Dystopia Land discussion

I'm fairly new to the genre. Does anyone have any good book rec's?

One I just remembered yesterday is Futuretrack 5 by Robert Westall. It's pretty old now but it's a classic. Futuretrack 5

Thanks Chris. I'll add that one to me tbr pile!

Some ones that you might know but I thought I'd suggest them.
Unwind
The Passage
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Blood Red Road
Ship Breaker
Divergent
The Maze Runner
Matched

♥Scout♥ wrote: "Some ones that you might know but I thought I'd suggest them.
Unwind
The Passage
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Blood Red Road
Ship Breaker
Divergent
The Maze Runner
Matched"

Thanks Scout, the only one I knew about was Divergent. I'll add these to my tbr pile. :)

The Day of the Triffids my favourite

Mariann wrote: "The Day of the Triffids my favourite"

I think this was the first Dystopia I've read. I was blown away. A very good recommendation. I enjoyed the movie as well :)

I recently read The Passage. It was extremely long and had too many characters but it was very good.

I agree, it was really good.

Ellie [The Empress] wrote: "Mariann wrote: "The Day of the Triffids my favourite"

I think this was the first Dystopia I've read. I was blown away. A very good recommendation. I enjoyed the movie as well :)"

I actually liked the old movie way more than the book. It has a pretty bad reputation, but apart from the rubbish effects and the really bad ending I think it has great atmosphere and is really scary.

You can't go wrong with the classics:

Brave New World
1984
Fahrenheit 451

There are some little known books. This one was amazing read.

Chris? Which old movie? I've seen the one from few years ago. It was only TWO parts.
I really DISLIKE bad effects. Kill the enjoyment of the movie for me.

As in the original. 1962. The whole thing is on youtube here -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a5iT...

I know they made a series in the 70s or 80s but I didn't realise there was a modern one. I'm a bit out of touch with TV in the UK.

The effects are of course rubbish, but that's because it's so old. I imagine the new version has young, good looking actors. That's all TV is these days.

Chris wrote: "As in the original. 1962. The whole thing is on youtube here -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a5iT...

I know they made a series in the 70s or 80s but I didn't realise there was a modern one...."

Well I remember when I was a child I earned for science fiction movies but I couldn't stand the effects because they were obviously fake. You know when they used some mini version of monsters stepping on a town made of carton with the size of a table?

Anyway the movie was not some project that costs millions. Seems more like an indie movie. I'm not sure it was ever released in cinemas. here is a little preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FtGLd...

Ah, I saw that when I was looking for the movie. Was it a TV drama then? Any good?

Sounds like you might enjoy the worst movies of all time rundown on Youtube.

Here's the top three ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q3Iy...

Chris wrote: "Ah, I saw that when I was looking for the movie. Was it a TV drama then? Any good?

Sounds like you might enjoy the worst movies of all time rundown on Youtube.

Here's the top three ...

https://w..."

Ahahaha thanks for posting this!

I liked it yes.

I would also recommend The Hungry City Chronicles by Philip Reeve. Very creative and originals ideas

I just added it to my to-read shelf.

thanks!

just joined the group today an would like to throw The Fallen Book 1 Dark Genesis out to the group

Brave New Worlds by John Joseph Adams is an excellent collection of dystopic short stories. Many are important to the genre.

And who could forget Fahrenheit 451? A must-read for any newcomer to dystopian fiction.

Has anyone here read We by Yevgeny Zamyatin? Must be one of the grandfathers of the genre, since it was published even before Brave New World. What's kept me from taking the plunge, as it were, is how downright weird the plot summaries I've read sound. Sadly, the older I'm getting the less and less I seem up to truly mind-bending books, for better or worse.

To toss in my two cents, some titles I've not seen mentioned in this thread:

A Clockwork Orange
House of Stairs
Feed (M.T. Anderson, not Mira Grant, LOL)
Ready Player One
The Long Walk
The Running Man (though IMO this is also about the worst book to movie adaptation I've ever seen)
Snow Crash

All the others I'm thinking of seem to be more PA than dystopian, sorry...like Shade's Children, etc.

