# Dystopian / Utopian book recommendations?



## cargalmn (Sep 29, 2010)

Hi -

The Hunger Games trilogy is still with me months after I read them, which is unusual for me.  I think it might be because they're the first books (at least I think they are) that I've read that fall into the "Dystopian" genre...so I'm wondering what some other good ones might be.

Thank you - I get such good recommendations from KB!


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## Pinworms (Oct 20, 2010)

My 2 favorites:

1984 by George Orwell

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Unfortunately not enKindled, but I _highly_ recommend _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ by Walter M. Miller, Jr; one of my all-time favorite books.


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## Guest (Dec 13, 2010)

The Handmaid's Tale is an classic dystopian work, which I enjoyed. 

I guess the other trendy new one is the Pretties, Uglies, etc. series, but I can't say that one has any appeal for me at all.


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## scottnicholson (Jan 31, 2010)

Hard to find and not on Kindle but Ira Levin's This Perfect Day is my favorite of that subgenre. And Lord of the Flies is an early version of the Hunger Games idea.

Scott Nicholson


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## cargalmn (Sep 29, 2010)

scottnicholson said:


> Hard to find and not on Kindle but Ira Levin's This Perfect Day is my favorite of that subgenre. And Lord of the Flies is an early version of the Hunger Games idea.
> 
> Scott Nicholson


I forgot about Lord of the Flies, to be honest - I think I'll see if that's avail for Kindle.

I hadn't heard of the Uglies til today, so I'll see if that's up my alley too.

Thank you!


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## DaronFraley (Sep 27, 2010)

You might try THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner (very popular), and MATCHED by Ally Condie (new).


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

There's a new YA series called Matched that's supposedly picking up steam.  It's supposed to be like a Hunger Games/Twilight hybrid type deal.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

NogDog said:


> Unfortunately not enKindled, but I _highly_ recommend _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ by Walter M. Miller, Jr; one of my all-time favorite books.


I picked up an ebook copy of Canticle here. It's a large print version but I ran it through calibre and made a new copy with a resized font so it looked like any other kindle book.

Another choice for a dytopian tale which is another favorite of mine is The Gate to Women's Country


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## Pinworms (Oct 20, 2010)

scottnicholson said:


> Hard to find and not on Kindle but Ira Levin's This Perfect Day is my favorite of that subgenre. And Lord of the Flies is an early version of the Hunger Games idea.
> 
> Scott Nicholson


I'd say the most similar book to The Hunger Games is Battle Royale, which was originally published in Japanese in 1999, and translated into English a few years ago. They have so many similarities- young teenagers isolated in an arena divided into zones, forced to kill each other where there can only be 1 survivor, by a corrupt government who uses this as a method to control its citizens.

I loved Battle Royale, but hated The Hunger Games. I think part of the reason why was because when reading HG, I felt like I was reading a Young-Adult, sanitized version of BR with Mary Sue characters.


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## cargalmn (Sep 29, 2010)

Thanks everyone!!  I've more or less added all the recommendations here to my TBR pile.  And Geoffrey, thanks for the link to the Canticle - I'll definitely be getting that one.  

THANK YOU!


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## jesscscott (Aug 5, 2009)

1984 (George Orwell).

Neuromancer (William Gibson).

Books here @ http://lostvioletpress.com (not my website)

And anything "cyberpunk"


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## Steve Silkin (Sep 15, 2010)

Try Paul Auster's "In the Country of Last Things." I think that qualifies as 'dystopian.' A woman travels to the wreckage of a country to find her brother, a journalist who disappeared there. The infrastructure is crumbling and there is very little left of civilization as we know it.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

Dystopian, which becomes post-apocalyptic: Oryx & Crake and Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, both available on Kindle. I think these are much superior to The Handmaid's Tale.

Dystopia: Super-Sad True Love Story, Gary Steyngart


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

I second the recs for _1984_ and _Brave New World_.

I would like to add Ayn Rand's novella Anthem - New Century Edition with DirectLink Technology about a futuristic totalitarian society that has devolved to a medieval level of technology and knowledge. Any expression of individuality is stamped out. Even the use of the word "I" has been forbidden.

Another book you might enjoy is Lois Lowry's Giver. This YA book about a future society where all pain and fear has been eradicated brought me to tears. It's beautifully written and a compelling read as the main character Jonas, a 12-year-old boy, gradually realizes the truth about the "perfect" society he lives in.


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## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury  Near future Big Brother Dystopia
Children of Men - P.D. James  Near future Big Brother + endocrine disaster
Minority Report - P.K. Dick - More Big Brother - ethics of preventing future crimes
The Last Gasp -  Trevor Hoyle - Ecological disaster, kind of pulpy 80s take on the government and citizen response to global warming
Little Brother - Cory Doctorow - Near future, DHS control and young hackers (young adult, with a "hopeful" resolution, but still a great read)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - P.K. Dick - dystopia overdrive and the inspiration for Blade Runner. For something really unique, put down the Kindle and check out the graphic novel version. It's beautiful. 
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells - one of the earliest examples of "dying earth" fiction

Just a few of my favorites. Others have already mentioned the classics 1984, Brave New World, Anthem, and Canticle. 

My favorite genre. 

