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From the lens Best Dystopian Novels.

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  • goober Apr 30, 2012 @ 12:08 am | delete
    I can't believe this list doesn't mention WE.
  • JoyfulReviewer Apr 27, 2012 @ 11:02 am | delete
    Nice list and reviews ... very well presented. ~~Blessed~~
  • Ashly_Rain Apr 14, 2012 @ 8:33 am | delete
    Great list! Glad you put Lord of The Flies in there (wouldn't have thought of that one myself). I guess a lot of people would want Hunger Games added now, you could add that to the voting list.
  • jwcooney Apr 5, 2012 @ 1:35 pm | delete
    Great lens, I have read several of these books and really like the dystopian genre. The Time Machine was one of my favorites and the 1960s movie they made about it wasn't bad either!
  • Budeni Apr 5, 2012 @ 10:12 am | delete
    I could kiss you in the face for this well done lens! Thank you so very much for the list of dystopian literature. I love distopias and have already read a few among the list, but I finally know now that there is so much more out there to read for me now! <3
  • JimDickens Mar 30, 2012 @ 8:01 pm | delete
    I have only read half of these 12 books. thank you for the new reading list
  • EverydayMiracles Mar 28, 2012 @ 6:06 pm | delete
    Haha! I love the above statements about big brother. Priceless!

    I don't have a copy of 1984 but I'm definitely going to need to get one!
  • calivianya Mar 27, 2012 @ 8:56 pm | delete
    Feed by M.T. Anderson is one of my favorite dystopian books, but I almost never see it on any lists. I always wonder why.
  • Gina Mar 25, 2012 @ 4:50 am | delete
    Thank you for this list. I was trying to find a list of good dystopian/post-apocalypse novels, but due to the popularity of the "Hunger Games" books, all the lists were novels for Young Adults (teens). I have read many of the books on your list, and the others are excellent suggestions. Off to read "Brave New World"!
  • Tyler Feb 22, 2012 @ 3:21 pm | delete
    Here are a few more ideas to add to the list of dystopian novels:
    http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/17200.Best_YA_Dystopian_Utopian_Apocalyptic_Post_Apocalyptic
  • jeff Feb 19, 2012 @ 12:25 pm | delete
    The "Trinity" is suspiciously absent the greatest and likely first Dystopia, Yvgeny Zamyatin's We. We is the template for 1984 and Brave New World and is still staggering in its scope.
  • kadejonah Feb 8, 2012 @ 4:42 pm | delete
    Brave New World is my favorite but your list is missing my second favorite in Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. But all in all this is a great list I love dystopian novels.
  • jane Feb 7, 2012 @ 10:53 pm | delete
    don't forget Margaret Atwood's pseudo-sequal to oryx and crake, "the year of the flood". it's amazing!
  • AaronSquid Feb 2, 2012 @ 6:53 am | delete
    I think 1984 is one of the best books that I have read. It's messages and warnings are as relevant today as when it was first written.
  • navalava Jan 31, 2012 @ 7:33 pm | delete
    I have read "1984" and "Brave New World", and I am saying "Brave New World" was one of the best books I have ever read. If not the best.
    Thank you for the list. I am now going to buy few of other books to read. Will write the impressions here.
    Cheers!
  • wordstock Jan 1, 2012 @ 10:35 am | delete
    The new TV is on the market. It has the internet and access to all social media sites. How very Fahrenheit 451. I am rereading all of these books because I think that as a homeschooling parent, my child needs to have the basic knowledge that they provide about society.
  • Inkhand Dec 22, 2011 @ 1:05 am | delete
    I agree with this lens that Huxley's Brave New World is greatest piece of dystopian novel ever. Perhaps here is something to be said between the power science have over our digital age and Huxley's world. Just as the book says: ?All our science is just a cookery book, with an orthodox theory of cooking that nobody's allowed to question, and a list of recipes that mustn't be added to except by special permission from the head cook."- Brave New World, Ch. 16
  • edmondmajor Nov 3, 2011 @ 3:14 pm | delete
    Everyone here should check out punk rock band "Dystopia" ! really good music! sadly they arent a band anymore but their music still remains, just type their name into Youtube.
