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---

# 30 Best Books About a Dystopian Future

By [@BookEnthusiasts](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts)

1027 views · 2 likes · 2 followers  
Published 18 April 2023 · Updated 25 April 2023

Category: books & literature

Welcome to our list of Dystopian Novels! Dystopian literature has been captivating readers for decades with its bleak, imagined worlds that often mirror the darker aspects of our own society. These novels explore the consequences of political, social, or environmental collapse, and force us to confront uncomfortable truths about the world we live in. In this list, we have curated some of the best and most thought-provoking dystopian novels of all time.

 From George Orwell's classic 1984 to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, these books have stood the test of time and continue to resonate with readers today. Whether you're a long-time fan of dystopian fiction or looking to explore the genre for the first time, we hope this list will take you on a journey through some of the most captivating and chilling worlds ever created in literature.

## Items

### 1. [We](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/11/we)

Item ID: `11`

- Author: Yevgeny Zamyatin
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/yr5xvx1cvlvzhlv3s2bs.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1924
- Number of Pages: 199
- Goodreads Rating: 3.90
- Synopsis: We is an earth shattering dystopian novel that ruffled the feathers of the ruling elite of Russia when it was smuggled out of the country and published in English in 1924. It would not see publication in Russia until 1988. As a result of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s treatment over the novel he left Russia. We is set in the twenty six century were a totalitarian government rules the world. Every citizen has all of their needs completely taken care of. But the price is a life without passion, creativity, or adventure. Cities are made of glass to aid the government’s surveillance of its people. Citizens are given numbers rather than names to discourage individuality. But resentment and anger seethe just beneath the surface of the citizenry’s polite veneer. It is time for someone to strike a blow for individuality and freedom. A fast paced adventure novel with a message that reverberated down through history.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/We-Yevgeny-Zamyatin/dp/1515442640/ref=tmm\_hrd\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007332&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/We-Yevgeny-Zamyatin/dp/1515442640/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007332&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 2. [The Trial](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/19/the-trial)

Item ID: `19`

- Author: Franz Kafka
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/owdznvlbxvkpphkrbqk9.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1925
- Number of Pages: 304
- Goodreads Rating: 3.96
- Synopsis: Written in 1914, The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, Kafka's nightmare has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers. This new edition is based upon the work of an international team of experts who have restored the text, the sequence of chapters, and their division to create a version that is as close as possible to the way the author left it.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Trial-Translation-Restored-Schocken-Library/dp/0805209999/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=2TA95REL0XNKE&keywords=the+trial+kafka+book&qid=1680008111&sprefix=The+Trial%2Caps%2C238&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Trial-Translation-Restored-Schocken-Library/dp/0805209999/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2TA95REL0XNKE&keywords=the+trial+kafka+book&qid=1680008111&sprefix=The+Trial%2Caps%2C238&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 3. [Brave New World](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/0/brave-new-world)

Item ID: `0`

- Author: Aldous Huxley
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/fnnlqnh14sklbvuvgcaa.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1932
- Number of Pages: 288
- Goodreads Rating: 3.99
- Synopsis: Largely set in a futuristic World State, inhabited by genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0060850523/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=4B5ZU6L6H3WF&keywords=Brave+New+World&qid=1680006127&sprefix=brave+new+world%2Caps%2C207&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0060850523/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4B5ZU6L6H3WF&keywords=Brave+New+World&qid=1680006127&sprefix=brave+new+world%2Caps%2C207&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 4. [Nineteen Eight-Four](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/1/nineteen-eight-four)

Item ID: `1`

- Author: George Orwell
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/nckgg3cmw3nxlq12ifvf.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1949
- Number of Pages: 328
- Goodreads Rating: 4.19
- Synopsis: 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...
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934/ref=tmm\_mmp\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006248&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934/ref=tmm_mmp_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006248&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 5. [The Martian Chronicles](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/29/the-martian-chronicles)

