[qwup48315]

I really enjoyed reading as a teen, mostly fantasy stuff. I havent read for enjoyment in a long time and ive been looking for a adult fiction, magical/medieval themed book. I noticed that the synopsis is always: "Introduce main character. Big world problem. Character meets girl. Will he follow his heart or follow his destiny?" 

I want world-building, adventure, conflict. Not some sappy romance that steals away from the main theme of the book. Why does it seem like these romances are so wide-spread in the fantasy genre?

[NovaScottsBoy]

I think it's hard to incorporate a romance into a non-romance book. For instance let's say a book is about an adventure, the adventure would happen over a time period like 2 months or even longer. An actual organic relationship would be an equal amount of time. In this case non-romantic relationships are easily done as it could be interactions with the protagonist through the adventure, whereas an actual romance would require a sort of dating or charming/courting time. So if an author wants to implement an actual romance they either need to write another 1/3rd of a book or make it shallow. On the other hand I think a lot of books do really well at non-romantic sexual relationships. One book that comes to mind is The Sympathizer where the character pursues "free-love" because of his character development. It's a sexual relationship that doesn't need to be complicated thus avoiding the organic romance portion needed.

[qwup48315]

Exactly. So why add the romance and detract from the adventure? It doesn't make sense to me. Sex isn't the only thing that makes a book or any other media meant for adults, nor does it make a mediocre book into an award winning one. Language, actions, ideas are all ways to change whether an adventure story is meant for a teen or an adult. Yet every adult book seems to want to push these romances that lead to over sexual encounters or some highly expected "i love her so i must save her" scenarios.

Take your typical fantasy world: mages, dragons, kindoms at war. A YA book might have a teen as a knight whos set out on a quest, slowly gathers a group of similar aged individuals and together they fight grand battles against a dragon, lich, etc to work toward the end goal of the quest. The dialogue, ideas and events would be slightly cringey but totally appropriate for YA audience. Take the same world but the story revolves around a middle-aged, war-battered veteran knight, haunted by his actions on the battlefield, on his own quest. The tone can be more serious and sombre. The events are memories of glorious comradery and devastating war as he reflects on his past while crossing though the abandoned battlefields of a new war toward his own goal. It might not be a water tight argument but it doesnt need romance.

[Elvis Dumble]

Sorry I don’t read