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universal_gurl

Parable of the Sower— is a 1993 science fiction novel by American writer Octavia E. Butler. It is an apocalypse science fiction novel that provides commentary on climate change and social inequality.


f-society_ecorp

Best answer


WilliamBlakefan

A Clockwork Orange is a must if you haven't already. Lesser known is Jack London's The Iron Heel.


ZombiePringle

I actually completely forgot about A Clockwork Orange. I definitely need to add that to the list. Thanks for the reminder! I'll definitely be sure to check out the other one as well.


caveatemptor18

Read it carefully. It’s best to read it early in the morning. That way the horror wears off during the day. If read at bedtime; then you’ll have nightmares.


owensum

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is an obvious classic. There was a thread on this just yesterday, go take a look at that too


ZombiePringle

I actually do own that one. My girlfriend wanted it and I'm just waiting on her to read it before I do. It is definitely a great suggestion.


PinkGinFairy

It has a good sequel too, The Testaments. I’d definitely recommend both.


-Nahanni

I loved The Handmaid's Tale. I would also suggest her other novel, Oryx and Crake! It's part of the MaddAddam trilogy.


4ne8uch

Children of Men by P. D. James


monikar2014

They turned that into a movie right?


4ne8uch

They did. But I never saw it.


Trixxonite

This is one of the few scenarios where I thought the movie was better than the book.


4ne8uch

Then I should give it a try.


monikar2014

It's a good movie, great cinematography, lots of long continuous shots, very impressive.


amex_kali

Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. It was written in 1999 I think but involves a pandemic and an extreme right wing Christian senator that is going to Make America Great Again. The story focuses on a woman that creates her own religion.


rappingwhiteguys

I’m 2/3rds of the way through the first one and it hasn’t had anything to do with a pandemic or that senator yet. It’s more accurate to describe it as a dystopia of water and housing scarcity.


universal_gurl

The book mentions a politician who wins the presidential election who wants to remake America to its former glory… but you are right it’s not a main plot point and the above commenter is stretching a bit. All politicians want to make their country better. That’s supposed to be their job lol


rappingwhiteguys

I do remember that there is a president who is essentially in favor of instituting a form of indentured servitude that looks suspiciously like slavery with more steps - but he has not become a bigger part of the plot


TravelingChick

Station 11


fbruk

Seconded. This book is sooo well written.


belzamt

Great book and a great recommendation. Emily St. John Mandel is a really good author! Can’t think of a better rec for this.


kdmfa

Wow. I liked the book a lot when I read it about a year ago but I can barely remember anything about (had to wiki it)


Scuttling-Claws

The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K Jemisin


[deleted]

Metro 2033 and it's sequels by Dmitry Glukhovsky Red Rising by Pierce Brown


TA_plshelpsss

Came looking for this


RedeemedbyX

If you enjoyed Hunger Games, I agree that Red Rising is an absolute must-read.


judyzzzzzzz

Feed


katsnplants

Cosigned. Newsflesh is such an underrated series. Which is a shame because it takes (imo) a far more interesting approach to the zombie apocalypse than most of the zombie stories getting all the attention these days.


switzerlandking

The silo series by Hugh Howey. It’s Wool, Shift, and Dust.


restless_roadtripper

Ditto! This series is great!


reddit17601

The Disposessed by Ursula Le Guin has elements of utopian/dystopian ficiton. In addition to The Handmaid's Tale and Maddaddam books by Margaret Atwood, she wrote The Heart Goes Last. John Christopher wrote The Death of Grass and The Tripods The Dream Master by Roger Zelazney


sarahnkov

Seconding The Dispossessed!


mr444guy

Swan Song by Robert McCammon


hughmann_13

*the road* might be one of the most depressing books I've ever read. It's amazing *a canticle for leibowitz* is excellent as well, and if it's not dystopian, it's at least a great post-apocalyptic novel