Also, Dune (Frank Herbert) is widely considered dystopian space opera. Dystopia is kind of the future you hope will never happen, so it's a pretty broad category.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Would Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" count, or is that just apocalyptic?


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## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

Hmmm, kind of more post-apocalyptic I would say. I usually think of dystopian fiction as being at least a little bit about oppression in the name of making things "better." Loss of individual freedoms, actions taken and control exerted over the masses "for the greater good," that kind of thing. (Just my opinion.)


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## cargalmn (Sep 29, 2010)

Holy cats, I'm going to have to keep coming back to this thread for a while - so many recommendations!!  I'm very excited to check out all these additional ones...and hopefully this thread helps out anyone else who enjoyed Hunger Games and had a new genre open up for them.  

StaceyHH - I haven't read Dune, but oddly, I do have a copy of it (DH's), so I'll add that to my list, as well as checking out some of your other favorites.

purplepen79 - My husband loves Ayn Rand, but (and forgive me for this), I find I have to think a bit TOO much when reading her - and I think so much at work, that I'm usually looking for more escapist reading than deep-thinking (which is different to me than thought-provoking - make sense?)...That being said, Anthem sounds intriguing - I'll have to check out the sample before digging in though.

I can easily add Lois Lowry's Giver to my list - what a bizarre blast from the past; I swear I read books by her when I was a teen, twenty years ago

Thalia - I've had Margaret Atwood recommended to me before - I'll check out the ones you recommend

Thanks again everyone!!  Love KB!


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## Laurensaga (Sep 29, 2010)

Dystopian: Haven By Justin Kemppainen

http://www.amazon.com/Haven-ebook/dp/B0031Y6TKW

I really enjoyed it. The warning is there is supposed to be a sequel but it's been a year and nothing. Even still it could be a stand alone book which is why I am recommending it.

Someone already suggested the Dune series but I will second that one.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

I don't think a dystopia has to be a police state -- just a projected future that's nightmarish in some way. I think you could do a dystopian society in which selfishness was a supreme value and it was legal to have people kidnapped off the street to harvest their organs if you could afford to pay for it, for instance.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

An example of a non-police state dystopia is "_Jennifer Government_" which is set in a world where Corporate America has evolved into it's own most absurd and dysfunctional version of itself.


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## caseyf6 (Mar 28, 2010)

I happily second "This Perfect Day" by Ira Levin. I read it when I was too young to understand it and loved it, then I re-read it about once every few years just because I love it.  

Stepford Wives (same guy) gets a bad rep but I found the book to be pretty good, too.


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## Layton Green (Sep 27, 2010)

Hyperion by Dan Simmons


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## cargalmn (Sep 29, 2010)

Laurensaga said:


> Dystopian: Haven By Justin Kemppainen
> 
> I really enjoyed it. The warning is there is supposed to be a sequel but it's been a year and nothing. Even still it could be a stand alone book which is why I am recommending it.


just fyi - in reading about this book, I found that he does indeed have a sequel in the works: http://yesiamanauthor.blogspot.com/2010/10/sequel-to-haven-by-justin-kemppainen.html

He also has a new book out as of today (weird coincidence, right??) - A Fickle Fate...http://yesiamanauthor.blogspot.com/2010/12/99-cents-for-fickle-fate.html

I also saw him mention that he's a fellow Minnesotan, so I'm absolutely putting Haven in my TBR list.


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## Silver (Dec 30, 2008)

As someone who loved The Hunger Games trilogy, I also recommend the Uglies/Pretties/Specials trilogy. (I didn't enjoy Extras, the fourth book, so much). I also loved This Perfect Day the first time I read it years and years ago, and every time I've read it since.  All dystopian.


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## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

Geoffrey said:


> An example of a non-police state dystopia is "_Jennifer Government_"


Teehee! "Hack Nike." Man I live right in the heart of Nike, Intel, Columbia SW, etc, and sometimes it feels a little bit like that. As if you're an orphan if you don't work for one of the big guys. Sounds interesting.

I love dystopian fiction where the "bad guys" turn out to be somebody other than big government. It always seems more realistic to me anyways.


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

Funny how we hear "dystopia" and think "1984" 

Have you tried Ray Bradbury's _The Illustrated Man_? It's a collection of short stories and definitely worth a look, as all of his works usually are.

If you're interested in indies, you could consider checking out M. Clifford's _The Book_ or Helen Smith's _The Miracle Inspector_. (Disclaimer: No conflict of interest here -- I read them and liked them, so I'm recommending them on good conscience.)


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## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

Alice Y. Yeh said:


> If you're interested in indies, you could consider checking out M. Clifford's _The Book_ or


!!! Forgot about this! Started it at a really busy time, and forgot to finish it. What I read was good story, thanks for the reminder!


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## Dox (Nov 9, 2008)

This Perfect Day: A Novel is now available for Kindle! This link takes you to the paperback version, but from there you can go to the Kindle edition.
This Perfect Day: A Novel


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## Kemp (Jan 16, 2010)

Layton Green said:


> Hyperion by Dan Simmons


Looooooooove....

Oh, and thanks for the mention of Haven. I will correct my fellow Minnesotan in that A Fickle Fate isn't out just yet  but it will be early next week.

