There are several excellent fantasy books that have both spice and plot but tend to focus more on the plot than on the spice. Fantasy books containing a mix of plot and spice have become more prevalent as a whole. Fantasy books with more spice than plot, such as From Blood And Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout or What Lies Beyond The Veil by Harper L. Woods, have been massively successful on BookTok. While these stories might not become classic fantasy books, they are well worth reading all the same.
Spice in fantasy is not necessarily for everyone, and plenty of fantasy books deliver romance with little or no spice at all, proving that spice is not always necessary for a compelling narrative. However, some fantasy books contain a significant amount of spice, but not enough to overtake the plot—just enough to provide sensual chemistry while the plot primarily drives the narrative. The storyline is the heart of these books, but the little spice they contain enhances the narrative and provides a bit of steam for readers who might still want some without consuming the narrative.
10 All Souls By Deborah Harkness (2011-2024)
All Souls Has Minimal Spice, But The Few Scenes Are Electrifying
All Souls by Deborah Harkness is a trilogy about a witch named Diana Bishop and a vampire named Matthew Clairmont who fall in love even though witches and vampires are supposed to stay away from each other. The narrative follows Diana and Matthew as Diana finds a special alchemy manuscript, which might inflict war between witches, vampires, and daemons. All Souls primarily focuses on Matthew and Diana's forbidden romance and the repercussions it might have on the world, only heightened by Diana's discovered manuscript.
All Souls has a TV show adaptation that ran for three seasons, named after the first book, A Discovery of Witches. Despite Matthew and Diana's electrifying romance, the spice is relatively tame and consistent throughout the trilogy, except for a few off-the-charts moments. All Souls focuses much more on the discovered manuscript and how Diana and Matthew's romance changes the world. Although there will not be a fourth season of A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness has continued this rich narrative by telling Phoebe and Marcus' story in All Souls' fourth book Time's Convert.
