Guest Post: Jason Letts + Suspense

Today I've got young adult author Jason Letts assuming control of Supernatural Snark to give us the rundown of his top 5 favorite Dystopian tales. The first novel in his new Dystopian trilogy, Suspense, is currently available so be sure and check it out! I'll just hand the blog over to Jason now to explain his choices, he's picked some amazing books and films!

5 OF THE GREATEST DYSTOPIAN STORIES

In these days of economic turmoil and hardship, we seem to be increasingly turning our attention to the future for our entertainment, hoping to catch glimpses of what the world might be like for ourselves and our children when we’re older.

But it doesn’t seem to be enough that we’re looking at the future. We want it to be strange, disturbing, and awe-inspiring. We cast our eyes to the future and wonder what it would be like if everything we knew now ended up being turned upside down. Then we want to know how the world could transform like that, not only to better understand where we are now but to take a little bit of comfort that there’s still time for us to save ourselves, if only we would try.

Let’s take a look at some of the dystopian stories that have most gotten under our skin and try to figure out why they are so appealing.

THE HUNGER GAMES

There are plenty of stories about kids running around killing each other before, but The Hunger Games gives us something different. In addition to a compelling, dangerous heroine, the public aspect of her rise and the revolution she causes puts us firmly in her corner. There’s never a dull moment, and it makes us realize the safety and security we have now is something we usually take for granted.

MINORITY REPORT

This is one of those movies that has gone under the radar for some people but was actually pretty stunning. In the future, psychics are able to predict crime before they happen, meaning you could be arrested for something you hadn’t even thought about doing. Scary stuff, and then there’s the cool computer screen he gets to play around with. Why don’t we have that yet???

TERMINATOR II

It’s hard to imagine what the world was like before the concept of evil, intelligent robots became popular. But once this movie came out, it was hard to avoid the possibility that robots could somehow overcome humanity and take over the earth. Movies like The Matrix followed, further forcing us to admit we could be defeated by something of our own creation. And it doesn’t help that people are so squishy compared to robots either.

WALL-E

But a couple decades later we decided that in the future robots might not be so bad after all. In fact, they might be cute, helpful, and bumbling, like Wall-E here. Even if something bad happens to the Earth, at least we can take comfort knowing that little robots like these will be around.

1984

George Orwell gave birth to the Dystopian genre with his masterpiece, 1984. Even though that year has come and gone, we’re still plenty creeped out by the idea of a secret organization watching our every move and forcing us to behave like little worker ants. Essentially, Dystopian stories are about breaking free, though Big Brother doesn’t give up his grip easily. I’ll also add that this story has a really impressive love story intertwined within it, something that certainly lasts in the popular YA Dystopian novels coming out today.

But if there’s one thing Orwell couldn’t have guessed, it’s that now and in the future we all play the role of Big Brother for each other. On social networks like Facebook or Twitter, we’re all watching each other’s every move and at the same time allowing ourselves to be watched. In Suspense, there’s the impulse to share every thought that comes into your head and messages from Connect are always appearing right in front of your eyes. Being watched can be a matter of life or death, and it’s a constant struggle to hold onto your identity when little pieces of it are bouncing around outside of your control.

Lastly, I’d like to send out a huge thank you to Jenny for providing me with this space! Supportive people like you are what makes writing worthwhile, and I hope you have plenty of great books to read as the temperatures drop and the holiday season approaches. Thanks so much!

You're so very welcome Jason, I'm happy to have you on anytime! More information on Jason and Suspense (recommended for YA readers ages 16+) can be found here:

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Book 2 in this series, Expense, has just released as well and can be found below:

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SUSPENSE

Spencer Nye can’t control the rage bubbling under her skin over the world around her. The trouble is, by the year 2102, the world has solved most of its great problems. Without hunger, war, greed, or even money, people obsess over the glamour of the Culture Industry and its mega-celebrity Idols, who vie for followers over the social networks of Connect.

But Spencer discovers there is plenty to fix within the Idols’ competition for more popularity. She becomes a diehard and promises to do anything to help her Idol, a dreamy movie star named Cleary Mintz, bring his vision of hope and purpose to the world. When she stumbles onto a threat against his life, she’ll have to fight harder than she ever thought possible or lose the man who means more to her than any other.