Inside The Wild, Wonderful World Of Faerie Porn

In early August, fantasy romance fans descended on Vintage Books and Wine in Austin, Texas, for a trivia night themed around Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR). Some came in costume, despite the record-breaking temperatures. Fae ears peaked above some attendees’ heads, and others wore T-shirts referencing “wingspans,” which for fans of the series has a spicy double meaning.

The event was packed, mostly with women and a few men, and given the venue’s license to sell beer and wine, the age was decidedly 21 and up. Among those who came for a chance to test their bookish fandom was Abby, a veterinarian tech who drove for several hours from College Station to attend with her sister. “I love ACOTAR,” she says, adding, “I blew through the entire series in a month.” The pair both fell into the Sarah J. Maas universe during the pandemic, and Abby nods when I ask if it helped them stay connected.

“We knew we would have a full house, but we never in a million years thought we would have to turn people away because our building was at capacity,” store owner Jean Bucker tells me. “And I think that shows you how desperate we are to celebrate our fandom in person.”

The attendees represented a small slice of the fan base for spicy fantasy romance — sometimes cheekily referred to as “faerie porn,” a term readers use to describe everything from Ella Field’s dark fae fantasy, Nectar of the Wicked, to Ruby Dixon’s popular alien romance, Ice Planet Barbarians. These labels reclaim terms like “porn” and “smut” that previously have been used to denigrate fantasy romance — and they only describe how explicit (or “spicy”) the sex scenes are, not the quality of the themes, plot, or prose. “It's one of those things that I think, when used within the community who reads fantasy romance, it's sort of an inside joke,” says bestselling author Katee Robert. And, as a fan and proud owner of a bookmark that says, “I don’t watch porn, I read it like a lady,” I know as well as anyone that this little inside joke also serves as a middle finger to the male-dominated establishment, who would seek to shame those who indulge in fantasy romance.

Once relegated to the back corners of bookstores as a pulpy indulgence, fantasy romance is booming. Maas’ ACOTAR series alone has sold more than 30 million copies; Jennifer Armentrout’s Blood and Ash series, often paired in similar reading roundups for the genre, has sold more than 2 million copies since 2020, and Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing has remained on the New York Times bestseller list for months — all contributing to a 17.4% growth in fantasy sales last year. Many credit the genre’s growth to the influence of social media, where the publishing industry’s traditional gatekeepers — some of whom still look down on romance as “not real literature” — are absent. “The book communities on BookTok, Bookstagram, etc., are buying and posting about romance without the layer of ‘shame’ or ‘secrecy.’ It’s forced publishers and the industry to take it more seriously,” says Emily McIntire, author of the bestselling Never After series.

And in the wake of “girl summer” and the economic mini-boom ignited by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s respective tours, it’s becoming harder and harder to deny that women are today’s leading tastemakers — particularly for books. Women dominate book buying at an estimated 59.3% compared to men at 40.7%. It’s also important to note that the age group between 23 and 38 are the predominant buyers of books, and it’s not surprising the generation of girls who essentially were spoon-fed Harry Potter and Twilight grew up to crave more adult fantasy — even if that required building a whole new fusion genre. Case in point: the increasing fanfic space for people who shipstan Hermione and Draco, dubbed “Dramione.”

The publishing industry is also taking note, with recent imprints splintering off from major publishers and indie ones, like the now widely successful publisher, Red Tower Books — behind Rebecca Yarros’ New York Times bestselling Fourth Wing — popping up. Even that romance behemoth, Harlequin, is “dipping their toes in the ‘romant-asy’ genre” with their summer title The Witch is Back, according to a source close to the company. Hollywood isn’t far behind, either: Plans for a Hulu TV series based on ACOTAR were announced in 2021 (a source close to the production says it’s “very much still in development”), a show based on Jennifer Armentrout’s From Blood and Ash (FBAA) is in the works at Amazon, and Elizabeth Banks is set to executive produce, direct, and star in an adaptation of ​​Victoria Aveyard's YA novel Red Queen for Peacock.

But well before the establishment began to capitalize on the trend, fans themselves filled in the gap. From ACOTAR-themed scented candles and FBAA-inspired T-shirts to curated events and balls, “faerie porn” is an economy unto itself. The recently-launched, U.K.-based events company Gauntlets and Gowns is exclusively dedicated to hosting “bookish balls in castles, libraries and halls,” like the Night Court Ball, which promises ballroom dancing, a string quartet, and actors dressed as fae book boyfriends, high-lords, and ladies. The first night, set for February 2024, sold out in seconds, prompting the organizers to announce a second iteration. “It's usually women of all ages and walks of life, but the one thing they have in common is their love of books,” says cosplayer Alexis Bergstrand. “There are no strangers at a fantasy ball. No one should ever fear going to a fantasy ball alone. Many of them host online Discords prior to the event so you can make acquaintances beforehand. Many people have made long-lasting friendships with people they met at a fantasy ball. And shocker... we usually all end up in the same book clubs.”

Balls aren’t the only fantasy romance events that sell out quickly. ApollyCon, a convention founded by author Jennifer Armentrout, is arguably the largest annual gathering for the fan base. “It all started from purely selfish reasons,” Armentrout says of founding the Washington, D.C., event in 2015. “I didn’t want to do a book release event by myself, so we got some author friends together and held a book signing. It’s tripled in size since then.” Jenny Hickman, author of the Irish lore-inspired series Myths of Airren, will attend her second ApollyCon this year, flying in from Ireland. “ApollyCon is about making connections, discovering new titles, and reminding us that we’re all part of this amazing bookish community where we bond over book boyfriends, love the color ‘morally gray,’ and agree that there should only ever be one bed,” she says.

Romance is about personal growth through the universal experience of love, and that can happen with or without on-page sex.

Rachel Skye, a popular book reviewer, notes that these events — along with spaces like the popular Ripped Bodice, a bookstore in LA and New York dedicated to romance — are a judgment-free space for readers to celebrate their fandom. “ComicCon is so broad that we would be sharing a space with the same misogynists that mock us in comment sections. There's a ton of super cool stuff at other broader conventions, but a dedicated event feels safer for us to celebrate with like-minded fans,” she says. That sense of connection carries over online. Vanessa Rasanen, author of the swashbuckling fae Aisling Sea series, has met many close friends through Bookstagram who share a love of fantasy romance. “There is a deep bond that forms between readers when we love the same characters and root for the same couples,” Rasanen says.

It’s fitting that a fandom so intent on community has grown out of a genre that lives and dies on chemistry and connection. As Rebecca Yarros, author of the mega-bestselling The Empyrean series, says over email, “I’ve been reading romance since my early teen years, and it remains an important form of expression and sexual empowerment for women.” She adds, “But it’s not just about sex. Romance is about personal growth through the universal experience of love, and that can happen with or without on-page sex.”