Four Genre-Blending Authors Whose Work I Adore

Genre-blending is having a moment right now with the immense popularity of “romantasies” like Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series and Sarah J. Maas’s ACOTAR. While romantic subplots are not unheard of in traditional fantasy, books that qualify as “romantasy” prioritize the romance storyline (and are often spicy), while also incorporating elements of high fantasy like dragons, fae, and magic.

At a recent panel on genre-blending at the Superstars Writing Seminar, one of the panelists predicted that the next big genre blend was going to be “horror romance.” This, of course, was music to my ears, as that’s exactly how I would classify Her Undying Thirst (like Dracula and the original Carmilla before it). But horror romance is certainly nothing new (indeed, two of the authors I’m going to talk about below seem to fit the bill), nor are any of the other permutations of generic experimentation that make it harder and harder to select the correct option from the “genre” dropdown menu on QueryTracker.

Below are four authors whose genre-blending (or, at the very least, genre-bending) works I absolutely adore:

Anne Rice

I have Anne Rice to thank for my obsession with vampires. I read the Vampire Chronicles at a VERY young age (most people would say “too” young, I’m sure, but I turned out just fine, thankyouverymuch), and I will never forget the way these books made me feel. You don’t just read these books, you lose yourself in these books. The Gothic atmosphere, the gore and creepiness, the romance and eroticism… Most people don’t consider this series “true” horror, but it ain’t Twilight either. I would probably classify it as “horror romance” (as it evokes classic works like Dracula and Carmilla), but it has elements of historical fiction, too.

Oh, and what about the Sleeping Beauty series? Decades before the advent of the horde of Booktok authors who keep publishing smutty retellings of fairy tales like they’re going out of style (FYI, they are not), Rice was pushing the boundaries with her erotic – no, let’s be honest here, her kinky AF – retelling of Sleeping Beauty.

Becky Chambers

I will read anything Becky Chambers writes. Though she’s ostensibly sci-fi, there’s something unique about her books that’s hard to put your finger on. The science is definitely science-ing (she comes from a family of scientists, and she’s clearly done her research). There’s something kinda steampunk-y about her tech, and her characters feel very much like characters you might find in contemporary lit. But that’s not what’s most important: hope, family, love, and a GENEROUS helping of humor prevail. Her works make me laugh and cry and think about how beautiful life is. Whenever I finish one of her books, I hold it in my hands for a while, grinning like an idiot at how profoundly I have been moved. In fact, I JUST learned as I was looking up some information about her that she is credited with inventing an entirely new genre called “Hopepunk.” Love that for her.

Rachel Harrison

I picked up So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison at the library one day, not realizing what I was in for. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised! It’s a book about vampires, sure, and there are enough creepy and gory bits to delight anyone looking for such things. But at its heart it’s about more human things: love and friendship, middle age, letting go of things that don’t serve you, and clinging to the things that you can’t live without. It has the best representation of a “ride or die” female friendship I’ve read in…maybe ever. It’s funny and heartwarming, but also terrifying. After that, I read her debut novel The Return. Here, too, Harrison manages to blend the story of four female friends’ changing relationships with each other (a “Sex and the City”-style mix of drama and joy) with a horror story that creeps into you and fills you with genuine dread. So…horror mixed with “chick lit”? Rachel Harrison, can I be your best friend?

Jacqueline Carey

Before “romantasy” became a thing, Jacqueline Carey was giving us the quintessential example of how to blend high fantasy with romantic/erotic elements. And she did it better than anyone on the bestseller lists right now (my apologies to all of those writers; I still love you). Her Kushiel’s Legacy series is an absolute masterpiece. Carey manages to create a fascinating world with meticulous attention to detail, throw in compelling characters and several exciting narrative arcs that include political intrigue, quests, and battles, AND give us one of my favorite romances of all time. Oh, and did I mention there’s explicit eroticism and kink that isn’t just there for fun, but is a prime mover of the plot? How exactly does one make kink an integral part of the plot?? By being a fucking genius, that’s how. I always warn people that the beginning of the first book suffers a bit from Carey trying to make Phedre’s voice sound too “medieval,” but the writing style becomes smoother and more natural as the books progress.

Tell me, dear readers, who are some of your favorite genre-blending/bending authors?

In Proximum, Regina Vestra