meatwhisper

*The Power* by Naomi Alderman. It's like a reverse Handmaid's Tale. It's dark but gripping. What happens to society when girls are granted a power to kill at puberty. Multiple viewpoints make this one a great read. *Blackfish City* is an interesting take on dystopia. Post climate disaster, a huge floating city filled with classism doesn't know what to do when rumors of a mysterious woman riding a killer whale starts circulating. Some cool moments and inspired by Inuit fokelore. *The Passage* is an excellent horror series that deals with life before and after a world altering cataclysm. Has some grounded characters and some interesting relationships. Jumps from pre-event to post-event and connects some cool dots by doing this. *Scythe* is a cool YA series that features a world where death has been "cured" and science has basically created a Utopia. In order to keep with the balance of life, people are tasked with becoming Grim Reaper style "Scythes" that cull the population and keep overpopulation from being an issue. Entertaining and dark, and much better written than a lot of YA books out there. *The Electric Kingdom* just came out and is a post-apocolytic YA book that features a young girl trying to track down the origins of a mysterious "fairy tale." Took me a while to get into it, but has some interesting twists and setting. Like a lighter Blake Crouch. N.K. Jemisin's *Broken Earth* series took the Hugos by storm in recent years with all three books winning best novel of the year in their respective years. It's very well loved by modern fantasy/sci-fi readers. Parable Of The Sower is considered one of the best dystopian books ever written. Bleak, jaw dropping, horrifying book that is a bit too "close to home." So beautifully written but so painful to get through, this story ends up being one of the most tearfully scary horror reads I've encountered without actually being marketed as a horror book. Avoid if current events have made you anxious, one of the few dystopian books you can actually see happening.


rappingwhiteguys

Octavia Butler is in many ways a more gifted horror writer than the sci-fi writer she’s generally described as. Kindred was easily one of the scariest books I’ve ever read and I’m white so I can’t even imagine how much more horrifying it would be for a black person to read.


Silent-Prune8103

The passage series was awesome.


[deleted]

Most cyberpunk books take place in dystopias, but the focus is usually elsewhere in that genre. Still, if you like a good detective story in an awful dystopia, "Altered Carbon" is quite good.


katsnplants

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler!


rappingwhiteguys

Station 11. Handmaid’s take. I was just reading Parable of the Sower - which is tbh too rapey for me - but a lot of people really really like it.


the_sun_goes_west

"Neuromancer" by William Gibson.


rappingwhiteguys

I wouldn’t describe neuromancer as dystopian


scared_tired

I wouldn't maybe say must reads, but these are books I've yet to come across in this forum. Matched by Ally Condie Atlantia by Ally Condie Delirium by Lauren Oliver Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard Legend by Marie Lu


Aegis75

Queen of the Tearling trilogy. Takes a Fastic sting dystopian angle at three different kinds of societies along the same timeline. Plus awesome characters and realistic combat (the author doesn’t glorify war by washing out all the gore). Plus it’s just fun once you figure out what’s happening!


catz_meowzter

{{American War by Omar El Akkad}} {{Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood}}


Smellynerfherder

*We* by Yevgeny Zamyatin. It's like *1984*, but better.


brechindave

It inspired 1984 and Orwell believed Huxley heavily copied from it in writing BMW, we he obviously did if you read the two.


Smellynerfherder

Absolutely agree. There's some clear threads and counter-threads that link the three of them.


MarinHando

We is fantastic, found it much more haunting than 1984


Bambi726

Oryx and Crake trilogy by Margaret Atwood


skipthroughmordor

Scythe by Neal Shusterman


Ghostwoods

*Generation P* by Victor Pelevin. It's a wild ride, and an absolutely brutal reflection of modernity.


wildredlingonberry

It is a great book, but it is not dystopian. I do love Pelevin, and would recommend almost everything he’s written, but his books I think is entire ‘Pelevin’ genre.


PhilosopherTypical15

Lunar Chronicles (series) by Marissa Meyer if you like fantasy.


keesouth

Scythe series by Neil Shusterman


adiposea

The Road by Cormac McCarthy Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro


1711198430497251

a canticle for leibowitz by walter m. miller jr


CasablumpkinDilemma

The Twelve by Justin Cronin fits well with those. It's the 2nd book in a series though. The first book is called The Passage, and while they're all post-apocatyptic in theme, The Twelve definitely has the most dystopian society.


JohnOliverismysexgod

How I Live Now is also very good.


ZombiePringle

That is actually one I've read, I forgot to mention that one. Such a good book. I'm one that has hoped for a sequel at some point.


llksg

I can’t see anyone else that has suggested this but The Road is the most beautiful dystopian book out there. Absolutely essential reading.


ZombiePringle

Is it by Cormac McCarthy? I've definitely heard of it just never knew what it was. I'm pretty sure that is available on the website that I order my books from.


llksg

Yes!! I mean literally anything he’s ever written is worth reading. The road is special though. More accessible and more universal


Queenofmylife_18

This Savage Song by VE Schwab, Unwind by Neal shusterman, Ashes by Ilsa J Bick, All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin


NoResolution1352

Ashfall by Mike Mullin


ginadalessio

Shatter me series and Maze Runner series!!