  • franstan Aug 24, 2011 @ 11:46 am | delete
    I had never heard of a sub-genre called Dystopia until now. Thanks for enlightening me.
  • singlemaltdram Jul 22, 2011 @ 7:50 am | delete
    great, thought provoking lens! Lovely stuff!
  • pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Jul 17, 2011 @ 9:07 pm | delete
    How about Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut? That one's also awesome and freaking hilarious satire. But, great list, although, I would say cut the Stephen King/Richard Bachman crap.
  • SeanVernall May 29, 2011 @ 8:03 am | delete
    great list.. Handmaid's Tale is an absolute must for anyone...
  • athomemomblog May 1, 2011 @ 9:49 am | delete
    Good list, but there are some excellent newer books, as well. My favorite is the Hunger Games series, which is being made into a movie right now. Also, there is a new trilogy coming out (Wither is the first book) called Chemical Garden, which is about a world where a virus kills men by age 25 and women at 20.
  • cuteordeath Apr 22, 2011 @ 3:11 pm | delete
    I keep meaning to read the Handmaid's Tale. Great list!
  • Monteath Mar 28, 2011 @ 3:29 pm | delete
    Thanks for the recommendation, Tom. This page was created before 2009, so that helps explain why "Chaos Walking" isn't mentioned yet. I'll have to give that a look. Appreciate the kind words and reading suggestion...however by suggesting we missed something, you are questioning our authority and it certainly must be in the best interest of the state to bring you in for brainwash---I mean counseling. Yes, counseling. That's the ticket.
  • Tom Mar 28, 2011 @ 1:35 pm | delete
    great list, but you could have included the 2009 book series "Chaos Walking". They are books for "young adults" but are amazing and i have many adult friends who also love them and i recommended them to my 65 year old father and he liked them so much he read the whole series in 5 days!

    P.S. do we really get sent to "re-education camp" if we say something bad about Big Brother. My work colleague (can't remember his name) just dreamt about a new leader taking over and was, vaporised. Don't tell anyone i said that.
  • Pamela Eliowitz Mar 16, 2011 @ 1:19 pm | delete
    Truly a one of the best in "Digital Vagabond Writing!" Thank you so much for taking the time to lay it out so eloquently! I saved the site on my RSS feeds to keep up-to-date with any new ensights that come down the pike. Amazingly arousing the interest of my reading selections.

    Sincerely,
    Pamela Eliowitz
    a.k.a. the "Viralnurse"
  • LabKitty Mar 13, 2011 @ 2:55 pm | delete
    The dystopian western: Blood Meridian.
  • axiomsedge Mar 3, 2011 @ 9:22 am | delete
    Just wanted to let you know that your page has been included in our list of Squidoo Sci Fi/Fantasy Lenses over at A Lens on Sci Fi (www.squidoo.com/a-lens-on-sci-fi). Go there to vote for your lens and to submit others that genre fans will like.
  • ---Chazz Feb 24, 2011 @ 6:34 pm | delete
    Great lens! Each and every book worth spending time with - as are some of the films based on them.
  • raosrinivas Jan 21, 2011 @ 9:04 am | delete
    Beautiful selection of novels presented in the lens. Thanks for sharing.
  • budgetgeek Nov 25, 2010 @ 2:41 am | delete
    Thank you for sharing this post. i especially love 1984 and anything written by Aldous Huxley
  • lasertek Nov 24, 2010 @ 5:53 pm | delete
    Interesting lens topic! I have learned much today.
  • JackBandit Nov 23, 2010 @ 5:26 pm | delete
    Cool lens! It was fun to participate in the "LOTF" debate/duel.
  • skiesgreen Nov 21, 2010 @ 8:03 pm | delete
    Not my favorite genre but congrats on LOTD.; Now featured on Squidoo LOTD lenses.
  • Peter.Murray Nov 20, 2010 @ 3:55 pm | delete
    I saw V for Vendetta the other night - an interesting movie.