Anyway, I suppose Hyperion has a decent Dystopia background but it's more Canterbury Tales space opera than anything else. That, of course, doesn't mean it's anything short of excellent.


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## Layton Green (Sep 27, 2010)

I sort of agree re: Hyperion, but reading it now and the whole end of the galaxy thing and humans are idiot machine slaves themes have me thinking Dystopian.  

and the Road was too easy, lol


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

cargalmn said:


> purplepen79 - My husband loves Ayn Rand, but (and forgive me for this), I find I have to think a bit TOO much when reading her - and I think so much at work, that I'm usually looking for more escapist reading than deep-thinking (which is different to me than thought-provoking - make sense?)...That being said, Anthem sounds intriguing - I'll have to check out the sample before digging in though.


I know what you mean--I think that's why _Anthem_ is my favorite of hers! Psst--I skipped John Galt's speech in _Atlas Shrugged_. Loved the suspense of the story, but the speech wore me out. And later on, I found out she slaved over the speech when she wrote it, and then I felt bad that I had skipped it, but honestly . . .  Anyway, I hope you enjoy _Anthem_--I'm rereading it and _The Giver _ because of this thread. Lots of good recs here that I need to go check out . . .


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## WestofMars (Sep 16, 2009)

A couple that haven't been mentioned yet:

An old-school novel: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, by Kate Wilhelm. 

Another old-school but a true classic: Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler. 

I, too, love a good dystopia. You could even stretch the definition a bit to include Emma Bull's The War for the Oaks, although that begins to veer a bit too much into fantasy. 

And I have no idea if these have been Kindle-ized or not. I read them years ago (Sweet Birds was something I read in Grad school and have kept on my shelf ever since).


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

I don't consider myself a major reader of dystopia but the books I've read in this genre are among my all time favorites. Most of what I've read is already mentioned. The Handmaid's Tale and Fahrenheit 451 vie for my favorite book. I don't really like reading King but I liked The Running Man. For a short story, "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman is great; it has remained a favorite for over 30 years. Make Room! Make Room (and much of Harry Harrison's work) is really good too.

I think of a dystopian society as one that is planned and structured with severe limits on personal choice where a small minority oppress the majority for their personal gain. Kind of like 1984, but I think that's been mentioned. And thanks for the recommendations, I got the samples for Jennifer Government and The Gate to Women's Country. They look good.

_mrmee, mrmee, mrmee, mrmee_


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## allanguthrie (Jul 17, 2009)

Three I like a lot, but which are unfortunately not yet on Kindle:
SKRINE by Kathleen Sully
ONE by David Karp
KALLOCAIN by Karin Boye


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## lorezskyline (Apr 19, 2010)

Stand On Zanzibar by John Brunner is an excellent book and well worth a look.


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## moondog (Sep 17, 2010)

I'm currently penning the third to The Judas Syndrome trilogy of Dystopian/ Post-Apocalyptic fiction series. You can find the first two linked from my signature below.
They are receiving positive reviews thus far.


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## Bigal-sa (Mar 27, 2010)

One by David Karp (haven't seen this in any e-form yet).
Anthem by Ayn Rand
2BRO2B by Kurt Vonnegut (very short story available on Feedbooks)


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## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

Alice Y. Yeh said:


> If you're interested in indies, you could consider checking out M. Clifford's _The Book_ or Helen Smith's _The Miracle Inspector_. (Disclaimer: No conflict of interest here -- I read them and liked them, so I'm recommending them on good conscience.)


Nice thread bump. I read _The Book_ after this thread, and loved it. It was chilling and well-written. Based on that recommendation, I'm checking out _The Miracle Inspector_.


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## Anna Elliott (Apr 24, 2011)

I just started The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge and it's excellent.  A steampunk dystopia where the world has been infected by a necrovirus, turning humans into ghouls.  Really well-written and compelling.


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## Anna Elliott (Apr 24, 2011)

Oh, and there's also Matched by Ally Condie, also very good.


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## cargalmn (Sep 29, 2010)

...since this was bumped - I'll say that I've read all 4 Uglies books and enjoyed them (boy they were fast reads though - I guess I shouldn't be surprised since it's a YA series?!) and also read The Maze Runner - also really enjoyed that.  I haven't read the second Maze Runner book yet because the next book doesn't come out until later this year.  I'm a hoarder like that.  LOL  

There are tons of other recommendations in this thread that are on my TBR list - I'll keep plugging away...!


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## Patrick Skelton (Jan 7, 2011)

For classics, 1984, Brave New World and Clockwork Orange are always worth re-reading about twenty times!


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## KJ Kron (Mar 24, 2011)

Gotta love Brave New World - a society where they encourage drugs and as many sex partners as possible - and words like "Mother" are curse words as everyone worships Ford - doing a sign of the T instead of the cross. I thought Fahrenheit 451 was good, but banning books pales in comparison.  

1984 is also a classic - and I love the love story.  When Winston reads "the book", it's a challenge to get through it - although it makes everything clearer.

I want to say Kurt Vonnegut has one - is Cat's Cradle a dystopia?  It's been too long.

Ayn Rand - should read it just to see what the fuss is about.  Skip Atlas Shrugged - Fountainhead is better.  Liked it better as a teenager - when I felt the book would change the world.

