# Dystopian Sci-Fi settings...centered outside of Europe, N. America, Japan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621 "2020-08-09T01:35:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/1 "2020-08-09T01:35:59Z")
For fun, I’ve been trying to compile a list of Dystopian Sci-Fi settings—a la _1984, The Handmaid’s Tale_, etc.—and I’ve run into a stumbling block. I’m having a hard time thinking of any works centered around, or at least heavily featuring, fictional Dystopian states or empires in regions of the world like Latin America, Asia (outside of Japan) in general and the Indian subcontinent in particular, or Australasia/Oceania. (Not counting Orwell’s “Oceania”) I’m seeing a lot of examples where they’re reduced to lowly swaths of conquered satellite territories, or reduced to various forms of wasteland by one apocalypse or another. But I’ve only been looking for a couple of evenings, and I’m almost a stranger to the subgenre, so I’m sure there are at least SOME that I’ve missed…can anyone point me towards a few? The fiendish Cyberpunk Corporate Republic of Macondo, maybe? Dehumanizing mega-communist police states in New Zealand? Handicapper Generals of the Arabian Penninsula? I have no idea—but I’d love to find out about any, if anyone could illuminate me. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/2 "2020-08-09T01:54:09Z")
Nevil Shute’s _On The Beach_ is a famous one that comes to mind immediately - set in Australia, after the N Hemisphere has been obliterated by nuclear war. But I guess that’s post-apocalyptic rather than dystopian, maybe it doesn’t really fit the bill, the society is basically the same as ours, just waiting for the end of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/3 "2020-08-09T02:34:40Z")
Ok, my first effort was no good, but here’s a list of dystopian novels set in Oz, none of which are well known I think: > **[7 Dystopian Futures: Australia Re-Imagined](https://www.melindatognini.com.au/7-dystopian-futures-australia-re-imagined/)** And here’s some for India: [http://indianbooknerd.com/dystopian-fiction-in-india/](http://indianbooknerd.com/dystopian-fiction-in-india/) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/4 "2020-08-09T03:03:05Z")
Mick Farren’s _The Song of Phaid the Gambler_ (_Phaid the Gambler_ & _Citizen Phaid_) is set so far in the future, it’s unclear where exactly on the planet anything is set. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/5 "2020-08-09T05:23:29Z")
Depending on what you consider a distopia, there is _[The Windup Girl](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/dec/18/windup-girl-paolo-bacigalupi-review)_ and [_River of Gods_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_of_Gods) / _[Cyberbad Days](https://io9.gizmodo.com/cyberabad-days-blasts-into-indias-high-tech-future-5154099)_. All excellent books written before the time they would be blasted apart as “cultural appropriation” in _this_ dystopian setting. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/6 "2020-08-09T05:57:20Z")
Yes, I came into the thread to recommend _The Windup Girl._ ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/7 "2020-08-09T07:59:19Z")
I think [District 9](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_9) counts. It certainly feels like dystopian sci-fi, although admittedly in more of a “the actual world we live in is kind of dystopian” sort of way. The allegory to real life government and societal behavior in South Africa and elsewhere is not exactly subtle. It’s set in Johannesburg, South Africa. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2020, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/8 "2020-08-09T09:14:38Z")
George Alec Effinger has a series set in the Middle East, in which the West has balkanized. It starts with _When Gravity Fails_. Pretty good. More cyberpunk than dystopian per se, but it’s not a world I’d like to live in. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/9 "2020-08-09T09:36:17Z")
There’s also _Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow_ by Marjorie Barnard Eldershaw, which is set in a future Australia where the social democratic dream has gone very pear-shaped. Very ploddy by modern standards, worthy but hard work. The original was published in a heavily censor-edited form in 1947, but finally released as written in the 1980s. Sadly the bits that had been cut out were not filled with steamy, grunting future sex, which would have helped a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/10 "2020-08-09T10:29:14Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > I think [District 9](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_9) counts. It certainly feels like dystopian sci-fi, although admittedly in more of a “the actual world we live in is kind of dystopian” sort of way. The allegory to real life government and societal behavior in South Africa and elsewhere is not exactly subtle. > > It’s set in Johannesburg, South Africa. If we’re doing films, the Mad Max stories are all set in Australia (except maybe for the parts that are in the Tunisian desert 🙂) ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/11 "2020-08-09T13:08:00Z")
David Wingrove’s [Chung Kuo](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chung_Kuo_(novel_series)) series probably counts. It’s a global dystopia, but in a world controlled by China. I’ve only read the first two prequel novels and the first in the actual series and have enjoyed them. Apparently it goes rather off the boil after the umpteenth book, but such is the way with these things… OB ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/12 "2020-08-09T14:14:37Z")
