It’s the End of the World as We Know It
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By Sara Antill -- Publishers Weekly, 10/22/2009 4:15:00 PM
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Panelists (from l.) Scott Westerfeld, James Dashner, Carrie Ryan, and Michael Grant. |
Grant, along with fellow authors Scott Westerfeld, Carrie Ryan, and James Dashner, gathered with fans at Barnes & Noble on Manhattan’s Upper East Side last Thursday to discuss their latest books, as well as the future of this “bleak future” genre.
Westerfeld, who described his steampunk novel Leviathan (Simon Pulse) as “more preapocalyptic than postapocalyptic,” said that he enjoys the freedom that comes along with the genre. “Teens are being forcibly civilized,” he said. “But when civilization breaks down, you can tie chainsaws to bumper cars if you want to.”
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It was a standing room only crowd at the panel, which was held at a Barnes & Noble on Manhattan's Upper East Side. |
Carrie Ryan decided to set her debut novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Delacorte), 150 to 200 years after the apocalypse in an effort to explore not an event itself, but what remains. “I wanted to take it generation to generation,” she said. “I wanted to see what we lose and what we remember.” Ryan said she believes the genre of dystopian future fiction lends itself well to YA books. “You want your characters to be in control of their own story, so you have to get rid of the parents,” she said. An apocalypse offers an opportunity to do that.
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After the panelists spoke, they signed copies of their books for readers in attendance. |
As for getting rid of parents, Michael Grant went one step further in his Gone series (HarperTeen), instantaneously and mysteriously getting rid of everyone over the age of 14. The young teens and children who remain must rebuild some form of workable society. “Maybe it’s just me projecting and wanting to go somewhere else for a little while,” he said with a smile.
While books in a genre as broad as postapocalyptic fiction can vary widely in subject matter, the one constant seems to be “the bleaker the vision, the better.” In fact, that mantra is an integral part of Carrie Ryan’s writing process. “I go with the philosophy of ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ ” she said, “and then I write that.”
