The Bookseller - Comment - The hellfire club

How are young adult dystopias fairing these days? We saw a huge surge after 2010, with The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner and their many imitators - a phase that burned out pretty quickly. I remember publishers telling me over any number of years that the dystopia craze was over. It never quite is, but as a money fountain, it feels like the genre's had its day. Dystopia has been largely replaced by romance/fantasy in the YA SFF best-seller lists; think Samantha Shannon with her Bone Season series, Lauren Brookes with such books as Reckless, and Juno Dawson with her Her Majesty's Royal Coven series.

There's hopes now that The Hunger Games prequel movie, "Songbirds and Snakes", together with the new Netflix launch of "Uglies" might turn the tide. "Uglies" has all the hallmarks of modern YA dystopia - the identity politics, the hero, the love story, the rebellion, leading to some kind of self realisation. It's a strong formula, but will it launch a new summer of YA dystopia? I think not. It all feels too familiar. We need something different. So what's missing?