The intriguing interplay of fantasy and romantic plot lines

In this episode of Fantasy Explorations, we dive into the intriguing interplay between epic fantasy and romantic plot lines. 

The discussion begins with a cautionary note about trusting authors who start with a 'happily ever after' premise, leading into a personal exploration evolving my views on romantic plots. 

The episode covers various romantic tropes in fantasy literature, including arranged marriages, couples forged through hardship, and love above all stories! It also highlights lighthearted love stories and the enemy-to-lovers trope, concluding with a reflection on timeless couples in fantasy, such as Tom Bombadil and Goldberry.

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Transcript

And here is a hard lesson that every grimdark or any fantasy reader needs to learn. Never trust an epic fantasy author when he starts with the happily ever after family because the author will inevitably end hurting one's feelings. It is inevitable.

Intro
Welcome to Fantasy Explorations, the place where to geek out about fantasy. I'm your host, Solsate, and I'm in love with fantasy, in all of its forms. I haven't been exposed to fantasy for most of my life, and I want to keep learning about this genre, so this is the adventure we're on.

Episode’s intro 
For anyone who is familiar with my reading taste, it is not surprising that I am not a fantasy romance or a romantasy person. They are plot lines that usually don't intrigue me, don't interest me, don't attract me. More specifically, I do not choose a book or a series based on the romantic plot. I prefer stories that focus on the needy, gritty things, on the political aspects, on the war, and on essentially the most horrible things that humans can do to each other. 
And in fairness, up until a few years ago, I was a hardcore no thank you for any romantic plots. Thankfully, mostly for my own sanity, so it's a mental health awareness discussion. I have changed and softened my take on this topic, mostly due to brave authors who showed me a version of romance that makes sense to me. And the romance that I like is mostly the one where the characters find each other and they enhance each other. They are essentially a better version of themselves individually because they found the right match for them. It is not to say that all relationships, all romantic relationship, all relationships in general are of this nature. The world has all types of couples and it is also interesting to see stories that explore the darker side of these romantic plot lines and allow for the plot to be the more interesting for it. 

And on the note of exploring a darker side of the romantic plot lines as well, I have recently watched a video from Samantha the Booktuber behind the channel Literature Science Alliance and she shared why she enjoyed Fourth Wing so much. The way that I perceived her explanation is essentially a parallel to soap operas. And this just blew my mind. So I'm looking forward to using this perspective into romantasy and see if that would actually help me in digesting certain stories and certain plot lines better. 

The goal for today is to go through a few different romance plot lines that are being used in epic fantasy stories and see how these individuals become couples. And some of them you'll see are definitely tropes. I've heard them in the romance fandom. I know that these are specific tropes. In others, they might not be exactly tropes, but I still found the romantic plot compelling. And it really is a perfect opportunity to showcase a few epic fantasy stories.

Arranged marriage - Elantris 
Let's start with the first trope that might be the kind of like one of the easiest ones to understand, which is arranged marriage. And by saying one of the easiest to understand is because it is a practice that definitely was valid for many centuries in the Western countries, so in medieval Europe. So it is something that at least I'm familiar with and I can understand how to use this also in an epic fantasy story. And I also wanted desperately to include a Sanderson book in this list. And at the same time, I did not want to go for the Stormlight Archive.
So brainstorming, brainstorming. And while I did not particularly like Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, I decided for the first published book of Sanderson, which is Elantris. Now, many complain that it is pretty obvious that this is the first published story of Sanderson. I actually have a great experience, reading and understanding what Elantris is, what it wants to do. And while it might feel like it is the first book, the reality is it's already a vast and complex world building and I enjoyed everything about it. 

