What to Read Now: Dystopian Fiction

A frightening look into a society where free thinking is punishable. Disturbing and thought-provoking, 1984 warns us of the dangerous possibilities of what would happen if everyone became completely submissive to the state. Remember, Big Brother is always watching… 

Set in the religious patriarchy of Gilead, The Handmaid’s Tale is a haunting narrative of what America could be. As the threat of Gilead looms ever closer, this seems less like a dystopian novel and more like a prescient warning. Read it before you live it. (And then read the long-awaited sequel, The Testaments.) 

This Booker Prize winner is one of the most chilling works of dystopian fiction to come out of the last decade — a shocking and sometimes too familiar tale of the rise of authoritarianism and resistance. If you think 1984 or The Handmaid’s Tale is harrowing, pick this one up.  

Modern-day gladiators return in a for-profit prison program where “all-stars” can be granted their freedom. This searing debut is a brutal indictment of the American penal system, as well as our consumption of violence as entertainment. Sharp, satirical and brilliant, this is a must-read novel for our current age.

I Who Have Never Known Men is a post-apocalyptic novel that has cemented itself as a classic of feminist literature. See the desolate world through the eyes of a young woman on her journey through entrapment and survival. Eerie and haunting, this is a read that will raise the hair on the back of your neck. 

This is a haunting look at a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by climate and economic catastrophes. Thought-provoking and brilliantly written, Parable of the Sower is a warning about what the future of Earth could look like if the perils of climate change and inequality are not taken seriously. 

Posthumously published in 1925, this short novel captures the confusion and distress of suffering persecution by an unseen, unknown and irresistible force. Blending reality and absurdity, violence and hope, this story has endured for a century for good reason. 

A clear-eyed, big-hearted and all-too-prescient story that asks what it means to be human (and make art) in a dystopian, post-pandemic world. Suspenseful and surprisingly hopeful without losing sight of the seriousness of the world we find ourselves in, this one is a must-read. 

Fahrenheit 451 is an essential read for everyone. Bradbury’s disturbing dystopian novel stresses the dangers of willful ignorance and the censorship of knowledge. Ray Bradbury’s writing is stunning, and the grim future he had predicted is a haunting image that will never fade from your mind. 

The masterpiece of a master, Brave New World dares readers to deny how real the “brave new world” might be. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Orwell’s 1984, the prophetic powers of such stories cannot — and must not — be ignored or written off as merely fiction. 

What would the world be like if the Allies had lost, and the Axis powers had prevailed? Philip K. Dick asked himself that very question — and answered it with this classic work of speculative fiction, painting a terrifying portrait of a world that could have been. 

History might not repeat itself, but it absolutely rhymes — this prescient and chilling story is as timely now as it was when first published 90 years ago. A populist president rises to power promising to return the country to its former greatness… before descending into tyranny and terrorism. 

Ignorance is bliss – or so they say. Objects, words, ideas, memories – even people – disappear in a deep surveillance state where nothing is safe. Controlled by the Memory Police, island inhabitants live oblivious to the changes around them, until one woman devises a plan to conserve her work. A story about censorship, survival and community, this is a riveting cautionary tale. 

A searing fable following a society falling into a bout of blindness raises a terrifying question: how would we treat our neighbors in need, and what would we sacrifice for them? A fascinating study into empathy and individualism, Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago doesn’t shy away from the horrors – and possible hopes – of humanity.