posted
Having dallied this year with studying and entering the Writers of the Future quarterly contest whose target audience I consider YA and whose winning stories I rate brilliant PG (transposing the motion picture association rating), I (seemingly subconsciously or per Fate) chose to listen/read acclaimed examples of YA sf.
My local library had the first two novels of Scott Westerfeld's "Leviathan" series (the eponymous first book and its sequel Behemoth) as audiobooks, but the third and final book (Goliath) only in hardcover [http://scottwesterfeld.com/books/leviathan/ ]. The latter is what I found most interesting, not as much in regard to the story, but in the design and quality of its production(Simon Schuster publisher).
This steampunk/genetic engineering trilogy is set in an alternate Earth during World War 1 and revolves around two teenagers: Alec, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary who flees his home and country after his parents are assassinated, and Deryn/Dylan Sharp a heroic midshipman on the great British living airship Leviathan who has a great secret...Mister Sharp is a girl.
The major plotlines revolve around ending the war which Alec believes his family's tragedy started, Deryn/Dylan's secret, and the friendship between the two teenagers and subsequently Deryn/Dylan's impossible love for Alec.
There are few surprises as to how things work out (a eucastrophic requirement of YA sf, perhaps?), still Westerfeld's world of Darwinists versus Clankers and the imaginative genetically engineered and mechanical creatures he creates with his part-historical part-fantasy world of the opening years of the 20th century is entertaining. A light quick read...of over 547 pages!
And the latter is part of what I found remarkable concerning the production of the book. The lines on the page appear at least triple-spaced, the font is large, and the word count per page I estimate is a third of what I find in the standard adult hardcover. I can only surmise this is for ease of reading (definitely easy on the eyes) and, perhaps, providing the YA reader a sense of accomplishment ("I read a book over 547 pages long!").
Well, not every page has words. There is a plethora of illustrations depicting scenes and creatures/creations in the story throughout the book by the talented Keith Thompson. Also easy on the eye.
All in all, I can imagine the author being proud of seeing how well-produced this book is. I'm envious, though I like the presentation a bit better than the story. The presentation actually enhances the story, I believe. Is this also purposeful, to delight the YA audience and serve as an aide for their imagination?
With the current generation of young readers, I assume, there is a Potteresque "value-added" sales advantage of what I consider such quality production and the use of mixed media. I can see why this market for writers (and readers) is appealing.
Respectfully, Dr. Bob
Posts: 1475 | Registered: Aug 2010
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posted
You are not the only one to find YA a pleasurable read, from past discussions there are at least two others here who pretty much read only YA. I read some and find it mostly well done, even though I haven't found that many with illustrations but a larger font could be good. Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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I actually attended Scott Westerfeld's panel during a book festival, and he said that he worked closely with Keith Thompson to make the illustrations match his vision. He particularly liked the overall map. One of the factors that contributed to the terrific presentation of these books must have been that sense of partnership between author and illustrator.
He also mentioned though that he was able to do his reimagination of WWI in this way because he had already successfully written bestsellers (Uglies trilogy in particular). I'm guessing that new authors can't expect to be given this much leeway in how their books are produced. I don't think publishers would be willing to put this much effort into a book without guaranteed sales.
Posts: 252 | Registered: Feb 2013
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I just bought the series and am thoroughly enjoying them. Also surprised at how quickly I flew through it. Thanks Dr Bob! Does anyone know how to find illustrators, or is that part of the benefit of successful publishing/ers?
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