# Fiction set in the universe of 1984

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiction-set-in-the-universe-of-1984/523674>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 4, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiction-set-in-the-universe-of-1984/523674 "2010-01-04T21:30:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiction-set-in-the-universe-of-1984/523674/1 "2010-01-04T21:30:46Z")

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Has anyone written anything set in the universe of the novel 1984? (Other than that novel itself of course!)

I’d be especially interested to find out that someone has written a backstory or even full biographical account for O’Brien.

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiction-set-in-the-universe-of-1984/523674/2 "2010-01-04T22:40:14Z")

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I can think of two: one titled “Orwell’s Revenge” (a.k.a. 1994) postulates that the telescreens worked by something analogous to the Internet and that hackers learned to infiltrate and bypass it.unless the whole story was a Ministry of Truth propaganda piece, and another whose name I can’t find that takes a direct analogy to Stalinism, in which it turns out there was a literal Big Brother whose death forestalls Winston’s and Julia’s executions (very untrue to the original, imho).

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**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiction-set-in-the-universe-of-1984/523674/3 "2010-01-04T22:53:19Z")

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From the “why does this exist” file, Swedish prog metal artist Ayreon’s debut album, “The Final Experiment,” is a rock opera set in the court of King Arthur about messages sent back in time FROM the future following George Orwell’s 1984. It’s one of the most needlessly complicated plots I’ve ever heard of.

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**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiction-set-in-the-universe-of-1984/523674/4 "2010-01-04T23:17:34Z")

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen mentions it in the [Black Dossier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_League_of_Extraordinary_Gentlemen:_Black_Dossier) volume.

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiction-set-in-the-universe-of-1984/523674/5 "2010-01-05T00:12:11Z")

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> [@Lumpy](#):
>
> and another whose name I can’t find that takes a direct analogy to Stalinism, in which it turns out there was a literal Big Brother whose death forestalls Winston’s and Julia’s executions (very untrue to the original, imho).

Found it. 1985 by György Dalos