Dystopian stories act as mirrors to our own world. They allow us to see humanity in a different light and cast shadows on many elements of our own flawed society. Dystopian worlds teach us to look at our reality with a more critical gaze, which is why dystopian books are such an important genre in Young Adult literature.
These Vengeful Gods is a prime example of how YA dystopian books are inherently political and tied to the systemic problems that plague our own daily lives. Here, Gabe Cole Novoa, author of These Vengeful Gods, joins us to discuss how he created his dystopian world and what he hopes young readers will take away from stories like his.
About the Gabe Cole Novoa
Gabe Cole Novoa (he/him) is a Latinx transmasculine, award-winning, New York Times Bestselling author who writes speculative fiction featuring marginalized characters grappling with identity. Now leveled up with an MFA in Writing for Children, when he isn’t buried under his two cats, you’ll likely find him knitting or crocheting something cute. Gabe is the author of Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Retelling, The Wicked Bargain, The Diablo’s Curse, These Vengeful Gods, and the Beyond the Red trilogy, written under a former pseudonym. You can find him across a variety of social media sites at @thegabecole.
Thank you so much for joining us, Gabe. Let’s get started!
For readers unfamiliar with These Vengeful Gods, could you please give us a brief introduction to it?
Happy to! These Vengeful Gods is a YA dystopian fantasy starring a disabled trans protagonist. In a world bound by violence, a teen descended from the god of Death must keep their true identity a secret as they fight their way through a gladiator-style competition towards victory and rebellion against the gods who murdered their family.
Can you tell us more about the dystopian worldbuilding that went into These Vengeful Gods? Was it inspired by stories you grew up with?
I was a teenager when The Hunger Games was first published, and I’ve pretty much wanted to write a competition-like frame into a book ever since. But though The Hunger Games is an obvious comparison, it absolutely isn’t the only inspiration! I absolutely loved the way magic was integrated in the competition set up in A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab, and I’d honestly argue that was a bigger inspiration for me than The Hunger Games in terms of the competition set-up itself.
As for the world itself, I was really inspired by the worlds of Final Fantasy 7 and Arcane. Both do an incredible job of putting the stark class differences on display in a dystopian world, while creating beautifully intricate worlds full of both magic and technology. So when it came to deciding how I wanted to present the world of Escal, those two were easily my biggest inspirations.
These Vengeful Gods features the found family trope in a terrifying world. What was your experience like creating these dynamics against such a daunting background?
You know, I’ve found I really enjoy writing found family into dangerous circumstances—and I think it’s because in my experience, found family and community become even more important when the world or life is more difficult. This can look like turning to found family when your family of origin turns their backs on you, or it can look like digging into community when fascism is on the rise and targeting people like you.
So, to me, writing found family into hard worlds is a way for me to remind readers that we are never truly alone. That even when life is at its hardest, there will always be people who can understand what we’re going through and support us through it.
How did you navigate writing a character with chronic pain? If you’re comfortable discussing this, is it something you struggle with, or was it something you had to research?
I’m happy to share! Crow’s chronic illness is closely modeled after my own — rheumatoid arthritis. So a lot of what Crow deals with, from their immune system to their chronic illness flare-ups, to their painful joints, comes directly from my own experience. Of course, rheumatoid arthritis can vary widely from person to person, so I think that’s important to keep in mind, but what you see in These Vengeful Gods is pretty close to what I experience in my own life.
What would you say to people who claim that reading books isn’t political?
I’ve found that most of the time, the Venn Diagram of people who claim reading books isn’t political and people who think they can opt out of politics entirely is a circle. And there’s so much that goes into this mindset, from believing that politics aren’t important until they affect you personally (which, eventually, they will!), to a fundamental misunderstanding of how the publishing industry works. I’m reminded of that famous Miranda Priestley speech about the cerulean sweater in The Devil Wears Prada. I won’t quote the whole thing because it’s long (and if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you do!) but towards the end of her speech she says, “it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact…you’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room.’”
The same sentiment applies to publishing. Those who say reading isn’t political think they’re making independent choices by reading whatever is popular, or whatever they come across—and that it’s a coincidence that those books by and large feature able-bodied, allocishet white protagonists. They often tend to argue if a book with a marginalized protagonist was just as popular (among their friend group, or sales-wise, etc.), then they’d read that book too—without thinking about how much more difficult it is for books by and about marginalized people to get the support from the publishing industry needed to become popular. If you don’t go out of your way searching for books by marginalized authors, the books you stumble across will largely be by and about able-bodied, allocishet white people, because the publishing industry is currently set up to give those authors and those books an advantage.
And if you’re a reader actively avoiding books by and about marginalized characters…well. You can call that choice “not political” if you want. But it absolutely is.
For fans of These Vengeful Gods, are there any recommendations of YA dystopian books you feel are underrated?
Great question! You know, the two books that immediately come to mind I’m happy to say have been rightfully lauded, so I wouldn’t in any way call them underrated. That said, I really loved both The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas and Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. Both are written by trans/nonbinary people of color, and their life experiences come through in beautiful ways that really make their books stand out.
The Sunbearer Trials features multiple trans and queer characters (including a trans protagonist!), disabled characters, and is set in a fantasy world inspired by Mexico and Mexican mythology. Iron Widow also stars a cast full of queer characters as well as a disabled protagonist, and the world and plot are inspired by China’s history. Both books are so incredibly memorable, and I can’t recommend them enough!
To close out, can you touch on the importance of Young Adult fiction as a genre, especially in the current literary landscape?
When writing my books, I think a lot about what books would have helped my teen self feel less alone and better understand what I was experiencing as an extremely closeted (even to myself!) trans teen. I think about how if I’d seen positive representation of young trans people, it might not have taken until my twenties to figure out I was trans. I think about how if I’d been exposed to more media where “tomboy”-like protagonists didn’t need to be “fixed” into more feminine versions of themselves to find happiness, I might not have felt like there was something wrong with me. I think about how if I’d seen positive representations of Latinx teens who were heroes of their own adventurous stories, I might not have found it so difficult to take pride in my heritage.
I think about all of those things, and I look at the world today and just how incredibly violent our government in the US currently is against trans and queer people, against Latinx people, against Black people, and other people of color, against disabled people — against literally anyone who isn’t an able-bodied, allocishet white man. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bigots out there trying their best to get books with representation for marginalized groups off the shelves, particularly when these books are for young people — and to me, that’s just further proof of how important these books are. There are people out there who are afraid of what happens when young people develop empathy for those who aren’t like them, and when young people get to see themselves represented without shame — but that just speaks to the power of positive, genuine representation for marginalized groups. That’s why we need these books. And that’s why I’ll keep writing them.
And we will keep reading them. Thank you so much to Gabe Cole Novoa for such thought-provoking answers. Be sure to check out These Vengeful Gods and keep up with Gabe Cole Novoa on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Bluesky, and Threads. You can also check out his website here.
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Find this and more on our Dystopian Worlds, Technology, and the Universe in Science Fiction bookshelf on Bookshop.org.
