A harangue on the this year's Hugo nominees

[bunny_m]

Okay folks, I was going to reply in a comment to (part of) a post on inaurolillium's latest LJ post, but it got away from mebolted for the hills, barking madly and trailing it's leashes, so I'm posting it here instead.

Here's the bit that released the houndsdeluge:

Finally, can anyone explain to me what, exactly, makes Anathem a Young Adult novel? I grant

Comments

[foomf]

What makes them "young adult" is that they are marketed to people between the ages of 12 and 21. It is not necessary that someone between the ages of 12 and 21 be unable to comprehend a huge infodump cliff. In fact, they may be more tolerant of such a thing than an adult who has less patience

[bunny_m]

We haven't had an Animal Farm, a 1984, a Brave New World updated for far too long.

Agree, most definitely.

Zoe's Tale is a perfectly fine book.

No argument from me on that point. I just find it my least favourite of his books, not least because of when it ends the story. I would have liked to see it continue further, at least to the same end-point as TLC. I guess it comes down to my expectations and the reality differing a bit too much.

What makes them "young adult" is that they are marketed to people between the ages of 12 and 21.

I can't agree with that, although possibly it's only because I feel that whether or not a book is YA (or literary, fantasy, romance etc,) should not be left up to the marketing people of the world. (Actually, I tend towards the opinion that they shouldn't be trusted with more than (supervised) choosing their own wardrobes, really. I tend towards the idea that there is a certain style/niche/genre that defines stories, and the marketing departments of the world get it right sometimes.

[bunny_m]

It is not necessary that someone between the ages of 12 and 21 be unable to comprehend a huge infodump cliff. In fact, they may be more tolerant of such a thing than an adult who has less patience.

Of course it's not necessary that they not understand, and certainly a lot of the people I've known over the years would have handled it at least as well as I did, even when they were in their teens. (Not sure I would have, and I've always been an advanced and voracious reader.)

I just feel that there is an identifiable YA 'style' of writing/plot/characters that is YA, and Anathem is most definitely not. Once again it comes down to the whole 'I can't explicitly define the borders of Genre X, but I can tell you what is within those borders, what isn't , and what lurks in the no-genre's-land in between.

Not a very compelling argument, I know. *shrug*

[foomf]

I haven't read Anathem. Cannot comment on it's YA-YA ness

[jennygadget]

but the issue of whether or not something is YA is very different from whether or not something is sf or gen lit. not that there aren't similiarities in the knew of arguments and oh god the politics, but YA books not only have to (approximately) fit into the genre borders of what YA is, they also have to deal with subjects in a way that is appropriate for teens. I don't mean dumb it down or water down sensitive topics (although I am aware that this is what sometimes happens) just that YA authors have to be aware of the fact that their readers are less likely to have experience with some of the stories' topics, much less have made up their mind about them. (which is something that was over-evident in LB, which I found to be good but a little patronizing