  • ikewinski Nov 19, 2010 @ 2:04 pm | delete
    I'm glad to see John Brunner's "The Sheep Look Up" listed here. I read it shortly after I moved to Boulder Colorado (it is mostly set in the greater Denver area). It depicts a dystopia where the environment is so severely degraded that people need gas masks and other special protective clothing (protection from acid rain) to go outside. This novel may have been the inspiration for early "direct action" environmental groups.

    Also a note on the word 'utopia': it's literal meaning is "nowhere". So there's something a little redundant about the phrase "false utopia". All utopias are, by their etymological nature, false.
  • JeffreyTymczak Nov 19, 2010 @ 10:50 am | delete
    Thank You for the very informative lens! I loved it! I rated it up and joined your fan club, hope to see you in my fan club too! Great Job!!!

    Jeff
  • windygig Nov 19, 2010 @ 8:59 am | delete
    Rats.. Thought I was wearing my invisibility cloak. Great lens.
  • dannystaple Nov 19, 2010 @ 1:32 am | delete
    Absolutely brilliant. I do enjoy the dystopia's, and I'd throughly recommend reading Sir Thomas More's Utopia to see where the ideas of the fallen utopia comes from. Also - don't forget Gulliver's travels, where he see's many variations of a dystopia.
  • Heather426 Nov 18, 2010 @ 5:43 pm | delete
    LOL. Big Brother is watching us via gogle now:) A great list of dystopian novels.I've read a lot of them, but you gave me a couple of new ones. Congrats on LOTD!
  • rms Nov 18, 2010 @ 4:35 pm | delete
    Congrats on LotD!
  • prosperity66 Nov 18, 2010 @ 4:32 pm | delete
    Congratulations on your LOTD!
  • costinget Nov 18, 2010 @ 4:08 pm | delete
    Great lens for LoTD! Congrats!
  • nightbear Nov 18, 2010 @ 3:33 pm | delete
    Wow! What an education I received here. Great lens, I am proud to say I have actually read a couple of these books. Very impressive body of work.
  • SofiaMann Nov 18, 2010 @ 2:54 pm | delete
    Thanks for the recommendations. Congratulations on LOTD.
  • Hairdresser007 Nov 18, 2010 @ 2:22 pm | delete
    Down with Big Brother!! HAHA. I love all of these books. Is there something wrong with me? I always sort of like the 'bad' societies. But I love when they get broken down too. It is sort of like the monster (Frankenstein) thing I guess. Great lens and congrats on the lens of the day!
  • dryder Nov 18, 2010 @ 2:14 pm | delete
    Excellent Lens and Congrats on LOTD!
  • DebMartin Nov 18, 2010 @ 1:06 pm | delete
    What an interesting lens. And thanks for the new reading list.
  • DaveStone13 Nov 18, 2010 @ 1:06 pm | delete
    Great choice of writers. This isn't my favorite genre, but this material made me think of giving at least some of it a try. Thanks.
  • raphaelo Nov 18, 2010 @ 12:21 pm | delete
    Congratulations on your LoTD :)
  • stargazer00 Nov 18, 2010 @ 12:14 pm | delete
    Congratulations on LOTD!
  • jptanabe Nov 18, 2010 @ 12:00 pm | delete
    Love your selection of dystopian books! Great job and congrats on your well deserved LotD!
  • The_Idea_Gal Nov 18, 2010 @ 11:59 am | delete
    Great novels to go back and revisit in these modern time we live in. Congrats on such a unique LoTD idea!!!
  • PeterAlcivar Nov 18, 2010 @ 11:41 am | delete
    I'm surprised the Bible isn't even listed.
  • Kyecerulian Nov 18, 2010 @ 10:41 am | delete
    Congrats on Lens of the day! I love reading dystopian novels and this gave me a few ideas that hadn't yet made my reading list. Thanks!
  • Gurudoo Nov 18, 2010 @ 10:12 am | delete
    Excellent work. I love the works of John Wyndham I bought a copy of the Day of the Triffids when I was 11 how sad is that? Well done.