Lumpenprole wrote: "Has anyone here read We by Yevgeny Zamyatin? Must be one of the grandfathers of the genre, since it was published even before Brave New World. What's kept me from taking the plunge, as it were, is ..."

I read it last year. My review here , though it doesn't say much. It's not long, though, so if you're wondering, I'd say go ahead. Historically, it's probably worth it.

I'm interested that you mentioned Ready Player One. I think it's a great book, but I didn't shelve it as dystopian.

Susan wrote: "I'm interested that you metnioned Ready Player One. I think it's a great book, but I didn't shelve it as dystopian. ..."

I do think the description fits, yes. But I'm not really sure how to reply in detail without opening a whole can o' spoilers. I think I can say that at the book's opening, Parzifal/Wade Watts's world is one of economic and environmental decay. He's living in a rather bizarre sort of trailer park from hell, with said trailers stacked on top of each other in a dangerous and frightening way. Most of the population is either unemployed or underemployed, and -- important to the plot -- (view spoiler)[we learn that individuals can essentially become enslaved for life to a corporation for simply failing to pay their credit card debt. (hide spoiler)]

Seems pretty dystopian to me. You've got a society that is going to hell, you've got a society with authoritarian tendencies, heck, IIRC you've also got a society where the protagonist isn't even certain he'll get enough to eat each day.

But perhaps I'm not defining my terms correctly? To my mind a "dystopian" society is one that still functions after a fashion, with authoritarian or totalitarian overtones, but is also one that has not descended into complete anarchy. Seems to me Ready Player One fits the bill there. Fair enough?

Oh, and if my burbling away on Ready Player One is completely off-base, at least I appear to be traveling with a very large crowd: "Dystopia" is the second most used GR tag for the book, beaten only by generic "science fiction." 546 other GR users and I might all be wrong, but at least we've got each other for company. :)

Lumpenprole wrote: "Oh, and if my burbling away on Ready Player One is completely off-base, at least I appear to be traveling with a very large crowd: "Dystopia" is the second most used GR tag for the book, ..."

Yes, I noticed that. I'm trying to figure out why it doesn't quite seem to fit that categorization to me. Certainly, the world around them is in terrible shape. But I don't think that's what the story is about. Maybe that's the line I draw.

And no, I don't think you're way off base. I pretty much agree with everything you said in message 24. Except maybe about the society being authoritarian. Sure, there's one really nasty company that has way too much power. But we don't really learn much about the government, do we? I'm not sure we can actually say it's authoritarian or totalitarian (to use your own test).

While trying to figure out my answer to Lumpenprole (messages 22-25), I was reminded of several others I think are terrific:
The Windup Girl
Beggars in Spain and its sequels
Little Brother and Homeland
Genesis

Lumpenprole wrote: "Has anyone here read We by Yevgeny Zamyatin?"


I intend to read it, hopefully this year. We may include it in the polls in the months to come.


Susan wrote: "..." I saw you rated it with a two. Did you find it boring or difficult to read?


Lumpenprole wrote: "Oh, and if my burbling away on Ready Player One is completely off-base, at least I appear to be traveling with a very large crowd: "Dystopia" is the second most used GR tag for the book, beaten onl..."

I think some people would shelve a book by the shelves they see. Sometimes I do it if I am shelving a lot of books, and I would re-shelve after reading if I see fit.

And we do allow other books to be discussed here, as long as even one person things of them as dystopian. But since I have not read the book you guys continue your debate without me, please ;]

Susan wrote: "Yes, I noticed that. I'm trying to figure out why it doesn't quite seem to fit that categorization to me. Certainly, the world around them is in terrible shape. But I don't think that's what the story is about. Maybe that's the line I draw...."

