Veronica Roth explains why she returned to Divergent with The Sixth Faction
In a new interview, Roth describes the personal reasons behind her alternate-universe retelling, released on October 6.
Veronica Roth has explained why she returned to the Divergent world in a Hollywood Reporter interview published October 16. Her novel The Sixth Faction, released October 6, retells Beatrice Prior’s story from a different turning point, giving readers a new route through the setting rather than a continuation of the original trilogy.
Roth told The Hollywood Reporter that the book began as a personal project. Divergent’s lasting connection with readers surprised her, she said, while she had carried anxiety about the series. Writing something new in that world offered a way to rediscover her affection for its characters and setting.
How The Sixth Faction changes Beatrice Prior’s choice
The Sixth Faction is the first book in a planned two-book story, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Its alternate-universe premise returns to the choosing ceremony, where Beatrice, known as Tris, faces the decision that shaped the original books. HarperCollins says a tragedy at the ceremony changes her plans and draws her into an underground rebellion.
The publisher describes the book as the start of a new Divergent series. Its synopsis says Beatrice intends to leave Abnegation for Dauntless, even though doing so would mean leaving her family. The changed circumstances at the ceremony set the new story in motion.
Roth said she reread the earlier books more than once and listened to their audiobooks as she returned to the material. That process changed how she saw her earlier work: she said she was surprised by the strength of the characters she had created, even as she assessed the writing skills she had at the time.
Roth on the unfinished Divergent film series
The interview also revisited Ascendant, the planned fourth Divergent film that was never completed. The Hollywood Reporter said a proposed shift to a television movie was abandoned after cast members declined to return in that format. Roth said the actors had moved forward and the project would not proceed with them.
Roth said the original films brought her a career opportunity she would not otherwise have had. For now, she told The Hollywood Reporter, she is focused on books rather than whether The Sixth Faction might reach the screen. She also said the Divergent story feels closed to her once the planned duology is complete, while allowing that her view could change.
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Sources and context
- Veronica Roth Revives ‘Divergent’ in ‘The Sixth Faction'(and Talks the Movie That Never Happened)The Hollywood Reporter
- The Sixth FactionHarperCollins
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