64 pages • 2 hours read
Carissa BroadbentThe Serpent and the Wings of Night
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Series Context: Crowns of Nyaxia
The Serpent and the Wings of Night is the first book of the Crowns of Nyaxia series, a six-book series consisting of three duologies. Each duology will focus on a different primary couple; however, there remains an integral, overarching plotline that spans all six books. The second duology will be the Shadowborn Duet, following the House of Shadow. The third duology will be the Bloodborn Duet, following the House of Blood. The Serpent and the Wings of Night develops the romance between Raihn and Oraya while also introducing a wealth of worldbuilding concepts that are vital to understanding the entire series. The first installment ends on a cliffhanger just after Raihn murders Vincent and usurps the throne. Thus, Oraya’s love for Raihn is impossibly tainted by hatred even as circumstances force her to marry him in order to ensure her own survival in the new political situation. The ending sets the stage for both the overarching plot and the romance to continue developing in the sequel, The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King (2023).
There are also two optional novels set within the Crowns of Nyaxia world that can be read at any point. Six Scorched Roses (2023) is positioned as a standalone fantasy romance novella that is chronologically placed between The Serpent and the Wings of Night and The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King. The novella introduces and gives context to two characters, Lilith and Vale, who make appearances within The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King. Slaying the Vampire Conqueror (2023) is another standalone fantasy romance following an assassin named Salina who is ordered to kill a vampire lord named Atrius but instead falls in love with him. The full-length standalone gives more context to the Bloodborn vampires of the House of Blood and introduces characters that will appear in later installments.
Genre Context: Fantasy Romance
Fantasy books with significant romance plots are commonly referred to as “fantasy romance.” Fantasy romance is formally a subgenre of romance; in these stories, the primary focus is a romantic relationship, while an often-intricate fantasy world provides an exotic backdrop. As a result of the subgenre’s rising popularity since 2020, with authors such as Sarah J. Maas (Kingdom of Ash, A Court of Mist and Fury) and Jennifer L. Armentrout (From Blood and Ash, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire), fantasy romance has been misconstrued as an umbrella term for all fantasies with romances, regardless of their primary focus. The misuse has unfortunately blurred the boundary between fantasy romance and romantic fantasy, which are two separate genres. Romantic fantasy, or Romantasy, is a sub-genre of fantasy in which the primary focus is the fantasy world, while a romantic relationship serves as a subplot. By this definition, fantasy worldbuilding stands on its own merits even if the romance angle were to be omitted. Alternatively, this definition also allows for the romance and fantasy aspects to enjoy an equal emphasis within the storyline.
The distinction between fantasy romance and romantic fantasy is important, because while they do have overlaps in readership, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all readers prefer both. Many romance readers seek fantasy romance but avoid romantic fantasy because Romantasy’s fantasy-focus is far outside their preferences, and vice versa. The Serpent and the Wings of Night contains a blend of fantasy and romance. It is commonly referred to as a fantasy romance, which works for the Nightborn Duet, and the following duologies, because each pair primarily focuses on its own romance. However, the term Romantasy applies to the Crowns of Nyaxia series as a whole, for the overarching plot spanning all six books is primarily fantasy-focused.
Related Titles
By Carissa Broadbent
