Trends in Young Adult Fantasy Novels

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Young adult fantasy novels are one of the most consistently bestselling categories in the book world. The trends of what’s popular are constantly evolving, most likely because readers get more and more discerning with each new release. While series such as Twilight and Harry Potter set a precedent for paranormal romance novels, some readers seem to have grown tired of vampires and wizardry, though core fans of the genre will stay loyal to their love of magic.

During the past year, dystopian novels have surged in popularity. Is it the predictions of the 2012 apocalypse that readers are relating most to, or is it the strong, empowered characters that attract readers and reel them in? While yes, the Miami zombie news and Mayan prophecies incited a little bit of hysteria about the possibilities of an apocalypse this year, we’d like to think it’s the compelling protagonists that have increased the appeal of dystopian literature.

That idea actually makes the most sense because even when young adult fantasy novels are built upon storylines with paranormal elements, they’re still the ones readers are clamoring for the day they’re released.

Librarians all over the country report that the popularity of dystopian novels doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all. While it seems that the fascination with an apocalypse may fuel the desire to read end of the world books, what sets the bestsellers and award winners apart is their combination of fantasy and real issues that are relevant to teen’s lives.

The best examples of this are the current bestsellers, many of which are considered some of the best fantasy novels of all time. For example, in The Hunger Games, Katniss deals with many coming-of-age issues alongside her struggle to survive. In Revealing Eden, Eden struggles with self-acceptance and self-image as she tries to outwit a government that classifies her as the lowest of the low and her mate-rate brands her nearly impossible to find a mate. Among paranormal romance novels, in Twilight, even though Bella is in love with a vampire, we can relate to how she feels when she first moves to a new town and how it can be difficult to understand young love. 

The best fantasy novels of today are those that combine the elements that are most relevant and on the forefront of society, which drive the content of many end of the world books, and those that allow you to fully understand and empathize with the protagonist. It makes sense that dystopian literature is leading the pack right now, but authors beware, the characters will always be the most important element of the story.

Young adult novels —bringing characters to life

Writing realistic characters in young adult novels can be challenging to do when you’re no longer between the ages of 12 and 17.  It’s important for those awkward adolescent years to be brought to life in an authentic way if you want your book to be a success. 

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Whether you’re writing end of the world books or paranormal romance novels, there are a few key traits that your protagonists and other characters should possess—one of the most important is attitude. While characters may be extremely different from each other, especially when their story is based in settings as different as what you’d find in dystopian literature or a contemporary love story, some themes and issues will be common and recurring. They will evoke certain attitudes that will be similar across the board, such as rebelliousness, anger, frustration and insecurity. 

When writing these characters, you want to let the audience see them evolve and make mistakes from time to time. For an extreme example, the protagonist in a series of end of the world books may be focused on developing her combat skills so she can survive an apocalypse, but during the process may decide on whether she believes that others are potential enemies or allies. She may make a life-changing decision that goes against everything she ever believed in as a child.

A common behavior among protagonists in young adult novels is a struggle for self-awareness and identity. Young adults are coming-of-age and trying to learn who they are, what they like and dislike, what’s important to them and how they want to be perceived. As a result, they may try on different identities, looks and friends in a desire to experiment—they may be a red meat lover one day and the next decide they want to become a vegetarian. They may practice with a band for a year and then decide they don’t want to do anything with music anymore. They may think they know their stance on drugs and alcohol, and then may succumb to peer pressure in an unexpected situation.

While protagonists in dystopian literature may experiment with different personas just like any teenager would, they may also try on different political and spiritual attitudes that may not even be in the minds of real world teens. The possibilities are literally endless and offer an opportunity to really have your protagonist experience a significant and dramatic arc throughout the novel.

Why write books for young adults?

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There are several compelling reasons to write books for young adults. It’s a fresh, ever burgeoning genre that is easy to adapt to and lots of fun to write. Yet there are other reasons that motivate authors on deeper levels and often result in a sense of unparalleled fulfillment.

Besides the fact that the market is flourishing, many authors choose to write young adult novels because it gives them an opportunity to wield influence upon a demographic that is still impressionable. The adult market may enjoy everything from the classics and paranormal romance novels to science fiction and fantasy books, but their attitudes and beliefs are already formed and difficult to sway or affect.

