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Best dystopian books

127 replies

LongPauseNoReply · 10/04/2020 15:55

I've read Fatherland, 1984, The Stand, Handmaid's Tale, etc. Am looking for recommendations along those lines .. plague, aliens and the like Grin

What's the best dystopian book you've read?

OP posts:
AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 11/04/2020 13:43

Dominion - CJ Sansom
Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Have you read The Testaments yet? It's the sequel to Handmaid's Tale.

lastqueenofscotland · 11/04/2020 14:21

I love most Atwood
Oryx and Crake and The Heart Goes Last are my favourites.

GenghisCalm · 11/04/2020 14:33

R.R. Haywood The Undead series 24 books so far.

LadyGAgain · 11/04/2020 14:40

DH is just starting Eve of Man which sounds a bit handmaid'y. Has anyone read it?

Talcott2007 · 11/04/2020 14:51

I recently read SevenEves by Neal Stephenson - I bit different than what I would normally go for but really enjoyed it - very much sci-fi dystopian

QuentinWinters · 11/04/2020 15:47

I tried to read eve of man but it was a bit too young for me. My 13yo dd however loved it and is anxiously awaiting book 2

Jcee · 11/04/2020 15:50

Young adult novels but I really enjoyed the toll trilogy and unwound series by Neal Shusterman...really thought provoking and stayed with me a long time after finishing them

BreadmanAndCake · 11/04/2020 15:53

Ooh just remembered another one - Crash by JG Ballard. Awfully weird but a great read.

LongPauseNoReply · 11/04/2020 15:54

Thanks @PerditaProvokesEnmity!

OP posts:
LadyGAgain · 12/04/2020 09:54

Ah that's interesting @quentin. Not sure I have the heart to tell DH who is rather excited about his new book Grin

PerditaProvokesEnmity · 12/04/2020 10:46

Have downloaded free first two chapters of I Am Legend. This surely should be exciting enough to drag me from A. Prime videos for one afternoon? (Planning to watch the film immediately afterwards though!)

Hesperatum · 14/04/2020 14:32

A Clockwork Orange is dark, disturbing and cleverly
structured. So much better than the film.

Roomba · 14/04/2020 14:56

If you liked Fatherland, you may enjoy Dominion by C.J.Samson? It's another alternate history, but where Britain actually appeased Hitler and never joined in WW2, set in the late '50s IIRC.

And SevenEves is fantastic - found a couple of sections heavy going as Neal Stephenson loves a good technical detail diversion, but I loved the book as a whole.

Also recommend (though it's based on an alien city that also contains humans, rather than Earth, but shares many Dystopian novel themes) Perdido Street Station and its sequel The Scar - both by China Mieville.

SorrelForbes · 14/04/2020 15:11

At least a couple of Nevil Shute books might fit the bill, e.g. On The Beach, In The Wet.

Butterchunks · 15/04/2020 17:27

Another Atwood recommendation : the year of the flood

Standrewsschool · 15/04/2020 17:31

The Wall - John Lanchaster - loved this book

chunkyrun · 15/04/2020 20:09

Battle royale is god tier

aWeaponCalledtheWord · 15/04/2020 21:07

i’ve just completed my fifth read-through of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

even this time i picked up so much i’ve missed before.

it’s 7 books. the first is a short-ish western, the second one is where it all gets going. it all goes a bit bonkers in 6, and i sobbed again at 7.

it’s a lot to take in, and some of it seems impenetrable at first but the worlds that are created are incredible. i want to go and live in mid-World with an Oy of my own.

it will certainly fill your time! all 7 books are on kindle. i don’t think you’ll regret it. i feel bereft today having finished the series.

peaceanddove · 15/04/2020 21:09

The Passage by Justin Cronin was fantastic and I could I put it down, but the following two books weren't as gripping.

World War Z was unputdownable infact I have read it twice then passed it to DH, who never reads fiction, and he loved it too.

Neverfore · 15/04/2020 21:30

Another vote for John Wyndham, my favourite is the Chrysalids.

CorianderLord · 15/04/2020 21:46

Enders Game, Matched, Uglies, Delirium

TabbyM · 24/04/2020 14:23

A Boy and His Dog at the end of the World is good and not too depressing

AnduinsGirl · 24/04/2020 15:40

End of the World Running Club is awesome, read it in a single sitting. Its sequel was a let-down though, IMO.
All the Little Children was decent, but I hated the "mumminess" of the main character.
Ready Player One is a geek's heaven - I loved it!

HarlanWillYouStopNamingNuts · 24/04/2020 18:02

The End We Start From is a great short, intense read. Dystopian fiction but also an allegory of childbirth and motherhood (at least that's how I read it).

gonelululemoncrazy · 27/04/2020 19:55

I like Early Kurt Vonnegut - especially Cat's cradle. Philip K Dick - Scanner Darkly, Man in a High Castle, a lot of his short stories are post-apocalyptic. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradley. If you like sci-fi Absolution Gap by alastair Reynolds is a good read. Whilst not exactly dystopian I always liked Ian M Bank's Culture novels (personally I'm reading Pride and Prejudice atm ).