# Dystopian novels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2015, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923 "2015-12-09T08:44:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nymeria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@nymeria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nymeria)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/1 "2015-12-09T08:44:50Z")
Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/2 "2015-12-09T08:56:47Z")
Heh. _1984 The Sword of the Spirits_ trilogy, starting with _The Prince in Waiting_ - and several more by John Christopher _Hunger Games_ …and lots more ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/3 "2015-12-09T09:02:58Z")
_The Book of Dave_ by Will Self. Although you may find some parts a challenge if you’re not familiar with (British) English vernacular. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/4 "2015-12-09T09:30:35Z")
Walter Tevis’s [Mockingbird](http://www.amazon.com/Mockingbird-Walter-Tevis-ebook/dp/B00O14ZYKC/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8) is a masterpiece by one of the best prose stylists to write any science fiction. His other works include _The Hustler_, _The Color of Money_, _Queen’s Gambit_ and _The Man Who Fell to Earth._. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/5 "2015-12-09T09:31:48Z")
Can’t forget _Brave New World_ or _Harrison Bergeron_. I’m not terribly fond of dystopian works myself, since I tend to find them oppressively gloomy. There’s a wide-ranging [list on TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Dystopia) (for your question, look in the Literature folder). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/6 "2015-12-09T11:08:50Z")
[Oryx and Crake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oryx_and_Crake) [Jennifer Government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Government) [Ready Player One](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Player_One) ---
**Author:** ![JackaRoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@JackaRoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackaRoe)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/7 "2015-12-09T12:02:16Z")
[Player Piano - Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_Piano_(novel)) ---
**Author:** ![DeepLiquid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deepliquid/32/14893_2.png) [@DeepLiquid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeepLiquid)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/8 "2015-12-09T14:01:49Z")
I loved _Earth Abides_, really interesting look at a pandemic, written right after WWII; instead of focusing on chaos it focuses on society devolving. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/9 "2015-12-09T14:32:10Z")
[We](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_%28novel%29) ---
**Author:** ![meow\_meow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@meow\_meow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meow_meow)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/10 "2015-12-09T15:25:27Z")
The Handmaids Tale I saw that someone posted Oryx and Crake. I agree! This is actually part of a trilogy. After that was “The Year of the Flood”, then “MaddAddam.” All by Margaret Atwood. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/11 "2015-12-09T15:30:11Z")
Ooh, surprised I get to be the first to mention Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’- that’s about as dystopian as it gets. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/12 "2015-12-09T15:34:40Z")
A Clockwork Orange. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/13 "2015-12-09T15:42:49Z")
James Ellroys LA quartet…The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential and White Jazz. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/14 "2015-12-09T16:21:40Z")
Count Zero, Neuromancer by William Gibson. I’m finding it hard to find science fiction that ISN’T dystopian. I find it gloomy, too. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/15 "2015-12-09T16:21:52Z")
[The Last Ship](http://www.amazon.com/Last-Ship-Novel-William-Brinkley/dp/0142181838/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1449678086&sr=8-5&keywords=the+last+ship) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/16 "2015-12-09T17:29:21Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > [We](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_%28novel%29) Seconded. All the dystopian stuff decades before the form became popular, by someone who fled early Communist Russia and knew a dystopia first hand. ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/17 "2015-12-09T17:35:26Z")
_California_ by Edan Lepucki _The Water Knife_ by Paolo Buciagalupi ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/18 "2015-12-09T18:48:15Z")
_**[Ready Player One](http://readyplayerone.com/)**_. Read it before it becomes a movie in 2017! ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/19 "2015-12-09T19:12:41Z")
> [@DeepLiquid](#): > > I loved _Earth Abides_, really interesting look at a pandemic, written right after WWII; instead of focusing on chaos it focuses on society devolving. I liked it, but it also contains some laughably vintage notions of women and African Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923/20 "2015-12-09T19:22:45Z")
Nevil Shute’s _On the Beach_. It’s a bit dated but scared the crap out of people in its time. Also Robert Neville’s _I Am Legend_, which is very depressing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-novels/739923.md?page=2)