10 Compelling Dystopian Novels for Adults
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One of my young clients recently asked me for some good dystopian books that weren’t YA. To me, dystopian novels are veering a little too much toward “realistic contemporary fiction” these days, so I’ve been avoiding them, but there are some classics out there, and in compiling my list for him, I decided to create one for the blog as well.
I think dystopian fiction has the same role to play for us as fairy tales do for children: they teach us about possible future scenarios (physical or metaphysical). They allow us to say “what if...” and imagine what we would do if they worst occurred (and let’s face it, some of those fairy tales – the original ones, not the Disneyfied versions – were very dark indeed). For some, it makes them uncomfortable. For others, it’s reassuring.
I’ve focused on classics here (or in some cases, recent-but-becoming-classics) although I know there are a million books out there that deal with some sort of dystopian reality now. If you haven’t read these, I suggest you pick them up and give them a try, because they are classics for a reason.
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood. We all thought this was fiction, right? An impossible future? Well, think again. Creepy costumes aside, this is what happens when fundamentalist religion takes over and women are totally subjugated.
The Road – Cormac McCarthy. Bleak, heartbreaking, and yet with a sliver of hope, this story of a father and son’s post-apocalyptic journey is hauntingly told.
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro. You probably have heard what this is about by now, but if not, let the reality of the protagonists’ situation slowly dawn on you, as it does on them. Sure, we all aspire for our lives to mean something, but... maybe not that.
Station Eleven – Emily St John Mandel. This story, about the survivors of a pandemic who perform King Lear in a post-apocalyptic world, is a beautiful ode to why art matters, even in the worst of times.
The Parable of the Sower – Octavia Butler. In a culture ravaged by disease, climate change, drug addiction, and war, a girl whose family and home are destroyed must venture forth into a terrifying world. Showcases the power of empathy, community, and faith in a world caught in a downward spiral.
Farenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury. Again, an eerie precursor of our times when book bans and threatened burnings are a menace, and people are mesmerized by the mindless, vapid chatter from the TV (and now internet).
The Drowned World – JG Ballard. A novel of survival in a London transformed by global warming into a prehistoric jungle. Especially prescient given the current climate crisis, although it was written in 1961.
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley. Not usually seen as “dystopian” but I think the theme of a human acting as God – and then regretting his hubris as his creation escapes his control – is an apt metaphor for humanity’s use of science and technology today, where what we can do often overshadows questions of what we should do.
1984 – George Orwell. I confess: I actually didn’t like the book when I read it. It’s grim. There is no hint of a happy ending. But for that reason, it’s chilling: reality doesn’t always get a happy ending, and absolute authoritarianism is, well, absolute.
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley. Written in the 1930s, with fascism gaining steam, this is yet another chillingly prescient novel. The Amazon description sums it up: “Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls.”
Have you read these? What did you think? What are your favorite dystopian novels? Let us know in the comments!
