As we approach the fourth anniversary of the Hunger Games publication, the rise in popularity
of the dystopian genre has never been more evident. The teen section has been
overcome with dystopian-themed novels, such as Veronica Roth’s Divergent and Ally Condie’s Matched. These novels and more have been
gobbled up by teens—once they set down the Hunger
Games, they are ready for another dystopian teen novel. According to the Telegraph the week before the Hunger
Games movie release, “with the arrival of the film of the first book of Suzanne
Collins’s best-selling trilogy the Hunger
Games this month, dystopia for teenagers has hit an all-time high in public
consciousness.” Publishers have been meeting these demands with the release of
dozens of well-publicized dystopian teen novels over the past four years since
the Hunger Games rocketed into
popular culture.
The
authors that are following Collins in publication may not have been influenced
in their writing of a dystopian novel. However, with the success of the Hunger Games, agents, editors and
publishers have been more open to dystopian fiction as it is “the hottest genre
in publishing and film on both sides of the Atlantic”. So it’s likely that the
new teen dystopian releases were influenced by Collins’ Hunger Games in their publishing.
History of Dystopia
The first novels that can be classified as dystopian were
published over a century ago, but the genre has only enjoyed its rise in
popularity since the release of the Hunger
Games in 2008. This modern classic was preceded in the genre by such
literary greats as Brave New World (1934),
1984 (1949) and Fahrenheit 451 (1953).
More recently, children’s authors
have broadened the genre with such releases as the Newbury-award winning The Giver (1993) and Ender’s Game (1985), a science fiction
yet dystopian classic takes the genre back to its original roots in science
fiction.
In 2005, Scott Westerfeld published
Uglies, the first of four in a
dystopian teen series which became a turning point for the genre.
Traditionally, dystopian novels were penned by men for men, but “Uglies was a
strikingly new, dark tale which girls took to their hearts in droves.” Since
that point, the teen dystopian genre has been driven by female characters and
has seen an ever increasing number of female authors.
Decade of Dystopia (2002-2012)
Here is a look back at the past decade of teen dystopian
releases. It’s difficult to include every teen novel with a dystopian theme
published in the past decade, but this collection includes those of note,
influence and those believed to stand the test of time.
Feed: M.T. Anderson, 2002
House of the Scorpion: Nancy Farmer, September 2002
How I Live Now: Meg Rosoff, August 2004
Uglies: Scott Westerfeld, February 2005
Sequels: Pretties, Specials, Extras
Life as We Knew It: Susan Beth Pfeffer, October 2006
Sequels: The Dead and Gone, This World We Live In
Unwind: Neal Shusterman, 2007
Sequel: Unwholly
The Declaration: Gemma Malley, October 2007
Sequels: The Resistance, The Legacy
Gone: Michael Grant, June 2008
Sequels: Hunger, Lies, Plague, Fear
The Knife of Never Letting Go: Patrick Ness, May 2008
Sequels: The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men
Hunger Games:
Suzanne Collins, September 2008
Sequels: Catching
Fire, Mockingjay
Forest of Hands and Teeth: Carrie Ryan, July 2009
Sequels: The Dead-Tossed Waves, The Dark and Hollow
Places
Maze Runner: James Dashner, October 2009
Sequels: The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure, The Kill
Order
Incarceron: Catherine Fisher, January 2010 (UK May 2007)
Sequel: Sapphique
Worldshaker: Richard Harland, May 2010
Shipbreaker: Paolo Bacigalupi, May 2010
Matched: Ally Condie,
November 2010
Sequels: Crossed, Reached
Wither: Lauren DeStefano, March 2011
Sequels: Fever, Sever
Divergent: Veronica Roth, May 2011
Sequel: Insurgent
Blood Red Road: Moira Young, June 2011
Sequel: Rebel Heart
Possession: Elana Johnson, June 2011
Sequel: Surrender
Across the Universe: Beth Revis, January 2011
Sequels: A Million Suns, Shades of Earth
Delirium: Lauren Oliver, January 2011
Sequel: Pandemonium
Enclave: Ann Aguirre, April 2011
Dark Parties: Sara Grant, August 2011
Eve: Anna Carey, October 2011
Sequel: Once
Legend: Marie Lu, November 2011
Sequel: Prodigy
Shatter Me: Tahereh Mafi, November 2011
Sequel: Unravel Me
Cinder: Marissa Meyer, January 2012
Sequel: Scarlet
Under the Never Sky: Veronica Rossi, January 2012
Sequel: Through the Ever Night
Partials: Dan Wells, February 2012
Sequel: Fragments
The Drowned Cities: Paolo Bacigalupi, May 2012
Monument 14: Emmy Laybourne, June 2012
References:
“50+ Fantastic Young Adult Dystopian Novels” Bart’s Bookshelf (blog). http://www.bartsbookshelf.co.uk/2009/09/30/update-best-dystopian-ya-novels-redux/
Belanger, Ashley. “Defining Moments in Young Adult Dystopia: a Timeline.” Orlando Weekly (2012). http://orlandoweekly.com/arts/visual/defining-moments-in-young-adult-dystopia-a-timeline-1.1359164
Craig, Amanda. “The Hunger Games and the teenage craze for dystopian fiction.” The Telegraph (2012): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9143409/The-Hunger-Games-and-the-teenage-craze-for-dystopian-fiction.html
I'd toss in "The Time Machine" as THE proto-dystopian novel. Civilization has fallen millennia beforehand, leaving the beautiful, child-like and apathetic Eloi unable to defend themselves from the cannibalistic, cave-dwelling Morlocks. Westerfield (and many others) have borrowed from the best.
ReplyDeleteWow, somehow the Time Machine didn't pop up in my research. But now that you say it, it makes sense. I haven't dived into reading these dystopian classics as much as I should have, but they are on my list. Also, I agree that Westerfeld, Collins and others borrowed from their predessors. Original ideas are seemingly a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteStanding on the shoulders of giants is not a bad thing, either. Ideas need to be expanded upon by successive generations for more sophisticated readers.
ReplyDelete