Realms Review: 'Marked'

Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast is the first book in a series about vampyres and 16-year-old Zoey Redbird. This book came out years ago during the vampire fad, but is actually one of the rare original ones. Both authors manage to weave a story that is sensual and spiritual, while also managing the usual coming-of-age story.
          Zoey's home life is a wreck, and though she's terrified when she's Marked as a vampyre, she quickly learns that the vampyre boarding school she's sent to is more of a home than her mother's house. With new friends and new abilites, as well as being unusually Marked by the goddess, Nyx, Zoey finds her place. But not all is right at the House of Night. Some students are misusing their gifts, and Zoey has to be the one to stop them.
          Filled with romance, loyalty, friendship, and misadventures, Marked is a fascinating tale that will have you turning pages. We give this book 4 out of 5 stars for its intricate mythology, interesting plot, fast pace, and characters that have more depth than is apparent on the surface, which is more clearly illustrated in the sequel books!
          If Marked interests you, be sure to also check out Betrayed, the next book in the series.

Spotting Trends in Young Adult Fantasy

What's Trending?

Write what you love. That's hopefully what your teachers/mentors tell you, and what you tell yourself. You need to love your work so that you create the best piece possible. From a publishing standpoint, though, it can't hurt to keep an eye on what's trending. Many agents and publishers will tell you that contemporary young adult fiction is currently trending, and it is, but don't be disappointed. The young adult fantasy community is HUGE, and there will always be trends within that community. If you have a fantasy story, there's a fan base to explore.

Marked, first book in the
House of Night series

          We're going to identify the trends in young adult fantasy since, say, 2005. That's a nice ten-year cushion. Though, to be truthful, young adult audiences have only had books targeted toward them specifically within the last twenty years or so. Weird to think about, huh?
     Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, but the novel (and rest of the series) is called the Twilight phenomenon for a reason. It hooked and fascinated millions of people around the world and stirred enormous interest in young adult fantasy. Since then, young adult fantasy books have come a long way, with stronger plotlines and, some would argue, better writing. People have even suggested that if a book like Twilight were proposed today, it wouldn't have been published. But that's a whole other point.
    On October 5, 2005, a book came out that basically started the young adult fantasy fan base. You're probably inwardly groaning that the title we're about to drop is

Fallen
by Lauren Kate

           The point is, when Twilight appeared, we were able to more easily identify and track trends in YA Fantasy market. We saw an incredible surge in vampire stories and love triangles after the popularity of Twilight. There were good books and bad books, but, eventually, it began to get it old. The publishing industry was "milking the vampire cow" as a good friend of ours once said. During this time, books like the House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast and the Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith surged into popularity. With the vampire trend, we also saw a rise in werewolf stories, the vampires' enemies. Books like Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater were placed on the shelves next to vampire stories.
          The vampire/werewolf Paranormal Romance trend lasted for a while, and when it began to shift, we still saw a heavy dose of Paranormal Romance, but we began to see fallen angels in the market. Ah, yes, in 2010, we saw Fallen by Lauren Kate and (one of our recent Realms Reviews) Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. This also spurred the angel phase, where the angels didn't have to be fallen, like Halo by Alexandra Adornetto and Angel Burn by l.a. weatherly. We've read all of these angel books and, personally, we recommend Hush, Hush and Angel Burn if you're looking for an angel romance that doesn't bore or frustrate you.

Splintered
by A.G. Howard

          This brings us to the rise of retold fairy tales. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what sparked the trend in re-told fairy tales, and this may be because it's taken off in the film industry, too, with movies like Snow White and the Huntsman, Maleficent, Into the Woods, and now Cinderella, among many others. People like to re-imagine the classics for a number of reasons, but we'd say it's mostly because people love them and there's a guaranteed audience. Some books, like Beastly by Alex Flinn, came out before the fairy tale trend really hit the shelves, but we'd say the books that brought the trend to the forefront were Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles, which re-imagined the stories in a futuristic sci-fi-esque landscape and released in 2013. We've mentioned some retold fairy tales previously, so we'll try to throw some new titles at you, like Splintered by A.G. Howard, a retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Entwined by Heather Dixon is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses.

Snow Like Ashes
by Sara Raasch

          Most recently, we've been seeing more and more High Fantasy in the young adult realm. Sarah J. Maas brought us Throne of Glass. We also see Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo and Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch. We are happy to say we have both Shadow and Bone and Snow Like Ashes in our To Be Read pile!
          Listed above are a lot of popular books, but please keep in mind that trends also include all the independent, and even some mostly unknown, books as well that fall into the trend. This also doesn't include every popular book, either. There are several popular books and series that have made it into the spotlight that don't fall into these trends. Just look at anything by Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, or Libba Bray (not to mention, several others!).
          Seeing these trends, it makes you wonder what will follow High Fantasy. There are lots of stories about witches and fairies, too, and maybe they fall into Paranormal Romance, but there's room for them to trend. Personally, we'd love to see something radically different start trending, something in YA Fantasy that moves away from what we're familiar with. What's your favorite trend, or, what would you like to see trending?

