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Get Genrefied: High Fantasy

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For the month of March, Angela’s reader’s advisory challenge is focusing on high fantasy, which is without a doubt my most favorite genre (or sub-genre, to be completely accurate). As a kid, I loved the idea of losing myself in a completely different world, and as I grew into a teenager, that idea became even more appealing. High fantasy novels are some of the most imaginative you’ll find, since they don’t have to be bound by the rules found in our own world (though good ones will create their own set of internal rules and stick with them).

Enough of my love letter to high fantasy; let’s move on to definitions. In order to talk about how to advise high fantasy, it’s important to first understand how it differs from fantasy in general. I touched on it a bit in the previous paragraph, but the basic rule is that high fantasy stories take place in a world that is not our own. What this means is that most of the paranormal stories you’ll find filling the shelves, where vampires or werewolves or some other fantastical creatures roam the halls of this world’s high school, are not high fantasy. (They’re what is called low fantasy; still fantasy, but not of the kind we’re focusing on this month.)

This basic rule can take a few forms:

  • Someone from our own world is transported to another (classics such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland).
  • Someone from our own world finds there is another, magical world that exists within our own (Harry Potter and the Percy Jackson series would both fall here).
  • Our own world does not exist, only the fantasy world does (probably the most common, and includes stories like Lord of the Rings, Graceling, and Eragon). This is also arguably the “purest” form of high fantasy.

High fantasy is often (but not always) characterized by epic quests, wars between kingdoms, creatures like elves and wizards, and a fight between good and evil. Long series full of doorstoppers are common. World-building is incredibly important and can make or break a story.

Referring to Wikipedia sometimes makes me feel like a bad librarian, but its article on high fantasy really is a good starting point, particularly because it does a very good job of citing its sources. It also links to a variety of award-winners and booklists, some more current than others.

Graceling and George R. R. Martin seem to have given high fantasy a boost in recent years, so we’re seeing more and more of it published (seeing something marketed as a Martin read alike is pretty common). Speaking of Martin, I think there is a lot of crossover appeal between adult and YA high fantasy. Martin’s books are firmly adult titles, but many of his characters are in their teens or early twenties, and I read the first few as a teenager myself. This holds true for other adult fantasy authors too: the characters are frequently in their late teens or early twenties, with the associated life changes (first love, finding your place in the world) that this entails. My post on what I read in high school mentions a lot of adult fantasy authors I
read as a teen, many of who are still being read widely today.(Caveat: Adult books are adult books, so always be sure to know your audience before recommending one.)

Below are a list of recent (latest installment published within the last 1-3 years) young adult novels that all fall within the high fantasy genre. However, the older titles (including those I mentioned in my bullet points above) are still very popular, so it’s important to be aware of the genre’s longer history too. All descriptions come from Worldcat or Goodreads. If you think of more notable titles, please chime in with a comment!

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta (sequels: Froi of the Exiles, Quintana of Charyn): Now on the cusp of manhood, Finnikin, who was a child when the royal
family of Lumatere was brutally murdered and replaced by an imposter,
reluctantly joins forces with an enigmatic young novice and
fellow-exile, who claims that her dark dreams will lead them to a
surviving royal child and a way to regain the throne of Lumatere.

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (sequels: The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings): Gen flaunts his ingenuity as a thief and relishes the adventure which
takes him to a remote temple of the gods where he will attempt to steal
a precious stone.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore (companion books: Fire, Bitterblue): In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared
skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own
horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young
fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst: When the goddess Bayla fails to take over Liyana’s body, Liyana’s people
abandon her in the desert to find a more worthy vessel, but she soon
meets Korbyn, who says the souls of seven deities have been stolen and
he needs Liyana’s help to find them. Kimberly’s review

Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (sequels: The Crown of Embers, The Bitter Kingdom): A fearful sixteen-year-old princess discovers her heroic destiny after
being married off to the king of a neighboring country in turmoil and
pursued by enemies seething with dark magic. Kimberly’s review

Seraphina by Rachael Hartman: In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and
dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth
to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal
scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary
musical talents.

Eon by Alison Goodman (sequel: Eona):  Sixteen-year-old Eon hopes to become an apprentice to one of the twelve
energy dragons of good fortune and learn to be its main interpreter, but
to do so will require much, including keeping secret that she is a
girl.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini (sequels: Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance): In Alagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon
finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate
tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and
monsters.

Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott: Trained in the magical art of shadow-weaving, sixteen-year-old
Suzume, who is able to re-create herself in any form, is destined to use
her skills to steal the heart of a prince in a revenge pot. Kimberly’s review

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas: After she has served a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier
for her crimes, Crown Prince Dorian offers eighteen-year-old assassin
Celaena Sardothien her freedom on the condition that she act as his
champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes: In a land where magic
has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest
is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power—brutally transforming
their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and
battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined.

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima (sequels: The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne, The Crimson Crown): Relates the intertwining fates of former street gang leader Han Alister
and headstrong Princess Raisa, as Han takes possession of an amulet that
once belonged to an evil wizard and Raisa uncovers a conspiracy in the
Grey Wolf Court.

Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier: Fifteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the
oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured, but
when she sets out for Shadowfell, a training ground for a rebel group,
she meets a mysterious soldier and the Good Folk, who tell her that she,
alone, can save Alban.

Prophecy by Ellen Oh: A demon slayer, the only female warrior in the King’s army, must battle
demon soldiers, an evil shaman, and the Demon Lord to find the lost ruby
of the Dragon King’s prophecy and save her kingdom. Kimberly’s review

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (sequel: The Runaway King): In the country of Carthya, a devious nobleman engages four orphans in a
brutal competition to be selected to impersonate the king’s long-missing
son in an effort to avoid a civil war. Kimberly’s review

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo: Orphaned by the Border Wars, Alina Starkov is taken from obscurity and
her only friend, Mal, to become the protegé of the mysterious Darkling,
who trains her to join the magical elite in the belief that she is the
Sun Summoner, who can destroy the monsters of the Fold.

Pegasus by Robin McKinley: Because of a thousand-year-old alliance between humans and pegasi,
Princess Sylvi is ceremonially bound to Ebon, her own pegasus, on her
twelfth birthday, but the closeness of their bond becomes a threat to
the status quo and possibly to the safety of their two nations.

Starcrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce (sequel: Liar’s Moon): In a kingdom dominated by religious intolerance, sixteen-year-old
Digger, a street thief, has always avoided attention, but when she
learns that her friends are plotting against the throne she must decide
whether to join them or turn them in.

And here are a few 2013 releases to check out or put on your radar (in addition to many of the sequels mentioned above):

The Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell: At the Academy of Tildor, the training ground for elite soldiers, Cadet
Renee de Winter struggles to keep up with her male peers, but when her
mentor is kidnapped to fight in illegal gladiator games, Renee and best
friend Alec struggle to do what is right in a world of crime and
political intrigue. Author twitterview

Poison by Bridget Zinn: When sixteen-year-old Kyra, a potions master, tries to save her kingdom
by murdering the princess, who is also her best friend, the poisoned
dart misses its mark and Kyra becomes a fugitive, pursued by the King’s
army and her ex-boyfriend Hal. Giveaway

City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster: Nisha lives in the City of a Thousand Dolls, a remote estate where
orphan girls in the Empire become apprentices as musicians, healers, and
courtesans, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her
shadow. When girls begin to die, Nisha begins to uncover the secrets
that surround the deaths–jeopardizing not only her own future within
the City but her own life.

The Oathbreaker’s Shadow by Amy McCulloch: Fifteen-year-old Raim
lives in a world where you tie a knot for every promise that you make.
Break that promise and you are scarred for life, and cast out into the
desert. Raim has worn a simple knot around his wrist for as long
as he can remember. But on the most important day of his life, when he binds his
life to his best friend (and future king) Khareh, the string bursts into
flames and sears a dark mark into his skin. Scarred now as an oath-breaker, Raim has two options: run, or be killed.

Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder: Coming out of hiding to find her sister and repair their estrangement,
and to stop King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry of
Kazan, the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, must support Tohon’s
opponents by teaching them forest skills and destroying an army of the
walking dead.

Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield: Fifteen-year-old Lucy discovers that she is a chantress who can perform
magic by singing, and the only one who can save England from the control
of the dangerous Lord Protector.

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas: Iolanthe Seabourne is
the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she’s being told.
The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her
duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant
the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a
sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells
a fiery clash to the death.

