Photos / Encantadia, Diary ng Panget, WheninManila.com
Filipinos are known to be fans of both romance and fantasy. This is evident in the content we consume, whether it’s movies or TV shows.
One More Chance was released in 2007 but it continues to endure as a classic. Just recently, the Philippine Educational Theater Association announced that they will be staging a musical featuring the songs of Ben&Ben (a band known for its songs related to love).
The fantaserye or telefantasya is also a favorite genre on TV. Some of the country’s most famous series include Encantadia, Mulawin, Darna, and Dyesebel. These titles are so well-loved that Darna was adapted again in 2022 and Encantadia will soon have a spin-off called San’gre: Encantadia Chronicles.
It makes sense that our love for romance and fantasy extends to books.
Earlier this year, WordFinderX used Goodreads data to identify the most highly rated books by local authors from every country. The Philippines’ highest-rated book is HaveYouSeenThisGirL’s romance novel Diary ng Panget. It was adapted into a film starring Nadine Lustre and James Reid. The adaptation was so successful that it launched the love team’s careers.
The question now is: why are Filipinos drawn to romance and fantasy?
“I think that romantasy is a very immersive form of escapism, because it pulls you into this whole new world, while at the same time, giving you a reason to stay there. You want to see how the love story plays out,” Thea Guanzon told WheninManila.com.
Guanzon is the author of The Hurricane Wars, a romantasy (a combination of romance and fantasy) that has set the Philippine literary scene abuzz.
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In its debut week in October, the book was named a New York Times bestseller, a badge of honor among writers.
The Hurricane Wars was part of the Hardcover Fiction list, where it joined literary heavyweights like Stephen King, Danielle Steel, Ann Patchett, Ken Follett, Barbara Kingsolver, and Brandon Sanderson.
The book is also a TikTok favorite with 2.9 million views on the #thehurricanewars hashtag. This is quite the achievement, especially when you consider that BookTok, the reading community on TikTok, helped Colleen Hoover sell 14.3 million copies of her books in 2022 alone.
There’s more love for it: The Hurricane Wars is a USA Today, Indie, and Sunday Times bestseller. It is also one of the Best Books of 2023 of Barnes & Noble and Indigo, the largest bookstore chains in the US and Canada.
The book combines the elements of what fans love about romance and fantasy.
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It is set in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor under the Hurricane Wars. Talasyn is an orphan who found her family among the soldiers fighting for freedom. She also holds a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire’s shadows.
Prince Alaric, the emperor’s only son and heir, has been tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire’s rule with the strength of his armies and mighty shadow magic. He discovers the greatest threat yet in Talasyn: a girl burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars.
Guanzon is also a fan of the two genres. She said, “As a writer, I like writing romantasy because it’s a marriage of my two favorite genres. And it allows me to capture all the thrills and the messiness of a romance. At the same time, I am also being given an outlet for my very hyperactive imagination.”
The Hurricane Wars is available in select National Book Store branches, online at nationalbookstore.com, and in their official stores on Lazada and Shopee.
What do you think? Share your thoughts below!
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