It's The End of the World As We Know It
A Reading List
Dystopian novels form a huge part of science-fiction literature (but they don't have to be sci-fi). Here, I've compiled a list of some of the best-loved titles, arranged by year of publication. If your favorite is missing, send me a note; I'd love to add it.
The simplest way to define 'dystopia' is to say that it is, quite simply, the opposite of a utopia. Dystopian fiction generally features a futuristic (often post-apocalyptic) society which was meant to be perfect, one where humans tried to fix themselves (and failed). Sir Thomas More's 1516 Utopia (blueprint for a 'perfect' society) ironically inspired an entire genre of novels who seem to have been written to prove that he was wrong.
Dystopian Fiction from 1901 to the Present
The Wall by John Lanchester (2019)
"In this taut, dystopian tale, an island nation ravaged by the Change has built an enormous concrete barrier around its coastline - the Wall. Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls trapped amid the rising seas outside. A blend of the most compelling issues of our time - climate change, increasing fear, widening divisions - The Wall is a suspenseful story of love, trust, and survival."
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer (2017)
"In Borne, a young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined city half destroyed by drought and conflict. The city is dangerous, littered with discarded experiments from the Company - a biotech firm now derelict - and punished by the unpredictable predations of a giant bear. Rachel ekes out an existence in the shelter of a run-down sanctuary she shares with her partner, Wick, who deals his own homegrown psychoactive biotech. One day, Rachel finds Borne during a scavenging mission and takes him home. Borne as salvage is little more than a green lump - plant or animal? - but exudes a strange charisma. Borne reminds Rachel of the marine life from the island nation of her birth, now lost to rising seas. There is an attachment she resents: in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet, against her instincts - and definitely against Wick’s wishes - Rachel keeps Borne. She cannot help herself. Borne, learning to speak and learning about the world, is fun to be with, and in a world so broken that innocence is a precious thing. For Borne makes Rachel see beauty in the desolation around her. She begins to feel a protectiveness she can ill afford."
Scythe (series) by Neal Shusterman (2016)
"A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life - and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe - a role that neither wants. These teens must master the 'art' of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own." #BIPOC · #StaffPick
The Power by Naomi Alderman (2016)
"In The Power, the world is a recognizable place: there's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool, a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature, an ambitious American politician and a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power: they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets. From award-winning author Naomi Alderman, The Power is speculative fiction at its most ambitious and provocative, at once taking us on a thrilling journey to an alternate reality, and exposing our own world in bold and surprising ways."
Red Queen (series) by Victoria Aveyard (2015)
"Mare Barrow, a lowly Red in a world of red-blooded laborers and silver-blooded elites, thought she knew what her future held. But when she learns that her red blood has been disguising a secret ability, one usually reserved only for Silvers, her life is turned upside down. How will the Silver ruling class keep her secret hidden from the increasingly restless Red population and their Scarlet Guard revolutionaries? And how will Mare use her sudden power to change the caste system, the kingdom, and the world - forever?" #StaffPick
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2014)
"Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end. Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed." #BookToFilm · #StaffPick
The Circle by Dave Eggers (2013)
"Mae can’t believe her luck--her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world - even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge." #BookToFilm
The 5th Wave (series) by Rick Yancey (2013)
"Cassie finds herself in a world devastated by alien attack, desperate to save herself and find her lost brother. As the onslaught from the Others - the beings that look human and kill anyone they see - continues, Cassie's mission is to stay alone and stay alive. But then she meets Evan Walker, who may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother - or even saving herself. Cassie must choose between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death." #BookToFilm · #StaffPick
The Selection (series) by Kiera Cass (2012)
"For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime: the chance to live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her, and leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want." #BookToFilm · #StaffPick
Ready Player One (series) by Ernest Cline (2011)
“The world in 2044 is a mess. Energy sources are depleted, cities are jam-packed and the lives of average people are full of misery. In order to escape the hardships of everyday life, billions escape into the electronic virtual world OASIS. When the multi-billionaire creator of OASIS dies, he leaves his fortune in trust for the first avatar to complete three virtual quests. Wade Watts, a lonely teenage misfit, decides to compete and win the prize. Filled with references to 1970s and '80s pop culture, Ready Player One is a love story, a quest novel and a parable for the electronic age.” #BookToFilm
Matched (series) by Ally Condie (2010)
"Cassia has always trusted the Society’s choices. And when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, she is certain he’s the one - until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now she is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s ever known and a path no has dared to follow, between perfection and the truth." #StaffPick
The Passage (series) by Justin Cronin (2010)
"An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy - abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape - but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world." #BookToFilm · #StaffPick
One Second After (series) by William R. Forstchen (2009)
"New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies." #BookToFilm · #StaffPick
The Maze Runner (series) by James Dashner (2009)
"When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers - boys whose memories are also gone. Outside the towering stone walls that surround them is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out - and no one’s ever made it through alive. Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying: Remember. Survive. Run." #BookToFilm · #StaffPick
The Host by Stephanie Meyer (2008)
"Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind."
