Arts & Humanities

How does it feel to be alive? Art has answers

Megan M Rogers — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 20:04:51 +0000

How does it feel to be alive? Art has answers Megan M Rogers Mon, 06/29/2026 - 14:04

Calling it an "unusual and risky" work, former New York Times art critic and CU ��ý�� Professor Megan O'Grady fuses memoir and art criticism in a book that's drawing fans and kudos.

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Telling stories of 'The Garden'—poetry, memory and grief

Megan M Rogers — Fri, 29 May 2026 19:06:25 +0000

Telling stories of 'The Garden'—poetry, memory and grief Megan M Rogers Fri, 05/29/2026 - 13:06

CU ��ý�� poet Julie Carr explores themes of time, war, Jewishness, memory, techno-biology, friendship and grief in her recently published book "The Garden."

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Pups to take the stage

Megan M Rogers — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:49:46 +0000

Pups to take the stage Megan M Rogers Fri, 04/03/2026 - 08:49

Fans of canines and Shakespeare will have the ultimate experience this summer at "Shakespeare in Love," whose cast includes dogs from recent auditions on the CU ��ý�� campus.

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Young musicians tend to keep playing later in life

Megan M Rogers — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 15:28:32 +0000

Young musicians tend to keep playing later in life Megan M Rogers Mon, 03/30/2026 - 09:28

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

The path is not linear, but some young musician end up playing later in life, many starting, stopping and resuming in adulthood. Genetics and home environments play differing roles, CU ��ý�� research finds.

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Grant to examine singing at altitude

Megan M Rogers — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:16:11 +0000

Grant to examine singing at altitude Megan M Rogers Thu, 03/26/2026 - 15:16

College of Music

A newly funded interdisciplinary collaboration will examine why it's difficult to adapt to singing in Colorado and provide best practices for singers who tour through or move to the state—to keep their voices healthy and adapt to singing at altitude with efficiency.

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Film builds science into beaver tales

Megan M Rogers — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:18:34 +0000

Film builds science into beaver tales Megan M Rogers Thu, 03/12/2026 - 08:18

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

CU ��ý�� alum Emily Fairfax shared her scientific expertise as the beaver consultant on the new Pixar film "Hopper."

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Art historian walks into the Middle Ages

Megan M Rogers — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 21:00:55 +0000

Art historian walks into the Middle Ages Megan M Rogers Fri, 02/27/2026 - 14:00

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

CU ��ý�� Professor Kirk Ambrose set out to better understand art, doubt and medieval pilgrimages, but his 800-mile walk has modern implications.

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The real Regency: What history says about 'Bridgerton'

Megan M Rogers — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 19:56:04 +0000

The real Regency: What history says about 'Bridgerton' Megan M Rogers Wed, 02/25/2026 - 12:56

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

CU ��ý�� scholar Nicole Mansfield Wright says "Bridgerton" demonstrates how fantasy can illuminate real history.

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What's that knocking in the trees?

Megan M Rogers — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:51:06 +0000

What's that knocking in the trees? Megan M Rogers Thu, 02/12/2026 - 07:51

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

In a new book, CU ��ý�� folklorist Jack Daly bridges the gap between academic research and Colorado legend.

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What is 'romantasy,' and why can't readers get enough?

Daniel William Strain — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 18:31:30 +0000

What is 'romantasy,' and why can't readers get enough? Daniel William… Wed, 02/11/2026 - 11:31

Daniel Strain , Nicholas Goda

Editor's note: This article, originally published Feb. 10, 2025, was updated Feb. 11, 2026.

This Valentine’s Day, love is in the air—and so are magic, flaming arrows, fairies, dragons and more.

Christine Larson. (Credit: Jimena Peck)

Last year, "Onyx Storm," the third book in Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series, took the publishing industry by, well, storm. The book follows a dragon rider named Violet and her family, friends, lovers and exes at Basgiath War College. It sold 2.7 million copies in its first week on bookshelves, a 20-year record for literature marketed toward adults.

“Onyx Storm” is one of the biggest success stories for the fast-rising genre of fiction dubbed “romantasy.” These books blend the conventions of fantasy novels with those of romance. Think sorcerers, mythical creatures and raging battles mixed with heaping doses of sex. Other heavy hitters in the genre include Sarah J. Maas. Her “A Court of Thorns and Roses” (or ACOTAR, to fans) novels dive into the adventures of Feyre Archeron in the faerie lands of Prythian.