  • JudyGoldsberry Nov 18, 2010 @ 9:33 am | delete
    Fine piece of work, there is definitely a lot going on behind the scenes. I am still digesting the whole landing on the moon event.
  • Pastiche Nov 18, 2010 @ 9:01 am | delete
    I've read about half, and now with your helpful list I can find more great reads for the winter months. Cool LOTD.
  • Nov 18, 2010 @ 8:40 am | delete
    I love your lens, great job!!!
  • WordCustard Nov 18, 2010 @ 8:22 am | delete
    Some great recommendations here, some I've read and some to discover. Congratulations on your LoTD!
  • jenms Nov 18, 2010 @ 8:03 am | delete
    This is a great literary lens for LOTD! I would suggest The Giver and A Clockwork Orange as part of the top list, and you might add The Hunger Games Trilogy to the list of Dystopian novels. I enjoyed quite a few of these, but there are also quite a few intriguing titles that I have not read and will need to add to the insurmountable to-be-read list. Favorited!
  • Debs Nov 18, 2010 @ 6:11 am | delete
    congratulations on making LOTD - well deserved for such a well researched and presented lens!
  • AHERMITT Nov 18, 2010 @ 5:47 am | delete
    You have some great picks there... I have seen several of the movies and read a couple of the books. They all freaked me out sufficiently.
  • Parleo Nov 18, 2010 @ 5:25 am | delete
    Nice solid list. I am going to give The Iron Heel a try. I remember Lord of The Flies from school. Weird book to let children read I think.
  • SEOtoppage Nov 18, 2010 @ 5:16 am | delete
    well done, great article
  • _Joan_ Nov 18, 2010 @ 2:54 am | delete
    So many books, so little time! Congratulations on a well-deserved LOTD.
  • Mujjen Nov 18, 2010 @ 2:32 am | delete
    Really nice lens, about great books!
  • WeddingZazzle Nov 18, 2010 @ 1:20 am | delete
    Congrats on you LOTD!!
  • Monteath Nov 18, 2010 @ 1:04 am | delete
    Wow, thanks everyone! I go on vacation and the moment my back is turned one of my three favorite lenses I've made gets LOTD (that's 2/3!). Maybe I should go on vacation more often, lol!
  • onlinebusiness101 Nov 18, 2010 @ 12:46 am | delete
    This stuff is cool. Congrats on LOTD!
  • Jerry_David Nov 18, 2010 @ 12:00 am | delete
    congrats for the glorious Lotd!!
  • TheSquidKing Nov 17, 2010 @ 11:19 pm | delete
    Thank you. This should be LOTM (Lens of the Month)
  • pboimare Nov 17, 2010 @ 10:34 pm | delete
    Really cool idea for a lens. Fahrenheit and 1984 were some of my favorite stories growing up and great examples of dystopian novels, Good job! More pics would be nice though...
  • awelldressedbullet Nov 17, 2010 @ 10:11 pm | delete
    Congratulations on your Lens of the Day! - Kathy
  • ZablonMukuba Nov 17, 2010 @ 9:34 pm | delete
    i loved the book 1984, it resonated well with me
  • kt_glasses Nov 17, 2010 @ 9:33 pm | delete
    cool lens here! welll done.
  • SereneSea Nov 17, 2010 @ 9:17 pm | delete
    Great collection of books on science and fiction.
    Congrats on LOTD
  • eccles1 Nov 17, 2010 @ 9:08 pm | delete
    V for Vendetta is another movie with a big message
  • BuildingBlockToys Nov 17, 2010 @ 9:03 pm | delete
    Great lens. Congrats on winning LoTD!
  • arncyn Nov 17, 2010 @ 8:46 pm | delete
    Lord of the Flies and 1984 are the first dystopian books I ever read (they were required reading back in high school) and they really shook me up. Can't say I enjoy reading them but my husband will love this list as this is his favorite genre in fiction. I love how you passionately talk about each book, I might just be convinced to give some of these titles another chance. Congrats on LotD ~Blessed~a
  • Marelisa Nov 17, 2010 @ 8:17 pm | delete
    "The Handmaid's Tale" is one of the my favorite books. I'm featuring this lens on my NaNoWriMo lens. I really enjoyed reading this.
