Is Romantasy Actually Smut or Are People Just Boring: A Study

If you are a fantasy fan, especially a female fantasy fan, it is inevitable for you to be bombarded with content about romantasy on social media. Until recently, I never really had interest in romantasy. However, after being devastated by a couple of fantasy series one after another for a few months (looking at you “The Locked Tomb” series and “Hierarchy” series), I decided to do some more “light” reading. Or at least what I thought would be light reading as the advertisement for these books were that they are about romance and ~spice~. And I realized, as usual, people are stupid. So let’s examine the assumptions.

Is It Really “Light” Reading?

Yes and no. Depends. So far, I read the “Empyrian” series (i.e. Fourth Wing and sequels) and the first book of ACOTAR. While these are simply a fraction of the entire genre, I can still speak to the “lightness” argument.

So are these books light reading?

In terms of the tragicness of the events that are happening, definitely not. They are in fact pretty dark. On the other hand the prose is of varying quality and the language and the dialogue is simpler than most high fantasy I have read. Especially ACOTAR is very very juvenile in its writing. Reads more like a 13yo teenage girl fanfic. I rarely not finish series, but I think I might DNF this one.

The plot on ACOTAR is also terribly shallow. Villains are evil for the sake of being evil, all the while making decisions that a 10 year old wouldn’t make. Especially the main villain. Her henchman says “Our queen never makes bargains that might hurt her”. And then the said queen proceeds to create a loophole completely unprovoked by giving a 6th grade riddle to the FMC but I digress, just painful to read. Does it make it dumb? Yes. Does it make it light? Not really, the events that follow are pretty brutal and, although cliché, very cruel.

Fourth Wing series on the other hand have a plot-level complexity to it. Both the heroes and villains are morally grey, even if it is not explained explicitly you can sense that even the most abhorrent character might have some justification for their actions, the reader gets the impression that maybe things are not what they seem but you don’t quite know what is the truth, which is pretty nice. What is not nice is that once the characters reveal what their intentions/reasons etc. are, they do it in such a way that the character is speaking in a foreign language that they have just learned. Simple constructs. Simple euphemisms. If this is an acceptable level of language complexity in a book, it makes me feel good about my Bulgarian.

So back to the original question, is it light reading? No it is not. It is in fact one of the most emotionally loaded fantasy series I have read. The characters feel real enough that once something happens to them, it reflects on the reader. And awful things DO happen to these characters. It is 100% not light reading.

Overall, I am pretty convinced people who dismiss these books as “light” haven’t actually read them.

Are They About Romance?

Yes, to a very high extent. The main setting of these books are between two individuals who seem to have deep feelings for each other. No dispute here. However, the romance is not so much about courting, like it is in modern world. It is more about developing the said feelings and expressing those feelings by sacrificing certain things for the significant other. Because remember, awful things are happening.

Is the Sex Really Spicy?

No. In fact there is hardly any sex at all compared to actual plot events. ACOTAR has a grand total of 2 sex scenes. T-W-O. Two. Fourth Wing has like 3. The total number of sex scenes in the entire 3 book (so far) Empyrian series is about 10.

“Ok yeah that’s not much but is it ~spicy~?”

No. Maybe in the later books of ACOTAR, it might be. But in the 3 books of The Empyrian + 1st book of ACOTAR, the sex is pretty normal.

But I suppose “normal” needs definition. What I mean by normal is there is nothing in the sex scenes that would require explicit consent at any given moment. Sex isn’t particularly rough and it is always between the same two people. There isn’t even any light bondage (which would require explicit consent), despite the fact that male main character (MMC) in Fourth Wing can command shadows and physically manifest them. It is just normal sex.

So let’s establish the facts so far: The sex scenes make up less than 10% of the books and when they do happen, it is standard sex. So why are people so up in arms about these books?

Because in both books the female main character expresses her sexuality without shame. Because in both books the male main character actually enjoys that expression and actively works towards pleasing her. Sometimes even forgoing his own pleasure. There is hunger from both parties and both welcome it. And for some reason the idea of a woman being hungry for sex and a man prioritizing his partner seems to be anathema to our “modern” society.

The more I read and the more I see the reactions to these books online, I am utterly convinced that the people calling this smut are just boring. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening and it is not even frequent. And if think this is an overwhelming amount of intense sex, maybe fix your own relationships?

Is the sex passionate? Yes. Are the sex scenes described in detail? Yes. Is it normal sex? Also yes. Are they the main focus of the books? Not really.

Are These Books Smut?

No. You need to fix your sex life.

Are The Books Actually Good

ACOTAR no. I would maybe give it 4/10. And that’s mostly because the side character is fun to read. Otherwise it was pretty bad.

The Empyrian series is not bad. I would really really like better prose but the plot and all the characters are deep and complex. 7/10.