The Rose Throne by Mette Ivie Harrison: An ancient prophecy hints that the kingdoms of two princesses from rival
lands, one with magic and one without, will be united under one
rule–and one rule only. 

There are a number of resources you can turn to if you’re looking to enhance your knowledge about fantasy in general. Finding resources specific to high fantasy can be tougher, but the high fantasy books within the general fantasy resources are easy to spot if you know what you’re looking for.

  • One of my favorite awards for speculative fiction is the James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award, which honors “science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender.” Past winners and finalists have included Patrick Ness (Knife of Never Letting Go), Nancy Farmer (Sea of Trolls), Alison Goodman (Eon and Eona), and Libba Bray (Beauty Queens). Not all of the titles are high fantasy, of course, but many are.
  • Because high fantasy and SF have so much crossover appeal and can have a lot in common, you’ll find that much of what we recommended in our SF genre guide fits here, too. This includes the recommendation to check out Locus Online and Strange Horizons. I have a particular fondness for Strange Horizons, which is entirely volunteer-run but pays the authors a professional rate for their work. The publishers/imprints we singled out there also publish a lot of fantasy: Tor, Strange Chemistry, and Pyr. Are there any other YA fantasy imprints that I should know about? Let me know in the comments!
  • Tor.com and Suvudu, run by Tor and Random House respectively, both provide news, author interviews, reviews, and other information about fantasy fiction, plus some digital-born short stories and art. 
  • Fantastic Fiction is a terrific resource for information about fantasy series. It delves into much more than just fantasy, but it’s the best place I’ve found to get a quick list of series books in their proper order (so essential with fantasy!).

Get Genrefied: Science Fiction

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Last month, Angela’s reader’s advisory challenge focused on horror. This month’s genre is one that both Kimberly and myself are fans of: science fiction. We’re splitting duty on this one, since our tastes in science fiction aren’t identical, and we feel like that is one of the hallmarks of science fiction. It’s such a broad genre that it welcomes readers looking for hard and fast science to those looking for more speculative works.

First, a definition. What is science fiction? Isaac Asimov called science fiction the literature concerned with the impact of scientific advancement upon humans. I think that’s a pretty solid and easy to grasp definition, and I’d add that what separates science fiction from fantasy is that it is plausible. There is a rationale behind how things happen and how they unfold. Of course, “plausible” can run the gamut from “I can definitely see that happening someday” to “That couldn’t ever happen, but I’ll buy it for the story.” Sometimes you have to have a healthy suspension of disbelief.

Science fiction has a host of subgenres within it, including aliens, space life/ships/operas/westerns, dystopia, alternative histories, cyberpunk, time travel, robots (you DO know the three laws, right?), science fantasy, and many, many more. Take some time to read through the wikipedia article on science fiction and its wide range of subgenres because it’s very well written and offers up some great further sources on the genre. If you have access to Novelist via your library, it’s worth perusing their subgenre classifications within science fiction, as well. Some of their subgenres include classic science fiction, among the stars, Christian science fiction, and others.

With the proliferation of dystopia in YA fiction, it’s been harder to tease out other science fiction titles, but there are tons out there. This is by no means a complete list, but rather, a means of showcasing the wide range of titles that are indeed science fiction. All descriptions are from WorldCat or Goodreads, and we welcome any additions you’d like to include — just drop a comment! These titles are more recent ones, and we’ve included forthcoming 2013 titles, as well, to keep on your radar.

First, if parallel worlds are of interest, Kimberly’s already written a great post with a ton of titles — these are examples of science fiction worlds because, well, they COULD happen. 

Adaptation by Malinda Lo: In the aftermath of a series of plane crashes caused by birds, seventeen-year-old Reese and her debate-team partner, David, receive medical treatment at a secret government facility and become tangled in a conspiracy that is, according to Reese’s friend, Julian, connected with aliens and UFOs. Kelly’s review

First Day on Earth by Cecil Castellucci: A startling novel about the true meaning of being an alien in an equally alien world. Kelly’s review

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan: Part of the first generation to be conceived in deep space, fifteen-year-old Waverly is expected to marry young and have children to populate a new planet, but a violent betrayal by the dogmatic leader of their sister ship could have devastating consequences. Kimberly’s review

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: As plague ravages the overcrowded Earth, observed by a ruthless lunar people, Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world in this futuristic take on the Cinderella story. Kimberly’s review