Isn't there a good Russian dystopian novel?


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

How about Sir Thomas More's Utopia published in 1516 (which I must re-read myself now it is on Kindle). Also Erewhon published in 1872, for a historical perspective on the genre.


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## markarayner (Mar 14, 2011)

KJ Kron said:


> I want to say Kurt Vonnegut has one - is Cat's Cradle a dystopia? It's been too long.
> 
> Isn't there a good Russian dystopian novel?


I love Cat's Cradle, but it's more of an end-of-the-world book. You're thinking of Player Piano, perhaps?

And if you haven't read We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, you should give it a try -- very good stuff.

Great thread -- I'll let everyone know when there's a Kindle edition of my first novel, The Amadeus Net, available. This is an anti-utopian novel about Mozart.


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

The Giver, Messenger (Lowry) and the series starting with the Uglies ( by Westerfield). The following book blogger, reviews a lot of this type, check it out: http://bookvacations.wordpress.com./


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## kCopeseeley (Mar 15, 2011)

If you like Young Adult:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (this one is a mix of dystopia and zombies, if you can believe it!)
Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Wither by Lauren DeStefano  (this is the first in a trilogy, but the only one written as yet)
The Kiln People by David Brin


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## Reussie Miliardario (Mar 4, 2011)

The novel (not the DVD), The Running Man, by Steven King written under the pen name Richard Bachman is ALOT like The Hunger Games.

I loved both those books!

I'm only about half way through the popular Young Adult novel, Gone by Michael Grant, but so far so good. It's the first book in a series. You might want to check it out. It's been called the modern day Lord of the Flies.

Reussie


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## aaronpolson (Apr 4, 2010)

I remember reading Swastika Night by Katherine Burdekin in college. Tons of gender/power issues explored in those pages.


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

Oh yes, Margaret Atwood. Oryx and Crake and its 'sequel' The Year of the Flood. (I haven't read Flood yet, been waiting for the price to drop)
Justin Cronin's The Passage
Fans of The Passage seem to like Guillermo Del Toro's The Stain as well. Haven't read that one yet either.
Max Brooks' World War Z is fun, if you like zombies and need to prepare for the zombie apocalypse.


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## markarayner (Mar 14, 2011)

And this just in on The Amadeus Net -- my publisher (ENC Press) is giving away a PDF version for free this month!

Not the easiest to read on a Kindle, but you can't argue with the price


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

Here's another plug for Philip K. Dick.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

I'd ditto a lot of what's been mentioned, but especially _"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman_. Great story! One of my all-time favorites.

A couple that I like that haven't been mentioned are _Stand on Zanzibar_ by John Brunner and _Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said_ by Philip K. Dick but I don't know if either are on Kindle. (Or had the Dick novel already been mentioned? If so, sorry) Most of the more recent ones that I like such as Atwood's have been mentioned, but even though it is probably more fantasy, there are a lot of dystopian elements in Terry Brooks' _Armageddon's Children_ which is an interesting work and I'm not generally much of a Brooks fan.


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## kCopeseeley (Mar 15, 2011)

Reussie Miliardario said:


> I'm only about half way through the popular Young Adult novel, Gone by Michael Grant, but so far so good. It's the first book in a series. You might want to check it out. It's been called the modern day Lord of the Flies.


I read through to the second novel, but once they started talking about


Spoiler



babies dying


 it was pretty much over for me.


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## Todd Young (May 2, 2011)

It's kind of childish and a little out of date, but I like The Chrysalids by John Wyndam.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

Todd Young said:


> It's kind of childish and a little out of date, but I like The Chrysalids by John Wyndam.


I love The Chrysalids and second this recommendation.

After looking through this thread I was inspired to download Sir Thomas More's (also Saint Thomas More's) Utopia, which I haven't read for years. It is quite short and has the virtue of being the original of the genre (Thomas More took the name of his "perfect" island state from the Greek, more or less meaning "nowhere") - and since it is free on Kindle, definitely worth a look.


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## kaotickitten (Jan 9, 2011)

There are so many good recomendations here.  I just had to say thanks to all who recomended some of these now my tbr list is gonna be years long rather than months lol.


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## chriswimpress (Mar 22, 2011)

Can I reccomend 'Lanark' by Alastair Gray?  It's scottish - set in Glasgow, and its dystopian mirror underworld called Unthank.  It's funny as well as unsettling.


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## Christine Kersey (Feb 13, 2011)

Another series that I haven't seen mentioned here is called "Life As We Knew It" by Susan Beth Pfeffer. It's about a meteor hitting the moon and moving it out of its orbit, which has all kinds of ramifications on Earth.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I just finished the 3 Lowry books: The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger and I enjoyed them all. This isn't a genre I normally read, so I'm gathering recommendations from this thread. (I read the Hunger Games series last summer)


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## Zackery Arbela (Jan 31, 2011)

Try the TO THE STARS trilogy by Harry Harrison. Gas a real 1984-ish vibe to it.


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

DARKNESS AT NOON, by Arthur Koestler. Has it been mentioned?