  • Karyn Nov 17, 2010 @ 7:41 pm | delete
    The Hunger Games Trilogy was a great YA dystopian read.
  • charlino Nov 17, 2010 @ 7:40 pm | delete
    Wonderfully informative.
  • 2muchtrash Nov 17, 2010 @ 7:40 pm | delete
    I know nothing about dystopian books, but where you wrote uptoias in the first paragraph of your intro, should that read utopias? Lord of the Flies is a book I always intended to read, but never got around to it. Perhaps soon!
  • newbizmau Nov 17, 2010 @ 6:59 pm | delete
    Learned something new here. Congrats on LOTD!
  • blujeanmomma Nov 17, 2010 @ 6:39 pm | delete
    I can't believe how many of the books (or as movies) that I read/seen but was not familiar with the term Dystopian. It's one of my favorite genre's.
    Now it is the pink or the white pills today?
  • jaktraks Nov 17, 2010 @ 6:36 pm | delete
    Love the lens. There's a couple I think I will re-read.
  • happynutritionist Nov 17, 2010 @ 6:27 pm | delete
    Oh my, I'm a little afraid to write after reading the rules for leaving feedback...uhhhh...hmmmm...is it okay to say that I've heard the word "dystopian" before, and it was interesting to learn what it meant??? Congrats on receiving LOTD:-) Have a nice Thanksgiving.
  • iyashiwand Nov 17, 2010 @ 6:12 pm | delete
    I have little pink post-it notes all over my house to remind me to take my little pink pills...I love your site. I knew about this genre of books but I didn't know what they were called. Thanks for the education.
  • GabrielaFargasch Nov 17, 2010 @ 5:35 pm | delete
    You have made me want to read them all......... Very interesting stuff!
  • nightcats Nov 17, 2010 @ 5:23 pm | delete
    I'm off to find Running Man at the library. I'm not usually a Stephen King fan but your review convinced me to check this one out.
  • d-artist Nov 17, 2010 @ 4:33 pm | delete
    Congratulations on LOTD! Interesting subject and lens...
  • AdriennePetersen Nov 17, 2010 @ 4:02 pm | delete
    Loved this lens, congrats on LOTD!
  • JenOfChicago Nov 17, 2010 @ 3:51 pm | delete
    Great list, you have a few of my favorites on there!
  • KimGiancaterino Nov 17, 2010 @ 3:45 pm | delete
    Excellent list. I've read many of these books and saw the movie "The Running Man." You've inspired me to read the book. I always prefer Stephen King's books to the movie versions. Congratulations on LOTD!
  • DinosaurEgg Nov 17, 2010 @ 3:17 pm | delete
    Brilliant. Some superb books on there. And a couple I haven't read but probably should.
  • darciefrench Nov 17, 2010 @ 2:51 pm | delete
    Congrats on your lotd for this dystopic lens, and thanks for writing about an under spoken genre of books and novels.
  • spirituality Nov 17, 2010 @ 2:39 pm | delete
    BTW - shouldn't that be 'Utopian' in the introduction? I think that's a spelling mistake what you have there...
  • eleni15 Nov 17, 2010 @ 2:37 pm | delete
    I love V for Vendetta!!!
  • spirituality Nov 17, 2010 @ 2:33 pm | delete
    Wow, great lens - will be featuring this on my 'English as a second language' lens, as I learned a new word today. Dystopian novel :)
  • Airinka Nov 17, 2010 @ 2:28 pm | delete
    congratulations on lotd
  • ClinicallySignificantProductions Nov 17, 2010 @ 2:17 pm | delete
    Great lens..and I'm not just saying that because Big Brother is watching! Glad to see my favorite book, Brave New World gets its rightful place at the top. I haven't read it in years so time to dust it off and read it again! Nice work and congrats on LotD!