The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins (2008)
"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love." #BookToFilm · #StaffPick
Armageddon's Children (series) by Terry Brooks (2006)
"In our world’s near future, civilization has fallen into terrifying chaos. Navigating the scarred landscape that once was America and guided by a powerful talisman, Logan Tom has sworn an oath to seek out a remarkable being born of magic and destined to lead the final fight against darkness. In time, Logan’s path will cross with others: Angel Perez, herself a survivor of death-dealing forces, and a makeshift family of refugees forced to survive among street gangs, mutants, and marauders. Common purpose will draw Logan and his allies together. Their courage and convictions will be tested and their fates will be decided, as their singular crusade begins: to take back, or lose forever, the only world they have." #BookToFilm
World War Z by Max Brooks (2006)
"We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, World War Z is the only record of the pandemic." #BookToFilm · #ClassicSciFiFantasy
Uglies (series) by Scott Westerfeld (2005)
"In Tally Youngblood’s world, looks matter. She lives in a society created to function with perfect-looking people who never have a chance to think for themselves. And she’s tired of it. First as an ugly, then a pretty, and finally a special, Tally takes down the social infrastructure. And then, a generation later, a world obsessed with fame and instant celebrity - and filled with extras - will reap the consequences."
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (1999)
"In a dystopian future Japan, forty-two junior high school students are outfitted with weapons and bid to kill one another until there is only one left standing. Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller envisions a nightmare scenario: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan - where it became a runaway best seller - Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world."
Blindness by José Saramago (1995)
"A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers - among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears - through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of our worst appetites and weaknesses - and humanity's ultimately exhilarating spirit."
The Breach (series) by Patrick Lee (1994)
"A novel of unrelenting suspense and nonstop surprises, The Breach immediately rockets author Patrick Lee into the VIP section of the thriller universe. A treat for Jack Bauer fans and 'X-Files' aficionados, it is a white-knuckle roller-coaster ride that combines the best of Dean Koontz and Michael Crichton with a healthy dollop of Indiana Jones thrown into the mix - the perfect secret agent/government conspiracy/supernatural adventure." #StaffPick
The Giver (series) by Lois Lowry (1993)
"Life in the community where Jonas lives is idyllic. Designated birthmothers produce newchildren, who are assigned to appropriate family units. Citizens are assigned their partners and their jobs. No one thinks to ask questions. Everyone obeys. Everyone is the same. Except Jonas." #BannedBooks · #BookToFilm · #StaffPick
Parable of the Sower (series) by Octavia E. Butler (1993)
"When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others' emotions." #BIPOC
The Children of Men by P D James (1992)
"Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race." #BookToFilm
When the Tripods Came (series) by John Christopher (1988)
"When it comes to alien invasions, bad things come in threes. Three landings: one in England, one in Russia, and one in the United States. Three long legs, crushing everything in their paths, with three metallic arms, snacking out to embrace - and then discard - their helpless victims. Three evil beings, called Tripods, which will change life on Earth forever."