In the original _Buck Rogers_ stories, Asians (Han in the novella, Mongols in the comic strip) had conquered North America. The writers eventually decided that it was not really a dystopia, but that retcon came several years later. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/13 "2020-08-09T18:22:14Z")
> [@Oswald\_Bastable](#): > > David Wingrove’s [Chung Kuo](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chung_Kuo_(novel_series)) series probably counts. It’s a global dystopia, but in a world controlled by China. > > I’ve only read the first two prequel novels and the first in the actual series and have enjoyed them. Apparently it goes rather off the boil after the umpteenth book, but such is the way with these things… > > OB But it is set in North America and the UK, in large part. And yeah, the first 3 were great, the next two were less so and then it was a just a shitshow. I never did finish it; I got thru the 7th book tho. ETA: These books did give me a phrase that I love tho: “like silk on steel”; I just loved the phrase and it’s use in the book. Also, really nice to see that I’m not the only person who read them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/14 "2020-08-09T18:48:58Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Also, really nice to see that I’m not the only person who read them. I tried to read them based on a glowing recommendation from a friend, but couldn’t make it through half of the first book the racism and misogyny was so heavy. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/15 "2020-08-10T16:45:25Z")
Aren’t the Road Warrior movies set in Australia? Brian ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/16 "2020-08-10T19:02:28Z")
I think a lot of it is that dystopian sci-fi sort of revolves around the idea of a technological society gone wrong somehow. So I think it’s probably easier (lazier?) writing to take an existing technological nation in the West and extrapolate its future as a dystopia through some sort of technological machinations than it is to extrapolate how a developing nation might become a dystopia. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/17 "2020-08-10T19:46:36Z")
Perhaps. That doesn’t sound right to me though. I would think it’s 95% about where the creators of the novel or film or series are based or where they can get funding. Also, developing countries unless you get down to the failed state level aren’t fundamentally different in organization from more developed countries in my view. They have a lot of the same constructs but the institutions are typically weaker and less trustworthy, less insulated from political maneuvering, less able to address issues in the country, etc. Although I feel some of the more developed nations are heading down that path too. In some respects, a developing nation is closer to the failed or dystopian state portrayed in this sort of sci-fi and if they had more robust film industries that could support this sort of project we might see a lot more released. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/18 "2020-08-10T19:57:02Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Aren’t the Road Warrior movies set in Australia? > > Brian That was my first thought. I’m not sure if _Mad Max_ and its sequels count as sci-fi, but they’re definitely dystopian. I don’t know if they specifically mention a location in the first two movies, although there are some hints that it’s Australia IIRC (which, of course, is where they were filmed). But _Beyond the Thunderdome_ pretty much confirms they’re in Australia, when they find the wreck of a Qantas jet and, at the end of the movie, the ruins of Sydney. ETA: I suppose you could say the fact that Max drives an Australian Ford Falcon confirms the setting as Australia, too. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/19 "2020-08-10T20:25:33Z")
Not sure if it is exactly what you’re looking for but Vernor Vinge’s brilliant novel “The Peace War” is one of my favourite science fiction novels of all time. In the story, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory develop an advanced technology which they use to dampen a nuclear exchange and install themselves as a Peace Authority. In order to retain their superiority they make technological progress practically illegal and governments are weakened to become almost non-entities. The US has been split up and much of the land has become known as New Mexico, which is where the novel is mostly set (it’s in the year 2048). The follow up novel (Marooned in Realtime) further explores the Technological Singularity (it’s touched on in the Peace War but not explored) - and in fact it was Vinge himself who popularised the concept and the phrase in an essay for NASA in 1993. He wrote these two novels in the 1980’s so arguably these novels were where the concept was first introduced. Evetually the second novel is just set ‘on Earth’. I don’t think the characters quite know where they are. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2020, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621/20 "2020-08-11T05:29:30Z")
The actual novels are set all over the place, but the actual dystopian society in the alternate-history _Domination of the Draka_ series originates in South Africa. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-sci-fi-settings-centered-outside-of-europe-n-america-japan/917621.md?page=2)