Item ID: `29`

- Author: Ray Bradbury
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/re56yx5nizoinkdt2a5c.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1950
- Number of Pages: 288
- Goodreads Rating: 4.15
- Synopsis: The Martian Chronicles tells the story of humanity’s repeated attempts to colonize the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a fist. They felt they had never been born. Those few that survived found no welcome on Mars. The shape-changing Martians thought they were native lunatics and duly locked them up.But more rockets arrived from Earth, and more, piercing the hallucinations projected by the Martians. People brought their old prejudices with them – and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These were soon inhabited by the strange native beings, with their caged flowers and birds of flame.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Martian-Chronicles-Ray-Bradbury/dp/006207993X/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008909&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Martian-Chronicles-Ray-Bradbury/dp/006207993X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008909&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 6. [Fahrenheit 451](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/3/fahrenheit-451)

Item ID: `3`

- Author: Ray Bradbury
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/vxehwewxyunnwvxypr5q.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1953
- Number of Pages: 249
- Goodreads Rating: 3.97
- Synopsis: 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.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Fahrenheit-451-Ray-Bradbury/dp/1451673310/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=3PJH3449SAOT2&keywords=fahrenheit+451&qid=1680006425&sprefix=Fahrenheit+451%2Caps%2C208&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Fahrenheit-451-Ray-Bradbury/dp/1451673310/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PJH3449SAOT2&keywords=fahrenheit+451&qid=1680006425&sprefix=Fahrenheit+451%2Caps%2C208&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 7. [Lord of the Flies](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/17/lord-of-the-flies)

Item ID: `17`

- Author: William Golding
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/ujyckjueahf8qapma6nn.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1954
- Number of Pages: 192
- Goodreads Rating: 3.69
- Synopsis: William Golding's compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island has become a modern classic. At first it seems as though it is all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious and life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic and death. As ordinary standards of behaviour collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them—the world of cricket and homework and adventure stories—and another world is revealed beneath, primitive and terrible.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Flies-William-Golding/dp/0140283331/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007943&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Flies-William-Golding/dp/0140283331/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007943&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 8. [I am Legend](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/26/i-am-legend)

Item ID: `26`

- Author: Richard Matheson
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/lrqx8943tnagsm7sah0p.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1954
- Number of Pages: 317
- Goodreads Rating: 4.00
- Synopsis: Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth...but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child on Earth has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood.By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn.How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/I-Am-Legend-Richard-Matheson/dp/031286504X/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008658&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/I-Am-Legend-Richard-Matheson/dp/031286504X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008658&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 9. [A Clockwork Orange](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/6/a-clockwork-orange)

Item ID: `6`

- Author: Anthony Burgess
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/qoxhhn3dekvmept20een.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1962
- Number of Pages: 240
- Goodreads Rating: 4.00
- Synopsis: In Anthony Burgess’s influential nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, a teen who talks in a fantastically inventive slang that evocatively renders his and his friends’ intense reaction against their society.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Orange-Anthony-Burgess/dp/0393341763/ref=sr\_1\_2?crid=22Z81EMVWN1MX&keywords=a+clockwork+orange&qid=1680006744&sprefix=A+Clockwork+Orange%2Caps%2C207&sr=8-2](https://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Orange-Anthony-Burgess/dp/0393341763/ref=sr_1_2?crid=22Z81EMVWN1MX&keywords=a+clockwork+orange&qid=1680006744&sprefix=A+Clockwork+Orange%2Caps%2C207&sr=8-2&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 10. [Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/9/do-androids-dream-of-electric-sheep)

Item ID: `9`

- Author: Philip K. Dick
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/cikp0kslyvhwaq06ibiw.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1968
- Number of Pages: 240
- Goodreads Rating: 4.09
- Synopsis: By 2021, the World War has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remain covet any living creature, and for people who can’t afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacra: horses, birds, cats, sheep. They’ve even built humans. Immigrants to Mars receive androids so sophisticated they are indistinguishable from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans can wreak, the government bans them from Earth. Driven into hiding, unauthorized androids live among human beings, undetected. Rick Deckard, an officially sanctioned bounty hunter, is commissioned to find rogue androids and “retire” them. But when cornered, androids fight back—with lethal force.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Androids-Dream-Electric-Sheep-inspiration/dp/0345404475/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=1RDFZENMTOMX3&keywords=Do+Androids+Dream+of+Electric+Sheep%3F&qid=1680007156&sprefix=do+androids+dream+of+electric+sheep+%2Caps%2C244&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Androids-Dream-Electric-Sheep-inspiration/dp/0345404475/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RDFZENMTOMX3&keywords=Do+Androids+Dream+of+Electric+Sheep%3F&qid=1680007156&sprefix=do+androids+dream+of+electric+sheep+%2Caps%2C244&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 11. [Slaughterhouse-Five](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/8/slaughterhouse-five)