Yesterday by CK Kelly Martin: After the mysterious death of her father and a sudden move back to her native Canada in 1985, sixteen-year-old Freya feels distant and disoriented until she meets Garren and begins remembering their shared past, despite the efforts of some powerful people to keep them from learning the truth. Kelly’s review

Variant by Robison Wells: After years in foster homes, seventeen-year-old Benson Fisher applies to New Mexico’s Maxfield Academy in hopes of securing a brighter future, but instead he finds that the school is a prison and no one is what he or she seems. Kimberly’s review

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad: Three teenagers are going on the trip of a lifetime. Only one is coming back. It’s been more than forty years since NASA sent the first men to the moon, and to grab some much-needed funding and attention, they decide to launch an historic international lottery in which three lucky teenagers can win a week-long trip to moon base DARLAH 2-a place that no one but top government officials even knew existed until now. The three winners, Antoine, Midori, and Mia, come from all over the world. But just before the scheduled launch, the teenagers each experience strange, inexplicable events. Little do they know that there was a reason NASA never sent anyone back there until now-a sinister reason. But the countdown has already begun… Kelly’s review

Insignia by S. J. Kincaid: Tom, a fourteen-year-old genius at virtual reality games, is recruited by the United States Military to begin training at the Pentagon Spire as a Combatant in World War III, controlling the mechanized drones that do the actual fighting off-planet. Kimberly’s review

The Lost Code by Kevin Emerson: In a world ravaged by global warming, teenage Owen Parker discovers that he may be the descendant of a highly advanced, ancient race, with whose knowledge he may be able to save the earth from self-destruction.

Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate: While recuperating after a car accident in Spiker Biotech’s lush San Francisco facilities, sixteen-year-old Evening Spiker meets Solo Plissken, a very attractive, if off-putting boy her age who spent his life at Spiker Biotech. Like Evening, he’s never questioned anything … until now. Solo drops hints to Evening that something isn’t right, and Evening’s mother may be behind it. Evening puts this out of her mind and begins her summer internship project: To simulate the creation of the perfect boy. With the help of Solo, Evening uncovers secrets so big they could change the world completely. Kimberly’s review
 
The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman: After thirteen-year-old Tucker Feye’s parents disappear, he suspects that the strange disks of shimmering air that he keeps seeing are somehow involved, and when he steps inside of one he is whisked on a time-twisting journey trailed by a shadowy sect of priests and haunted by ghostlike figures. Kimberly’s review
 
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card: Thirteen-year-old Rigg has a secret ability to see the paths of others’
pasts, but revelations after his father’s death set him on a dangerous
quest that brings new threats from those who would either control his
destiny or kill him. Kimberly’s review
 
 
Tankborn by Karen Sandler: Kayla and Mishalla, two genetically engineered non-human slaves (GENs), fall in love with higher-status boys, discover deep secrets about the creation of GENs, and find out what it means to be human. Kimberly’s review

Across the Universe by Beth Revis: Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet 300 years in the future, but 50 years before the ship’s scheduled landing, Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber. Kimberly’s review

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan: Sixteen-year-old Rosalinda Fitzroy, heir to the multiplanetary corporation UniCorp, is awakened after sixty years in stasis to find that everyone she knew has died and as she tries to make a new life for herself, learns she is the target of a robot assassin. Kelly’s review

 

 

Origin by Jessica Khoury: Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home–and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Erasing Time by C. J. Hill: Eighteen-year-old twins Taylor and Sheridan are pulled into the future and must find a way to stop the evil government from using the time machine again. Kimberly’s review


Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill: On the planet Mars, sixteen-year-old Durango and his crew of mercenaries are hired by the settlers of a mining community to protect their most valuable resource from a feral band of marauders.

Here’s a look at some of the science fiction titles out in 2013 to give an idea of how vast the genre really is.

Half Lives by Sara Grant: Follows the lives of two unlikely teenaged heroes, mysteriously linked and living hundreds of years apart, as both struggle to survive and protect future generations from the terrible fate that awaits any who dare to climb the mountain.