Realms

A Simple Breakdown of the Types of Young Adult Fantasy

Young Adult Fantasy is a broad genre like any other and has multiple subgenres. As a YA Fantasy magazine, we wanted to be able to break it down so that they’re all understood. We may have left out a couple, but we chose some of the most popular ones. Though Sci-Fi and Fantasy are often lumped together, we left out the subgenres of Sci-Fi in this list. If you feel we left out anything important, comment below and we’ll add it to our list of subgenres!

            Before we detail each subgenre, here’s a sneak peek at our list:

·      Dark Fantasy

·      Urban Fantasy

·      High/Epic Fantasy

·      Paranormal Romance

·      Historical Fantasy

·      Retold Fairy Tales

 

Dark Fantasy 

Dark fantasy is the type of story that mixes strange creatures with elements of horror. They’re both disturbing and alluring. You know that some of the characters should be feared, but you feel drawn to them anyway. An example of a dark fantasy story is The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black, which we reviewed in a previous post. In this story, which could also be classified as a dystopian novel, the U.S. has been plagued with a sudden outbreak of dangerous vampires. These aren’t the vampires we’re used to in paranormal romances, but monstrous beasts that are out to kill you.

Urban Fantasy

           

Urban fantasy is a favorite. The goal of fantasy is to make it believable, and what’s more believable than placing unnatural creatures in a setting you already know? Don’t be fooled by the title of “urban.” Urban fantasy can happen just about anywhere in our world, in any recognizable setting, be it city or countryside. The trick, then, to make urban fantasy stories relatable is to weave in supernatural characters and creatures in a way that makes sense. Take Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr for example. The main character goes to Catholic school and lives with her grandmother, but she can see faeries that no other people, except her grandmother, can see. It works because most people can’t see the faeries, and they use that to their advantage to also disguise buildings that they use for themselves in their respective territories.

High/Epic Fantasy

High fantasy, also known as epic fantasy, is a term most people know because the famous The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien. That’s right, high fantasy is the classic other world, and usually medieval-like, setting that is inhabited by men, elves, dwarves, wizards, dragons, and a plethora of other creatures. This subgenre is represented in YA with books like Eragon by Christopher Paolini. Eragon has been out for a long time now, but it’s a perfect example of high fantasy since the main character rides a dragon, teams up with various creatures, and realizes he must save the land from a cruel dictator.

Paranormal Romance

Regarde! Mon amour…. Who doesn’t love a good paranormal romance? It has all the electric feelings of falling in love, but with the dangerous, forbidden edge of being with someone who’s not quite human. And let’s face it, the love interest is usually drop-dead-gorgeous. Realistic? No, but it sells because we want to read about hot, steamy romances! If we wanted realistic love, we’d go to contemporary fiction section of the store. An interesting example of a paranormal romance flipped on its head is Claudia Gray’s Evernight. In this story, the main character attends a private academy and appears to be falling in love with a vampire, but everything turns upside down. We won’t spoil it!

Historical Fantasy 

Historical fantasy is a lot like urban fantasy, but it takes place in the past! A lot of research goes into these stories, which is why they tend to be so good. First the author has to research several aspects about the time period, from social norms to the way people dressed, and it all depends on the region of the world. Then the fantasy bit comes in, and for those who are truly talented, they slip their fantasy characters in there as if they belonged in history all along. Cassandra Clare mastered this subgenre with ClockworkAngel. The main character travels to London to meet her brother, but is captured by two warlocks who torture her into using her hidden powers she never knew about. Then the Shadowhunters, a group of people dedicated to hunting demons, bust her out. The fantasy story and historical setting blend so well that you can’t imagine a London without them!

Retold Fairy Tales

Lastly, we want to talk about fairy tale retellings! There’s a reason fairy tales are told and retold again and again: everyone loves them. The formula is already there, guaranteeing a loveable story, but what’s amazing about retold fairy tales is how they are told. Some of them are spun in such a different light that you might not have guessed it was based off of a fairy tale, like Rosamund Hodge’s Cruel Beauty, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Others are more obvious by their title, like Cinder by Marissa Meyer, but she completely makes the story her own by turning Cinderella into a cyborg and a mechanic in a futuristic world.

So tell us, what's your favorite subgenre of YA Fantasy? It's hard to pick just one!

Realms

Realms Review: "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown"

If you're in love with vampires and novels by Holly Black, you'll love her novel The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. Set in the present day U.S., The Coldest Girl in Coldtown explores the reaction of the world to an outbreak of vampires. Vampires are not new, but, for the past ten years, they've been public. Coldtowns are quarantined areas where outbreaks took place. The story follows Tana, a teenage girl who awoke after a massacre, only narrowly escaping the clutches of the vampires who attacked.

Black weaves a chilling tale, bringing us back to the classic horror stories of vampires. They are creatures that are beautiful and abhorrent. The characters are intriguing, well-written, and believable, traits that every reader loves. With witty dialogue and page-turning, edge-of-your-seat action scenes, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a book you just can't put down. In Coldtown, no one is safe, and you, the reader, will feel its power dripping off the pages.

We give this book 5 out of 5 stars for its originality, lovely prose, exquisite setting and characters, and boldness in redefining the modern vampire tale. If you loved this book, check out Black's upcoming novel, The Darkest Part of the Forest, an urban fantasy tale about faeries, releasing Jan. 13, 2015!

Realms Review