What's your favorite dystopian sci-fi book?

[Justin Swanton]

The City and the Stars, Clarke's rewrite of Against the Fall of Night. I read it in my teens and it remains for me Clarke's most evocative and imaginatively powerful novel. Childhood's End was also good, albeit grim in its ending.

 

[Tom Rennick]

Since this is my first post I thought I'd make it here.

My favorite dystopian sci-fi novel is this:


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48r6Qw6EG2gEF3WhTxQHefr8qmEBcAZ7iCfVOioFinAlpdHBvC/9HoMqhtlRbBOpCFjD9zkEswhJ0LwijZpNPHODh6UXD+C9qLZjkHDP+nzp4KX6W3Zor9qDpViNHtZwkzQ60lhpmAq9AlNCooPvQ+wECzF5GW3Q/r7QqLASg+JKNkakeeSP+TUxFelTIsAlp7P0l2NhX0aNS4EVPInemkGEcplgTLx14BWnAwgyaE2KpkK+xNvsqWU5+YJg9j+7cVX3WKECbufN58ELr2wHyIhLiWP5oEwp571DqXlfMJofli8xkF2AIjN03PQmWPUKd4IR2ZQfh1YOELC239bJeRHzHN8BnUBIbvRDfD6VByza1I+UFooNlioRs4uGjvy1IPYf5jtDkLHpRJRLe6ouUc8CF8YgOKR6q4ZfFqPnmj0mnRfsK8I2wyuVZmYT6b9A3aYH2hHt5upsf/JZnVaQddq/8J3zpjj5e2NDWwK3bglAWhkAPbeOovEtcuipRSsMBW7n+JYzssqB/c5voJbrwsozBqOHyod9zZzSSSL4OtpdyzXm7kDDm8uYSo06LsCAIsIvJKgFu3S1QrdpVhsnw855ZSAlpvE7+apwHLadkI1URDxXckcCZCfwZJ0u2XVyEPn49t7tkB6Gwvt+l/8CzHq9KXRR+MS3CnxYhO9oDfXD3WO0K3ObLJOMBoqITA0YecIDf1CWDl74lKbEUyoVfu8fhlzLmRM5kk3lbpn9rH1ldzR8E+97wkHV8UfjO/VsY2MyftpvO65PcYQR+JFBZtDulgEXEFeilhNcjYeDSfxHt1Q8Fm3f6eyZna+FtlXbjULqgexMMpnppCkfzp/jmqYFQf+UJH6g9s3Adj0SmLrEVmwXAXF9OnUDTNHw1sJicCWR+IV4zE2z90aJ8mpUCaYo33U+Vxq39BMi3N48lFsh+oAwmXtcxQ5Y3L4fONgzVRXrBIfDK3+zj5bBuKwg/MHXZt/h80KxFiSmVGBfARyI10JXDia0mklrw88lus6X0WiE2Y1K1/FhvNpiWmoUK4QGs8eC9VeVcnIpEiIlbkDFrzUKjnveq2vQ0OlQz5JzB8ZY0cYA+whdW3ph5DnJHVQvmEncJYkRhjqcOcdaisByU4L0eqo4ba1laqxVnUpFHjPKJHTgVSEhBjwC8AAvoBQ3j3CR5t75TUhviTDXEgdCMwXDKqWxkzakZT8wcX27aIDWjpnoj53m+wDlf2eeA8eHywjS+4AqUrSCep2NJn0+gq/Ssw1mFiSVuAAAAA

 

[Tom Rennick]

The City and the Stars, Clarke's rewrite of Against the Fall of Night. I read it in my teens and it remains for me Clarke's most evocative and imaginatively powerful novel. Childhood's End was also good, albeit grim in its ending.

Both of those were excellent, evocative novels.

 

[Tom Rennick]

Anyway, two others that I thought were very good..."Make Room, Make Room".

The movie shown below was based on "Make Room, Make Room". Good novel.

And here's the novel itself:

 

[Greg]

I love dystopian fiction.

My favourite classics include 1984, a Canticle for Leibowitz, Fahrenheit 451 and A Clockwork Orange.. I prefer Huxley's Island to Brave New World, though the latter is a Utopian novel (great to read as a pair). And not SF by any means, but still a great dystopian work, Lord of the Flies. Although a short story, also Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. And The Long Walk and Running Man's dystopian themes. My favourite writer overall my be Philip K.Dick, and he has plenty that would appeal to a fan of dystopian fiction -- from him I'll mention Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said.

In terms of fairly recent novels:
Never Let Me Go (brilliant novel, and made into a good film)
The Road (though I'd sooner classify it as post-apocalyptic than dystopian). It had a major effect on me a s father, and it gave me nightmares.
Oryx and Crake (liked the whole trilogy, but that was definitely my favourite of them)

I rather enjoyed Wool and I liked Unwind a lot (often classified a Young Adult novel, but not sure why other than it involves young adults/ kids). Ben Elton's Eden could rather count....

 

[Tom Rennick]

1984, a Canticle for Leibowitz, Fahrenheit 451 and A Clockwork Orange.. I prefer Huxley's Island to Brave New World, though the latter is a Utopian novel (great to read as a pair). And not SF by any means, but still a great dystopian work, Lord of the Flies.

I've read most of the novels you've listed. Another post-apocalyptic novel I greatly enjoyed, and my top pick in this genre:

 

[Greg]

This dude (who abides) has been meaning to read Earth Abides for ages.