If something like that became part of the accepted definition of what qualifies or disqualifies a work as dystopian literature, I'd cheerfully go along. As in, I'm interpreting what you're saying to mean a novel where the setting/world building is essential to the plot, but that a great deal of the action does not also specifically focus on it.

But it seems -- to me, at any rate -- that by that standard you'd also be excluding a whole lot of books that at present there seems to be a consensus are also dystopian. I'm thinking of novels like Wither or Cinder.

BUT, to hoist myself on my on petard as it were, I'm guessing a decade or two ago a novel like Ready Player One would doubtless have been classed as "cyberpunk," since back then that seemed to be quite the coming sub-genre. (In fact that's how most, including me, do think of Snow Crash, a book I did include in my list on this thread. But I also think there's enough there to have it easily qualify as dystopian as well.)

And to take things to a rather silly extreme, is there any reason by the admittedly nebulous standards I seem to be operating under you would not include a book like, oh, I dunno, Les Misérables as "dystopian?" A society coming apart? Check. A cruel, authoritarian regime? Check. 24601 worried about starving to death? Check -- heck he stole bread to get the whole novel rolling. I suppose I'd also have to add something about a setting in the future, or in an alternate reality to exclude it.

Phooey. I'm starting to feel a bit like a dog chasing its own tail. I'm probably not going to catch it, and if I do, what am I going to do with it?

Ellie [The Empress] wrote: "
I think some people would shelve a book by the shelves they see. Sometimes I do it if I am shelving a lot of books, and I would re-shelve after reading if I see fit. ..."

Vox populi, vox dei, I guess. Especially with a term like "dystopia," that seems to be so, well, squishy, that it wouldn't surprise me if just about everyone on this particular board managed to define it quite differently.

Though of course what I posted re: Ready Player One and the tags in use on it is also at base a logical fallacy. Argumentum ad populum, to be specific. Doesn't mean the classification as dystopian is necessarily wrong, simply that I don't think that by itself proves my point. I mentioned the tags in use simply because of the definitional difficulty I -- and probably others -- are laboring under.

Ellie [The Empress] wrote: "I saw you rated it with a two. Did you find it boring or difficult to read?"

I just didn't enjoy it much as a book. I found myself thinking about aspects that I think later authors may have emulated, or at least learned from. But I think the later ones have done it better.

I think what the translator said about the character development being thin was one of the problems for me. I don't really think that's true any more. And "the warring ideas" -- well, I got tired of being talked at.

Lumpenprole wrote: "Susan wrote: "... But it seems -- to me, at any rate -- that by that standard you'd also be excluding a whole lot of books that at present there seems to be a consensus are also dystopian. I'm thinking of novels like Wither or Cinder."

Cinder is on my TBR list, so I can't speak to that yet. And I'd never heard of Wither. Do you recommend it?

I think we might need to make this thread its own discussion ("How do you define 'dystopian'?"), so we can continue it as we read more and form up our own opinions. What's clear to me is that neither of us is really satisfied with our own definitions. I, at least, far too often classify a book by how it feels to me, and then think about the definition later.

Susan wrote: "Cinder is on my TBR list, so I can't speak to that yet. And I'd never heard of Wither. Do you recommend it?..."

I liked both as light, entertaining reads, but I'd say both also require the reader to put their "willing suspension of disbelief" engine into overdrive. As in, I had some issues with the "world-building" in both.

However, both are also obviously written with a YA female audience in mind...and since I'm not female and my YA days are a distant memory, perhaps I'm the one missing the point here.

Susan wrote: "I think we might need to make this thread its own discussion ("How do you define 'dystopian'?")..."

That would be an interesting discussion. I'm presently in a bit of a muddle myself over things like where the boundary between post-apocalyptic and dystopian is, things of that sort.

Lumpenprole wrote: "As in, I had some issues with the "world-building" in both."

