Fantasy is unlike any other type of literature, if only for its wealth of subgenres. Look around and you’ll find upwards of 50 different subgenres of fantasy. Trust me: I looked. There are lists and lists and lists of fantasy genre types spanning everything from alternate history to Wuxian epic … and you can learn about them all here in your guide to all the Paper + Word fantasy subgenres!

But there’s a catch.

I can’t list all the fantasy subgenres that have sprouted since the post-Tolkien era of publishing. Does any indie bookshop have the shelf-space for that? No, surely not. Instead, the guide focuses on the categories Abby and the team use for fantasy books in-store and here on the website — with honorary mentions to some of their favourite sub-subgenres.

 Got all that? Great. Now, get settled in for the first entry: it’s a classic.

What makes a classic fantasy novel? It’s a mix of quality and time. The story must have lasting worth, whether that’s a timeless style or a unique excellence that endures through the years. 

Classic fantasy covers the genre’s foundational texts. Most were published pre-1980, and there’s a general consensus that’s when the modern era of fantasy began. However, not all fantasy books published before then would be considered classics, and there’s an argument that many published afterwards should be in contention for the title.

Semantics aside: classic fantasy books are often seen as traditional, dealing with archetypal struggles (i.e. Hero’s Journey narratives) and clear-cut cosmological battles between good and evil. You tend to see complex, secondary worlds with high-fantasy settings and worldbuilding based on traditional myth. The prose is different, too. It often luxuriates in description and world-first detail, perhaps because these authors were pioneers describing brand new worlds for the first time. Modern fantasy writing is far more plot-focussed, which can make reading the classics feel like stepping into a bygone era.

• The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Earthsea Quartet by Ursule K. Le Guin

• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

• Heroic fantasy

• High fantasy

• Portal fantasy

• Sword and sorcery

Fantasy isn’t always battles and quests. Sometimes, it’s about comfort. Cosy fantasy gives you that. It’s a chance to luxuriate in magical worlds instead of slogging through them. 

As with all the fantasy subgenres on this list, there’s no strict definition. Cosy fantasy novels generally have low stakes and a feel-good tone. They often — though not exclusively — focus on domestic settings or small businesses, with the drama stemming from relatively minor, manageable obstacles rather than world-shaking problems. 

But so much of what makes this subgenre work is the vibe. 

Cosy fantasy trades clerics for coffeeshop owners. Battlements for bakeries. Honestly, it’s more of an aesthetic, or a feeling, than a strict set of tropes. Think of it this way: If you’re in the mood for chamomile tea and a cinnamon bun, you’re in the right part of the bookshop.

• Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
• The Spell Shop by Sarah Beth Durst
• Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood

• Cosy mystery

• Cottagecore fantasy

• Magical domesticity/Cosy witchcraft

• Low-stakes romance

• Slice-of-life fantasy

Are you in touch with all your darkest fantasies? It’s okay. There’s no judgement here in the dark fantasy section of the bookshop, where the comfort and whimsy of cosy is dialled all the way down.

There are two sides to dark fantasy. One deals with aesthetic and thematic darkness: It paints those enchanted woodlands ash-grey instead of green and fills them with thorns; muddies the traditional morality of good versus evil. The other handles more mature subject matter: Taboo or illicit behaviour; graphic violence or sex. And, yes, there’s enormous overlap between the two.

• Alchemised by SenLinYu
• Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
• Gild by Raven Kennedy
  

• Dark fairy tale

• Gothic

• Grimdark

• New weird

• Nobledark

• Paranormal

Less a subgenre and more of a foundation, epic is what many readers think of when they hear the word “fantasy”. Non-readers, too, because it’s largely novels within this section of the bookshop that have broken through to the mainstream via silver screen adaptations. And there’s a reason why epic fantasy is so often optioned for TV and film: it’s the scale.

Epic fantasy books typically explore secondary worlds (Middle-Earth, Westeros, etc.) where fully-realised cultures, histories, and geographies play a key role in the massive scale, high stakes plots that unfold. Think: ambitious worldbuilding, ensemble casts, and conflicts of cosmic proportions.

Does the entire universe need to be in peril for a book to count as epic fantasy? No. But if it is, you can bet this is where it belongs.

That said, not every epic fantasy is a tug-of-war between good and evil for the fate of the world. Nor are they all multibook sagas. You’ll find short epics and standalones, epics that closely follow one beloved point of view rather than a cast, epics that don’t even have elves. It’s a subgenre that’s grown enormously since the days of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis — though their fingerprints will always be indelibly printed in the sheer ambition of epic fantasy writers.

