Harry Potter was a smash hit about a boy discovering he’s a wizard and going to school in a magical world full of wonder and adventure. *Twilight* didn’t hit quite that high a note, but the story of a teenage girl who learns her classmate is a vampire and falls in love with him did quite well. *The Hunger Games* popularized the dystopian genre with a bow wielding teenager stepping up to survive death games, have angsty romances, and fight the power.
As far as I can tell, nothing has quite hit that same kind of high since and it may be awhile until the next truly big wave. But if it were up to you, what would the next big thing be about?
by gonegonegoneaway211
11 Comments
Frogs in space. And some of the frogs are wizards, but not all of them.
Soulmate tropes, perhaps.
I really love that shit, especially when people get creative with different types of soulmarks/soulbonds/etc and what they do and if they can be non-romantic soulmates and stuff. Would love to read 8 million variations of different kinds of soulmates from desperate and romantic to friendly power buff type soulbonds to drifting like pacific rim to a billion other things.
Nothing has been as popular as *Harry Potter* before or since. It’s one of a kind, and unlikely to be repeated any time soon.
The *Harry Potter* books dominated the *New York Times* best seller list so thoroughly that the *New York Times* was forced to create a separate children’s book list just to give adult books a chance. Then because the *Harry Potter* books dominated the children’s book list, the *New York Times* was forced to create a new list for children’s series just to give other children’s books a chance.
What’s Harry Potter
I think anime and manga have come the closest to hitting the kind of community and hype that HP has. Wouldn’t be surprised if the next big hit is a manga or or light novel.
It is still a niche that has a ceiling, but the ceiling gets higher every year.0
Dragon clans in the style of the warrior cat series (which I loved as a kid)
I think some hopeful, entertaining sci fi-, like Star Trek but for kids.
I teach middle school and a lot of kids are worried about climate change and other disasters facing our world (understandable given the pandemic and our divisive political climate.)
I think they would enjoy a book that presented an optimistic vision of the future where kids have cool adventures in space.
Westerns need to make a comeback. I’d love a giant, sprawling Western saga with the amazing intersection of cultures. Chinese immigrants, entrenched as well as new European arrivals, African slaves or freemen and -women, American Indians trying to weather their own apocalypse, the list goes on. It’s undoubtedly one of the richest platforms for storytelling either real or imagined.
The media landscape has changed too significantly for that to happen again, I’m afraid.
Something to get kids enthusiastic about science, because a bunch of eager, scientifically literate kids becoming scientifically literate adults is sounds awesome.
The beauty of Harry Potter is that we see Harry grow from a boy to a young man. This also includes Ron and Hermione. We care for them from book one. Other series start with characters in their teens. So it’s a lot harder for many different readers to attach themselves to teens.