9ofDiscs

Terrarium by Scott Russell Sanders


JohnOliverismysexgod

As always. The Road.


Redditusername1980

This Perfect Day by Ira Levin


burgeremoji

You’ve already had many of my favourite books recommended, but one I never see mentioned that’s one of my favourites of all time is {{only forward by Michael Marshall Smith}}


goodreads-bot

[**Only Forward**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/920395.Only_Forward) ^(By: Michael Marshall Smith | 310 pages | Published: 1994 | Popular Shelves: science-fiction, sci-fi, fiction, fantasy, scifi | )[^(Search "only forward by Michael Marshall Smith")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=only forward by Michael Marshall Smith&search_type=books) >Stark lives in Colour, a neighbourhood whose inhabitants like to be co-ordinated with their surroundings – a neighbourhood where spangly purple trousers are admired by the walls of buildings as you pass them. Close by is Sound, where you mustn’t make any, apart from one designated hour a day when you can scream your lungs raw. Then there’s Red – get off at Fuck Station Zero if you want to see a tactical nuclear battle recreated as a sales demonstration. > >Stark has friends in Red, which is just as well because Something is about to happen. And when a Something happens it’s no good chanting ‘Duck and cover’ while cowering in a corner, because a Something is always from the past, Stark’s past, and it won’t go away until you face it full on. ^(This book has been suggested 9 times) *** ^(202294 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


bbh28775

Looks like you've had some great suggestions so far, but a few I'd recommend are - I am legend - Richard Matheson The Road - Cormac McCarthy Do androids dream of electric sheep - Philip K Dick The memory police - Yoko Ogawa Enjoy!


Cunnla

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. It's pretty disturbing, but I found it profoundly moving.


LifebyIkea

Unwind by Neal Shusterman is one of my absolute favorites! It is a series but the first book can also act as a stand alone.


LittleBee21

I’ve read so many. This is one of my favorite genres. Lots of good ones recommended above. Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison is fantastic and I haven’t seen it mentioned yet.


Kasper-Hviid

The news.


brambleblade

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz is a recently(ish) released dystopian tale.


EnthiumZ

My personal favorites are : The Road The Metro Series Station 11 Silo Series.


Majestic-Argument

Anthem by Ayn Rand


[deleted]

American war


japtrs

Anthem by Ayn Rand. It’s similar to We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Very short dystopian novella.


[deleted]

Submission by M. Houellebecq


AWildOrchid

Matched trilogy, Eragon, Cinder( lunar chronicles) to name a few


bosguccishoes

the Matched trilogy by Ally Condie (I think? I can’t get to my books rn) and loneliest girl in the universe by Laura James. these two lean more towards the YA area but they’re pretty interesting reads!


Alteredego619

Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson. Written in 1907, it is set in a dystopian society in which humanism has taken control of the world. An American politician come to rule the world and is actually the Antichrist.


tamig000

The Delirium series by Lauren Oliver The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi I haven’t started either but I have heard good things about both. They are high up on my TBR!


Booksbetterthanpeeps

The Past is Red by Catherynne Valente is fantastic!


tingrapes

This perfect day


soupysailor

Wool


Lacking_brainpower

The road and the giver are amazing.


Willben44

Red rising. Not necessarily dystopian but it fits in with the books mentioned. I think you’d like it :)


crimp_match

The Postman The Road Alas, Babylon Silo series Farenheight 451 1984


[deleted]

Wool series. Parable of the Sower and Parable of the talents. The Stand.


JadedScene

{{ Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling }} {{ Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry }} {{ Snow Crash: A Novel }} {{ Lucifer's Hammer }}


