Fantasy adventure books for adults, from the blade to the rose
Sword and sorcery on one side, romantic fantasy on the other, and a whole map of subgenres in between. Plain guides to what these stories are, how they differ and where to start reading.
Fantasy for adult readers has two strong currents. One is pure adventure: steel, ruins and danger. The other puts a love story at the centre of a magical world. The best shelves hold both, and many books cut right along the edge between them.
The blade
Sword and sorcery books
Fast, personal adventures of rogues and warriors, born in the pulp magazines of the 1930s. Magic is rare, dark and usually the enemy. Ideal when you want a complete story in an evening.
Readers find their next book by naming the patterns they love. Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, fated mates: each trope is a star, and the lines between them are the stories that join them.
Blade and Bloom is an independent information site about fantasy and romantic adventure fiction. It does not sell books, it is not connected to any author, publisher or bookshop, and it does not publish reviews paid for by anyone. Dates and definitions are checked against public references and listed on each page. Read more about this guide.