So let's meet the contenders. The first one is Rodin, who is a young and inspired and inspiring prince on the state of Arelon. And it is someone who will make the difference for his own people. He is also promised a marriage to Sarene, a strong-willed woman whose father allowed her to choose whomever and whenever she wanted to marry. And while she bows to the social pressure of her own responsibilities as princess of her own country, the idea of the arranged marriage is floated at the very beginning, it's one of the premises of the book. “She was 25 years old, she should have been married years ago. Roadin had been her last chance.” and a few lines later, “it was fitting that this man, one she had thought she might actually grow to like, would die before she even got to meet him. Now, she was alone in an unfamiliar country, politically bound to a king she did not trust. It was a daunting, lonely feeling.” And the very beginning of the story starts talking about a wedding contract and how with Roaden having officially died, she, Sarene, tries to understand if she is actually still bound to the agreement and the answer is yes. So essentially the engagement is to be considered an equivalent to marriage in all legal and social respects. So Sarine to some extent finds herself being a widow in a country she doesn't know and again the quote that we read before is emblematic. 
And Roadin is officially dead although we know since the very beginning that he is technically still alive although confined to the city of Elantris, a once beautiful city now used as a place to confine the people who cut the plague that is called Shaod. This disease essentially makes the body slow at the preparing itself and everybody tends to be very careful about getting injured, including as simple as a paper cut. And there is also an interesting commentering about the disease, which essentially does not respect any class and takes people from all extractions equally. And having experienced the pandemic, it just gives the Shaod a little bit more of a realistic feeling overall. And all of this that we covered in the last few minutes is really just the beginning. 
This is really the premise of the entire book and is the premise of the romantic entanglement. And if you did not read the storages yet, you might want to skip ahead and go to the next book and next series on the list. If you've read the book or you're familiar with how intriguing the story goes from here, the arranged marriage is really the beginning of a political, with internal and external drivers, both from people with economic and political interests to an external country that is bound to conquer through religion and uniformity, and it's a political and religious intrigue that keeps one glued to the pages. 
And in the middle of all these things happening, there are Sarene and Roaden who get to know each other, they get to connect with one another, who have common goals and the main goal is to make sure that they preserve the lives of citizens whether they live in the Elantris or in the country. They have also similar sensitivities, they have similar goals, ways to achieve them and they keep teasing each other. 
And while Roaden knows who Sarene is, she is oblivious to the fact that she's working and interacting with her fiance and the relationship just slowly builds and builds on the, let's say, mental attraction. It is the intrigue of the brain and the intrigue of the personalities and how attracted they become to each other, but really to their own humanity. And it is a beautiful partnership that develops as a full blown relationship and we get to experience that from essentially page one. 
At the end of the book, they marry and it's clear that this is a relationship forged in fire and makes a difference for everybody involved, meaning not only the protagonists who understand and love each other, but also all their subjects. 

Couples through hardship - Tiger and Del 
The second couple that I want to talk about is a couple that becomes a couple through hardship. And I want to talk about Tiger and Dell by Jennifer Robertson. This is a series that was originally written in the 80s and I feel it still lives up to the test of time or at least when I did a few years ago. Now, most of what I'm going to be talking about is spoilery, but it was since the beginning, the fact that they become a couple. So let me share a few additional things that can entice you to read the series and then go to a deeper dive as to why Tiger and Dahl belong to this list. 

The story is about Tiger. He is an adventurer who is focusing his life on essentially the next paying job and the next bed. His life is almost lived superficially. And at the same time, Tiger is absolutely fine with it. He just needs to be the best at his job, which is being a sword master. He is also very strong in his belief about women especially in the very first paragraphs of this book. And once he lands his eyes on Del for the first time, this is what he thinks of her: “Women don’t use swords in the South; as far as I know, they don’t use them in the North, either. The sword is a man’s weapon.” And this is really just the beginning of a great adventure. 

In book one, but really through book seven, and I think there is a book that was recently released. Tiger is a legendary sword dancer and he ends up recognizing that Del, Delilah, we'll see in a second, is not only great at wielding a sword, but she's also able to do things that he doesn't. And specifically, it means she's able to deal with magic. And so this is almost the first interaction that they have. “I sighed. “Have you got a name? Or will Blondie do?” She didn’t answer. I waited, picking sandburs out of the clipped mane of my stud. “Delilah,” she said finally, mouth twisted a bit. “Call me Del.” “Del.” It didn’t suit her, somehow, being too harsh and abrupt—and too masculine—for a young woman of her grace and beauty.”

And this is, and we've teased her, we've talked about her now extensively, this is also the story of Del. A woman who comes from the North, she has a mission and it's the mission that keeps her motivated throughout her formal training with the greatest Northern Sword Masters first and to accomplish her mission later. Her capabilities are not limited to the wielding of the sword, but they also, as we said before, extend to magic. And as an individual, she is also very independent, loathing to have to ask for help even when that is the right thing do. And this is where the content becomes a bit more spoilery. 

