

Romantasy’s rise isn’t just about algorithms and sales figures. It’s about community. Readers are not quietly buying these books — they’re forming fan groups, creating art, making playlists, discussing theories, and forming emotional bonds with characters and worlds. That kind of engagement fuels long-term success more than any marketing campaign could.

BookTok, Goodreads, Amazon ratings — all of these have helped turn what could have been a niche experiment into a mainstream phenomenon.

Even publishers are responding. Traditional deals, midnight release events, audiobook productions, and upcoming TV adaptations — some centred around Amazon’s own studios — signal industry confidence in romantasy as a key segment of adult fiction.

What This Means for Writers and Readers

For writers, the genre’s popularity on Amazon and beyond means opportunity — but not by accident. Successful romantasy works deliver more than sparks in a magical world. They create emotionally resonant characters, layered relationships, and fantasy settings where love matters to the plot.

For readers, it means more stories that reflect both the thrill of adventure and the pull of connection — dual experiences that many readers find profoundly satisfying.

Romantasy isn’t just selling well on Amazon. It’s connecting with readers in ways few genres have managed to do in recent decades.

And judging by the numbers, the trend is only gaining momentum.

Keep Writing!

Rob Parnell 

 

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