In keeping with Gen Z’s preference for “discovering” things that have been around for a long time, from flip phones to libraries and Friends, the latest slice of culture to get repackaged and rebranded is the fantasy romance novel.
Dubbed “romantasy”, a portmanteau of romance and fantasy, the genre that was historically derided as the guilty secret of Mills & Boon-reading middle-aged housewives, has become a multi-million behemoth, making huge stars out of the most popular authors.
The romantasy hashtag has garnered billions of views across social media, and Facebook groups dedicated to the many different series have hundreds of thousands of followers.
Here are five of the most popular authors writing in the genre.
Sarah J Maas
At a midnight launch party this week at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York, hundreds of mostly young women, turned up to countdown the release of House of Flame and Shadow, the third book in the hugely popular Crescent City series by the current queen of the genre, Sarah J Maas.
Maas, who started her writing career penning fanfiction and posting it on online forums, has so far written 22 books, including the popular Glass Throne, A Court of Thorns and Roses (Acotar to those in the know) and Crescent City series.
Romantasy also captures Gen Z's woefully perceived attention span. Maas’s books regularly top 200,000 words and her latest is 839 pages across 102 chapters.
Her public appearances provoke the kind of hysteria that was once bestowed on Twilight author Stephenie Meyer and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling.
Maas’s books are often inspired by existing stories, with her Assassins series based on the Cinderella story, while A Court of Thorns and Roses is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
Her characters have names that seem straight out of Tolkien – Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, Arobynn Hamel – and the level of romance in her books elevates them above what would be considered Young Adult, moving into the New Adult genre.
The Acotar series and Crescent City books have sold more than 38 million books worldwide to date.
Shanora Williams
Having already won a legion of fans with her contemporary romance novels, US author Shanora Williams dipped her toes into the romantasy waters with her popular Tether Trilogy.
Vicious Bonds is the first book of the series, introducing the female character Willow who, after hearing a man’s voice in her head, gets pulled through a portal, landing in a forest in a different world where she meets Caz, who has been hearing her voice in his head.
The second book, Wicked Ties came out in November last year and will be followed by the third, Rising Shadow, due to be released later this year.
Fans of Peaky Blinders may enjoy the trilogy as the male protagonist is inspired by the lead character Tommy Shelby, who Williams says: “Inspired me so much I wanted to write a story based off of him, but instead of writing in the past, I set him to a different realm.”
Rebecca Yarros
Yarros’s debut, Fourth Wing, spent 18 weeks on The New York Times' bestseller list after being lauded on BookTok.
The first book in the Empyrean series follows Violet Sorrengail, who joins Basgiath War College in the fictional country of Navarre, and who must train to become a dragon-riding warrior against her wishes.
Yarros has written five series, including Flight & Glory and Legacy. She is also the author of seven stand-alone novels.
The second book in the Empyrean series, Iron Flame was released last year, selling more than half a million copies on the first day.
Carissa Broadbent
Broadbent has become a heroine for aspiring authors looking to self-publish, as she eschewed finding an agent to publish her latest novel, The Serpent and the Wings of Night, herself.
“I love being able to have full control over my output, books, packaging, marketing, and career,” she wrote on Goodreads. “The financials of indie publishing are also very different than trad, and they've been very kind to me.”
Her ongoing Crowns of Nyaxia series features books including The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King and Six Scorched Roses as part of a planned six-novel series. She has also written the War of Lost Hearts series, comprising four novels.
Her protagonists are mostly vampires, with a few human allies thrown in for good measure.
Jennifer L Armentrout
Werewolves are the main protagonists of Armentrout’s work, and the American author’s books have landed her on the number one spot on the bestseller lists of both The New York Times and USA Today.
Of her 65 published books, 50 are in the romantasy genre.
Her Blood and Ash series, with a focus on the love story between main characters Poppy and Casteel, is a sweeping epic across six books, with the final long-awaited instalment being released in May this year.
“I try not to map out an entire series in too much detail because then you feel locked in and are reluctant to change the path, even if the story now dictates that it should happen,” she told nerddaily.com of her process. “I know what the key points are for the overall plot and character development and how the series will ultimately end.”
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Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
THREE
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No Shame
Lily Allen
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Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Volvo ES90 Specs
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On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
