This week’s edition of Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday talks about the best dystopian books. I’ve always had a general idea of what dystopian is, but that wasn’t good enough. What if I left books off the list that should have been on, or included ones that didn’t belong there because my understanding was lacking. So I looked it up, and here’s what I learned.
Dystopian is the opposite of Utopian. Should have been painfully obvious, but never occurred to me.
Great, but still didn’t feel all that clear.
As bad as can be; characterized by human misery.
Okay! This I can work with. Wait. Does that mean the world we live in is closer to being a dystopia than a utopia…….
The Warehouse
by Rob Hart
This is one of my most recent reads (just posted a review on it today!) and it blew me away. Hard to say if it’s dystopian by the classic definition, but there’s definitely a butt-load of human suffering in The Warehouse world.
Wool
by Hugh Howey
In the world of Wool, everyone lives in massive underground silos and they’re all lied to about the real state of the world. This actually started as a short story and people who read it liked it so much they demanded more of the story.
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
Most of the world is dead. How much more miserable could that possibly be? Except in Station Eleven people are able to find happiness in one form or another, in a world completely different from the one they were born in.
Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
Certainly not the first, but it seems to me that The Hunger Games trilogy is the ultimate example of a dystopian novel.
Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
I think the most interesting thing about this book is how close our world is to this one. Sure, our firemen still fight fires instead of creating them, but we’re surrounded by screens at all times, and it seems like there are less and less readers all the time.
Great list! I’ve only read the Hunger Games.
Haha I haven’t retired RPO so it made my list today 😀 And Hunger Games!
I wouldn’t judge you for putting Ready Player One and Red Rising on all the Top 5 Tuesday posts. I haven’t read Wool and The Warehouse, but I want to.
The Warehouse….. never heard of it but I think I need to know more!!
I see Station Eleven being read in my near future. It showing up on lists for this prompt is definitely convincing me it’s a good choice!
Great list. I’ve only read The Hunger Games but I’m so keen to read Station Eleven!
OMG this reminded me of a shameful confession… I’ve owned a copy of the Wool trilogy for years and never read it!! 😓