Beyoncé's career in 📷 Solar eclipse guide 😎 Previous US disasters Play to win 🏀
HAPPY EVER AFTER
Amazon.com, Inc.

Sci-Fi Encounters: Exploring appeal of fantasy romance

Veronica Scott
Special for USA TODAY
"The Winter King" by C.L. Wilson.

Perhaps it's the influence of The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, and Game of Thrones on television, but I've noticed an increase in the number of epic fantasy romance series over the past few years. These books include the high stakes, the magic, the swordplay, the ancient civilizations, kings, queens, wizards, sorceresses … and the Happily Ever After romance endings. (Or Happy For Now in some of the installments.)

Who better to ask about the topic than some of the authors who write these wonderful books? My two questions were: What do you find so appealing about writing epic fantasy romance? And who's on your to-be-read list in the genre?

C.L. Wilson, author of five volumes in The Tairen Soul Book series, The Winter King (Weathermages of Mystral) and more: I'm a longtime fantasy reader and romance reader. They are, in fact, my two favorite genres. I love the imagination and magic of fantasy and the emotion and happily ever after of romance, and having the best of both in one great read? Absolute heaven! I always equate fantasy romance as the modern-day fairy tale. I've been a fairy-tale lover since before I could read the words on the page myself, so it's only natural I gravitate towards fantasy romance as an adult.

TBR list: My auto-buys include: Thea Harrison, Nalini Singh, Patricia Briggs, Christine Feehan, Kresley Cole and Jeaniene Frost.

"Master of Crows" by Grace Draven.

Grace Draven, author of Radiance (Wraith Kings book one), Entreat Me and Master of Crows: I've always loved losing myself in alternate worlds and cultures when I'm reading, so fantasy has been a mainstay of my reading preferences. I'm equally fond of romance. Historical, contemporary and, later on, paranormal. The journey of a man and a woman toward their earned HEA is a grand thing. However, I always wanted to have a little more fantasy in my romance (true sword and sorcery kind of stuff) and a lot more romance in my fantasy. This particular subgenre was custom-made for me as both a reader and a writer. Not only do I get the vast expanse of world-building in imaginary worlds with all the sword and sorcery flavor I've enjoyed in fantasy but also the intensity of the romantic interaction between the hero and heroine of the tale. Have your cake; eat it too.

TBR list: That is a really long list, so I'll limit it to a half dozen, in no particular order. Full disclosure: I've worked with some of the authors I'm listing here in a professional capacity, but it was my love of their work that initiated the contact and subsequent team-ups we've had between us.

• Dana Marton. I'd classify The Reluctant Concubine and Accidental Sorceress as more romantic fantasy than fantasy romance, but the romance in there is lovely and the world-building and writing phenomenal.

• Intisar Khanani. There is a lyricism to Khanani's writing style that verges on the poetic. I think one could almost sing her books. Her novels Thorn and Sunbolt are excellent, but if you'd like a teaser-taste of her style, I'd recommend The Bone Knife.

• Cate Rowan. I'll be the first to admit it was her covers that initially drew me to her books. I'm a sucker for good cover art, and her books sport some of the loveliest. Fortunately, the story on the pages is as good if not better than the cover art. The Alaia Chronicles will suck you in.

• Jeffe Kennedy. There's a very good reason why Kennedy's The Mark of the Tala was nominated for Book of the Year for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Awards. One of the best FR romances I've ever read with characters you fall in love with as they fall in love with each other.

• Amy Raby. The first book I picked up by her was a FR titled The Fire Seer. Fascinating characters and a mystery set in the world of the Indus Valley culture. Incredibly unique and well done.

• Last but certainly not least, Elizabeth Hunter. One of the finest storytellers and wordsmiths writing today in my opinion. She has a foot in both the paranormal and contemporary fantasy romance camps. For those readers who prefer the latter, I can't recommend highly enough the Irin Chronicles.

Accidental Sorceress by Dana Marton.

Dana Marton, author of The Hardstorm Saga, including Reluctant Concubine and Accidental Sorceress: The sheer, limitless space for creation. I type the words and worlds appear in all their magnificence, and they take my breath away. Absolutely anything is possible, including magic and special abilities — the only limit is my own imagination. For my romantic suspense books, usually the entire story takes place in roughly a week. I write murder investigations or search-and-rescue missions. The plots are very tight, and rapid action is paramount. The players are limited in number. But, oh, in an epic romance. Entire armies and countries can be involved. The scope of an epic fantasy romance is a beautiful thing. Yet the heart of the story is still deeply personal. It's one person's struggle to survive without losing who she is. (At least in my books.)

The central question of Reluctant Concubine is: Can a person remain kind in an unkind world? In a world where kindness is equated with weakness, and the weak are trodden underfoot, how does someone hold on to their gentle light? Our culture tends to prize warriors above all others. (Be it military heroes or sports heroes.) In Reluctant Concubine, the heroine — a budding healer — is sold to a barbarian warlord. Essentially, it's a fish out of water story, and the stakes could not be higher. I'm working on book three of the trilogy, and I'm still as excited about exploring this world as I'd been when beginning book one. I'm lucky beyond words that so many readers decided to join me on this journey. Fantasy romance is where the fantasy is romantic and the readers are epic!

TBR list: Grace Draven, Karen Marie Moning, Elizabeth Hunter, Maria V. Snyder, C.L. Wilson, Elizabeth Vaughan ... The list is seriously too long. (But if you'd like to recommend others ... :-) I'm a hopeless book addict.)