Item ID: `8`

- Author: Kurt Vonnegut
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/jw0oujp2vy7esuqtjkyh.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1969
- Number of Pages: 288
- Goodreads Rating: 4.09
- Synopsis: Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we fear most.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Five-Novel-Modern-Library-Novels/dp/0385333846/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007060&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Five-Novel-Modern-Library-Novels/dp/0385333846/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007060&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 12. [The Dispossessed](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/15/the-dispossessed)

Item ID: `15`

- Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/d4of51y0rpdaclzumn2u.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1974
- Number of Pages: 400
- Goodreads Rating: 4.24
- Synopsis:
  > 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.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Dispossessed-Novel-Hainish-Cycle/dp/006051275X/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007774&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Dispossessed-Novel-Hainish-Cycle/dp/006051275X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007774&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 13. [The Stand](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/14/the-stand)

Item ID: `14`

- Author: Stephen King
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/bg68t7i6u2nmh8uhn3l3.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1978
- Number of Pages: 1328
- Goodreads Rating: 4.34
- Synopsis: 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.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Stand-Movie-Tie-Stephen-King/dp/0593313887/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007600&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Stand-Movie-Tie-Stephen-King/dp/0593313887/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680007600&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 14. [Neuromancer](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/22/neuromancer)

Item ID: `22`

- Author: William Gibson
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/iivqdhmbzrzg1nltssfe.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1984
- Number of Pages: 336
- Goodreads Rating: 3.90
- Synopsis: Case was the sharpest data-thief in the matrix—until he crossed the wrong people and they crippled his nervous system, banishing him from cyberspace. Now a mysterious new employer has recruited him for a last-chance run at an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence. With a dead man riding shotgun and Molly, a mirror-eyed street-samurai, to watch his back, Case is ready for the adventure that upped the ante on an entire genre of fiction.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Neuromancer-William-Gibson/dp/0441007465/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008369&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Neuromancer-William-Gibson/dp/0441007465/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008369&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 15. [The Handmaid's Tale](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/2/the-handmaids-tale)

Item ID: `2`

- Author: Margaret Atwood
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/jatey8gm1tdtesdsrplm.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1985
- Number of Pages: 311
- Goodreads Rating: 4.13
- Synopsis: In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian future, environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War. The result is 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.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Handmaids-Tale-Margaret-Atwood/dp/038549081X/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006335&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Handmaids-Tale-Margaret-Atwood/dp/038549081X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006335&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 16. [Parable of The Sower](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/5/parable-of-the-sower)

Item ID: `5`

- Author: Octavia E. Butler
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/hcfrs3yegmqikzlu1us0.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1993
- Number of Pages: 368
- Goodreads Rating: 4.21
- Synopsis: 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.Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Parable-Sower-Octavia-Butler/dp/1538732181/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006658&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Parable-Sower-Octavia-Butler/dp/1538732181/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006658&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 17. [The Giver](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/13/the-giver)

Item ID: `13`

- Author: Lois Lowry
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/ezbhp4ucj8k2cdd3zq4t.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1993
- Number of Pages: 240
- Goodreads Rating: 4.13
- Synopsis:
  > 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.
  > 
  > Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Gradually Jonas learns that power lies in feelings. But when his own power is put to the test—when he must try to save someone he loves—he may not be ready. Is it too soon? Or too late?
  > 
  > Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Giver-Quartet-Lois-Lowry/dp/0544336267/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=ITKCI9MAC2RC&keywords=the+giver+lois+lowry&qid=1680007520&sprefix=The+Giver%2Caps%2C236&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Giver-Quartet-Lois-Lowry/dp/0544336267/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ITKCI9MAC2RC&keywords=the+giver+lois+lowry&qid=1680007520&sprefix=The+Giver%2Caps%2C236&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 18. [Blindness](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/10/blindness)

