Top 10 Dystopian Novels

 Absolute at Large — I picked this one up at random and could not put it down. It is a tale of unintended consequences. What you think should solve every problem can sometimes be a downfall in disguise.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick is the hands down master of dystopia. Blade Runner is based of this novel, but it really only took some of the plot, a couple of characters, and the overall feel of it. Mercer, and his endless battle with rocks is missing, as well as serious questioning of religion and consumerism are all missing. As much as I love the movie, the book is even better.

The Stand — Stephen King’s opus about a bio-engineered flu that wipes out 90% of the US population and divides the rest into two camps, one centered on Las Vegas (the evil ones) and one in Boulder, CO (the good ones). None of the filmed adaptations seem to be able to get it all of the way through, but the book is massive and enthralling.

The Road — Cormac McCarthy is probably my favorite author, but not for The Road which I did like, but it seemed too similar to The Stand. Still is an excellent work. Very bleak and depressing and full of loss.

Never Let Me Go — A future world where wealthy people extend their lives by harvesting organs from clones. The catch is that the clones do not know they are clones. This one brings up all kinds of questions about what it means to be human.

The Handmaid’s Tale — When I first read this, I thought there was no way that happens to America. We would never divide like that right? Years later and it is so much closer to reality then I could even fear. A big hand to Margaret Atwood who has to be the most versatile of all modern writers right? No two of her stories seem to have any similarity. Plus she can write men and women equally well.

Brave New World — I read this and 1984 about the same time in my life and I felt that it captured a future where we all dumbed ourselves down with television and drugs very well indeed. Plus the savage was a much beter lead character than Winston right?

1984 — Speaking of which. 1984 nails super-power politics and what it means to be a meaningless clog in the machine, but darn I hate Winston who is too weak to even do a proper rebellion.

Children of Men — A future world where humanity has gone infertile. Very dreary in a way that it shows what it could be like when we are all staring the end in the face and can only go with it because there is no alternative and no future, … or is there?

Ubik — Another Philip K. Dick novel. What is life? What is death? Would we know if we are alive? Can we trust corporations to do the right thing (no apparently)? Dick’s novels are heavy in that way, but probably the most enjoyable to read of them all.