When it comes to reading fantasy novels, there are over 50 types of subgenres so let’s break down the most popular ones that you may encounter while reading, researching, or writing fantasy.
Anthropomorphic Fantasy is going to be your subgenre that involves animals taking on human traits. This could be works similar to “Zootopia” or things that contain creatures like werewolves that communicate in a human-like fashion.
Arthurian Fantasy revolves around older-styled stories, works that include knights and remind you of King Arthur. These stories are often inspired by commonly known legends or fairy tales and have higher themes, quest, and a moral compass pointed to good.
Assassin Fantasy has become very popular and can take place during any period. It often includes a political struggle and some person/group hired to commit an assassin. The characters are often morally gray and this storyline is often complex, riddled with metaphors for real life. A very common one is Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.
Coming-of-age fantasy is the most common type of YA (Young Adult) fantasy and often includes a tale of adventure and growth as a young character begins to go into adulthood. You will see tropes of growth and friendship along with self-sacrifice in these tales.
Dystopian fantasy is also known as Dying Earth Fantasy. For some reason, the earth is unable to sustain itself, resulting in the ending of our world or the birth of a new type of living. We see this in “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent.”
Romantasy contains a plot that has more than 50% romance. The plot will have fantasy but often the focus of the plot is the love story it’s telling. World building is there, but don’t look too deeply into it, because our characters and their struggle to be together (or apart) is the main idea.
There are still plenty of other subgenres we could get into like Fae fantasy,
historical fantasy, and mythical fantasy, but the aforementioned are the most common ones trending today. Now, when you’re reading your next fantasy book, you’ll be able to begin to identify which sub-category yours falls in.
