The Rise and Fall of Dystopia
11:34:00 PM
All of the trends typically follow the same pattern. One or two books will generate enough buzz to launch a parade of similar stories to create an "If you liked this, you'll LOVE this" table in Barnes & Noble. Series after series is published until the idea is entirely exhausted and we've all moved on to the next big thing. You have to know the market, and you have to know just how far you must go to beat this system if you're trying to give life to something that we all watched die.
Above the rest, there is one trend that swept YA readers off their feet and spawned a seemingly endless string of high stake trilogies and rebellious heroines. It arrived on the shelves with the feeling of something new and exciting for readers, igniting numerous franchises that expanded far beyond the written words. It seemed as though we couldn't get enough.
The impact it had was staggering. The death it suffered was long and agonizing. We couldn't even lift our District 12 solutes by the time it was over.
That's the story the critics might like to tell. That's certainly what it feels like when trying to publish a novel with similar themes, but is dystopia really dead? Can it truly be so washed up that publishers and agents have come to steer clear of it entirely? As we watch the current elections or just observe the disfunction that is our own society, I can hardly believe that ideas about totalitarian governments and oppressive systems have ceased to resonate with readers. George Orwell and Aldous Huxley were writing about this before today's YA authors were even born, so the genre holds much more weight than just another trend for teenagers. It is an important reflection on what the world could so easily become, and it begs many powerful questions regarding whether or not we could reverse it.
We know the validity behind the dystopian genre, but when it comes to YA, even something so relevant and established is subject to a shelf life. In any situation, plots can tend to get recycled and characters can seem almost interchangeable. The bandwagon gets fuller and fuller, and it will eventually buckle. Publishing is a business, and good business doesn't take a risk on something that they believe people no longer want.
But I think that's kind of bullshit.
This goes beyond my own journey through the query trenches. All authors must pay their dues in rejection letters and long waiting periods, and I respect and understand that. What I don't understand is how we just accept the death of a genre and write off anything that comes after it. Great stories can stand on their own without these trends, and readers will flock to them because of it. We want that diverse selection of plots and ideas, not just a cluster of reused material that seems to sell well. That's why these genres die in the first place, because they are drained of all life through this kind of marketing.
So lets reflect on the genre a little bit. We can all probably name at least ten popular titles that fall under dystopian themes that all came out around the same time. Eight out of those ten likely had a love triangle. Most of them were probably written in first person with a tough, yet unsure leading lady as the narrator. There was always a good chance of rebellion, forbidden romance, and some sort of war. We read good ones, bad ones, and incredible ones. It had a good run, but it's safe to say that no bookstore is going to have a display dedicated to dystopia anytime soon.
You see, dystopia itself isn't dead. It's the formula that met its timely demise. It was established early on the rise of the genre, and many of the novels that followed seemed to latch onto it. Mix one heroine, two rivaling hot dudes, one evil dictator, a futuristic landscape and some battle cries and you've got the exact reason these novels don't get published under this category anymore. That's what people got tired of reading, because every story went down the same path. No one was leaving any trails anymore.
But that doesn't mean it's time to lose faith in dystopia in YA. We have seen from successful films like Bong Joon Ho's Snowpiercer (2013) and recent fantasy/adventure YA releases such as Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen and Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes that people are still interested in these topics. A fresh voice is a strong weapon against formulas and redundancy. The world we live in gives authors enough source material every day that can bring about new ideas with potential to open up undiscovered frontiers within the genre. Even when it feels like everything has been done before, there is always something to say that matters. New characters can shine a different light on familiar subjects while also creating entirely unique worlds around them.
The trends are always going to be there, and they are constantly changing. We don't know what's coming next, but we do know that stories are being overlooked and voices are going unheard because their genre no longer holds the crown. You can't change the business of publishing, but you can believe that there is some agent out there who sees your vision and wants to take a chance on your work. That is every author's dream: that someone will understand the story they are trying to tell. Sometimes, it just takes a little longer. Part of writing is persevering. It is entirely essential.
No matter what people may tell you about what's selling and what's "dead", don't let that stop you from going forth to bring your idea to life. Don't listen to the formulas. Don't follow the paths. Be true to your story and fight for it, because we all have our own perspectives on the world and our minds are far too complex to be turned away because of a category. So keep going for the readers. For the stories. For yourself.
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