Coda by Emma Trevayne: Ever since he was a young boy, music has coursed through the veins of eighteen-year-old Anthem—the Corp has certainly seen to that. By encoding music with addictive and mind-altering elements, the Corp holds control over all citizens, particularly conduits like Anthem, whose life energy feeds the main power in the Grid. Anthem finds hope and comfort in the twin siblings he cares for, even as he watches the life drain slowly and painfully from his father. Escape is found in his underground rock band, where music sounds free, clear, and unencoded deep in an abandoned basement. But when a band member dies suspiciously from a tracking overdose, Anthem knows that his time has suddenly become limited. Revolution all but sings in the air, and Anthem cannot help but answer the call with the chords of choice and free will. But will the girl he loves help or hinder him?

Homeland by Cory Doctorow (sequel to Little Brother): When Marcus, once called M1k3y, receives a thumbdrive containing evidence of corporate and governmental treachery, his job, fame, family, and well-being, as well as his reform-minded employer’s election campaign, are all endangered.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: Cassie Sullivan, the survivor of an alien invasion, must rescue her young brother from the enemy with help from a boy who may be one of them.

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke: There’s never been anyone – or anything – quite like Finn. He looks, and acts human, though he has no desire to be. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection. A billion-dollar construct, his primary task is to tutor Cat. When the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, however, Finn struggles to find his place in the world.

Proxy by Alex London: Privileged Syd and and his proxy, Knox, are thrown together to overthrow the system.

Rush by Eve Silver: Rochester, New York, high schooler Miki Jones is pulled into a sort of a game in which she and other teens battle real-life aliens and the consequences of each battle could be deadly.

Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum: Twenty years after robots designed to fight wars abandoned the battlefields and turned their weapons against humans, siblings Nick, Kevin, and Cass must risk everything when the wilderness community where they have spent their lives in hiding is discovered by the bots.

The Program by Suzanne Young: When suicide becomes a worldwide epidemic, the only known cure is The Program, a treatment in which painful memories are erased, a fate worse than death to seventeen-year-old Sloane who knows that The Program will steal memories of her dead brother and boyfriend.

The Different Girl by Gordon Dahlquist: Veronika. Caroline. Isobel. Eleanor. One blond, one brunette, one redhead, one with hair black as tar. Four otherwise identical girls who spend their days in sync, tasked to learn. But when May, a very different kind of girl–the lone survivor of a recent shipwreck–suddenly and mysteriously arrives on the island, an unsettling mirror is about to be held up to the life the girls have never before questioned.

Starglass by Phoebe North: For all of her sixteen years, Terra has lived on a city within a spaceship that left Earth five hundred years ago seeking refuge, but as they finally approach the chosen planet, she is drawn into a secret rebellion that could change the fate of her people.

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau: Sixteen-year-old Malencia (Cia) Vale is chosen to participate in The Testing to attend the University; however, Cia is fearful when she figures out her friends who do not pass The Testing are disappearing.

Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza: Sixteen-year-old Mila discovers she is not who–or what–she thought she was, which causes her to run from both the CIA and a rogue intelligence group.

The Haven by Carol Lynch Williams: For the teens at The Haven, the outside world, just beyond the towering stone wall that surrounds the premises, is a dangerous unknown. It has always been this way, ever since the hospital was established in the year 2020. But The Haven is more than just a hospital; it is their home. It is all they know. Everything is strictly monitored: education, exercise, food, and rest. The rules must be followed to keep the children healthy, to help control the Disease that has cast them as Terminals, the Disease that claims limbs and lungs—and memories. But Shiloh is different; she remembers everything. Gideon is different, too. He dreams of a cure, of rebellion against the status quo. What if everything they’ve been told is a lie? What if The Haven is not the safe place it claims to be? And what will happen if Shiloh starts asking dangerous questions?

Tandem by Anna Jarzab (no cover yet): Sasha, who lives a quiet life with her grandfather in Chicago but dreams of adventure, is thrilled to be asked to prom by her long-time crush, Grant, but after the dance he abducts her to a parallel universe to impersonate a princess.

 

Mind Games by Kiersten White: Seventeen-year-old Fia and her sister, Annie, are trapped in a school
that uses young female psychics and mind readers as tools for corporate
espionage–and if Fia doesn’t play by the rules of their deadly game,
Annie will be killed.
Pivot Point by Kasie West: A girl with the power to search alternate futures lives out six weeks of two different lives in alternating chapters. Both futures hold the potential for love and loss, and ultimately she is forced to choose which fate she is willing to live through.
Fox Forever by Mary E. Pearson: Before he can start a life with Jenna, seventeen-year-old Locke, who was brought back to life in a newly bioengineered body after an accident destroyed his body 260 years ago, must do a favor for the resistance movement opposing the nightmarish medical technology. Kimberly’s review

 

The Originals by Cat Patrick: Seventeen-year-olds Lizzie, Ella, and Betsy Best are clones, raised as identical triplets by their surrogate mother but living as her one daughter, Elizabeth, until their separate abilities and a romantic relationship force a change.