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## Laura Ruby (Feb 22, 2011)

I have to second (or third?) Margaret Atwood's ORYX & CRAKE, as well as THE GATE TO WOMEN'S COUNTRY (which I should probably try reading again since I first read it about 20 years ago).  I've heard good things about the new YA novel DIVERGENT, but I can't vouch for it as I haven't read it.  

I might be cheating a bit, as I'm not sure these are technically dystopian as much as they are speculative/sci-fi, but I do want to plug two of my very favorite books, THE EAR, THE EYE AND THE ARM, and THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION, both by Nancy Farmer.  The first is set in a future Zimbabwe, in which the 13-year-old son of a general is kidnapped and is sought by a trio of unlikely detectives, and the second, about a boy who is the clone of a powerful drug lord.  Both of these are fabulous.  

-- Laura


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## Keith B. Darrell (Apr 27, 2011)

My personal list would include:

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison (the basis for the film Soylent Green)
R.U.R by Karel Capek
The Hand Maid's Tale by Margaret Atwood's
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Logan’s Run by George Clayton Johnson and William F. Nolan 
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Of course, there are innumerable short stories as well, not to mention classic films like Metropolis and The Shape of Things to Come.


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## markarayner (Mar 14, 2011)

Yes, a second for a Hand Maid's Tale, Keith.  

BTW, The Amadeus Net is a Kindle book now, and available for 99-cents until the New Year.


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## Malweth (Oct 18, 2009)

Ayn Rand was mentioned, but Anthem was not. I haven't read it in years, but it was one of my favorites in English class.

(via Tapatalk on Kindle Fire)


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## AllisonKraft (Sep 13, 2011)

I second the rec for Life As We Knew It by Pfeffer. I can't remember the last time a book struck me so hard and stayed with me the way that one did.

Also, Divergent was great. It even won the GoodReads Choice award this year as favorite book of the year.


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

AllisonKraft said:


> I second the rec for Life As We Knew It by Pfeffer. I can't remember the last time a book struck me so hard and stayed with me the way that one did.
> 
> Also, Divergent was great. It even won the GoodReads Choice award this year as favorite book of the year.


I liked the premise but it's YA...what did you think of it as an adult read? I did like the Hunger Games books.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Lursa (was 9MMare) said:


> I liked the premise but it's YA...what did you think of it as an adult read? I did like the Hunger Games books.


If you liked The Hunger Games (which are also YA), I think you will love Divergent. I think the level of writing and detail is much better in Divergent. Out of the 126 books I read in 2011, Divergent is my favorite.


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## me3boyz (Jan 10, 2010)

Luvmy4brats said:


> If you liked The Hunger Games (which are also YA), I think you will love Divergent. I think the level of writing and detail is much better in Divergent. Out of the 126 books I read in 2011, Divergent is my favorite.


I second Divergent. Looking forward to Insurgent (Divergent Trilogy) due out in May.

Enclave I good as well and I am happy to see she's finally writing a sequel. The end leaves you hanging.


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## LilianaHart (Jun 20, 2011)

Check out Caitlin Kittredge. She has a dystopian series that is excellent.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

If you don't already have your copy, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is Today's (12/29/11) Daily Deal and is selling for $1.49.


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

Geoffrey said:


> If you don't already have your copy, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is Today's (12/29/11) Daily Deal and is selling for $1.49.


I know! I saw that late last nite and was excited. The copy I read yrs ago was borrowed.....


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Geoffrey said:


> If you don't already have your copy, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is Today's (12/29/11) Daily Deal and is selling for $1.49.


I have been meaning to read this for months... Now it's on my Kindle and I may just have to start it this week.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

An enjoyable libertarian Utopian fantasy is The Probability Broach by L.  Neil Smith. It had several sequels, not sure they are on Kindle. Silly but fun.


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

I echo the recommendations for _Divergent_ and also recommend Neal Shusterman's _Unwind_.


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## emilyward (Mar 5, 2011)

I can't believe no one has mentioned Delirium by Lauren Oliver! It is more romance centered than anything else, but it's great. Seconding/thirding/tenthing Divergent! Some people consider Never Let Me Go dystopian, that was a good read.

I couldn't really get into Matched, but to each his own!

A few I want to check out but haven't got the chance to yet:
Birthmarked
Legend
Incarceron
The Knife of Never Letting Go (but maybe it's more post-apocalyptic?)


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## djgross (May 24, 2011)

More love for The Children of Men and The Handmaid's Tale 



If you are open to dystopian reads which include romance, I recommend the Dark Age Dawning trilogy:


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## Ghost in the Machine (Dec 28, 2011)

Many of these have already been mentioned, but I thought I'd do some collating and add my own choices:

1984
Animal Farm
Neuromancer
The Hunger Games series
A Wrinkle in Time
The Time Machine
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
2150 AD (Utopian)
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Gather, Darkness!
City (I cannot praise this book enough, one of the greatest sci-fi books ever written, and one of the greatest books ever written)
The Caves of Steel and its sequels by Isaac Asimov
Fahrenheit 451 ("It was a pleasure to burn.")
On the Beach
The Handmaid's Tale (I didn't really enjoy it, but it was quite readable.  My Y chromosome may have impacted my enjoyment.)
Logan's Run/Logan's World (the sequel is vastly inferior, but still worth reading)


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## flipside (Dec 7, 2011)

I recommend the anthology Brave New Worlds edited by John Joseph Adams. Contains various dystopian short stories.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

George Orwell is one of my favourite authors, so I second 1984, and also the other classic 1984. I love Orwell so much that my novel is a kind of tribute to 1984.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I wonder if Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro fits into this. I think it does. It's one of my all time favourite books. I must like the utopia/dystopia theme.


