# George Orwell's 1984 - other books set in this universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [April 14, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-orwells-1984-other-books-set-in-this-universe/982686 "2023-04-14T22:05:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [April 14, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-orwells-1984-other-books-set-in-this-universe/982686/1 "2023-04-14T22:05:08Z")
1984 remains a significant work of speculative fiction, and offers a sketchy but powerful portrait of a totalitarian world. Have others set novels / movies specifically within the 1984 universe? I expect there have been lots of borrowings of elements of the story, but any actually set in or building on what Orwell depicted? That would be double-plus good. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-orwells-1984-other-books-set-in-this-universe/982686/2 "2023-04-14T23:15:22Z")
1985 - The Death of Big Brother > **[1985 (Dalos novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_(Dalos_novel))** > > 1985 is a sequel to George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. > Written by Hungarian author György Dalos, originally published in 1983, this novel begins with the death of Big Brother and reflects an intermediate period between 1984 and a more optimistic future characterized with a decline in orthodoxy of the totalitarian system, struggles of the ensuing powers and the near destruction of the Oceania air force by Eurasia. > Critic Pat Harrington found the novel's emphasis on the Thought Police ... ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-orwells-1984-other-books-set-in-this-universe/982686/3 "2023-04-16T05:24:41Z")
Maybe not what you’re looking for, but the forerunner of _1984_ is _We_, by Yevgeny Zamiatin: > **[We (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_(novel))** > > We (Russian: Мы, romanized: My) is a dystopian novel by Russian writer Yevgeny Zamyatin, written 1920–1921. It was first published as an English translation by Gregory Zilboorg in 1924 by E. P. Dutton in New York, with the original Russian text first published in 1952. The novel describes a world of harmony and conformity within a united totalitarian state. It influenced the emergence of dystopia as a literary genre. George Orwell said that Aldous Huxley's 1931 Brave New World must be partly d From the item: > [@](#): > > Orwell began _Nineteen Eighty-Four_ (1949) some eight months after he read _We_ in a French translation and wrote a review of it. Orwell is reported as “saying that he was taking it as the model for his next novel”. Brown writes that for Orwell and certain others, _We_ “appears to have been _the_ crucial literary experience”. Shane states that “Zamyatin’s influence on Orwell is beyond dispute”. Robert Russell, in an overview of the criticism of _We_, concludes that “_1984_ shares so many features with _We_ that there can be no doubt about its general debt to it”; but that there is a minority of critics who view the similarities between _We_ and _Nineteen Eighty-Four_ as “entirely superficial”. Further, Russell finds that “Orwell’s novel is both bleaker and more topical than Zamyatin’s, lacking entirely that ironic humour that pervades the Russian work”. I dunno. Having read both _1984_ and _We_, I find the latter much more disturbing than _1984_. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-orwells-1984-other-books-set-in-this-universe/982686/4 "2023-04-16T05:33:40Z")
There’s this one, which rewrites the book to set it ten years later, in which the author argues that the rise of the internet will put an end to totalitarianism. (Not looking like such a good call in retrospect.) > **[Orwell's Revenge: The 1984 Palimpsest: Huber, Peter: 9781501127700: Amazon.com:...](https://www.amazon.com/Orwells-Revenge-Palimpsest-Peter-Huber/dp/1501127705)** > > Orwell's Revenge: The 1984 Palimpsest \[Huber, Peter\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Orwell's Revenge: The 1984 Palimpsest