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Is Dystopian Taking Over the Writing World?

08 July 2013

I recently started reading Matched by Ally Condie, a young adult dystopian fiction novel. It's the first "new" book I've read in a while, and despite a couple complaints I am mostly enjoying it, and will probably post a review soon.
I've mentioned on my blog before that fantasy novels set in the future with a totalitarian government seems to be a growing trend. A few days ago I was at Barnes and Nobles, cruising the best seller isles and looking at the "teen picks." I must say, a lot of them seemed to have a similar plot in that they were fantasy, and those stories set in the present were heavily romance-infused, a little too much for my taste.
To be honest, it made me nervous.
You could say I write simple stories. They're all about real people; no vampires, aliens or witches involved. They all contain realistic circumstances that we can relate to, or have at least read about in the history books. These sorts of stories are not uncommon to the grand world of literature, but they seem to be vanishing fast. "Normal" books are sinking in a ocean filled with dystopian fiction.
Not that fantasy books nowadays are so original. To be sure, whoever came up with the idea first of an over-bearing government set somewhere else must have been quite a clever cat. But now everybody else seems to be riding their wave, just with a different surfboard.
An agent I contacted labeled my book as "fantasy," when I clearly stated it was an adventure/suspense novel, and she then went on to explain there was not enough of a hook. I realize that every agent is looking for something different, but the way she spoke about my book seemed to say, "oh, fantasy? Wait a minute, I see no abnormal characters or circumstances...yeah you don't stand a chance." I tend to take things like that lightly, so the report did not discourage me, but it did make me thoughtful.
What do you think?
Can stories like mine survive in today's world of fiction?
To me, it's almost seems that unless I intend on writing a sultry romance, if I don't hop on the fantasy band wagon, I may have a hard time leaving my mark.

Written by: Karoline Kingley

2 comments:

  1. I think it's just a trend, but then again, maybe I'm just in denial. Personally, I tend to avoid dystopian books (except for the classics like 1984, brave new world, and the handmaid's tale). They just aren't interesting to me. Realistic fiction and stories about people experiencing the same sorts of things I experience are so much better!
    Your agent sounds ridiculous. Isn't adventure/suspense just about the biggest hook you can have? Anyway, it's very impressive that you've gotten to the point of having an agent at all! Good luck with your book, I hope you find a better agent!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Also, I've nominated you for the Lebster award!

    ReplyDelete

Is Dystopian Taking Over the Writing World?

I recently started reading Matched by Ally Condie, a young adult dystopian fiction novel. It's the first "new" book I've read in a while, and despite a couple complaints I am mostly enjoying it, and will probably post a review soon.
I've mentioned on my blog before that fantasy novels set in the future with a totalitarian government seems to be a growing trend. A few days ago I was at Barnes and Nobles, cruising the best seller isles and looking at the "teen picks." I must say, a lot of them seemed to have a similar plot in that they were fantasy, and those stories set in the present were heavily romance-infused, a little too much for my taste.
To be honest, it made me nervous.
You could say I write simple stories. They're all about real people; no vampires, aliens or witches involved. They all contain realistic circumstances that we can relate to, or have at least read about in the history books. These sorts of stories are not uncommon to the grand world of literature, but they seem to be vanishing fast. "Normal" books are sinking in a ocean filled with dystopian fiction.
Not that fantasy books nowadays are so original. To be sure, whoever came up with the idea first of an over-bearing government set somewhere else must have been quite a clever cat. But now everybody else seems to be riding their wave, just with a different surfboard.
An agent I contacted labeled my book as "fantasy," when I clearly stated it was an adventure/suspense novel, and she then went on to explain there was not enough of a hook. I realize that every agent is looking for something different, but the way she spoke about my book seemed to say, "oh, fantasy? Wait a minute, I see no abnormal characters or circumstances...yeah you don't stand a chance." I tend to take things like that lightly, so the report did not discourage me, but it did make me thoughtful.
What do you think?
Can stories like mine survive in today's world of fiction?
To me, it's almost seems that unless I intend on writing a sultry romance, if I don't hop on the fantasy band wagon, I may have a hard time leaving my mark.

Written by: Karoline Kingley

2 comments :

  1. I think it's just a trend, but then again, maybe I'm just in denial. Personally, I tend to avoid dystopian books (except for the classics like 1984, brave new world, and the handmaid's tale). They just aren't interesting to me. Realistic fiction and stories about people experiencing the same sorts of things I experience are so much better!
    Your agent sounds ridiculous. Isn't adventure/suspense just about the biggest hook you can have? Anyway, it's very impressive that you've gotten to the point of having an agent at all! Good luck with your book, I hope you find a better agent!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Also, I've nominated you for the Lebster award!

    ReplyDelete

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