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## Ronny K (Aug 2, 2011)

The last two books I read were YA Dystopian: The Maze Runner (James Dashner) and Ship Breaker (Paolo Bacigalupi). The Maze Runner is really popular and not very well written, imo, whereas Ship Breaker is very well-written, has won multiple awards, but of course is not very popular. Go figure. You can read reviews of them on my site if it do please ya (see sig.).


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

Wow thanks for the link to the bargain Margaret Atwood. I've been wanting to get that one.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I can't get the Margaret Atwood book for Kindle in the UK. It's only on the US site. I can't understand why a Kindle on Amazon in one country can't be available worldwide.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Adele Ward said:


> I can't get the Margaret Atwood book for Kindle in the UK. It's only on the US site. I can't understand why a Kindle on Amazon in one country can't be available worldwide.


It's generally because different people/organizations/hold the rights in different countries and have not released the book in the various formats.

Not Amazon's fault. They'd LOVE to be able to sell any thing to any body. . .but have to abide by each country's laws.


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## soofy (Nov 26, 2011)

Surprised no one mentioned King in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick for dystopia.

For utopia: The Island by Aldous Huxley.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

Publishers' contracts usually cover US and UK, so I find it strange. Sometimes I think the publisher has just forgotten to list it on all Amazon websites. Each one has to be done separately. There should be an easier way as it's easy to miss a site out.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

I don't think that's the case.  There are tons of books available in the UK but not the US and vice versa.  I can't imagine there are THAT many lazy publishers.


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## davinci (Feb 24, 2010)

My favorite is AMSTERDAM 2012, which feels so real, and so many things which the writer talked about are coming true. It's also a great thriller, with wonderful references to Ann Frank.

http://www.amazon.com/Amsterdam-2012-ebook/dp/B0034KYZWW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325769012&sr=1-1


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I suppose the Stepford Wives type of story fits into this too. There were quite a few spin-offs from that.


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## MKP (Jan 5, 2012)

I'm unsure if it's been posted yet, but The Line, by Teri Hall is the first in a new series set in a dystopian society. The second book, Away, is on the shelves, too, and there's word that a third book is being written as we speak. Just a warning: it's written for a younger audience, but nonetheless, it's a good read.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

On the subject of whether it's lazy publishers forgetting to make a book available - I've realised the automatic option is to make a book available on all sites so it must be deliberate when they don't. Must be to do with territorial rights after all.


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## Iain Manson (Apr 3, 2011)

Just an observation. To date there are nearly a hundred posts on this thread, but only a handful even nod in the direction of utopia. In fact, most commentators talk as if "Utopian" isn't even in the subject line.

I suspect that this is unconscious, but it's telling, isn't it? We know instinctively that utopias are boring, because, by definition, they contain no conflict.

And doesn't this tell us something about ourselves? There's only so much sweetness and light we can take. Whatever we might like to think, we crave conflict; we think that life without it wouldn't be worth living. This, I suspect, is where Karl Marx and other utopians go wrong: the perfect world they envisage would in fact be hell. And it's in such imaginings that dystopias are born.


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## Patricia (Dec 30, 2008)

I love this topic...keep them coming!


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## robertk328 (Jul 8, 2011)

I've been reading The Giver by Lois Lowry after it showed up in the Kindle Daily Deal a short while back... good so far!


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## me3boyz (Jan 10, 2010)

Just finished reading H10N1. Good fast read for $1.99 (or free with Prime).



Along the same lines is Jakarta Pandemic.


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## Joseph_Evans (Jul 24, 2011)

Have you heard of The Chemical Garden trilogy by Lauren DeStefano? Should be right up your street


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

@ Iain - but isn't it the case that many of these books are scenarios that were meant to be Utopian but become Dystopian. they are both sides of the same coin. So it's often the same theme.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Adele Ward said:


> @ Iain - but isn't it the case that many of these books are scenarios that were meant to be Utopian but become Dystopian. they are both sides of the same coin. So it's often the same theme.


Exactly. For example, The Gate to Women's Country is a rigid dystopia that is based on a goal of a feminist utopia. Some of the more interesting dystopias are based on ideologically based utopian ideals.


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## StephenLivingston (May 10, 2011)

Brave New World  & Island - Huxley
We - Zemyatin
Animal Farm & 1984 - Orwell
v for Vendetta - Miller
Oryx & Crake - Atwood
Best wishes, Stephen Livingston.


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## KaSonndraLeigh (Jan 8, 2012)

I enjoyed the Hunger Games, Birthmarked, Enclave by Ann Aguirre, and Divergent by Veronica Roth There are so many to choose from. If you go to Amazon, you'll find people with Listmania's dedicated only to dystopian fiction. Hope this helps. 