Swan Song by Robert McCammon (1987)
"In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, Earth’s last survivors have been drawn into a final battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of humanity. There’s Sister, who discovers a strange and transformative glass artifact in the destroyed Manhattan streets…Joshua Hutchins, the pro wrestler who takes refuge from the nuclear fallout at a Nebraska gas station…and Swan, a young girl possessing special powers, who travels alongside Josh to a Missouri town where healing and recovery can begin with her gifts. But the ancient force behind earth’s devastation is scouring the walking wounded for recruits for its relentless army…beginning with Swan herself." #100BestNovels · #StaffPick
The Handmaid's Tale (series) by Margaret Atwood (1985)
"Environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War and the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead's Commanders. Deprived of her husband, her child, her freedom, and even her own name, Offred clings to her memories and her will to survive." #BannedBooks · #BookToFilm · #ClassicSciFiFantasy · #StaffPick
Mockingbird by Walter Tevis (1980)
"In the future, the human race has ceased to progress. Granted endless leisure by widespread automation, the masses devote themselves solely to the pleasures of the here and now, to drugs that dull their senses and electronic bliss that disconnects them from reality. Theirs is a world that is without meaning or purpose, without art, children, or reading, and overseeing the bleak persistence of humanity is an intelligent machine whose only wish is to extinguish its own existence. But when two ordinary people begin to fight the system, hope for the human race glimmers in their journey as they attempt to realize the full potential of humanity." From the author of The Queen's Gambit. #CustomerFavorite
The Stand by Stephen King (1978)
"When a man escapes from a biological testing facility, he sets in motion a deadly domino effect, spreading a mutated strain of the flu that will wipe out 99 percent of humanity within a few weeks. The survivors who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge - Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious "Dark Man," who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them - and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity." #100BestNovels · #BookToFilm · #ClassicSciFiFantasy · #StaffPick
The Dispossessed (series) by Ursula K. Le Guin (1974)
"A bleak moon settled by utopian anarchists, Anarres has long been isolated from other worlds, including its mother planet, Urras - a civilization of warring nations, great poverty, and immense wealth. Now Shevek, a brilliant physicist, is determined to reunite the two planets, which have been divided by centuries of distrust. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have kept them apart. To visit Urras - to learn, to teach, to share - will require great sacrifice and risks, which Shevek willingly accepts. But the ambitious scientist's gift is soon seen as a threat, and in the profound conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs even as he ignites the fires of change." ClassicSciFiFantasy
Marathon Man by William Goldman (1974)
"Tom 'Babe' Levy is a runner in every sense: racing tirelessly toward his goals of athletic and academic excellence - and endlessly away from the specter of his famous father's scandal-driven suicide. But an unexpected visit from his beloved older brother will set in motion a chain of events that plunge Babe into a vortex of terror, treachery, and murder - and force him into a race for his life... and for the answer to the fateful question, 'Is it safe?' " #StaffPick
This Perfect Day by Ira Levin (1970)
"The story is set in a seemingly perfect global society. Uniformity is the defining feature; there is only one language and all ethnic groups have been eugenically merged into one race called "The Family." The world is ruled by a central computer called UniComp that has been programmed to keep every single human on the surface of the earth in check. People are continually drugged by means of regular injections so that they can never realize their potential as human beings, but will remain satisfied and cooperative. They are told where to live, when to eat, whom to marry, when to reproduce. Even the basic facts of nature are subject to UniComp's will - men do not grow facial hair, women do not develop breasts, and it only rains at night. With a vision as frightening as any in the history of the science fiction genre..." #CustomerFavorite
Island by Aldus Huxley (1962)
"In the novel Huxley considered his most important, he transports us to the remote Pacific island of Pala, where an ideal society has flourished for 120 years. Inevitably, this island of bliss attracts the envy and enmity of the surrounding world. A conspiracy is underway to take over Pala, and events are set in motion when an agent of the conspirators, a newspaperman named Faranby, is shipwrecked there. What Faranby doesn't expect is how his time with the people of Pala will revolutionize all his values and - to his amazement - give him hope."
Logan's Run by William F. Nolan (1967)
"In 2116, it is against the law to live beyond the age of twenty-one years. When the crystal flower in the palm of your hand turns from red to black, you have reached your Lastday and you must report to a Sleepshop for processing. But the human will to survive is strong—stronger than any mere law. Logan 3 is a Sandman, an enforcer who hunts down those Runners who refuse to accept Deep Sleep. The day before Logan’s palmflower shifts to black, a Runner accidentally reveals that he was racing toward a goal: Sanctuary. With this information driving him forward, Logan 3 assumes the role of the hunted and becomes a Runner." #BookToFilm
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (1959)
"When the unthinkable nightmare of nuclear holocaust ravaged the United States, it was instant death for tens of millions of people; for survivors, it was a nightmare of hunger, sickness, and brutality. Overnight, a thousand years of civilization were stripped away. But for one small Florida town, miraculously spared against all the odds, the struggle was only just beginning, as the isolated survivors - men and women of all ages and races - found the courage to come together and confront the harrowing darkness." #FloridaFiction · #StaffPick
The Minority Report and other Classic Stories by Philip K Dick (1956)
"This collection includes all of the writer's earliest short and medium-length fiction covering the years 1954-1964, and featuring such fascinating tales as The Minority Report (the inspiration for Steven Spielberg's film), Service Call, Stand-By, The Days of Perky Pat, and many others. Here, readers will find Dick's initial explorations of the themes he so brilliantly brought to life in his later work." #BookToFilm
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
"Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known." #BannedBooks · #BookToFilm · #ClassicSciFiFantasy · #StaffPick
1984 by George Orwell (1948)
"Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes. But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching..." #100BestNovels · #BannedBooks · #BookToFilm · #ClassicSciFiFantasy · #StaffPick
Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)
"A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned - a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible." #100BestNovels · #BannedBooks · #BookToFilm · #ClassicSciFiFantasy
Anthem by Ayn Rand (1938)
"The story unfolds within a society in which all traces of individualism have been eliminated from every aspect of life -- use of the word "I" is a capital offense. The hero, a rebel who discovers that man's greatest moral duty is the pursuit of his own happiness, embodies the values the author embraced in her personal philosophy of objectivism: reason, ethics, volition, and individualism."
