Ava Reid chats why dystopian novels are making a comeback

Ava Reid is known for her Gothic tales, such as The Wolf and the Woodsman and Juniper and Thorne. Her latest work, Fable for the End of the World, is a dystopian novel. While very different from her usual work, Fable is equally as amazing — as Reid channels all her emotion about climate change, capitalism into the book.

To celebrate the release of the book, we invited Ava to chat with us about why dystopian novels are making a comeback, and why they would never feel outdated.

Dystopian novels are often used as a social commentary. Is it daunting to share your views with readers like this? 
Not particularly, because I don’t think of my books as having messages. My books have ideas. It’s not my job as an author to tell readers what to believe. “Art” that aims to do that has a name: propaganda.

Do you think this can make dystopian novels feel outdated quickly? 
I’m far too pessimistic to think that. I don’t see that any of the issues raised in the dystopian fiction of the 2010s have been solved or addressed. Most have simply been transfigured, often in subtle and even more sinister ways. Brave New World and 1984 do not feel outdated to me, and so long as fascism exists, neither will The Hunger Games.

You were inspired by The Hunger Games, and readers would definitely be comparing your work with THG, but the book has its distinct individualism to it. How did you make sure your story feels original? 

I think that while there are certainly obvious similarities, Fable is ultimately interested in very different ideas than The Hunger Games. Fable shares as much DNA with The Last of Us as it does The Hunger Games. Despite its life-or-death stakes, it’s a far more intimate, small-scale story of survival—not about tackling fascism and overthrowing the government. It’s about how just living and hoping and loving are poignant acts of rebellion.

It doesn’t feel like the world has published many dystopian novels since The Hunger Games/Divergent. Why do you think that’s the case? 

Part of it is simply that the natural life cycle of a trend is to eventually go out of style, and the more saturated the market is, the more dramatic its decline. The market saturation for YA dystopian was absolutely overwhelming, so when it fell, it fell hard.

Another part of it is the increasing desire of readers for escapism—which accounts for the similarly dramatic rise in the popularity of romance novels. When the real world feels so incredibly bleak, it’s no surprise readers are looking to fiction for a reprieve.

But I think a lot of people, particularly young people, are also now eager to see fiction that allows them to cathartically process their outrage and desire for change. Gen Z and younger millennials have had their lives so horrifically marred by the pandemic, by climate change, by wealth disparity and inequality and political disenfranchisement. Books that speak to these emotions and experiences will, I believe, find an audience.

Fable for the End of the World addressed many different issues happening in the world from climate change to capitalism. Did you start writing with these themes in mind already? Was it difficult to include so many themes in one book?  

A lot of the themes came from pure emotion rather than conscious design. I felt so acutely the hopelessness and fettered anger of the characters. I felt Inesa’s pain at her mother’s betrayal, Luka’s grim sense of duty, Mel’s confusion and trauma. The plot and
the world blossomed very naturally from these feelings—so no, it never seemed like a difficult task. I just wanted to make readers feel these things alongside Fable’s cast. Hopefully I succeeded.

Finally, this is so different from the rest of your work. Do you see yourself writing more dystopian novels in the future?

It’s a definite possibility. I have books contracted up through 2027, but Fable was a world I was very reluctant to leave behind. I wrote an entire novella from Luka’s point of view, which is available exclusively in the deluxe edition, and I could see revisiting some
of the other characters someday.