Recently I've been reintroducing myself to the world of young adult fiction, specifically fantasy and urban fantasy, since that's (apparently) what I write. I haven't read much in this genre since I was a young adult myself when I ripped through Susan Cooper, Madeleine L'Engle, Zilpha Keatley Snyder and anything, anything by John Bellairs.Then in the 8th grade I discovered that hot gothic mess that is Wuthering Heights and it was all over - I was lost in the vast ocean of 18th and 19th century literature for the next 15+ years.
But I digress.
Now perhaps it's because I'm ridiculously old, or perhaps it's because I read with a writer's eye now, but I've noticed a disturbing trend in several of the YA UF's I've read. Namely, the sacrifice of plot for set-up.
The two novels where this approach really stuck out for me are P.C. and Kirstin Cast's first novel House of Night series, Marked and Libba Bray's first novel in the Gemma Doyle trilogy, A Great and Terrible Beauty.Now don't get me wrong. I enjoyed both of these books, or more specifically, I enjoyed the first half to two-thirds of each of these books. Each had a great voice, a detailed world, interesting characters. And by the halfway point of both, I found myself thinking "Okay, fun set up, but where the hell is this going?"
So sure, there was a plot. Sort of . A tagalong, little brother, "Hey guys, can I come too?" kind of plot, hanging on to the roof of the speeding series set-up train for dear life.
Because that was the problem, for me. Both of these novels - the first in a series - was so much about setting up its sequels that the stand alone plot elements felt tacked on. In Marked, the revving up of the "adventure" happens so late in the novel I'd begun flipping through to make sure I hadn't gotten the mutant copy with the last 50 pages missing. And it's kinda lame. In A Great and Terrible Beauty, I found that as soon as the characters got into the main arc of the stand alone story, I began to lose interest as all of the aspects of the novel I previously loved began to fall away.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, arguably the most successful first book in a series ever, has a damn good stand alone plot and amazing world-building and series set-up. So my question is: what happened to the "stand alone novel with series potential" in the YA world? Have they gone the way of the dodo, replaced by ambiance-heavy set-up novels? Or am I just not reading the right books?
Would love to be set straight/guided in the right direction. Hit me.
I felt the same way after reading Kelley Armstrong's The Summoning. The book was interesting, but there was no plot, no climax, and then whoosh--huge, crazy cliffhanger and I'm left thinking, WTF? The cliffhanger was so strong, it was obnoxious.
ReplyDeleteAnd her sequel is coming out in like two months. Another sequel set up!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm paranoid I did the same thing with my novel. Ugh.
This so true. Actually, most of the way through Marked I kept thinking - "where's the story?". It seemed like a chapter or two tagged onto the end of great set up. My reaction wasn't quite as strong to AGATB, but I think that's because there was enough other interesting stuff going on to keep me engaged, but the ending definitely felt like a rip off.
ReplyDeleteWithout having read your revisions, I'd say you don't need to worry. If I'd felt cheated out of a complete story arc with W's E, I would have told you!
Hmmm... this is an interesting question. I haven't read these books, but they are on my tbr list and I will definitely have to think about that when I do get around to reading them.
ReplyDeleteGretchen, I wouldn't worry if you did the same thing. Rockstar would have told you.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny is that all the books mentioned are bestsellers. Does the rest of the world notice this set-up thing, or is it just other writers?
Well, I think the bestseller status tells us that perhaps the target audience isn't as concerned about or affected by these issues. Though I have to say, writer or not, it would have bothered me either way.
ReplyDeleteI think Hunger Games is a fantastic example of a stand alone. Absolutely compelling, exciting, and fulfilling.
I enjoyed A Great and Terrible Beauty but I will say that the second novel felt like it was setting up the third and the third was a long winded book that should have been edited down 200 or so pages.
ReplyDeleteMarked was a hard read for me. I couldn't get the image of a valley girl out of my head every time I read the dialogue. I had to ditch it.
I see that you are reading Graceling. I requested it through the library. I am looking forward to it. It has great reviews.
Yeah, I needed to read something with more action! Thought this would be a good fit.
ReplyDeleteYou're right: that is a big problem with YA these days. Twilight's probably the most famous one I can think of, with the "plot" at the end seeming to be really tacked on at the last minute.
ReplyDeleteSo does that say that young adult fiction readers prefer style over substance? Interesting.
ReplyDeleteHmm, interesting. I'd actually say the novel my agent has right now is similar to these two books. The first half is pretty much set-up, and then we get to the "exciting" plot.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is a bad thing, hm.
If there was a structural problem with your novel, your agent would have told you by now. But I've read your synopsis - it doesn't sound like a tacked on plot to me!
ReplyDeleteYeah its all about the style, I think. My students want to read something flashy, fun and "cool." They aren't looking for masterpieces, thats for sure. And frankly I'm just glad they are reading in an age with video games, texting, computers, work, sports, school work and their weekly romances. :-)
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm going to take the devil's advocate position here. There's a trend now toward shorter books. (And in YA, shorter books are de rigueur.) At the same time -- either ironically or coincidentally -- there's a trend toward longer story arcs. This requires a series, which is actually one long story, not autonomous episodes. So the story is not 100,000 words but more like 300,000 to 400,000 words. So is it odd to use 50,000 words for set up?
ReplyDeleteI admit, Harry Potter managed a perfect balance of automous story and overall story arc, but it's damn hard to do.
Tara, I agree on the downsizing aspect. When I was talking with agents about representation, the consensus seemed to be that 65K-75K was the ideal YA goal, a result of post-Twilight backlash.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I do understand the trend towards sweeping 6 books story arcs, I find it ridiculous that a single 75K word title - even with 15 sequels already outlined and ready to go - can't have a complete, satisfying, self-contained plot.
Obviously, just my personal preference since all the books mentioned in this post (and comments) have sold ridiculously well!