Amy Raby, author of four novels and a novella in the Hearts and Thrones Series, and two books (so far) in The Coalition of Mages series: As a teenager, I grew up reading fantasy novels, starting with Narnia and the Prydain Chronicles and moving on to more adult fare. Then I discovered and fell in love with the work of Barbara Hambly. Her fantasy novels always featured a strong female protagonist — this was something of a novelty in the '80s — who fell in love with an equally strong male protagonist. These books were not categorized as romance as they were mostly about the fantasy plot, but I loved them for the romances and those strong heroines.

Later, when I began writing my own fantasy novels that just happened to feature strong heroines and romances, members of my SFF critique group complained that I was spending too much page time on the romantic content. I realized that yes, I was spending a lot of page time on the romance, and for a good reason: because that was the part I liked best! Rather than decrease the amount of romantic content in my books, I increased it. I joined the RWA to learn more about the romance genre and began to market my books as fantasy romance.

Fantasy romance allows me to write about the two things I love best: fantasy worlds with magic, and romantic relationships. It's like having my cake and eating it too.

TBR list: A lot of my favorite books that blend fantasy and romance are not considered romance novels; they're categorized as fantasy. But I think they're very similar to what I write, just shelved differently. These include the Barbara Hambly novels that inspired me when I was young, especially Dragonsbane and The Silent Tower. Another that I loved to pieces is Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner, which features a male/male romance. Among the books categorized as romance, I like the series by Alexis Morgan that begins with My Lady Mage.

The Tears of the Rose by Jeffe Kennedy.

Jeffe Kennedy, author of The Twelve Kingdoms trilogy: Fantasy romance hits my sweet spot. The fantasy aspect lets me create worlds, set up the social mores for maximum thrill and have heroines who are larger than life. The romance gives me room to have the heroines find themselves through sexual exploration and the love of someone who appreciates them as no one else does. Both allow for the heights of emotion that lead to personal transformation, which I love.

TBR list: I've been reading my sister nominees for RT Magazine's Reviewer's Choice Awards in Fantasy Romance. I read Grace Draven's Enreat Me (and also her newest, Radiance, another delicious fantasy romance) and up next are Amy Raby's Prince's Fire and C.L. Wilson's The Winter King. I'm also excited to finally get to Sharon Shinn's 13th House and Elizabeth Hunter's Irin Chronicles.

Anna Kashina, author of three volumes of The Majat Code, two volumes of The Spirit of the Ancient Sands and more: Everything. My most rewarding experience as a writer is to create characters to die for, and I find both romance and fantasy to be perfect tools for character development. Romantic relationships provide the best possibility for showing multiple facets of a character through emotional challenges, creating conflicts and cliffhangers even in everyday situations. Fantasy enables taking these emotions to the extreme, by putting the characters through ultimate dangers that are only possible in a world with magic.

Another aspect of fantasy I find irresistible is the ability to create historical settings that draw on elements from different cultures. These settings add visual beauty and exotic flavors to the story. In the end, when all these elements come together in the right way, my work on a novel becomes pure joy. I can't wait to get to it every day.

On a personal level, I find romance to be such a natural part of life that it would seem unnatural to write about healthy young people without developing any romantic interests between them. I also love happy endings. It does not mean, of course, that everyone in my novels must always find their happily ever after, but it just feels so rewarding when two characters who are meant for each other end up happily in love.

TBR list: My recent favorite fantasy romance author is Amy Raby. I really enjoyed her Hearts and Thrones series very much. My next to-be-read fantasy romance is Amy's new release, The Fire Seer.

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope.

L. Penelope, author of Song of Blood and Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles book one): I love writing fantasy romance because it brings together my two favorite genres. So much of romance is about escaping into the fantasy of the perfect love. While I enjoy contemporaries and historicals as well, the addition of a fantasy world, a magical system or imaginative creatures just makes everything more fun. You get to view the world through a different lens and give the characters higher stakes and more to fight for. Without a strong love story, even the most magical fantasy tale falls flat for me. I need that strong character connection and the heightened emotions of two people falling in love in order to truly lose myself in a story. Writing them is only natural.

TBR list:The Fire Mages by Pauline M. Ross, Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder, Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine, Daughter of Gods and Shadows by Jayde Brooks, The Scarecrow King by Jill Myles … And so many more!

Eleri Stone, author of two volumes in the Spellcraft series: I love writing fantasy because the only limitation to the story is my imagination. If I can imagine something — say, a dragon — and then credibly explain its existence within a given world, then I've made it real for readers, if only for a short time. There's real magic in that. Pairing a fantasy world with a romantic storyline is a chocolate and peanut butter combination for me. Sure, fantasy and romance are great alone, but they're even better together.

TBR list:Radiance by Grace Draven, Warrior's Dawn by Isabo Kelly, Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan. (This has been recommended to me a hundred times. I have no excuse for not having read it yet.)

Veronica: I'd like to thank Heather Massey of The Galaxy Express blog for her invaluable suggestions and input for this post!

Amazon best-seller Veronica Scott is a three-time recipient of the SFR Galaxy Award and has written a number of science-fiction and paranormal romances. Her latest is Mission to Mahjundar. You can find out more about her and her books at veronicascott.wordpress.com. Please e-mail Veronica at scifiencounters@gmail.com about content related to this column. Due to the volume of mail, e-mails may not be answered personally, but all will be read.

Featured Weekly Ad