As ‘Hunger’ fever spreads with the The Hunger Games movie release and 23 million copies sold, many new novels have been forming under the dystopian genre. Defined as an imaginary world in which citizens are struggling and having troubles surviving, dystopians are taking up the young adult fandom by a storm. Of course dystopians have been around for many years, but the Hunger Games kicked off this trend in 2008. Dystopian novels rose up at the most popular young adult genre in 2011 and it seems that this will continue on to 2012.
Many themes are consistent in the recently released dystopian novels: rebellion, overpowering governments, mild-altering drugs and jobs and positions based on genetics. Each novel has its own distinct niche though - no two are quite the same. Popular examples include Divergent by Veronica Roth and Delirium by Lauren Oliver. These novels may sound the same, but the only similarity they share are the dystopian genre and a female protagonist. Divergent follows a young girl, Tris, who lives in a society split up by five factions - each housing citizens of different personalities. Tris, who once belonged to Abnegation, the society of selflessness, moves to Dauntless, the faction of the brave, and she has to fight for her position in society. In Delirium, Lena Holoway has lived in a country where love was considered a disease. Throughout the novel she searches for her mother, who was taken over by love, and even faces this ‘disease’ herself. It’s clear to see that these novels will share some similarities: a female heroine and a romantic interest, but that’s inevitable for most young adult novels.
World Mag.com wonders if these dystopian novels have an influence on what teenagers think of our future. Set in futuristic worlds mixed with a terrible events, these novels have an ‘end-of-life-as-we-know-it’ feel to it. Authorities say that these novels have an influence on how teenagers view the world and go forth with an ‘end of the world’ attitude. Many teenagers, and myself, disagree and say that these novels are recreational purposes. In no way do we worship these novels and wish to follow all the rules the mock-governments have in the novels. They’re just stories! Of course they will have some influence on our life, but in no way do they completely change our thoughts on the world. We simply enjoy thinking of new theories on how the world will be in hundreds of years.One discussion based on dystopian novels, is the topic of the authors. The authors who write these novels claim they’re just as curious about the end of the world as teens are - they want to provide us with something entertaining and interesting to read. The main controversy with this, is the gender of the authors. Almost all dystopian authors are female! Of course, there’s some exceptions of Ray Bradbury, and Scott Westerfeld, the author of the Uglies series, but these are rare occurrences for the dystopian genre. Even dystopians with male point of views, such as Crossed by Ally Condie, are written by females! It seems that women are taking up the storm in the genre! This could be the result of most females writing, but that’s besides the point!
Over the next few months, many dystopian novels will be popping up around the book community. This trend is taking up a storm and will be found in the hands of readers all the time. What to you think about dystopian novels? Love them, or no? Leave your viewpoint in the comments below!