Why do readers love Sarah J. Maas' romantasy novels?
Heather O'Neill, Kathryn VanArendonk and Makda Mulatu discuss why Maas attracts such a large fanbase
Sarah J Maas is currently one of the bestselling novelists in the world. Her work is dominating social media — particularly TikTok — and she is seemingly everywhere.
Maas is known for her sprawling and smutty series of books that fit under a new genre coined "romantasy." The genre is exactly what it sounds like: a mix of fantasy and romance.
Her books have sold over 38 million copies worldwide and yet people who don't read fantasy or romance books may have not heard of her. The nature of Maas' popularity is unlike authors before her because her sales are powered by her superfans on Booktok — the literature focused side of TikTok. Videos about her books have amassed billions of views.
Maas's latest book House of Flame and Shadow is out now.
Award-winning author Heather O'Neill and writers Kathryn VanArendonk and Makda Mulatu join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss why Maas' romantasy novels attract such a large fanbase
We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast on your favourite podcast player.
LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:
You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Panel produced by Jane van Koeverden