The State of the Book World: Upcoming Trends

I don't pretend to be all up on everything that's happening in the book world whatsoever, but I do think that since I started blogging seriously, I've been paying a lot more attention to where the industry seems like it's going. I want to know what kind of books I can expect to see, and which are going to get the big push from marketing departments. This post will really just be me musing about where I think the book world is and is headed.

For a while there, post-Hunger Games blow up, it seemed like dystopia (and books mislabeled as dystopia) were the big thing in YA, but now that it seems people are largely sick of that (not me, I admit), what's next?

Not that we won't see more dystopian/post-apocalyptic/etc coming, of which I think the excellently-written ones will still be able to find a foothold, but I personally think sci-fi, especially space-focused sci-fi, is going to be the next thing storming the YA market.

We're already starting to see space books generate talk, in different ways. Take these two upcoming sci-fi releases, for example:

 

The 100 by Kass Morgan and These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.

I've been seeing some reactions to both of these books come out lately, but while early word on These Broken Stars has been extremely positive, The 100 has seen a lot of mixed to low reviews. I don't think this is uncommon at all. There will always be books, in any genre, that simply aren't as enjoyable for their audience as others. But the publisher is definitely pushing The 100. It is being marketed largely on the fact that there is a sci-fi tv show being made based on it. These Broken Stars is unmistakably trying to show off its sci-fi side, clear from the cover and the blurb. Sci-fi certainly hasn't been non-existent lately, especially with a lot of the books classified as dystopian actually showing a lot of sci-fi elements. I think, though, that now we're going to see more sci-fi books marketed as the sci-fi that they are, and I think we'll be exploring the unknown depths of space a fair bit.

Now, the two books I already mentioned both come out in late 2013, The 100 in September and These Broken Stars in December. That wouldn't be much of a trend if it just comprised of a couple books this fall. But I do see more space sci-fi coming in 2014, and ones that aren't hiding their sci-fi status. For example:

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan, Avalon by Mindee Arnett, Tin Star by Cecil Castellucci, Cress by Marissa Meyer.
Heck, even Alienated by Melissa Landers seems like it has space as a factor.

And those are just the ones with covers so far. Based just on their blurbs, here are some more I can see marketed as space sci-fi in 2014:

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis
Extraction by Stephanie Diaz
Earth & Sky by Megan Crewe
Tracked by Jenny Martin
Collide by Melissa West, the third book in her The Taking series.
And an as of now untitled sequel to These Broken Stars.

Every one of the books I've listed above seem to incorporate space in some way, based on their blurbs. And those are just the ones I've found on Goodreads... out of only the ones we the public know about now, in August. I'm positive there are more 2014 sci-fi books just waiting to get their own GR page.

Of course, I don't claim to know anything about this stuff, this is just where I see it going. I'm also not saying sci-fi will produce the only big books; of course not. There are some retellings coming that sound interesting, what seems to be a good crop of fantasy, and of course plenty of contemporary, which I don't think will ever go away. (Sidenote: I'm seeing a distinct lack of historical fiction for 2014 as of right now. This displeases me. If you find any that sound good, please share! It's my favourite genre). I'm just going with a trend I'm noticing that I think could be big. If I'm way off come spring, feel free to laugh at me.

What do you think about my theory? Do you have more books to add to my list of upcoming sci-fi that could be the new talked-about "thing" in YA? Is there another trend that's standing out to you as "the next big thing?"