Romance, the genre that dwarfs all others, has taken a firm grip on fantasy. There are two ways to classify how it does this. One, Romantic Fantasy, is the full romance meal, where you have to hit all the tropes, and have a Happily Ever After, or Happy For Now ending. But, there’s also Fantasy Romance, which just means you have fantasy with a strong romantic subplot, that doesn’t need all the fixin’s.
Why is this newsworthy? Well, for most of fantasy’s history, it’s not been romance focussed at all. Many fans dislike even a speck of romance in their fantasy, despite romance and sex being two of the main driver’s in human behavior, not to mention being the basis for the most insanely popular genre on the market. But that has changed, and continues to change. Alex Newton of K-Lytics, one of the premier market analysis companies for authors, reports that Fantasy Romance rankings have improved by an average of 80 percent in the past year.
Is this good or bad? Well, I guess it depends on your tastes, doesn’t it? I like some romance in my stories, I like human interaction. I’m not much for reading full bore romance books, but the amount of romance, as note above, can be anything from a little to a lot. Personally, I think this is just fine, and if it’s an opportunity to find more readers, what author wouldn’t like it? And if that’s not your jam, still lots of non-romantic fantasy out there. The tent just got bigger, that’s all, and that’s just fine.