This is the story of two people bonding over time, having to deal with pretty straightforward things at first, which is to accomplish a goal, but over time connecting from first being impressed by the skills that the others display, the passion and the drive to accomplish their own personal goals, to a more of an understanding of each other's needs, each other's responsibilities, each other's drives. And this is what makes Tiger such an interesting character. Incidentally, we see the story told through his eyes, and I feel it's an effective tool to experience the changes in both characters, and more specifically in Tiger's mindset and approach to life and women in his own life. It is truly a thing of beauty to see how over time they share trauma, both shared and individual, and how every single event, every single interaction brings them together. And they become this interesting couple who not only respects their work skills, if we can call them that, but also the need to learn to be together, sharing their habits, their heritage, and to find the right balance for both of them, once again, Tiger is used to have women serving him, while Del is the exact opposite. She actually needs to be as independent as possible. And all of these are different requirements, different needs that pull into a different direction. And yet this is where the story becomes even more interesting. The romantic plot line adds so much to the characters and their journey because it gives them a lot more.

Love above all - the Bloodsworn Saga
The third series that we are going to explore here is the Bloodsworn Saga by John Gwynne. And it's a story that depicts love above all, but in a grim dark way. Orka is a woman who, at the beginning of the story, has it all. She has loving husband called Thorkel. She has also a very clever and curious child called Breca. They live happily in their own home, kind of away from the city, but they find the right balance, they have a perfect routine, they understand each other, they're having a blissfully peaceful lifestyle. 
And here is a hard lesson that every grimdark or any fantasy reader needs to learn. Never trust an epic fantasy author when he starts with the happily ever after family, because the author will inevitably end hurting one's feelings. It is inevitable. 
And just to add a little bit more context here, this is a world that is essentially ruthless. And really, the book is a grimdark story. And to quote the same John Gwynne in The Shadow of the Gods, 
“This is a world of blood, of tooth and claw and sharp iron, of short lives and painful deaths.” 
If you haven't read the story just yet, especially book one, it might make sense for you to either move on to the next entry of the story or if you're interested in getting a gist of what this story is all about, you're going to encounter a few spoilers. So John Gwyn gives us the happy family and we spend a good chunk of the first book falling in love with this family. Parents who care and are great teacher, patient and to some extent strict teachers to their own child, showing him what is right and what is wrong and how one can do better. And they show him how to accomplish that. 

And this is where John Gwynne takes it all away from us, pulls the rug from under our feet. He leaves a big hole in our hearts. And it feels so raw and true that you follow Orka on her journey and you want to make sure that she's able to get the revenge that she wants to get. Now, the revenge is not only about the death of her husband. Orka is left with the most important task of her life, is to find their son and bring him back. Orka barely has time to grieve, and in fairness, she doesn't seem the type of person who would spend too much time mourning. But at the same time, she just doesn't get through any mourning phase. She moves from the raw emotions in the chapter where Orka buries Thorkel and the immediate action that follows with her choice, which is not even a choice, it's like it's a necessity for her to go and look for her own, for their son. And this is the important element here. She really looks at Breca's, their son. He is what is left of Thorkel for her. And so she wants to make sure that she takes care of Breca and this is what she says after leaving Thorkel behind. 

“I am blood. I am death. I'm vengeance. She said her voice flat, empty.”

And the reason why I picked the series is to show how love is an essential part of epic fantasy. And also when it comes to grimdark packaging, it is really an essential part of this particular story. But in general, grimdark really manipulates our pure sentiments. And what is interesting about the storytelling is that these pure sentiments are being twisted and used against us to make the story even more vivid and make us feel more emotions that we might do without romance, without love. 

Where love is forged through a series of uncomfortable events - Paladin’s hope
And moving on into a lighter note, we move onto T. Kingfisher. 
And so this already should give us quite a lot of comfort in the fact that we're going to get a bit more of a lighthearted and playful love story. And in fact, she packages four, at the time of recording, four incredibly effective love stories in her Steel of Saint series. Now, the series centers around a few paladins who lose their way, not because they want to lose their way, but because their Saint of Steel (hence the name of the series) that is their point of reference and it's a saint but also a god that they worship dies in mysterious circumstances. And so all of them are left with bigger or smaller behavioral peculiarities, but mostly it really becomes a why am I here question, which is a beautiful starting point for what is the first love story in the series and it keeps going into four of them. 
Now, each story focuses on a different paladin and I love every single couple that is portrayed and each for different reasons. However, when I picked and decided to pick a couple, I decided to go for the couple that I would love to invite at dinner. And probably their story is the most Indiana Jones of them all. 

Meet Galen. We actually get exposure to Galen in previous books. And he is a paladin, duh, who used to serve the Saint of Steel. He is also witty and his tongue tends to lend him in trouble. He's also very good at his job and he's also particularly handsome. 

