Every couple of years there seems to be an outbreak of new book trends all featured in one genre or sub-genre. In the young adult fiction world, vampires and werewolves have been an extremely popular pick of the last year or two, but now in 2011, a fresh wave of trends have finally rolled out.
Even though I’m still loving the more gritty vampire reads like Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, I’m ready to dig into new worlds and different ideas. In 2011, the most popular trends so far in YA fantasy literature seem to be: Dystopian, Greek Mythology and Steampunk.
I’ve been reading YA fantasy fiction for a while, and I’m really excited by these sub-genres! I never thought I’d like dystopian books. Thinking about the end of the world depresses rather than excites me, but then I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I then realized that dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels offer fantastic ways to explore worlds that have crashed and burned in a variety of dire situations- like post-nuclear fallout, zombie attack or genetic testing gone wrong.
Some great new books in the dystopian sub-genre out this year are:
- Divergent
by Veronica Roth
- Wither
by Lauren DeStefano
- Across the Universe
by Beth Revis
- Outside In
by Maria V. Snyder
- The Dark and Hollow Places
by Carrie Ryan
- Enclave
by Anne Aguirre
I’m especially intrigued by Divergent. According to the back cover, “society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives.” How is that for a hook?
As for Greek mythology, I’m somewhat surprised by the turn in this direction. I didn’t read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology until I was a senior in high school. Have teens even read the original myths before they dive into the re-tellings? It doesn’t seem to matter either way because there are a slew of Greek re-tellings that have recently emerged.
A few are:
- The Goddess Test
by Aimee Carter (Persephone and Hades)
- Abandon
by Meg Cabot (Persephone and Hades)
- Starcrossed
by Josephine Angelini (Iliad)
- Lustruck by Kody Keplinger (Greek play: Lysistrata)
- Darkness Becomes Her
by Kelly Keaton (mix of Greek myths)
I recently read The Goddess Test and was impressed by the knowledge and research that went behind this retelling. It probably helped that Carter is a self-proclaimed mythology buff. I can personally recommend The Goddess Test as a great choice for a fun retelling of a Greek myth.
Steampunk is a sub-genre that is completely new to me, and I’m IN LOVE. I’m currently reading my first steampunk book, The Iron Thorn, and it’s fantastically creepy, haunting and engrossing.
Other steampunk books out this year:
- The Iron Thorn
by Caitlin Kittredge
- The Girl in the Steel Corset
by Kady Cross
- Sapphique
(and Incarceron
) by Catherine Fisher
- Goliath (Leviathan)
by Scott Westerfield
- Steam & Sorcery
by Cindy Spencer Pape
With all the new trends out this year, I hope you find a great new read in one or all of the newest YA fantasy genres!
What books have you read in the dystopian, Greek mythology or steampunk sub-genres? What do you think about these latest YA genre trends?
Related posts:
I absolutely loved “Ilium” by Dan Simmons (and it’s sequel, Olympos)! Simmons weaves together the Iliad and Shakespeare into science fiction in an original and clever way. If science fiction, Greek mythology/history/culture, and/or Shakespeare, I can’t recommend this book enough.
There are a lot of dystopian novels out there, but I have to say “We” (Yevgeny Zamyatin) is my favorite.
I initially found the surge of Greek mythology inspired YA fiction surprising, but thinking on it, the myths have everything that makes a good story (especially for teens): an unexpected ending (most times), jealousy, passion, anger, disobedience, trickery, etc. Many of the Greek myths are great springboards for retellings in infinite ways!
I agree,all of this is possibly the best way for those that are new to the world,of human, interacting with god,(the concept of good and evil) how all of this came about. The books seem to be more for girls the games for guys. I have this,as a suspicion almost that both are about the same thing.
A follow up to my earlier comment: when we consider the very ancient,that sometimes captivates our imaginations, words, potions and symbols aka magic,
but magic does not exist. It can only be expressed as a desire for power,to have control, but over what? good and evil, actually. The gods, as of Israel or jesus,
perhaps allah, thor,odin bramah,vishnu,etc. They don’t exist, they don’t come here, they don’t do anything! The new to the world,are the Gods, and magic has been perfected, it’s called technology it is awesome in how powerful it is, time to take your rightful place. Type it if you have it, Read it if you want it.
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[...] Comment: Emerging Trends in YA, posted by Grasping For the Wind [...]
[...] published on the site Saturday and is titled “Emerging Trends in YA.” You can find it here. Abandon by Meg Cabot- one of the books I mentioned under the Greek mythology [...]