The Sun Blessed Prince: Romantasy? Romantic Fantasy? Or a Fantasy with Romantic Elements?

When I first pitched The Sun Blessed Prince, I pitched it as an adult fantasy novel with no additional qualifications or subsections. As a fan of VE Schwab and CS Pacat I was very interested in dark and complex stories that really targeted not only human nature and mental exploration, but the ways a world could enrich the characters on the page.

During the various editorial processes, the word ‘Romantasy’ was used a few times, and while I know that TSBP has been included on a few Romantasy lists, I have never been wholly comfortable with the idea of calling it that.

However, TSBP is a fantasy and it does have a romance subplot. It rests somewhere between a high/epic fantasy with romantic elements and a Romantic Fantasy where the subplot is actually a larger part of the book proper. It is lyrical, romantic in its use of language, and touching in the way it speaks to the reader, but it certainly isn’t spicy, and the focus is not on the romance itself.

As a duology, I knew from the outset that the romance between the two main characters, Cat and Elician, was going to take time. It was going to take a lot of time. Mainly, because their romance isn’t the point. There is a lot going on! There is a war between two nations, both characters are struggling with deeply traumatic experiences that have put them on long roads to recovery, political alliances and disagreements continually interrupt them at every turn, and they both struggle with who they are and what kind of futures they want moving forward. The fact that they find each other, and find love with each other is not even secondary on their priority list: it’s well at the bottom.

For me as a writer, this made sense. Both Elician and Cat have different paths and goals. Cat yearns, desperately, for a chance to free his people from forced imprisonment. Elician is striving to reach Kinghood while simultaneously denying that which makes him who he is as a person. They don’t have time for a romance, and while they do both admit to some level of physical attraction, they do not actually know each other well enough to commit to anything more in the brief time they share with each other.

TSBP is a slow burn. The whole of book one maneuvers Cat and Elician to a point where they realize that their relationship together might be something worth pursuing - and even that is entirely mired by factors that have very little to do with actual attraction to one another. We see them grow as characters, we see their priorities and their desires. We see them struggling to overcome odds they never thought they would need to, and confronting issues that have significant impact. The plot of the book is not dedicated to their romance, but rather: their character development happening at the same pace as the world develops around them.

The sequel to TSBP is entitled The Moon Blessed King, and it is there where we see the romance pay off. But by that point: the characters will have fully earned it. All of their life goals, ambitions, desires, and needs will have aligned to get them there and there will be no question that in that moment at that time it is necessary.

And so, is it a Romantasy?

I would argue no. Certainly there will be those who look at the full arc, or just the general idea of a romance element being important, as a reason to call it a Romantasy. If it makes them feel better and comfortable with the notion, then I am content with them including it as such. But I would suggest that a Romantic Fantasy or a fantasy with romantic elements may suit its genre better.

One thing that this book and its sequel do hold as paramount above all others, though, is the bond of love. The love between siblings, the love between friends, the love between a parent and child or the found family that is created by deep devotion and affection. Love ties these characters together, and it also grows slowly yet surely as our main characters carefully settle onto a path that one day - might just lead them to love for one another. It is a slow burn. It is heartfelt, and it is a painful road because love itself can be painful. Both finding it, and maintaining it, can be terribly painful.

But if you’re willing to be on the ride: it is worth it.

TSBP may not be a Romantasy, but if you’re looking for a long haul book that shows the love between two characters slowly growing into a place where they feel not only deserving of love but ready for it, then perhaps it still might be the book for you.

I hope you enjoy, and I wish you all well!