Many of the teenagers who read young adult novels seek characters that they can relate to and an understanding of what they’re experiencing in life. They want to feel like others have experienced or are going through the same situations and experiences that they are. Books for young adults give readers the chance to live through the experience with the protagonist and see how they handle everything from drugs, peer pressure, sex and racism to surviving an apocalypse and saving the world. While the latter two situations are typically fodder for science fiction and fantasy books, when blended with the young adult genre, the protagonists will face issues common to young adults, despite their otherworldly settings.

Another common reason that authors write books for young adults is that it gives them a chance to rewrite their own teenage experiences. If prom sucked or teenage years were spent covered in acne and despair, an author can write a totally different experience and live vicariously through their protagonist. Someone who never dated during high school can write a series of paranormal romance novels where they live out their fantasy of dating the hottest guy in school and ending up happily ever after once they’ve overcome an array of supernatural obstacles. On the flip side, if high school was a breeze or possibly too normal, writers can raise their protagonist in a coven of witches or a castle in an imaginary land of demons and fairies.

The best young adult novels give readers hope by helping their characters go through their experiences and ultimately survive. While this is an amazing experience to be able to provide readers with, it also brings the responsibility to offer unbiased ideas and viewpoints.

Narrative Voice for Young Adult Fiction Books

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One of the defining characteristics of young adult fiction books is what we call “Narrative voice,” which is how your narrator tells the story. When you’re writing for a young adult audience, it’s important to make the narrative voice very teen-friendly, so readers can organically understand and relate to what’s being said. Whether you’re writing dystopian literature or science fiction and fantasy books set in another world, the characters need to be real and relatable, even if they’re not teenaged.

Surrender to immaturity. Some teens and many tweens are introverted or focused on inner conflicts. This makes them relate well to characters in young adult fiction books who face similar coming-of-age issues. Just like the protagonists, they’re trying to figure out who they are.  These characters will not usually be very aware of what they’re doing, and often act and react without thinking, and have emotional outbursts. It really doesn’t matter if it’s the protagonist of a series of science fiction and fantasy books or a chick lit novel; it could be an alien from another planet. What matters is that they’re learning about who they are and have an inexperienced outlook about life.

Unleash your inner drama queen. Use words and phrases that overdramatize a situation and its impact on your characters. Teenagers tend to exaggerate circumstances and get overly emotional. They may say silly things like, “I’m so dead!” or “I hate you,” to convey how serious the situation is to them. When teens are upset they tend to make things seem bigger than they are—use simple language that conveys their message and emotions.

Don’t be a messenger. While many authors of young adult novels, especially writers of dystopian literature, have a message they want their book to convey, it needs to be taught through the lessons the protagonist learns throughout the story. Don’t try to tell the reader the message.

Be easy to read. Young adult fiction books should be written in straightforward language, using shorter, less complex sentences. Young adult readers look for a more manageable read—short paragraphs with simple sentence structures are the way to go for this market. Authors of young adult novels often let sentences run on purposely and get creative with grammar. It’s a more fun, relaxed style that’s less daunting for the reader.

Romance in young adult fantasy novels

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Writing romance in young adult fantasy novels is a subjective art. Obviously different readers like different stories and since plots and characters are never going to be identical, the romance will also be unique.

Young adult fiction books are smoking hot right now, so if you’ve always wanted to write one, now is the perfect time. If your dream is to write one of the best fantasy novels of our era, then you’ll need a strong romance element. Here are some tips for creating the love story that will drive and sustain the romantic tension of your future masterpiece.

Make the romance as unique as your characters. Every single love story is unique, with its own individual back story and history. If you truly want to write one of the best fantasy novels of this year, then you don’t want to resort to a cliché romantic storyline. Think about every relationship you’ve ever had—while some patterns may have repeated themselves, they were probably also different in many ways.

Create realistic interactions. In real life, we have different relationships with all of our friends, family and lovers. We have arguments, resolve conflicts and may experience some push and pull and ups and downs. Even though you want to write young adult fantasy novels, they still need to have realistic human interaction or they will be boring and trite—and worst of all, readers won’t care about or be invested in their fate.

Even if the characters are soul mates, they should be different from each other. Some of the best young adult fiction books and love stories are about two people from different backgrounds, cultures or families that are polar opposites, if not enemies. Romeo and Juliet is a perfect example. It’s also something that we’re seeing a lot of right now because of the surge in popularity in dystopian literature. When new societies or class systems are formed due to an apocalyptic event, it’s easy to create characters who might be from a completely different race, class or background fall in love with each other. Then the difficulties of trying to make this impossible or doomed love affair work is what creates tension and makes young adult fantasy novels interesting. Readers become very invested in the fate of the character’s love—it gives them something to root and hope for. The more realistic the better when it comes to romance!

