In certain corners of the internet recently, people have been debating why “women can’t stop reading fairy porn”.
These discussions centre around the fantasy romance genre, also known as romantasy, which has exploded in both popularity and sales. Onyx Storm, Rebecca Yarros’s third book in The Empyrean series, was the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years when published in early 2025, according to the New York Times. It sold more than 2.7 million copies in its first week.
Bloomberg reported that romantasy was estimated to bring in US$ 610 million in sales in 2024, revitalising the publishing industry. These growing sales have made us, as feminist marketing scholars, interested in understanding this genre and its readers who swoon over muscular, handsome faerie princes and dream of dragon taming.
Traditionally, male readers have dominated fantasy fiction fandoms. As such, narratives centring female characters have often been sidelined in many of the most popular fantasy fiction books. Think of JRR Tolkien’s Bilbo and Frodo Baggins from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, or Fitz from Robin Hobb’s The Farseer Trilogy series.
Centring women’s storiesRomantasy stories counter this, offering fantasy worlds where romance is a key plot point. The protagonists are often women and they centre women’s stories and women’s romantic relationships.
Female characters in these books set off on “hero journeys”, meet handsome...
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