KaSonndra

_--- edited... no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread._


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## Iain Manson (Apr 3, 2011)

Adele Ward said:


> @ Iain - but isn't it the case that many of these books are scenarios that were meant to be Utopian but become Dystopian. they are both sides of the same coin. So it's often the same theme.


That's pretty well what I mean when I say: _There's only so much sweetness and light we can take. Whatever we might like to think, we crave conflict; we think that life without it wouldn't be worth living. This, I suspect, is where Karl Marx and other utopians go wrong: the perfect world they envisage would in fact be hell. And it's in such imaginings that dystopias are born._

Look at the most determined attempt in recent times to create Utopia. It happened in the 1970s when the Khmer Rouge decided to return Cambodia to Year Zero. They emptied cities, they eliminated undesirables. In all, they slaughtered up to a quarter of the population, and they wrecked the economy. They wanted heaven, they created hell.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I'm not sure Karl Marx described it as a perfect place. Didn't he say the ends justified the means and that it would be impossible to set up the society he envisaged without much violence to get there. That people would have to be forced to live in the kind of society he described for a length of time before they started to realise it was for their benefit? I know I'm paraphrasing, but I do think that's all part of the theory. The intolerance of religious belief is too. So the foundations of a dystopia are also in this kind of political theory. 

It's interesting you mention Utopias though, because there were some Utopia stories, weren't there? I can't quite remember them but they were more like fantasy beautiful lands people found by accident. Even if they are perfect the people who discover them want to leave at some point.


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## Jack Blaine (May 9, 2011)

A Gift Upon the Shore by MK Wren is a fabulous book.


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

Iain Manson said:


> Just an observation. To date there are nearly a hundred posts on this thread, but only a handful even nod in the direction of utopia. In fact, most commentators talk as if "Utopian" isn't even in the subject line.
> 
> I suspect that this is unconscious, but it's telling, isn't it? We know instinctively that utopias are boring, because, by definition, they contain no conflict.
> 
> And doesn't this tell us something about ourselves? There's only so much sweetness and light we can take. Whatever we might like to think, we crave conflict; we think that life without it wouldn't be worth living. This, I suspect, is where Karl Marx and other utopians go wrong: the perfect world they envisage would in fact be hell. And it's in such imaginings that dystopias are born.


It tells us about what we read, not necessarily about who we are. People love to read about events they wouldn't want to actually want any part of it. The world would be a whole lot different if it was like the stories we read. Not many of us would actually want to live in Lovecraft's world. Most of the time, we don't want conflict. We want to go about our lives in peace, go to work, shop, play etc. without being bothered. We might read about people being taken hostage in a bank robbery, but who wants that to happen to them? People like excitement, but generally in safe, measured doses. People crave conflict the more removed they are from it. All other things being equal, people will choose to live in areas with lower crime. People like to read about dystopias, but like to live in utopias. Not an absolute utopia, of course, but no dystopia is an absolute dystopia either: a worse dystopia can always be imagined.

The Khmer Rouge could hardly be said to be creating a world without conflict. Forcibly removing people from cities and murdering undesirables and intellectuals is hyper-conflict. A society with absolutely no conflict is impossible, but societies generally do better when conflict is kept under control.


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## Julia444 (Feb 24, 2011)

I also give a vote for THE HANDMAID'S TALE.  One of Margaret Atwood's best.

My husband votes for Orwell's 1984.

If you end up reading and liking THE HANDMAID'S TALE, Atwood wrote a little piece called THE PENELOPIAD that is rather dystopian--it's THE ODYSSEY told from the point of view of Penelope, and it's really good and interesting.

Julia


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

Jack Blaine said:


> A Gift Upon the Shore by MK Wren is a fabulous book.


This sounded so intriguing, and local, that I had to order it in paperback (not available for K).

Thanks for the recommendation.


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## Iain Manson (Apr 3, 2011)

Adele Ward said:


> I'm not sure Karl Marx described it as a perfect place. Didn't he say the ends justified the means and that it would be impossible to set up the society he envisaged without much violence to get there. That people would have to be forced to live in the kind of society he described for a length of time before they started to realise it was for their benefit? I know I'm paraphrasing, but I do think that's all part of the theory. The intolerance of religious belief is too. So the foundations of a dystopia are also in this kind of political theory.


True, Adele, but the conflict was supposed to lead to Utopia. I have in mind Marx's intended end rather than his means.



QuantumIguana said:


> It tells us about what we read, not necessarily about who we are. People love to read about events they wouldn't want to actually want any part of it. The world would be a whole lot different if it was like the stories we read. Not many of us would actually want to live in Lovecraft's world. Most of the time, we don't want conflict. We want to go about our lives in peace, go to work, shop, play etc. without being bothered. We might read about people being taken hostage in a bank robbery, but who wants that to happen to them? People like excitement, but generally in safe, measured doses. People crave conflict the more removed they are from it.


Thank you QuantumIguana (great monicker), I was rather hoping no one would notice that little flaw in my argument. But I still say that there's only so much sweetness and light we can tolerate. We like to identify with James Bond, Lisbeth Salander (tricky, admittedly) and so on, and nothing is more satisfying than to succeed in the face of adversity. I don't say that we want to live in a dsytopia, that would be crazy. But it would be equally insane to want to live in a utopia.

