Dystopian fiction is far from dead. But no need to fret, dystopia is not a Hunger Games pigeon hole.

Considerations for Fiction Writers – A Blog Series

This illustration is by Ylivdesign

As the YA dystopian trend faded, critics claimed dystopian fiction is dead. But the idea that people would stop writing and reading dystopias is absurd. But, there’s no need to worry, dystopian literature is not composed of replicas of The Hunger Games. Its literary scope is vast and its possibilities are infinite.

The extreme popularity of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins meant that suddenly everyone was aware of the existence of dystopian fiction (1.). This led some to believe that The Hunger Games defines dystopian fiction, the same way Tolkien informs high fantasy novels. But what they don’t realize, is that dystopian fiction is very diverse and has existed since the eighteenth century (2.). Oxford Languages Dictionary defines dystopia as “an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic” (3.). Essentially, dystopian fiction can be any narrative set in a gloomy society. So a range of fiction can fall under its category, such as post-apocalyptic fiction, monster fiction, cyberpunk fiction, robot fiction, environmental disaster fiction, pandemic fiction, alien fiction, military fiction and a range of sci-fi fiction.

1984, by George Orwell, is probably the most famous dystopian novel published in the twentieth century (4.). The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood is nearly as well-known, yet when I tell people I write dystopia, the most common reaction I receive is, “Oh, like The Hunger Games?” (5.). It’s a complete distortion of the history of dystopian literature and its scope.

When everyone became bored of the stream of novels identical to The Hunger Games, readers figured dystopian fiction was dead. But the entire concept that people would stop writing and reading novels set in negative futures is a load of rubbish. Humans like to imagine all sorts of things and that includes worst case scenarios. And what’s worse than the entire world being awful?

Dystopia is a powerful medium to explore ideas or to direct attention to potential problems. It can warn people of possible future atrocities or reflect on something that’s happening in our real world. But because it’s imaginary, we can give a horrifying situation a happy ending, or at least give readers some reason to hope. It can also be used to theorize on how fascism functions, or how humans might respond to extreme situations. Folks, dystopian fiction is interesting because humans are interesting!

I’m reading a dystopian manga by Kaiu Shirai called The Promised Neverland, and it has absolutely no resemblance to The Hunger Games (6.). It’s a unique universe and concept. (If you don’t want it spoiled, skip the purple sentences). The world is split into the human side and the demon side, but the demons eat humans so they must raise them on farms. The story starts with happy children, supposedly living in an orphanage, but suspicious events lead the protagonist to question their world. It’s a terrifying and brilliant story, so there are many awesome contemporary dystopias that are completely different from The Hunger Games.

But even if a novel has some resemblance to The Hunger Games, it shouldn’t be automatically discarded. I can’t help but feel resentment that any gladiator-like scenario will now immediately make people think of The Hunger Games. Does that mean no one else is allowed to explore that situation in fiction? I’m the type of person who believes how a story is crafted is more important than an idea. Ideas are used over and over in novels, and it’s the unique take on the idea that makes it good. I don’t believe something like a gladiator-scenario should be owned by anyone.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Suzanne Collins is brilliant and I absolutely love her novels. But I think sometimes hype over one novel can harm an entire genre because it casts such a huge shadow. I write new adult, dystopian fiction, for ages seventeen to thirty-five, and I don’t want people comparing my work to The Hunger Games, but inevitably they will. It’s the curse of being a dystopian author writing for young folks. My narratives and worlds are vastly different from The Hunger Games, but I think people will look for similarities anyway. It’s something I’m conscious of as I write and edit.

We have to broaden our minds and redefine how we see dystopian fiction. Dystopian fiction isn’t a Hunger Games pigeon hole, but any story with a negative future, which means there are endless possibilities. Unless humans stop imagining the future, unless people stop wondering how humans would behave in extreme situations, unless people stop being interested in how fascism works, dystopian fiction will never die. But our critics don’t need to fear because the dystopian genre is not composed of replicas of The Hunger Games, but of extremely diverse, captivating, novels. Folks, the possibilities for dystopian fiction are infinite.