Tag: gaslamp fantasy

Fantasy-of-Manners Books
I’ve been calling my own books ‘gaslamp fantasy’ since I published them, but more recently, I’ve started calling them by another term as well: fantasy of manners.

What is fantasy of manners?

Fantasy-of-manners is a subgenre of fantasy where the societal setting lends itself to intimate, complicated social interactions and (you guessed it) manners. Think ballrooms and manor houses rather than battlefields. The name draws from ‘comedy of manners’, and while fantasy-of-manners books aren’t always humorous, they often do have a whimsical / tongue-in-cheek tone.

Wait, how is fantasy-of-manners different from gaslamp fantasy?

I’ve been musing on this (I do love musing on subgenres). I think there is naturally a lot of overlap between gaslamp fantasy and fantasy of manners and that many books (including mine) are both. Gaslamp fantasy describes the world’s technology level / historical time-period feel, and fantasy of manners describes the society and focus of the story’s conflicts.

Why is fantasy of manners so great?
- Ridiculous rules and constraints create massive potential for delicious interpersonal drama and / or humorous situations.
- Aesthetics. There’s just something about balls and men in waistcoats, isn’t there?
- Intimate focus. Politics, rumours, and clever conversations rather than battles and action sequences.
- The fun of seeing how something as wild as magic fits into a world of rigid societal rules.
So what are some examples of fantasy-of-manners books?

I’m so glad you asked! Here is a list of fantasy-of-manners books I have read and enjoyed. These are all books with strong romantic elements, because that’s how I roll. Please do recommend more in the comments – I love this subgenre, so I’m always happy to find more.

15 (Romantic) Fantasy-of-Manners Books

(in no particular order)

The Lord of Stariel by AJ Lancaster

Yes, I know. Tacky. But I have to add my own books to this listicle for SEO purposes, and technically I have read and enjoyed them! Marketing shmarketing and the hustle of the self-published author and all that. Anyway, if you like large-extended-family antics, melodramatic fae, and magical sentient estates, you might like my books.

Self-published: Yes
Steamy scenes: Not in this book, but some later in the series.

The Lady Jewel Diviner by Rosalie Oaks

These books have the spirit of cosy mystery novels combined with Regencies. Plus vampires and selkies. It works wonderfully, I promise. The main character can magically sense gemstones.

What I particularly adore about this series is how joyful it is. Very much not taking itself too seriously, and I absolutely cackled my way through especially the climax in this book. There’s a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance with the high-handed (but well-meaning) Earl of Beresford.

Self-published: Yes
Steamy scenes: No

Subversive by Colleen Cowley

Oof, this trilogy was so addictive I read all three in a row. They have an almost thriller vibe to them with lots of politics and secrets. I loved the enemies-to-lovers romance and the fascinating exploration of all the ways that magical oaths might go wrong.

Self-published: Yes
Steamy scenes: Yes

The Midnight Bargain by CL Polk

My favourite thing about this book is the magic – magicians make bargains with spirits to do their bidding. I choose to imagine them as demonic pokemon.

Self-published: No
Steamy scenes: No

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater

A whimsical Regency fantasy romance (with capricious fairies) that manages to touch on darker issues whilst remaining overall light in tone.

Self-published: Yes
Steamy scenes: No

Tea & Sympathetic Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts

What impresses me most about these cosy novellas is how satisfying they are. Each contains a mystery, furthers the romantic arc, and includes a cast of entertaining secondary characters. I have no idea how Tansy fits so much in to such a short length.

Self-published: Yes
Steamy scenes: No

Sorcerer to the crown by Zen Cho

This book is so good I can’t actually encapsulate its goodness with words (ironically). Zacharias, the titular Sorcerer to the Crown, is my favourite and I just want an endless amount of nice things for him.

Self-published: No
Steamy scenes: No

Empath’s Lure by Jen Lynning

A hero who can manipulate emotions (but not sense them) meets a heroine who can sense emotions (but not manipulate them) on opposite sides of the treaty negotiation talks between two nations. Full of courtly intrigue and political shenanigans as well as the burgeoning romance between these enemies-turned-eventual-allies.

Self-published: Yes
Steamy scenes: Yes

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

The magic system fascinated me in this one – magicians cast using hand motions based on the cat’s cradle game. I also loved how many scenes are set in libraries and just how much William Morris wallpaper features.

Self-published: No
Steamy scenes: Yes

Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis

A magical manor-house mystery set in a kind of gender-bent version of Regency England (with added trolls and fae). It’s a novella, and I read it in one go and regret nothing.

Self-published: Yes
Steamy scenes: No

The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles

This m/m romance has a real gothic feel with the terrifying curse afflicting one of the heroes and the ominous magpie imagery.

Self-published: Yes
Steamy scenes: Yes

Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis

Regency romance with pet dragons! The moment I heard about this book, I knew I must read it, and I was right. I inhaled this delightful confection in a single sitting (seems to be something of a trend for me with Stephanie Burgis’ books).

Self-published: Yes
Steamy scenes: No

Witchmark by CL Polk

m/m and includes fae and magical soulbonds!

Self-published: No
Steamy scenes: Fade to black

Soulless by Gail Carriger

My heart will always hold a huge soft spot for Lord Maccon, gruff but well-meaning werewolf alpha.