It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (1935)
"A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, it is an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression, when the country was largely oblivious to Hitler’s aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press."
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
"Aldous Huxley's profoundly important classic of world literature, 'Brave New World' is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order - all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls." #BannedBooks · #BookToFilm · #ClassicSciFiFantasy
We by Yvgeny Zamyatin (1921)
"In the One State of the great Benefactor, there are no individuals, only numbers. Life is an ongoing process of mathematical precision, a perfectly balanced equation. Primitive passions and instincts have been subdued. Even nature has been defeated, banished behind the Green Wall. But one frontier remains: outer space. Now, with the creation of the spaceship Integral, that frontier - and whatever alien species are to be found there - will be subjugated to the beneficent yoke of reason."
The Trial by Kafka (1914)
"Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested. From its gripping first sentence onward, this novel exemplifies the term Kafkaesque. Its darkly humorous narrative recounts a bank clerk's entrapment - based on an undisclosed charge - in a maze of nonsensical rules and bureaucratic roadblocks."
The Iron Heel by Jack London (1908)
"The Iron Heel treads upon the faces of the poor. Determined to crush the working class at any cost, the brutal dictatorship incites a paranoid atmosphere of witch-hunting hysteria, employing gangs of thugs to stifle free speech. Avis Everhard, wife of a labor leader, narrates this gripping novel. In moving terms, she reveals the wretched poverty that props up aristocratic wealth and recounts the desperate struggles of revolutionaries against the insidious rise of the Iron Heel. George Orwell hailed this prescient tale as a truer prophecy of the future than either Brave New World or The Shape of Things to Come. Written more than a century ago, Jack London's harrowing vision of class warfare and a totalitarian state anticipates the development of fascism, the spread of terrorism, and the oppressive forces of government surveillance and authority. A short novel with remarkable depth, it continues to resonate with modern readers as both a satire and a warning."
The Purple Cloud by M P Shiel (1901)
"The Purple Cloud is widely hailed as a masterpiece of science fiction and one of the best 'last man' novels ever written. A deadly purple vapor passes over the world and annihilates all living creatures except one man, Adam Jeffson. He embarks on an epic journey across a silent and devastated planet, an apocalyptic Robinson Crusoe putting together the semblance of a normal life from the flotsam and jetsam of his former existence. As he descends into madness over the years, he becomes increasingly aware that his survival was no accident and that his destiny - and the fate of the human race - are part of a profound, cosmological plan."
Honorable Mentions
There are a few beloved post-apocalyptic books that, while they don't quite qualify as dystopian, still come to mind. I would be remiss not to at least mention them in passing:
Trail of Lighting by Rebecca Roanhorse (2018) · American War by Omar El Akkad (2017) · The Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin (2015) · The Country of Ice Cream Star (2015) · Red Rising by Pierce Brown (2014) · The End of the World Running Club by Adrian Walker (2014) · The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) · Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005) · Running Man by Stephen King (1982) · The Lathe Of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin (1971) · Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969) · A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962) · The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard (1962) · A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller (1959) · I Am Legend by John Matheson (1954) · The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (1955) · Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954) · The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham (1951) · The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (1895)
Dystopia: A Natural History by Gregory Claeys (2017)
Looking for a more scholarly approach? This volume is "the first monograph devoted to the concept of dystopia. Taking the term to encompass both a literary tradition of satirical works, mostly on totalitarianism, as well as real despotisms and societies in a state of disastrous collapse, this volume redefines the central concepts and the chronology of the genre and offers a paradigm-shifting understanding of the subject."
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