And meet Piper, the local medical examiner, to simplify a bit the terminology. He is a man who is trained as a doctor and chooses to help the victims of crimes. He has a heart of gold and does not see any difference between men, women, gnoles and any other individual. He's also passionate about his job and this is how, while carrying out his own activities, his own job, that he starts a flirtatious interaction with Galen. Piper also has a minor magical talent which also explains why he is good and passionate at his job. And while keeping this minor magical talent as a secret, mostly because he just doesn't want to get labeled as the weirdo. 
“As a redhead, Gaelin was automatically used to being the palest person in any given room. But Piper made him look ruddy and tan.” 
Incidentally, this story, and specifically Paladin's Hope, this is the story that talks about Galen  and Piper is a story that explores the idea of individuals being ostracized from society for how they look and how they sound. And in this case, we talk specifically about a gnole. And a lot of the commentary that T. Kingfisher is able to include in this lighthearted package and understanding that different is a quality and should be used to enhance society and not to look down on people as defect or using this as an opportunity to look down on people or gnoles in this case. And from a fantasy reader perspective, I love how much world building we had in this particular installment with the gnoles and their society. 
All of the four stories are a little bit steamy and the physical component of their relationship adds depth to the relationship rather than making it cheap and tension builds and builds and it's pure joy seeing these individuals finally finding each other and being the perfect fit, allowing both individuals to feel more and to do more than what they did on their own. 
These stories might be my new comfort read. Not only T. Kingfisher is a queen in storytelling, but the characters and the world that she created truly speak to me. They are tailor-made to inspire me, and they are people who I would love to meet in real life and connect with them. And that is a unique achievement. I also don't think that there are so many authors out there who can accomplish this feat as neatly as she does. I don't know if I sold this enough, but I still want to add an additional layer here. These are some of the books that and in general the series that I wish I could experience for the first time again. And while this might not be possible, it definitely will be a priority to comfortably reread the stories whenever I need to pick me up. 


Enemies to lovers - the shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovksy
Last but not least in this series is an enemy to lovers. This is a trope. This is actually a romantasy trope. And I want to go in in another epic fantasy story and it really as a trope and a mislovers is really something that generally does not work for me. I just don't see it happen to me and so I never really connect with this trope. And so imagine my surprise when I experience it in one of my favorite series of all times and in an epic fantasy series. And what's worse in all of this is that I really like the execution of it too. 
Before we dive more specifically into this story, in this series, we have quite a bit of couples. There is a fair number of couples and there are different reasons why they come together. The plot lines make sense. They bring the overall story forward or they are effectively used to explain choices of certain characters. 
But let's start from the beginning. This is a heavy spoiler dive into the series. But before we get there, my recommendation is that you really invest in this Adrian Tchaikovsky is a great storyteller with an odd fascination for insects. And if you read more than one series from him, you know what I'm talking about. 
Now, in this, the Shadow of the Apt series, he develops a world where characters have insect traits. And before you are horrified by this, it actually makes sense. So the kinden, which is the term used in this series to talk about the characters with insect traits, so the kinden, have specific and some of them are typical, some of them are atypical traits that define them. Ant kinden are able to share their mind. It's kind of like a hive mind. And this makes them great warriors. We have the beetle kinden who are hard workers with an engineering aptitude, pun intended. And the fly kinden are small in size compared to the other kind and they all have wins. 
And so again, I don't want to spoil too much for you. These are a few of the kind in the series and I just love getting to know every single one of them. It was just a fascinating process for me and overall to get to experience this world building. 
Now, still in the spoiler free section, I believe that this is a series that traditionally is considered military fantasy. And while the military aspect of this story is an important component of it, in fact, the Empire in Black and Gold is not an accidental name, and the Empire in Black and Gold actually shares and experiences many elements of military life, from decisions to abuse, essentially, and they are all explored from different perspectives, it is really not the only element of it. 
Politics, in small and large scale are an essential element of it. And one can say politics are a component to military, but this is really heavily leaning into the political elements. 
Family and found family are other core pillars of the story. 
There is magic, there are godlike beings, there are human decisions, insecurities, safety nets, certainties and basic survival needs and requirements. 
Overall, there is a story that has intrigue, has loyalty, it has betrayal. 
Let me make one last plea to convince you to read The Shadow of the Apt. And the series is essentially divided in a few arcs. And I feel that book one is fully representative of what you're going to get for the next nine. So if you get through the end of Empire of Black and Gold and you liked it, I think you are in for a wonderful journey. 