Here's my vaguely-formed theory. We are programmed by evolution to compete, both as a species and as individuals within the species. This is really just another way of saying that we're programmed to survive - at least long enough to reproduce. But **** sapiens in the rich part of the world has cracked it: barring accidents, it's actually quite hard not to survive. Thus we all have a surplus of competitive energy, which has to go somewhere. Hence the old saying that the Devil finds work for idle hands.


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## Jack Blaine (May 9, 2011)

Lursa (was 9MMare) said:


> This sounded so intriguing, and local, that I had to order it in paperback (not available for K).
> 
> Thanks for the recommendation.


I hope you'll like it--I've reread it many times now.


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

Laura Ruby said:


> I've heard good things about the new YA novel DIVERGENT, but I can't vouch for it as I haven't read it.
> 
> I might be cheating a bit, as I'm not sure these are technically dystopian as much as they are speculative/sci-fi, but I do want to plug two of my very favorite books, THE EAR, THE EYE AND THE ARM, and THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION, both by Nancy Farmer. The first is set in a future Zimbabwe, in which the 13-year-old son of a general is kidnapped and is sought by a trio of unlikely detectives, and the second, about a boy who is the clone of a powerful drug lord.


I also recommend Divergent and Farmer's books, and I'd like to add one more that I didn't see mentioned on this thread unless I missed it - Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I just read it, and I really liked it a lot. It's technically YA, but I know other adults besides myself who have liked it too. In fact, although I like Hunger Games, I think I like Blood Red Road more.


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## RosanneRivers (Jan 21, 2013)

Are you still looking for dystopian? It's my favourite genre! 
Recommendations:

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Wither by Lauren DeStefano, 
Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I know someone has already suggested it by The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is fantastic.


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## lcharnes (Dec 19, 2012)

I'm a little late to the party, but...

I'm surprised nobody mentioned _Earth Abides_ by George R. Stewart. A pandemic wipes out 95+% of humanity, and the survivors have to move on. No zombies.

Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle's _Lucifer's Hammer_ crashes a comet into the Earth, killing 90+% of the population, and the survivors have to move on. (Is there an echo here?) No zombies, but there are warlords.

_Legend_ by Marie Lu has been getting all kinds of good press, but I haven't managed to read it yet, so I can't vouch for it. YA dystopia with class warfare, climate catastrophe and forbidden romance.

Happy reading.


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## Zackery Arbela (Jan 31, 2011)

Jack London (of "Call of the Wild" fame...) actually wrote one of the first true dystopian novels, way back in 1908. It's called the Iron Heel...about how America falls to an an oligarchy of evil capitalists. Which makes sense, given that Jack London was a die hard socialist until the day of his death...it's available on Amazon for free.

Gaebrel's Gamble...now available!


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## Red Dove (Jun 11, 2012)

I'd have to recommend Julie Bertagna's "Exodus" trilogy. Not so well known I don't think but quality stuff. It starts out with the world as it is submerged by rising waters and follows the journey of Mara as she becomes a leader of her people.

http://www.amazon.com/Exodus-Julie-Bertagna/dp/B0058M86QU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

And not just one of my favorite dystopian novels but also one of my favorite books of all time is Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451"

http://www.amazon.com/Fahrenheit-451-Novel-Ray-Bradbury/dp/1451673310/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359369390&sr=1-1&keywords=fahrenheit+451


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## RosanneRivers (Jan 21, 2013)

Oh yeah Legend is supposed to be amazing, I haven't read it but need to check it out. Exodus and Farenheit 451 sound good, too. <3 dystopian fiction!


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## Zackery Arbela (Jan 31, 2011)

You could also try Harrison's TO THE STAR'S trilogy...think Orwell's 1984 IN SPACE!...with a happy ending..

No available on Kindle yet, I don't think.

[url+http://www.amazon.com/Gaebrels-Gamble-Nine-Suns-ebook/dp/B00749ZNU2/ref=ntt_at_ep_edition_2_1]Gaebrel's Gamble...now available![/url]


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## Anotherdreamer (Jan 21, 2013)

The Stand 

Swan Song

Also, Karen Moning's Fever Series is considered Urban Fantasy, but becomes very dystopian in nature further into the series.


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## donna callea (Dec 25, 2009)

One of my all time favorites is Pamela Sargent's The Shore of Women http://www.amazon.com/The-Shore-Women-Pamela-Sargent/dp/1932100369/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1359644069&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=%22the+shore+of+women%22. I'd love to read it again on kindle, but sadly, it's out of print and evidently not available. It's set in a post-nuclear future when the sexes are rigidly separated and women rule. They're worshipped as goddesses by men who live in the wilderness and are only used for procreation.


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## Gaia Revane (Jan 26, 2013)

It's more alternate history than dystopia, but I'm surprised nobody's mentioned _The Man in High Castle_ by Phillip K Dick. It's set in a world where the Axis won World War II, and some parts of it are very totalitarian and oppressive. It was a huge influence on me when I was writing my own book.


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## Aderyn Wood (Feb 2, 2013)

'Dragons's Teeth' by Suzanne Van Rooyen is a great short dystopian read.










You can read my review about it here - http://aderynwood.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/dragons-teeth-surreal-new-world.html


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