Welcome back to Subject spotlight, the blog series where we give you quarterly data-driven insights into a specific corner of the Canadian book market. In our previous post, we shared sales and library circulation data for the Fiction / Humorous BISAC subject. This time, we’re looking at Fantasy. The last time we looked at Fantasy was in 2024. In this blog post, we wanted to get a look at how trends in this category may have changed since then.
So, how did Fantasy titles perform during the second quarter of 2026? We find out with the help of our SalesData & LibraryData services.
Buying Fiction / Fantasy
As shown in the graph below, year-over-year sales of Fantasy titles were up 34% in April before dropping by 26% in May and 3% in June.
In 2025, sales increased by 48% from April to May, and went down by 21% from May to June.
In 2026, sales of Fantasy titles were down 19% from April to May, before they went up by 4% from May to June.
Overall, the sales of Fantasy titles increased by 16% in the second quarter of 2025 and decreased 16% in the second quarter of 2026.
These are the BISAC subcategories with the highest year-over-year increases in sales:
- Fiction / Fantasy / Dragons & Mythical Creatures — up 266%
- Fiction / Fantasy / Arthurian — up 154%
- Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy — up 108%
From April to June, the most purchased Fantasy subcategories were:
- Fiction / Fantasy / Romance — 39% of all Fiction / Fantasy sales
- Fiction / Fantasy / Epic — 27% of all Fiction / Fantasy sales
- Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy — 8% of all Fiction / Fantasy sales
Borrowing Fiction / Fantasy
Year-over-year, Fantasy loans increased by 52% in April, decreased by 6% in May, and went back up by 19% in June. Overall loans increased by 4% in the second quarter of 2025 and decreased by 19% in the second quarter of 2026.
Year-over-year renewals increased by 81% in April, 9% in May, and 42% in June. Overall, renewals increased by 2% in the second quarter of 2025 and decreased by 19% in the second quarter of 2026.
Which Fantasy subcategories were the most popular in Canadian libraries? From April to June, these subcategories saw the greatest increases in library circulation compared to 2025:
- Fiction / Fantasy / Arthurian — loans up 113% and renewals up 109%
- Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy — loans up 108% and renewals up 95%
- Fiction / Fantasy / Cozy — loans up 78% and renewals up 152%
During the second quarter of 2026, the most circulated Fantasy subcategories were:
- Fiction / Fantasy / Epic — 27% of all Fiction / Fantasy loans and 29% of all Fiction / Fantasy renewals
- Fiction / Fantasy / Romance — 23% of all Fiction / Fantasy loans and 20% of all Fiction / Fantasy renewals
- Fiction / Fantasy / Historical — 9% of all Fiction / Fantasy loans and 10% of all Fiction / Fantasy renewals
Reading Fiction / Fantasy
Here are the top selling and top borrowed Fiction / Fantasy titles from the second quarter of 2026.
Top sold
- The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker
- Starside by Alex Aster
- Alchemised by SenLinYu
- The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Top borrowed
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- Inheritance by Nora Roberts
- Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
- The Seven Rings by Nora Roberts
- The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V. E. Schwab
Stay tuned for future instalments of this series or sign up to our eNews for more digestible data on the Canadian book market.
Until next time!