With that said, let's go into the spoiler section. And if you don't want to be spoiled, please move to the next section of this episode. Now, what is the enemy to lovers storyline? And we really have two characters who are on opposite sides when we start this journey. And they will continue to be for a few books in the series. 
On one hand, we have the insecure Che, who is a young, beetle-kinden woman, who is the niece of probably one of the most important statesmen of the city of Collegium, and his name is Stenwold. He is an important and charismatic person who warns the world about the goals of the Wasp Empire, irrespective of how simple they may seem or how willing to collaborate they appear to be. Ches' insecurities stems, on one hand, from being in the shade of Stenwold, but on the other hand, and I think this is the most important defining trait at the beginning of this story, is the fact that she is living in the shadows of her stepsister of sorts, Tynisa. And she is beautiful and clever, ready for action and truly eye candy for any male it doesn't feel like. She lives up to the same standards and she's not great at traditional things she should be as a bit okinden, so engineering, and she's not as attractive as Tynisa is and she's not a states person either. 
So in an oversimplification of the events of the following books, of the first book and the following books, she finds her own path. She is a woman who is born and grows up in an app society, which means is a society that is able to manage technology without any issues, which is one of the key elements of this particular series, the antithesis between engineering and technology and magic. And they are so antithetic that if you can do one, you can't do the other. And I love all of this. Like, it's really the use of these as antithesis. And it just works so well for me. And Che realizes that she just wanted to be inapt all her life. She doesn't really phrase it this way, but it is her journey and she becomes a very important, inapt person in this series. 
On the other hand, we have one of the most ruthless agents for the Wasp Empire. His name is Thalric and he is doing everything that he can to pursue the interests of the Empire outside the Empire starting with a network of spies that helps achieve these goals and finishing with making very questionable decisions at all times. And by questionable, I mean amoral. But then he also hits a wall. He is at the beginning of the story, he's very comfortable with the life that he has, he's very comfortable with the role that he has, but then he hits a wall and he becomes disillusioned. He is going too deep into the journey without realizing that the Empire is made of self-centered individuals pursuing their own agendas, trying to create their own sphere of influence. And in this process of becoming disillusioned with all he knows, and therefore he's not able to belong to his people anymore, becoming an outcast, the same way that Che is, by the way, he starts understanding her. And once they start to understand that neither of them really belongs to where they're supposed to, they start becoming something together. They understand their own differences. They understand how unique they are. And this is where their paths actually meet. Again, it's not when they first connect, but over time, there is a stage in which both of them are mature to appreciate, they are mature enough to appreciate their own uniqueness and how they essentially belong to each other. 
And at the beginning, when I start this relationship, starting building, I was very confused. I wasn't really getting where we were going, but I have now accepted that not only this is a really cool way to look at it, but I also find once again, like it's a celebration of uniqueness and I really connect with them and who they are as a couple.

Bonus entry 
And with this, we get a bonus entry. And the reason why I felt it was important for me to add this, it's because I was listening to the Rings of Power Season 2 soundtrack and Tom Bombadil's song was playing and I realized that I'm forgetting an important couple. 
And now in Tolkien lore, there are many different couples. It's again, great fantasy epic series that explores couples and what it means to be together. 
But what I love the most about Tom Bombadil and the Fair Lady Goldberry is how ethereal they feel. They are beings that transcend beyond humanity, where Tom and Goldberry feel almost like a personification of nature, but they are both happy places to be, happy people to be with even better. He is a merry fellow and he is in love with Goldberry, the daughter of the River, and they are both so enchanting. So much so that even the hobbits, when they meet with them for the first time, are just speechless. They are enthralled in a positive way from their interaction and by each of them individually. 
And I confess that initially, the first time that I read The Fellowship of the Ring, I just did not understand who they were, why they were. I felt like it was almost an empty chapter. But upon rereading it in September last year, I just felt in love with the couple. I just wanted to move into their hut, in their home, and want to be part of their life. I just found really a lot of fun feelings when thinking of Tom and Goldberry, heralds of calmness and goodness, beautiful in their peace and love for one another. 

Outro
And with this, we end our journey through great couples in fantasy and I hope you've enjoyed the episode or at least found inspiring fantasy reads to add to your TBR. 
Next time on Fantasy Explorations, we will dive into The Color of Magic, the very first book in the Discworld exciting world by Terry Pratchett. 
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Thank you so much and see you next time.