Incidentally, I meant to say that the former, not latter, novel (i.e. the Island) is a utopian novel in my last post.

 

[BAYLOR]

I've read most of the novels you've listed. Another post-apocalyptic novel I greatly enjoyed, and my top pick in this genre:

The best end of Civilization book ever done.

 

[Windshadow]

Here is one from left field
Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein
I enjoyed it for its off the wall approach and the way it showed how a police state can take over a free people

it very short more a novella than a novel and of course dated but it was the perfect length to read on a recent flight to Santa Fe NM

 

[Giant Crab]

The City and the Stars, Clarke's rewrite of Against the Fall of Night. I read it in my teens and it remains for me Clarke's most evocative and imaginatively powerful novel. Childhood's End was also good, albeit grim in its ending.

I read The City and the Stars as a student eleven or so years ago and it blew my mind. The feeling of such distant and enormous time was wonderfully evoked, as was the idea of mankind living, languidly intelligent, in an endless afternoon, almost totally uncomprehending of the tragedy of a life free of danger. I fell in love with the idea that humankind's ambition could keep us alive forever, but it would all only be worth it if we tempered our instinct for security by keeping a certain degree of danger. Utterly astounding novel.
I read it again last year, out of interest, and I discovered even more in there, really very pleased I revisited it. I would have loved to have sat down for a chat with Arthur C Clarke - his mind seemed endless.

 

[Peter Bolwell]

Couldn't agree more about "Mockingbord" but I am surprised nobody seems to have mentioned George Stewart's classiic "Earth Abides". Written a long time ago now but in my view has seldom been bettered.

PS on the subject of "Mockingbird" does anybody know if that line "Only the mockingbird sings . . . " is actually a genuine quote from somewhere, or was it original to Tevis himself? It sounds like it should come from a poem or something but I can't seem to find any trace of it anywhere else.

 

[kennychaffin]

nobody seems to have mentioned George Stewart's classiic "Earth Abides".

Just a few posts above yours.

 

[KthulhuHimself]

I love dystopia stories. There's something compelling about them. For me, 1984 will always be my favorite.

Three words: Brave new world.

Yes; it's an obvious choice, but the book's still good.

 

[ArthurFrayn]

The low resource, eugenically directed, subterranean society of TJ Bass' The Godwhale does the trick for me. Pretty funny, but pretty grim...

 

[Helen Claire Gould]

Peter F. Hamilton's Greg Mandel novels.

When I read them in the late 90s his depiction of a UK that had been hijacked and ruined by an ultra far left socialist government seemed funny and improbable.

It's still improbable but considering Labour is now headed by Jeremy Corbyn it's not quite so funny anymore.

In Hamilton's series the country is slowly recovering from being a basket-case on the edge of Europe. The economy has been destroyed and party members partied while millions were reduced to abject poverty.

Must have a read again, actually!

Dystopian for sure but quite 'near future' in feel.

In view of the Brexit vote the other week, and the current state of the Labour party, I think they were quite an accurate prediction!

 

[Helen Claire Gould]

Let's not forget the classics, like Day of the Triffids or or even The Chrysalids by John Wyndham.

My dad always used to rave about... now where's that wiki... "A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalypticscience fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller, Jr., first published in 1960."

My immediate thought was those two (highly enjoyable) novels by John Wyndham, to which I might add Trouble with Lichen; while not a full-on dystopia, its echoes of today's society in which there are a few haves balanced against many have-nots filled me with unease even as I enjoyed the discourse. I felt it was setting up a dystopia, should the author wish to take it further, which he never did. It is a much gentler book than either The Chrysalids or Day of the Trifids. I love all of his novels - he has such a thoughtful point of view, without hitting the reader over the head with his ideas.

 

[Helen Claire Gould]

Long time since I read 1984, but remember being deeply impressed.

Would "Animal Farm" count?...after all it all ended badly, and is deeply pessimistic. But certainly another exceptional book.

Also read "Brave New World" about same time as those two...about 40 years ago, again very impressed.

I consider myself quite lucky to have had 1984 as an English A level book (first time around - I got Frankenstein the second time!). It's definitely dystopian, as is Brave New World. I think Wells' The Time Traveller could be a contender as well.

 

[Justin Swanton]

I consider myself quite lucky to have had 1984 as an English A level book (first time around - I got Frankenstein the second time!). It's definitely dystopian, as is Brave New World. I think Wells' The Time Traveller could be a contender as well.

I did 1984 for O'Levels (Rhodesian education rocked, what can I say?). Interesting and depressing book. The absolute power of political indoctrination. North Korea all over. Notice how shortages are a necessary part of the system.

 

[Namanari]

In view of the Brexit vote the other week, and the current state of the Labour party, I think they were quite an accurate prediction!

Well, yes - accurate in the sense that Corbyn would fit right in amongst Hamilton's fictional regime...

...But I think considering how badly Labour are projected to do under him in a general election I think he would need to stage some kind of coup to effect the kind of country-wide domination that Hamilton depicted.

Who knows, though! Things can always get worse

---

Perhaps it's that the Nice attack is at the foremost of my mind today, but it occurs to me that two dystopian novels which have a certain amount in common are Tom Kratman's Caliphate and Michel Houellebecq's Soumission. And both controversial, needless to say.

 

[monarc333]

I always thought the Gene Wolfe novel Book of the New Sun was considered dystopian but maybe it was so far in the future it turned from dystopian to fantasy.