Item ID: `10`

- Author: José Saramago
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/axgkqobkbwqfrzs393lu.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1995
- Number of Pages: 352
- Goodreads Rating: 4.16
- Synopsis: 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.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Blindness-Harvest-Book-Jose-Saramago/dp/0156007754/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=2YD3NYIW5TRCD&keywords=blindness+by+jose+saramago&qid=1680007252&sprefix=Blindness%2Caps%2C297&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Blindness-Harvest-Book-Jose-Saramago/dp/0156007754/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YD3NYIW5TRCD&keywords=blindness+by+jose+saramago&qid=1680007252&sprefix=Blindness%2Caps%2C297&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 19. [Battle Royale](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/16/battle-royale)

Item ID: `16`

- Author: Koushun Takami
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/cq46pscnubzawddacm3h.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 1999
- Number of Pages: 656
- Goodreads Rating: 4.25
- Synopsis: 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.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Royale-Remastered-Novel/dp/1421565986/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=IFY3B8SHZERP&keywords=Battle+Royale+book&qid=1680007852&sprefix=battle+royale+boo%2Caps%2C248&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Royale-Remastered-Novel/dp/1421565986/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IFY3B8SHZERP&keywords=Battle+Royale+book&qid=1680007852&sprefix=battle+royale+boo%2Caps%2C248&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 20. [Never Let Me Go](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/12/never-let-me-go)

Item ID: `12`

- Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/yuujrr9ydzktsxsexoes.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2005
- Number of Pages: 288
- Goodreads Rating: 3.84
- Synopsis: As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Never-Let-Me-Kazuo-Ishiguro/dp/1400078776/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=3DRVNR4073OSH&keywords=never+let+me+go+kazuo+ishiguro&qid=1680007454&sprefix=Never+Let+Me+Go%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Never-Let-Me-Kazuo-Ishiguro/dp/1400078776/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3DRVNR4073OSH&keywords=never+let+me+go+kazuo+ishiguro&qid=1680007454&sprefix=Never+Let+Me+Go%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 21. [The Road](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/20/the-road)

Item ID: `20`

- Author: Cormac McCarthy
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/tqlkatmza95qcretdzu4.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2006
- Number of Pages: 287
- Goodreads Rating: 3.98
- Synopsis:
  > A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.  
  > The Roadis the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=2XL1JU9CB7KAU&keywords=the+road+cormac+mccarthy&qid=1680008207&sprefix=The+Road%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2XL1JU9CB7KAU&keywords=the+road+cormac+mccarthy&qid=1680008207&sprefix=The+Road%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 22. [The Hunger Games](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/4/the-hunger-games)

Item ID: `4`

- Author: Suzanne Collins
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/kgcymtnxhctda8w1wiog.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2008
- Number of Pages: 384
- Goodreads Rating: 4.33
- Synopsis: In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Book-1/dp/0439023521/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006522&sr=8-4](https://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Book-1/dp/0439023521/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006522&sr=8-4&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 23. [The Maze Runner](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/27/the-maze-runner)

Item ID: `27`

- Author: James Dashner
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/j8pqh4j9cgywawvb31sm.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2009
- Number of Pages: 375
- Goodreads Rating: 4.04
- Synopsis: 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.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Maze-Runner-Book-1/dp/0385737955/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008757&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Maze-Runner-Book-1/dp/0385737955/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008757&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 24. [Ready Player One](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/7/ready-player-one)

Item ID: `7`

- Author: Ernest Cline
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/jt94mtdzovqmo8kkzeaj.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2011
- Number of Pages: 384
- Goodreads Rating: 4.23
- Synopsis: A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days.When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the OASIS itself. Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on—and the only way to survive is to win.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/0307887448/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006843&sr=8-2](https://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/0307887448/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680006843&sr=8-2&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 25. [Wool](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/25/wool)

