Romantasy where the fantasy half is real
+4 more
The romantasy for readers who also want a map at the front. Sieges, old gods and curses with rules, and a love story that has to share the page.
Hand-picked and sealed. Every book here was chosen on purpose — no votes, no algorithm.
Stacked by Drayfus · 14 views · Updated 2 months ago
The 8 books on this stack
Tap “Want to read” on the ones that catch your eye. No account needed, we'll keep them for you.
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Naomi Novik 2015 1 want to read
Why it's on the stack
The truth comes out bit by bit · a myth or a classic told anew
It shares this with 2 more books on this stack
But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Why this book Drayfus
The Wood is a real antagonist with its own ecology and its own patience. Two systems of magic that don't agree, and the argument between them is what wins the war. Take Agnieszka and Sarkan out and you still have an invaded kingdom and a possessed queen.
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Tasha Suri 2021
Why it's on the stack
Love in the middle of danger · love hurts sometimes
It shares this with 3 more books on this stack
Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical…
Why this book Drayfus
Empire politics and insurrection, plus a magical rot with rules nobody has cracked. That would fill the book on its own. Then Malini and Priya spend it lying to each other and meaning it less every time, and neither half gives ground to the other.
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Samantha Shannon 2019 1 want to read
Why it's on the stack
A world to get lost in
It shares this with 2 more books on this stack
Get ready for Samantha Shannon's new novel, A Day of Fallen Night , coming in February 2023!
Why this book Drayfus
Eight hundred pages and four continents, with two religions that can't both be right about dragons. This is the far end of what I mean by the fantasy half being real. Ead and Sabran are a slow thread through all of it, and they earn the room they take.
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Juliet Marillier 2000
Why it's on the stack
It's hiding a secret · a myth or a classic told anew
It shares this with 2 more books on this stack
A magnificent saga set in the Celtic twilight of 10th century Ireland, when myth was law and magic was a power of nature, brilliantly brought to life: the legendary story of an evil stepmother…
Why this book Drayfus
The curse comes with terms you can count. Six shirts of nettle, and not one word until they're finished. That's the engine of the whole book. The love story works because she can't speak, so every bit of it happens without the conversation that would fix it.
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Thea Guanzon 2023
Why it's on the stack
Love in the middle of danger · it raises the temperature
It shares this with 3 more books on this stack
All Talasyn has ever known are the Hurricane Wars. She uses the power of light to fight for her people against the Night Empire.
Why this book Drayfus
It opens on a battlefield her side is losing, and the war never stops being the point. Light against shadow, two magic systems built to cancel each other out. The forced marriage is real romantasy, and it's still the second thing driving the plot.
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Danielle L. Jensen 2024
Why it's on the stack
An adventure with a love story in it
It shares this with 1 more book on this stack
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior.
Why this book Drayfus
Norse gods who hand out specific, inconvenient powers, and a prophecy being used as a political weapon by everyone holding a sword. Freya is a bargaining chip before she is a love interest, and the book keeps track of the difference.
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Jacqueline Carey 2002
Why it's on the stack
A world to get lost in · spies, moles and state secrets
It shares this with 2 more books on this stack
Sold into servitude in the Night Court as a child, Phedre no Delaunay is a woman who struggles for honour and duty, whose loyalty to the land she loves will take her to the edge of despair, and…
Why this book Drayfus
An invented theology, and a betrayal plot that would carry a spy novel on its own. Phedre's desire isn't a subplot, it's her magic and her job. Written in 2001, before anyone had the word for it, and still more romantasy than most of what carries the label.
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Freya Marske 2021
Why it's on the stack
Love in the middle of danger · love and laughs in equal parts
It shares this with 3 more books on this stack
Set in an alternative Edwardian England, this is a comedy of manners, manor houses, and hedge mazes - including a magic-infused murder mystery and a delightful queer romance.
Why this book Drayfus
Edwardian magic with paperwork, and a curse that is physically eating one of them while a conspiracy plot runs underneath. The mystery walks on its own legs across three books. Robin and Edwin are explicit and central, and nothing slows down for them.