Dualed by Elsie Chapman: West Grayer lives in a world where every person has a twin, or Alt. Only one can survive to adulthood, and West has just received her notice to kill her Alt.

Control by Lydia Kang: In 2150, when genetic manipulation has been outlawed, seventeen-year-old Zelia must rescue her kidnapped sister with the help of a band of outcasts with mutated genes.

Want some more resources or information about science fiction? Check out the following:

  • The SF Signal is a web-based fanzine to all things science fiction. Bookmark this and peruse it for news and information about all kinds of science fiction and all things within the science fiction world. 
  • Locus Online is the web component of Locus Magazine, which is dedicated to all things science fiction and fantasy. 
  • Who is publishing science fiction, you ask? Well, most of the publishers do, but there are imprints which focus specifically on science fiction and fantasy, such as Tor. There’s also Angry Robot and Pyr. Both of these smaller presses focus on science fiction, and they, along with Tor, do offer a number of YA titles.

Get Genrefied: Horror

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The theme for Angela’s reader’s advisory challenge in January is horror. I decided to take her challenge as a jumping point and offer up a book list of recent YA books that fit the genre, as well as offer up additional resources for those looking to beef up their YA horror knowledge.

Let’s start with a definition, shall we? The Horror Writers Association offers up this great explanation for horror. The long and short of it is that horror isn’t necessarily a distinct genre in and of itself. It’s an emotion. That emotion pervades all genres, then, meaning that horror can be a part of realistic fiction as much as it can be a part of science fiction or mystery or thriller (the latter two being the genres most likely to be tied to horror).

As such, the books I’ve teased out as examples of YA horror span genres. There are some paranormal titles, alongside some realistic titles and thrillers. I’m going to start with books that are already out and I’ll end with a preview of some 2013 titles. All descriptions are from WorldCat, and I’ve noted where books are part of a series (including only the first in series here). 

I hope other people jump in with additional horror titles in the comments. 

One note about horror I think is worth mentioning: like science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and other genre fiction, I think many teen readers find that adult titles are just as satisfying as young adult titles. Keep an eye out for not only new adult titles by the classic horror names, but having a few names of lesser-known authors is important, too. If you have any good suggestions for adult horror with YA crossover appeal, leave those suggestions, too. For me? I’ve got my eyes on Liz Jensen (her 2013 title The Uninvited looks fantastic).

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (first in series): For three years, seventeen-year-old Cas Lowood has carried on his father’s work of dispatching the murderous dead, traveling with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat, but everything changes when he meets Anna, a girl unlike any ghost he has faced before.

Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough (stand alone): When Cora and her younger sister, Mimi, are sent to stay with their great Auntie Ida in an isolated village in 1958, they discover that they are in danger from a centuries-old evil and, along with village boys Roger and Peter, strive to uncover the horrifying truth before it is too late.

The Devouring by Simon Holt (first in series): The existence of Vours, supernatural creatures who feast on fear and attack on the eve of the winter solstice, becomes a terrifying reality for fifteen-year-old Reggie when she begins to suspect that her timid younger brother might be one of their victims. 

Velveteen by Daniel Marks: Velveteen was murdered at 16, but that’s not her real problem. Life in purgatory is hard work when your side job is haunting the serial killer who killed you.

Ten by Gretchen McNeil: Ten teens head to a house party at a remote island mansion off the Washington coast . . . only for them to picked off by a killer one by one. 

The Diviners by Libba Bray (first in series): Seventeen-year-old Evie O’Neill is thrilled when she is exiled from small-town Ohio to New York City in 1926, even when a rash of occult-based murders thrusts Evie and her uncle, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, into the thick of the investigation.

 

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers (stand alone): Barricaded in Cortege High with five other teens while zombies try to get in, Sloane Price observes her fellow captives become more unpredictable and violent as time passes although they each have much more reason to live than she has.