Item ID: `25`

- Author: Hugh Howey
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/phai5ova0gujbxmpvxmz.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2011
- Number of Pages: 592
- Goodreads Rating: 4.12
- Synopsis:
  > The world outside has grown toxic, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. The remnants of humanity live underground in a single silo. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they want: They are allowed to go outside. 
  > 
  > After the previous sheriff leaves the silo in a terrifying ritual, Juliette, a mechanic from the down deep, is suddenly and inexplicably promoted to the head of law enforcement. With newfound power and with little regard for the customs she is supposed to abide, Juliette uncovers hints of a sinister conspiracy. Tugging this thread may uncover the truth . . . or it could kill every last human alive.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/0358447844/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008582&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/0358447844/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008582&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 26. [Bird Box](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/24/bird-box)

Item ID: `24`

- Author: Josh Malerman
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/lsmqsuefpwmq2rs3vlsj.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2014
- Number of Pages: 272
- Goodreads Rating: 4.04
- Synopsis:
  > Something is out there . . .
  > 
  > Something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.
  > 
  > Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now, that the boy and girl are four, it is time to go. But the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat—blindfolded—with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them. But is it man, animal, or monster?
  > 
  > Engulfed in darkness, surrounded by sounds both familiar and frightening, Malorie embarks on a harrowing odyssey—a trip that takes her into an unseen world and back into the past, to the companions who once saved her. Under the guidance of the stalwart Tom, a motely group of strangers banded together against the unseen terror, creating order from the chaos. But when supplies ran low, they were forced to venture outside—and confront the ultimate question: in a world gone mad, who can really be trusted?
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Bird-Box-Novel-Josh-Malerman/dp/0062259660/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008506&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Bird-Box-Novel-Josh-Malerman/dp/0062259660/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008506&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 27. [Red Rising](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/28/red-rising)

Item ID: `28`

- Author: Pierce Brown
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/qjr8iw1j4upprwbq1vun.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2014
- Number of Pages: 416
- Goodreads Rating: 4.26
- Synopsis: Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power.  He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Red-Rising-Pierce-Brown/dp/034553980X/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008832&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Red-Rising-Pierce-Brown/dp/034553980X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008832&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 28. [The Power](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/21/the-power)

Item ID: `21`

- Author: Naomi Alderman
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/qro0yvldr42xuyldohxa.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2016
- Number of Pages: 400
- Goodreads Rating: 3.78
- Synopsis: 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; 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.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Power-Naomi-Alderman/dp/0316570605/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008270&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Power-Naomi-Alderman/dp/0316570605/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008270&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 29. [Scythe](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/23/scythe)

Item ID: `23`

- Author: Neal Shusterman
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/k9zfyb5aymh8tgiccjes.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2016
- Number of Pages: 464
- Goodreads Rating: 4.33
- Synopsis: 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.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Scythe-Arc-Neal-Shusterman/dp/144247243X/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=1RCKRPPHIXFS&keywords=scythe+book&qid=1680008443&sprefix=Scythe%2Caps%2C244&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Scythe-Arc-Neal-Shusterman/dp/144247243X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RCKRPPHIXFS&keywords=scythe+book&qid=1680008443&sprefix=Scythe%2Caps%2C244&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

### 30. [To Paradise](https://listium.com/@BookEnthusiasts/84869/30-best-books-about-a-dystopian-future/18/to-paradise)

Item ID: `18`

- Author: Hanya Yanagihara
- Cover: ![Cover](https://img.listium.com/images/width=800,height=800,fit=scale-down,format=webp/l/k2jo500ctezry9icj4tg.jpg)
- Year of Publishing: 2022
- Number of Pages: 784
- Goodreads Rating: 3.79
- Synopsis: In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him—and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearances.These three sections comprise an ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can’t exist. What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness.
- Read?: false
- Link to Buy: [https://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Novel-Hanya-Yanagihara/dp/0593315650/ref=tmm\_pap\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008042&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Novel-Hanya-Yanagihara/dp/0593315650/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680008042&sr=8-1&tag=listium03-20)
- Notes: -
- Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