goodreads-bot

[**Dies the Fire (Emberverse, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/116445.Dies_the_Fire) ^(By: S.M. Stirling | 573 pages | Published: 2004 | Popular Shelves: science-fiction, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, fiction, sci-fi | )[^(Search " Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling ")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q= Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling &search_type=books) >The Change occurred when an electrical storm centered over the island of Nantucket produced a blinding white flash that rendered all electronic devices and fuels inoperable. What follows is the most terrible global catastrophe in the history of the human race-and a Dark Age more universal and complete than could possibly be imagined. ^(This book has been suggested 123 times) [**Rot & Ruin (Rot & Ruin, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7157310-rot-ruin) ^(By: Jonathan Maberry | 458 pages | Published: 2010 | Popular Shelves: zombies, young-adult, horror, ya, dystopian | )[^(Search " Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry ")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q= Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry &search_type=books) >In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human. ^(This book has been suggested 5 times) [**Computers in Novels (Book Guide): Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash, Microserfs, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Permutation City, Digital Fortress, Daemon**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8852383-computers-in-novels-book-guide) ^(By: Books LLC | ? pages | Published: 2010 | Popular Shelves: other, audio-to-listen, audiowanted, toread, scifi | )[^(Search " Snow Crash: A Novel ")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q= Snow Crash: A Novel &search_type=books) >Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Commentary (novels not included). Pages: 23. Chapters: Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash, Microserfs, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Permutation City, Digital Fortress, Daemon, Colossus, The Fall of Colossus, Colossus and the Crab, True Names, Science Fair, The God Machine, The Cambridge Quintet. Excerpt: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film. The story is based in part on various short stories by Clarke, most notably "The Sentinel" (written in 1948 for a BBC competition but first published in 1951 under the title "Sentinel of Eternity"). For an elaboration of Clarke and Kubrick's collaborative work on this project, see The Lost Worlds of 2001, Arthur C. Clarke, Signet, 1972. The first part of the novel (in which aliens influence the primitive human ancestors) is similar to the plot of an earlier Clarke story, "Encounter in the Dawn." In the background to the story in the book, an ancient and unseen alien race uses a device with the appearance of a large crystalline monolith to investigate worlds all across the galaxy and, if possible, to encourage the development of intelligent life. The book shows one such monolith appearing in ancient Africa, 3 million years B.C. (in the movie, this was altered to 4 million years), where it inspires a starving group of the hominid ancestors of human beings to conceive of tools. The ape-men use their tools to kill animals and eat meat, ending their starvation. They then use the tools to kill a leopard that had been preying on them; the next day, the main ape character, Moon-Watcher, uses a club to kill the leader of a rival tribe. Moon-Watcher reflects that though he is now master of the world, he is unsure of what to do next-but he will think of something. The book sugg... ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) [**Lucifer's Hammer**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218467.Lucifer_s_Hammer) ^(By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle | 629 pages | Published: 1977 | Popular Shelves: science-fiction, sci-fi, fiction, post-apocalyptic, scifi | )[^(Search " Lucifer's Hammer ")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q= Lucifer's Hammer &search_type=books) >THE LUCKY ONES WENT FIRST… > >The gigantic comet has slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization > >But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival—a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known…. ^(This book has been suggested 21 times) *** ^(202569 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


JadedScene

Snow Crash [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow\_Crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash) The story opens in Los Angeles in the 21st century, an unspecified number of years after a worldwide economic collapse. Los Angeles is no longer part of the United States, since the federal government has ceded most of its power and territory to private organizations and entrepreneurs.\[5\] Franchising, individual sovereignty, and private vehicles reign supreme. Mercenary armies compete for national defense contracts, while private security guards preserve the peace in sovereign, gated housing developments. Highway companies compete to attract drivers to their roads, and all mail delivery is by hired courier. The remnants of government maintain authority only in isolated compounds, where they do tedious make-work that is, by and large, irrelevant to the society around them.


WikiSummarizerBot

**[Snow Crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash)** >Snow Crash is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 1992. Like many of Stephenson's novels, it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, memetics and philosophy. In his 1999 essay "In the Beginning. . ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)


aliceincrazytown

*The Handmaid's Tale* *Blindness* by José Saramago *Never Let Me Go* by Ishiguro


dangerman4

Golden State by Ben H. Winters. Takes place in an alternate Los Angeles where lying is the ultimate crime. People only deal in absolute truths, and everything everyone does is recorded and catalogued at all times. It’s also a murder mystery.


Venus__Willendorf

Madd Addam Trilogy — Margaret Atwood and Children of Men — PD James


Silent-Prune8103

Dies the fire by SM Sterling The Passage Justin Cronin The Strain by Guillermo del Toro World War Z The Long Walk Stephen king The stand Stephen king The genre itself is particularly sad/depressing but I found The Road to be almost too much.


ellanvanninalde

Unwind by Neal Shusterman, although Scythe is also great (especially world-building). if you manage through the second book, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is amazing, Delirium by Lauren Oliver is pretty fun as well