Settings in End of the World books

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End of the world books are typically categorized as a sub-genre of science fiction, usually built around the theme of the end of civilization resulting from some sort of apocalyptic event such as natural disaster, a disease or war—often times of a nuclear nature. 

End of the world books can deal with the actual events that lead to the catastrophic obliteration of mankind, with its characters struggling to survive, or the aftermath of said disaster. The time frame may be directly after the disaster, when characters or struggling to adapt to their new conditions or survive in a brutal, dangerous environment. Most recently, we’ve seen many dystopian novels set in the aftermath of the catastrophe, such as Revealing Eden, which takes place after the Great Meltdown obliterates those with light skin.

With the end of the Mayan calendar occurring this year, end of the world books are getting lots of attention for their cutting edge themes and issues they deal with. They can be very thought-provoking and incendiary, as they makes readers think about what would happen if such a disaster brought about an apocalypse. Many new young adult fantasy novels deal with these issues, which enlighten readers of a broad age range, many of which never thought about this kind of situation before.

Another trend we’re seeing a lot of in books with post apocalyptic settings, specifically among dystopian novels, is themes regarding the civilization prior to the catastrophe. Once the apocalyptic event occurs, the previous world is forgotten about and even mythologized. Former political regimes, class systems and racial stereotypes are obliterated, creating new prejudices, minorities and the like. 

Even in young adult fantasy novels, where the setting can be otherworldly, magical or paranormal, if they deal with the end of the world, the tone is going to be dark and thought-provoking, sometimes even harsh and brutal, depending on the message the author’s trying to deliver. 

While it may be grandiose and thrilling, often times, how the world ends doesn’t really matter—unless it’s a sci-fi driven work built around the actual apocalypse. Either way, setting a novel after the end puts the reader in an emotional state, since we’re all pretty attached to the world as we know it and the comforts we are accustomed to. The best fantasy novels give the reader a chance to stand in their protagonist’s shoes and sympathize with their plight, to feel the loss of the old world and possibly many of the people in it, and to adapt to a setting they could have never imagined, where their life is potentially at danger all the time and they need to do what they have to in order to survive.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

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Is your goal to write some of the best science fiction and fantasy books of all time? If so, you better get started, because there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of writers with the same goal in mind. The first step is to understand the basis of both genres—while they’re very similar and are often blend brilliantly, they still have unique, defining characteristics.

If you were to ask a group of writers, they would all give you different definitions of science fiction as a genre, ultimately proving it’s a difficult one to define. Author Damon Knight stated that "Science fiction is what we point to when we say it," while author Isaac Asimov wrote, “Science fiction reflects scientific thought; a fiction of things-to-come based on things-on-hand.”

It’s safe to say that science fiction refers to stories that include some element of science, in an imagined setting, either futuristic or otherworldly, that is different from the one we live in. While fantasy also takes place in an otherworldly setting, the worlds are typically magical, mythical or supernatural. 

While science fiction and fantasy books are incredibly similar, science fiction tends to reflect more rational aspects or attributes, while fantasy is evoked from the subconscious. Science fiction is a way of imagining the possibilities of the future or another world such as outer space, while some of the best fantasy novels are inspired by an inner quest to discover deeper meanings in life.

As recent best-selling dystopian literature exemplifies, these genres often overlap and cross into others. In addition, they can, on some level, teach us about the concerns of humanity and help us to relate to those from different worlds and cultures. Post-apocalyptic settings can bring to life our greatest fears of society’s demise, allowing us to empathize about the character’s plight in a realistic way that allows us to almost experience their transformation or arc.

Despite futuristic or fantastical settings, readers must relate to the characters to invest in their struggle—regardless of whether they’re aliens, monsters, vampires or wizards. The series of events that take place throughout should possess tension and include conflict that draws you in and carries you through to their resolution. The best fantasy novels will keep you on the edge of your seat, whether or not you can understand what it’s like to be in the character’s shoes, with supernatural powers, non-human weaknesses and paranormal strength.

Whether you choose to write a story that ranks as dystopian literature, time travel, steam punk or dark fantasy, more than anything, it needs to be about the characters and their concerns.