It’s strange thatdystopia fascinates us as much as it does. Strange, in the same wayour fascination with horror is strange. For some reason, the things we would least want to experience, we like to read about. Whether it’s a safe way of testing out an experience or a way of providing commentary on our world, dystopian novels often go down in history as works of great literature, and also often achieve mainstream success.
There are a lot of great ones for us to sort through, and we’re going to begin that endeavor today. We’re here to highlight some of the best dystopian novels ever written.
Brave New World
The first(-ish, it’s complicated actually)
Arguably the founder of a genre, Brave New World presents a bleak look into a world consumed by superficiality and totally dominated, socially, biologically, and psychologically, by its hierarchical power structures.
There is a series of great dystopian novels throughout history, which we will be showcasing on this list in order to track the evolution of the genre. This is the first member of that list. Essentially the second dystopian novel ever written, Brave New World depicts a society completely overtaken by mass production and the ease and superficiality it fosters (imagine that!).
It presents a world that horrifies all of our sensibilities, but shows how it can make perfect sense to its characters. The most disturbing section of the novel is near the end, when one of the leaders of this society challenges the main characters to articulate what’s wrong with it. Not only can they not do it, it’s even difficult for us as readers to think of the words that would win that argument.
1984
An extremely insightful book
While Brave New World invented the dystopia, 1984 is what made it into the beast of a genre it is today with its chilling portrait of a totalitarian society.
1984 is by far the most famous dystopian novel ever written. From the often highly political author George Orwell comes a harrowing portrayal of a world defined by mass surveillance,forever wars, and shockingly inhumane wealth inequality (imagine that!). It’s the bleakest book on this list, and that’s saying something.
In some ways, it’s a victim of its own success. A lot of people who haven’t read it are desperate to claim it describes their political enemies. The book’s critiques are far broader than most give it credit for, applying to just about any highly controlling and unequal society, and it’s how cutting and insightful that portrayal is that makes this book brilliant.
Fahrenheit 451
At once silly and extremely relatable
The third in the great trio of classic dystopian novels, Fahrenheit 451 takes the admittedly far-fetched nightmare of all books being banned and shapes it into an insightful critique of the influence of commercialism on art.
This book finishes out the great trio of classic dystopian novels, whose collective influence on the genre is absolutely enormous. At first glance, the society depicted in this book can seem a little ridiculous. The world of Fahrenheit 451 is one where books are banned, and all intellectual activity is suppressed. While this might sound a little on the nose, the logic behind it is actually pretty convincing.
This book is about the effect of public opinion on art. In its world, all forms of artistic expression have degenerated into absolute vapidity, basically because it’s impossible to say anything of substance without making someone mad and alienating a potential commercial demographic.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Horrifyingly plausible
Released all the way back in the ’70s, this incredibly prophetic and grounded book explores how restrictive gender roles serve the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of all others.
The Handmaid’s Tale is a deeply insightful book that explores the nature and motives of dehumanization by portraying a world where women, and, more subtly, men, have been reduced to objects to be used for their biological capacities in the ways the wealthy and powerful find most useful. The female gender role is separated into its component parts: Handmaids for breeding, Marthas for housekeeping, Aunts for education, and Wives to manage it all. This separation is dehumanizing to all of them, and allows the novel to explore how those dehumanizations serve the powerful.
Importantly, this book is not simply a screed against traditional gender roles. It is an exploration of whose interests are served by them. The Handmaids are used for breeding because Gilead’s aristocratic men need heirs to secure their power, and all the rest follows from that. This book also has one of the best endings in the history of literature. It’s crushingly bleak in a very unique and interesting way.
The Giver
An amazing story for readers of any age
One of the best children’s novels ever written, The Giver is more than interesting enough to be enjoyed by adults as well. This simple story has so much to say about the meaning of life.
The Giver is one of those books that is best enjoyed completely blind, so if you’re willing to take our recommendation at face value, go ahead and go read it now. You’ll be glad you did.
This novel is amazing. Though the point it’s making is a bit simpler than what some of the other books on this list are going for, it’s still an exceptional and, where it counts, very nuanced work about a society that has been eaten through by a strange and unique social ill. The joyful horror of reading this novel is the slow, creeping realization of how far gone it secretly is, despite the fact that it’s alluring on a surface level.
The Hunger Games 4-Book Paperback Box Set
Absolutely thrilling stories
This smash-hit series has a huge impact on the world of books in the early 2000s, and, though its imitators overstayed their welcome, these books still totally deserved their success.
It’s understandable that the legacy of these books has been somewhat tainted by the immense and deeply frustrating crowd of knock-offs released in the aftermath of its success, but none of that is the fault of these books, which are very well-written and insightful dystopian novels. It depicts a society defined by wealth inequality, where resources that could keep the whole world fed are distributed such that some can indulge while others starve (imagine that!) and the spectacle of violence is ceaselessly enjoyed by audiences unable to distinguish carefully crafted images from absolute truths (imagine that!).
The most exceptional thing about this novel is how pointedly, and boldly, it represents our modern world. While Panem doesn’t make total sense if you take it literally, it is a biting allegory for modern global society, full of insight and nuance.
Red Rising
Does great things with its sci-fi elements
This still-ongoing dystopian sci-fi saga explores a version of Mars dominated by a color-coded caste system, and chronicles a lowly miner as they infiltrate the upper crust on behalf of a resistance.
Though Red Rising isn’t the best book on this list to technically count as science fiction, it probably isthe book that makes the best use of its sci-fi elements. Where books like Handmaid’s Tale and 1984 have just enough sci-fi to get themselves going and spend the rest of their time focused on character, this story does a lot more to really explore the horrifying yet disturbingly familiar world it takes place in.
This book is the first part in a still-ongoing series, whose installments have continued to be excellent. It’s a very strong work with a lot of rich characters, worth checking out for those who want something out of this world.
Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents Boxed Set
Life-changingly amazing and rich stories
Possibly the best novels ever written, these two books are so rich with meaning and emotion that it’s almost hard to believe they’re real. They have an enormous amount to say about religion, society, violence, and the meaning of life.
We’ve saved the best for last. These two novels by legendary author Octavia Butler are perhaps the best books ever written. That’s a bold claim, but if you doubt us, all we ask is that you read them for yourself. Parable of the Sower is an incredibly rich book. Its dystopian society, the intriguing concept of hyper-empathy, and the religion its protagonist found are each interesting enough that they could have carried their own book. Together, they create something unbelievably good.
Parable of the Talents takes what we would’ve called a perfect book and makes it even better by injecting even more nuance and moral ambiguity. While the first novel’s portrayal of its protagonist and the religion she founds will leave you half-ready to convert yourself, the sequel will leave you wondering if Lauren was ever even a good person. These are stunning books with an enormous amount to say.
FAQ
What is the most popular dystopian book?
1894 is the most popular dystopian novel of all time. It is immensely influential both on the genre and on the English language itself and how those who speak it talk about politics.
Why do people like dystopian novels so much?
For the most part, the most popular feature of a dystopian novel is the quality of its satire. These stories seek to illuminate aspects of the real world by depicting a caricature of it, and the best dystopias are the ones that feel disturbingly close to the real world, and help us see it, its workings, and its flaws more clearly.