Self-published: No
Steamy scenes: Yes

Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia C Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

This was the first fantasy-of-manners book I ever read, many years ago and before I knew the term for the subgenre. It’s told as letters back and forth between two friends as they each get embroiled in their respective mysteries / shenanigans, and it is pure delight. Maybe time for a re-read, in fact.

Self-published: No
Steamy scenes: No
November 9, 2021
Genre: What even is ‘gaslamp fantasy?’

When I finished the first draft of The Lord of Stariel, my friends and family asked, not unnaturally, what it was about.

“Well,” I said. “It’s a fantasy novel.”

This was and remains 100% true. It is a fantasy novel. There is magic. Excellent – genre nailed down.

However, fantasy is a giant genre, so I tried to be a little more specific. The attempt to pin down my subgenre quickly became a depressing exercise in things my novel lacks. It isn’t medieval, grimdark, epic, urban, or steampunk. It’s historicalish but it’s set in its own world. It isn’t about sword fights or going on a quest. There are fae, but it isn’t a fairytale retelling.

For a while I called it ‘fantasy romance’ because those are two things it definitely contains – even though the romance isn’t exactly the main plotline.

Eventually I did find a weird niche subgenre label for it in addition to fantasy romance: gaslamp fantasy. This is a subgenre that (a) most people have never heard of and (b) is basically defined entirely by what it’s not. Hoorah!

Wikipedia defines gaslamp fantasy as:

‘a subgenre of both fantasy and historical fiction. Generally speaking, this particular realm of fantasy employs either a Victorian or Edwardian setting. The gaslamp fantasy genre is not to be confused with steampunk…’

The way I see it, gaslamp fantasy is the magical cousin of steampunk. Steampunk I think draws more from science fiction than fantasy, and has a big focus on machines, cogs, corsets, goggles, Victorian-aesthetic, and, er, steam. Gaslamp is less about the technology and more about fantastical elements in a late nineteenth/early twentieth century setting.

Today I found out that Amazon recently created a category for gaslamp fantasy books, which heartened me until I glanced through the books listed and found that most of them appeared to be steampunk. Oh well. It’s only a little baby subgenre at the moment – maybe it will grow into something big and popular! After all, a few decades ago most people had never heard of urban fantasy either.

Bring on the gaslamp fantasy revolution!

June 25, 2017
Does Size Matter? Choosing the Right Book Format
This weekend I’m trying to choose the optimum book size. Specifically, fantasy novel size. This isn’t an abstract decision—what I pick will be the size I ask my designer to do for my covers. This is going to be a dorky technical post consisting of me working through my logic on the subject, so forgive me. More scintillating posts to follow, I promise.

Obviously, e-book covers don’t have a size so much as a ratio of width: height. I don’t think anyone particularly notices or cares whether the ratio is 1:1.6 or 1:1.5 or 1:1.45 so long as it’s, y’know, a rectangly bookish ratio and not a square.

A selection of sort-of-the-same-genre-as-mine ebook covers. Difference in width:height ratio = no one notices or cares!

So this is a decision where I think print preferences can rule and dictate the corresponding ebook cover size.

There are two big print-on-demand outfits for indies: Createspace and IngramSpark. The print-on-demand bit is important, because it means I don’t have to pay for warehousing or minimum print run costs; these guys print-and-ship individual copies as they are ordered and charge me on a per-copy basis. IngramSpark offers more formats and wider distribution options, but Createspace is cheaper and easier to set up. Long-term, I think I may use both, but to start with I intend to go through Createspace.

Because I’m not a heathen, my novels will be printed on cream paper rather than white. Createspace offers expanded distribution, but only for some formats (especially in cream paper). Expanded distribution means they will distribute a book to places other than Amazon.com. Given the constraints (cream paper, expanded distribution, available on both Createspace and IngramSpark), my choices become instantly quite limited:
- 5” x 8” (127 x 203 mm)
- 5.25” x 8” (133 x 203 mm)
- 5.5” x 8.5” (139.7 x 215.9 mm)
- 6” x 9” (152 x 228.6 mm)
All of these sizes are…odd, from a New Zealand reader’s perspective. They’re just slightly off the common sizes we get here, which are the same as the UK:
- A format “mass market paperbacks” (110mm x 178mm)
- B format (129mm x 198mm)
- C format “trade paperbacks” (135mm x 216mm)
A, B, and C format books from my shelf.

Presumably the odd USA sizes are actually common book sizes over there and not just randomly made up to be difficult, but I’m struggling to find any examples in my bookshelf in any of the standard Createspace formats. However, they’re not that different from A, B, and C format books, so I’m using those as a basis.

Step 1. Immediately remove 6” x 9” as a choice because that just seems unnecessarily enormous. I’m not writing Game of Thrones; I don’t need all the extra page space I can get. Also I don’t even own any books that big.

I think 5.5” x 8.5” (139.7 x 215.9 mm) is my best option. It’s a decent size without feeling monstrous, and it’s almost trade paperback size (135mm x 216mm) but about half a centimetre wider. It also has a width:height ratio that’s comfortably in the middle of the examples I put above ( 1:1.55). I think I can live with this.

OK, decision made. Almost-but-not-quite C format paperbacks, here we come!
May 27, 2017