I get really annoyed at things that don't make sense, which is to say I really prefer when the world settings are build believable. And the world can still be absolutely unrealistic if it has it's own logic. Did I explain that?


Susan wrote: "I think we might need to make this thread its own discussion ("How do you define 'dystopian'?").."

I think that was the idea of this topic, but it got a bit OFF topic. [With me arguing with Susan (blush)]

We may start a new one.

Edit: The new topic. I'll give my opinion about post-apocalyptic and dystopian later. I need to go back to my previous job [which might take about 6 hours in bus traveling! (sigh)]

I just joined and am very late to the conversation about book recs. Not sure if anyone mentioned Harry Harrison's "Make Room! Make Room!", the book the movie "Soylent Green" was based on.

Erica wrote: "I just joined and am very late to the conversation about book recs. Not sure if anyone mentioned Harry Harrison's "Make Room! Make Room!", the book the movie "Soylent Green" was based on."

Welcome Erica, No one mentioned it. I didn't know Hari Harrison has anything dystopian.

yep! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Roo...!

Mockingbird was recommended to me by another GoodReads member and I loved it. It deals with the same themes as another dystopian classic, Brave New World, but I think it's superior to Huxley's book in every way.

Anthem and 2BR02B are two short dystopian stories that are also excellent.

I must be missing something here.

I don't see any mention of Wool by Hugh Howey.

It's a really good series about a people stuck in a silo on a dead planet. But there's more to the story than just being stuck. The characters and the mysteries of the silo are very intriguing.

Megatherium wrote: "Has anyone here read We by Yevgeny Zamyatin? Must be one of the grandfathers of the genre, since it was published even before Brave New World..."

I read it for a college class on sci fi. Great book -- in the same vein as 1984.

Chris wrote: "Anthem and 2BR02B are two short dystopian stories that are also excellent..."

So glad you mentioned those two! Anthem doesn't get enough attention IMO as a classic dystopian novel. It's similar to We -- no surprise, since both came out of bad experiences with Russian totalitarianism.

Lots of good ones mentioned already. Here are a few more that I'd suggest for a newbie to the genre:

Anthem
Lord of the World
The Testament of Jessie Lamb
The World Inside
It Can't Happen Here
The Handmaid's Tale
The Circle

Michele wrote: "Lots of good ones mentioned already. Here are a few more that I'd suggest for a newbie to the genre:

Anthem
Lord of the World
The Testament of Jessie Lamb

Michele thank you for the recs, there few books here that are new for me. Always happy to find more dystopia.




Chris wrote: "Mockingbird was recommended to me by another GoodReads member and I loved it. It deals with the same themes as another dystopian classic, Brave New World, but I think it's superior to..."

I'm not really a fan of Kurt, so I don't think I would be reading 2BRo2B anytime soon. I loved anthem, though it is short and probably nothing special, you can't make it more dystopian then it already is.




Robert wrote: "I must be missing something here.

I don't see any mention of Wool by Hugh Howey.

It's a really good series about a people stuck in a silo on a dead planet. But there's more to the story than jus..."

We have quite a few topics about the Wool series. I would say it is a very good book, but when this topic started Wool was not that popular, yet.

Ellie [The Empress] wrote: "I'm not really a fan of Kurt, so I don't think I would be reading 2BRo2B anytime soon. "

What if I said it was only 20 pages AND it's free on Amazon? : )

Then I would reconsider. :)

Ellie [The Empress] wrote: "Then I would reconsider. :)"

It's worth a read. Short and snappy.

Start paying attention to the brainwashing aspect, symbols in movies, major corporations, and advertisements. Alex Jones is good person to look into regarding this

Awesome thread! I've been poking around the dystopian genre for years and this gave me a quick eight new reads.

Jessica wrote: "Awesome thread! I've been poking around the dystopian genre for years and this gave me a quick eight new reads."

I'm happy it's been useful to you :D

I just finished Ready Player One by Earnest Cline. What a great ride!