Beyond by Graham McNamee (stand alone): Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Jane has attempted suicide more than once, but Jane knows the truth: her shadow is trying to kill her.

The Turning by Francine Prose (stand alone): A teen boy becomes the babysitter for two very peculiar children on a haunted island in this modern retelling of The Turn of the Screw. 

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (first in series): Rory, of Bénouville, Louisiana, is spending a year at a London boarding school when she witnesses a murder by a Jack the Ripper copycat and becomes involved with the very unusual investigation.

Tighter by Adele Griffin (stand alone): Based on Henry James’s “The Turn of the Screw,” tells the story of Jamie Atkinson’s summer spent as a nanny in a small Rhode Island beach town, where she begins to fear that the estate may be haunted, especially after she learns of two deaths that occurred there the previous summer.

Rotters by Daniel Kraus (stand alone): Sixteen-year-old Joey’s life takes a very strange turn when his mother’s tragic death forces him to move from Chicago to rural Iowa with the father he has never known, and who is the town pariah.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff (stand alone): Sixteen-year-old Mackie Doyle knows that he replaced a human child when he was just an infant, and when a friend’s sister disappears he goes against his family’s and town’s deliberate denial of the problem to confront the beings that dwell under the town, tampering with human lives.

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore (stand alone): Seventeen-year-old Amy Goodnight has long been the one who makes her family of witches seem somewhat normal to others, but while spending a summer with her sister caring for their aunt’s farm, Amy becomes the center of weirdness when she becomes tied to a powerful ghost.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (first in series): After a family tragedy, Jacob feels compelled to explore an abandoned orphanage on an island off the coast of Wales, discovering disturbing facts about the children who were kept there.

White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick (stand alone): Sixteen-year-old Rebecca moves with her father from London to a small, seaside village, where she befriends another motherless girl and they spend the summer together exploring the village’s sinister history.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry (first in series): In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother’s footsteps and become a bounty hunter.

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey (first in series): In 1888, twelve-year-old Will Henry chronicles his apprenticeship with Dr. Warthrop, a New Escientist who hunts and studies real-life monsters, as they discover and attempt to destroy a pod of Anthropophagi.

Ruined by Paula Morris (first in series): Rebecca goes to New Orleans to stay with her aunt and sees the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and meets a ghost girl named Lisette.

Frost by Marianna Baer (stand alone): When Leena Thomas gets her wish to live in an old Victorian house with her two closest friends during their senior year at boarding school, the unexpected arrival of another roommate–a confrontational and eccentric classmate–seems to bring up old anxieties and fears for Leena that may or may not be in her own mind.

Don’t forget the solid horror that Charles Higson and Darren Shan write for teens. Both have high appeal, particularly to male readers. Shan’s written numerous series, including Cirque du Freak and Zom-B.

In the past couple of years, I’ve blogged YA books featuring zombies, and I’ve talked a bit about psychological thrillers. Books in either list certainly encompass horror. 

As for some 2013 YA horror titles, here’s a handful:

The Murmurings by Carly Anne West: After her older sister dies from an apparent suicide and her body is found hanging upside down by one toe from a tree, sixteen-year-old Sophie starts to hear the same voices that drove her sister to a psychotic break.
The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd: Dr. Moreau’s daughter, Juliet, travels to her estranged father’s island, only to encounter murder, medical horrors, and a love triangle.
Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn: A year after vanishing from a party, screaming and drenched in blood, seventeen-year-old Annaliese Rose Gordon appears hundreds of miles from home with no memory, but a haunting certainty that she is actually another girl trapped in Annaliese’s body.

In the After by Demitria Lunetta: In a post-apocalyptic world where nothing is as it seems, seventeen-year-old Amy and Baby, a child she found while scavenging, struggle to survive while vicious, predatory creatures from another planet roam the Earth.

The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington: New student Jade uncovers a murder mystery when she moves into a house haunted by the ghost of a beautiful, mean girl who ruled Jade’s high school.

Looking for further information or resources on horror? Check out the following:

  • Becky at RA for All — she’s THE reader’s advisory expert on horror. The resources on her blog are unparalleled for readers and reader’s advisors. 
  • Matt Jackson, blogger for Blastr.com, has written about horror here at STACKED a number of times. You can catch all of those posts, as well as our own horror posts, here.