Christine Larson, assistant professor of journalism at CU ��ý��, follows trends in the romance industry closely. Her 2024 book “Love in the Time of Self-Publishing” traces the 40-year history of Romancelandia, a tight-knit community of romance writers.

Larson weighs in what makes romantasy books so appealing, how TikTok played a role in their popularity, and why you may want to reevaluate those steamy sex scenes.

Is the rise of romantasy a new phenomenon?

Everyone talks about romantasy as if it's new. But the fantasy or paranormal sub-genres in romance have been around for decades. We can look at “Twilight.” We can look as far back as the “Dragonriders of Pern” series by Anne McCaffrey in the 1960s. Those books combined adventure and strong women who find their equal and their happily ever after.

Why do you think they’ve become so popular?

Romantasy has really taken off for two reasons: One reason is that Sarah Maas and Rebecca Yarros are amazingly good writers who tell a great story. The second is because people are feeling unsettled right now. Women, especially, are often feeling powerless, and the heroines in these books have power. They gain power, and they find love interests who are their equals. That’s important to women right now—to imagine a different world.

How did social media play a role in the emergence of romantasy?

Romantasy has been promoted in a huge way by TikTok, or, specifically, by the sub-segment of TikTok known as BookTok. Romance has been the most popular genre of fiction since the 1980s. With the rise of BookTok, younger readers dispelled myths about older romances. A lot of people thought romance was Fabio and a scantily clad woman bursting out of her bodice, and that it was very old fashioned. But, in fact, romance has come a long way. It has all these different sub-genres now.

Where did all these types of romance come from?

The evolution of new sub-genres in romance rose because of self-publishing beginning around the launch of the Amazon Kindle in 2007. There were many stories that could never be told, could never get published in traditional romance publishing, including stories about Black protagonists, Latina protagonists, LGBTQ+ protagonists, and even these fantasy stories.

Romance writers are super smart, and they said, "I don't need a publisher. I can self-publish." These books took off, and, eventually, romance publishers had to change, as well.

Romance has come a long way, but a lot of readers still turn up their noses at these books. Are romantasy books subject to those same biases?

Romance is the most disparaged, dismissed, mocked genre in the history of literature, but women's literature has always been denigrated by the literary community. It’s not only romance. Fantasy has also been a sort of stepchild of the science fiction world that was associated with women writers. It’s also thought less of in the literary world.

One of the central, and perhaps most controversial, aspects of these books are their sex scenes, which get, um, a little explicit. What roles do these scenes play in the books?

Anyone who is shocked by the sex scenes in romantasy has not read romance. Romance comes in, shall we say, a variety of spiciness levels—from zero (like Amish romance, which is very sweet) all the way up to four chili peppers (like “50 Shades of Gray”).

The portrayal of sex in romantasy, and all romance, celebrates women's pleasure. That's why it's controversial. Many societies throughout history have feared or suppressed women's sexual pleasure, and romance is a space where that doesn't happen.

Say fantasy isn’t my genre. What other sub-genres of romance should I try?

If you have a favorite genre, there is a romance sub-genre for you. If you like spy fiction, there's romantic suspense. If you like sci-fi, there's sci-fi romance. There's sci-fi paranormal romance. Romance writers are women of words. They write because they love to read, and they're fantastic at world building in any genre.

CU ��ý�� Today regularly publishes Q&As with our faculty members weighing in on news topics through the lens of their scholarly expertise and research/creative work. The responses here reflect the knowledge and interpretations of the expert and should not be considered the university position on the issue. All publication content is subject to edits for clarity, brevity and university style guidelines.

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Discover inquiry, insights and research from across the College of Arts and Sciences.

Arts & Sciences Magazine

Fairies and dragons and love! Oh my! An expert on romance fiction digs into one of the publishing industry's hottest trends.

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Arts & Humanities

How does it feel to be alive? Art has answers

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What is 'romantasy,' and why can't readers get enough?

Is the rise of romantasy a new phenomenon?

Why do you think they’ve become so popular?

How did social media play a role in the emergence of romantasy?

Where did all these types of romance come from?

Romance has come a long way, but a lot of readers still turn up their noses at these books. Are romantasy books subject to those same biases?

One of the central, and perhaps most controversial, aspects of these books are their sex scenes, which get, um, a little explicit. What roles do these scenes play in the books?

Say fantasy isn’t my genre. What other sub-genres of romance should I try?

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