• The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
• The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
• The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

• Heroic fantasy

• High/low fantasy

• Historical fantasy

• Military fantasy

• Portal fiction

• Sword and sorcery

In a strictly literary sense, magical realism is more of a device or technique used by writers to blur the real-world with speculative elements. It’s generally less escapist than fantasy as magical realist novels typically present the mystic or supernatural in a relatively ordinary setting. There’s often layers of metaphorical meaning to a magical realist book, but that doesn’t mean you need a degree in English Literature to enjoy them.

• Babel by R.F. Kuang
• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

• Academic fantasy

• Metafiction

• Mystical library

What does New York City have in common with an independent bookshop owner? They never sleep. Welcome to the gritty, crime-riddled streets of urban fantasy. Watch your back. It’s not only the edges of the map that have monsters.

I’ve got a bone to pick with the definition some other outlets give for urban fantasy. Some say it explores the supernatural in real-world contemporary cities. Others say it is the urban element that matters most, whether those cities are real or not. Either way, we can all agree that urban fantasy books take place in busy, often tonally dark cityscapes. Rather than journeying outwards through a vast wilderness, plots usually delve down into the “hidden world” of the city.

Urban fantasy isn’t always crime-heavy, but it’s such a prominent trope that many readers immediately think of occult investigators, secret vampire societies, drug-dealing werewolves, and gang warfare between shifters. 

But urban fantasy isn’t all grit and doom. Sometimes the handsome stranger lurking in a dark alleyway doesn’t want to rob you at all. There’s plenty of spice in the city for those who know where to look.

• Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
• The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

• Gaslamp fantasy

• Occult detective

• Paranormal romance

• Steampunk

• Superhero fantasy

Fantasy owes everything to ancient myths and legends. Would we have any of these stunning subgenres if Tolkien wasn’t so enamoured of Beowulf and the Völsunga saga? Doubtful. But the beauty of mythology is its capacity for endless reinvention. Homer’s The Odyssey dates back around 3,000 years and is still the subject of unique retellings. 

Mythological fantasy as a subgenre draws overtly from ancient legends. While it’s not only retellings in this corner of the bookshop, many bestsellers do re-examine familiar tales with a fresh perspective. There’s plenty of Greek, Egyptian, and Norse folklore, including well-known heroes in surprising guises.

But there’s oh so much more than familiar tales from classic antiquity.

Mythological fantasy is one of the most diverse subgenres of the lot because it invites stories, folktales, myths, and legends from all over the world. This is often the place to go to escape the medieval. To explore roads sadly less travelled in many, many books. Why go to the Greek underworld again when you can descend into Mayan Xibalba? 

• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
• Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lyn Tan
• The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper

• Egyptian gods

• Fairies & folklore

• Greek myth

• Mythical creatures

“This is what you’ve been waiting for,” he growled. Ahem. Sorry about that. Don’t know what came over me. Romantasy. This is the big one (pun intended). It’s the breakout fantasy subgenre that showed without any shadow of a doubt that fantasy is not just a club for boys to wave their swords around. Fantasy is also about passion, and love. Readers adore the genre because it fulfills a need to imagine, to escape, to desire something different. Romantasy gives you that and then some. 

There’s some debate about whether romantasy is fantasy romance or romantic fantasy. Semantics aside, this is one subgenre that’s relatively easy to define. Others treat romance as a sidequest or B-story. In romantasy books, the core plot is inseparable from the romantic arc. That’s why you tend to see romantasies marketed with tags that define the relationship type as much as the setting. Think: enemies-to-lovers, fated mates, forbidden loves, shadow daddies … the list goes on. 

Abby and the team will be working on a deeper dive into the romantasy subgenre soon and I don’t want to steal their thunder. So, for now, I’ll say this is simply the genre of swords and soulmates, where you can sometimes — quite literally — cut the tension with a knife.

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

• Academic romantasy

• Cosy romantasy

• Dark romantay

• Fae romance

• High fantasy romance

• Paranormal romance

That brings us to an end of the Paper + Word reader’s guide to different fantasy subgenres, but I wanted to close with a note on the sheer variety it has to offer. Categorisation is really a marketing exercise; a way to bracket interests so readers can easily find books similar to those they already know and love — or to explore something brand-new, but with guideposts showing them what to expect.

Many of the fantasy books in store defy simple categorisation. Many combine the extra spiciness of ultra-dark fantasy with urban elements. Others feel like mythological epics. I mentioned that a hallmark of fantasy authors is ambition. New and exciting fantasy subgenres will continue to sprout as long as writers keep ambitiously blending and fusing and madly concocting stories with ingredients from across the gamut of the genre.

Keep an eye on the Paper + Word blog for more genre deep-dives, author spotlights, and opinion pieces from the team.