  • Senora_M Nov 17, 2010 @ 2:08 pm | delete
    Cool lens. Congrats on the LotD!
  • Jkak Nov 17, 2010 @ 1:53 pm | delete
    The Dispossessed by ursula k. le guin
  • modz Nov 17, 2010 @ 1:44 pm | delete
    Congratulations on LOTD!
  • SquidooKimberly Nov 17, 2010 @ 1:37 pm | delete
    Congrats on your LOTD! I wasn't even aware of this term to define literature. Thanks for the great picks!
  • LucyClaire Oct 29, 2010 @ 8:06 am | delete
    I like V for Vendetta it's one of the best dystopian films. Would Catch 22 count?
  • KiwiGayle Oct 26, 2010 @ 12:49 am | delete
    Along with Snow Crash I'd add some of Clive Barker's novels to the list. Enjoyable lens. Please don't send me to a re-education camp. I will follow orders......
  • LabKitty Sep 30, 2010 @ 4:31 pm | delete
    How about Snow Crash? Too silly? How could Mafia pizza delivery be silly?
  • JeremyCrow Sep 26, 2010 @ 7:53 pm | delete
    I'm a huge dystopian fiction fan. Great lens!
  • Aaron Tremper Aug 27, 2010 @ 2:43 pm | delete
    What about A Clockwork Orange?!
  • Rket90 Aug 25, 2010 @ 5:31 pm | delete
    its surprising to me that 'One' by David karp never makes it onto any of these lists! great book!!
  • Lala Jul 31, 2010 @ 6:22 pm | delete
    any dystopian books list without octavia butler was made by people that don't read as much as they think they do..
  • lostinfiction Dec 15, 2009 @ 8:36 am | delete
    ooh this is a fabulous topic for a lens!! Definitely also agree with the comments below about A Clockwork Orange. It deserves a place here. Btw have you looked up any of these books on the Infloox site? I daresay you'd find a wealth of similar books there who influenced these authors directly..
  • science_fiction_novels_cyberpunk Nov 2, 2009 @ 3:13 pm | delete
    I believe we like dystopian worlds because we fear these scenarios and we are fascinated by them at the same time... I tried to build up a dystopian world too. Excellent lens, 5!
  • Janelle Aug 18, 2009 @ 12:18 pm | delete
    I agree with A Clockwork Orange...and what about Cat's Cradle, just because it is a "lighter", more comedic dystopia...it doesn't lessen its literary value.
  • Good but..... Aug 9, 2009 @ 1:20 pm | delete
    .......

    what about books like a clockwork orange? such brilliance needs a say in this category, oh my brothers.
  • alberttwolf Jun 17, 2009 @ 8:08 am | delete
    Nice lens.
    I strongly agree with 'Brave new world' being #1, it's a really good one.
    The movie 'Children of men' didn't impress me that much, but I haven't read the book yet. Hopefully one day I'll pick it up as well as Neuromancer. This W. Gibson's book is legendary in some circles, but for some reason I haven't got around to read it yet.
    I also found some other books in the list, that seem to be worth checking out.
  • California_Dreamin Mar 20, 2009 @ 11:19 am | delete
    Great lens: 5 stars and favorited, but I'm surprised that you didn't feature Yevgeny Zamyatin's "We", though you did include in the master list. As far as I know "We" is the first Dystopian novel. At any rate, it was obviously a model for both "Brave New World" and "1984". If you're interested, the ISBN-10 of a wonderful new translation of the book is 081297462X.
  • Steve Nov 6, 2008 @ 5:18 pm | delete
    How about The Road by Cormac McCarthy? Great book with a movie version soon to be released.
  • superpanda Mar 11, 2008 @ 8:04 pm | delete
    Nice lens. I didn't even know dystopia was a word, much less a genre of books, hehe. I've read about half the books on the list, and they all scared me, haha :P Not to say I didn't like them, but they were freaky

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Monteath

Hey all. I was previously in Austin, Texas, as well as Fairbanks, Alaska, and now proudly live as a digital vagabond writer. The picture is from Alaska,... more »

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