Dragons, fairies and love: How ‘romantasy’ became TikTok’s hottest literary trend

In keeping with Gen Z’s preference for “discovering” things that have been around for a long time, from flip phones to libraries and Friends, the latest slice of culture to get repackaged and rebranded is the fantasy romance novel.

Dubbed “romantasy”, a portmanteau of romance and fantasy, the genre that was historically derided as the guilty secret of Mills & Boon-reading middle-aged housewives, has become a multi-million behemoth, making huge stars out of the most popular authors.

The romantasy hashtag has garnered billions of views across social media, and Facebook groups dedicated to the many different series have hundreds of thousands of followers.

Here are five of the most popular authors writing in the genre.

Sarah J Maas

At a midnight launch party this week at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York, hundreds of mostly young women, turned up to countdown the release of House of Flame and Shadow, the third book in the hugely popular Crescent City series by the current queen of the genre, Sarah J Maas.

Maas, who started her writing career penning fanfiction and posting it on online forums, has so far written 22 books, including the popular Glass Throne, A Court of Thorns and Roses (Acotar to those in the know) and Crescent City series.

Romantasy also captures Gen Z's woefully perceived attention span. Maas’s books regularly top 200,000 words and her latest is 839 pages across 102 chapters.

Her public appearances provoke the kind of hysteria that was once bestowed on Twilight author Stephenie Meyer and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling.

Maas’s books are often inspired by existing stories, with her Assassins series based on the Cinderella story, while A Court of Thorns and Roses is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Her characters have names that seem straight out of Tolkien – Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, Arobynn Hamel – and the level of romance in her books elevates them above what would be considered Young Adult, moving into the New Adult genre.

The Acotar series and Crescent City books have sold more than 38 million books worldwide to date.

Shanora Williams

Having already won a legion of fans with her contemporary romance novels, US author Shanora Williams dipped her toes into the romantasy waters with her popular Tether Trilogy.

Vicious Bonds is the first book of the series, introducing the female character Willow who, after hearing a man’s voice in her head, gets pulled through a portal, landing in a forest in a different world where she meets Caz, who has been hearing her voice in his head.

The second book, Wicked Ties came out in November last year and will be followed by the third, Rising Shadow, due to be released later this year.

Fans of Peaky Blinders may enjoy the trilogy as the male protagonist is inspired by the lead character Tommy Shelby, who Williams says: “Inspired me so much I wanted to write a story based off of him, but instead of writing in the past, I set him to a different realm.”

Rebecca Yarros

Yarros’s debut, Fourth Wing, spent 18 weeks on The New York Times' bestseller list after being lauded on BookTok.

The first book in the Empyrean series follows Violet Sorrengail, who joins Basgiath War College in the fictional country of Navarre, and who must train to become a dragon-riding warrior against her wishes.

Yarros has written five series, including Flight & Glory and Legacy. She is also the author of seven stand-alone novels.

The second book in the Empyrean series, Iron Flame was released last year, selling more than half a million copies on the first day.

Carissa Broadbent

Broadbent has become a heroine for aspiring authors looking to self-publish, as she eschewed finding an agent to publish her latest novel, The Serpent and the Wings of Night, herself.

“I love being able to have full control over my output, books, packaging, marketing, and career,” she wrote on Goodreads. “The financials of indie publishing are also very different than trad, and they've been very kind to me.”

Her ongoing Crowns of Nyaxia series features books including The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King and Six Scorched Roses as part of a planned six-novel series. She has also written the War of Lost Hearts series, comprising four novels.

Her protagonists are mostly vampires, with a few human allies thrown in for good measure.

Jennifer L Armentrout

Werewolves are the main protagonists of Armentrout’s work, and the American author’s books have landed her on the number one spot on the bestseller lists of both The New York Times and USA Today.

Of her 65 published books, 50 are in the romantasy genre.

Her Blood and Ash series, with a focus on the love story between main characters Poppy and Casteel, is a sweeping epic across six books, with the final long-awaited instalment being released in May this year.

“I try not to map out an entire series in too much detail because then you feel locked in and are reluctant to change the path, even if the story now dictates that it should happen,” she told nerddaily.com of her process. “I know what the key points are for the overall plot and character development and how the series will ultimately end.”

Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk

“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”

“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”

“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”

“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.

A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.

Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.

A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.

On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.

The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.

Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.

The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.

MATCH INFO

English Premiership semi-finals

Saracens 57
Wasps 33

Exeter Chiefs 36
Newcastle Falcons 5

In%20the%20Land%20of%20Saints%20and%20Sinners

%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERobert%20Lorenz%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Liam%20Neeson%2C%20Kerry%20Condon%2C%20Jack%20Gleeson%2C%20Ciaran%20Hinds%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km