The Complete List of Dystopia Novels

As a lover of dystopia novels, I decided to compile a complete list of all dystopia novels. After several weeks, I realized that the list might never be complete as there is always one more book out there hiding in the back corner of a dimly lit bookshop or a new book just being born, hot off the printing press. So my goal is always a work in progress but I now have a nice start that will keep even the most avid reader busy for a while.

First of all, to clarify: what is a dystopia? If you found this article, you may already know but in the event that you don’t, a dystopia is simply the opposite of a utopia. A utopia which we hear about far more often is a perfect world where everything is great. A dystopia is just the opposite: in a dystopia, everything is bad as it can be and it’s only going to get worse.

Why my fascination with dystopia novels? It began as a young teenager though I didn’t even know the name for it then; I just knew that there were certain books I loved and they often seemed to have a corresponding underlying theme. It was, of course, the dystopia novel. As for why I loved them so much, it took many more years to figure that out but I finally did. It wasn’t, despite how it might appear at first, merely because I was morbid or a pessimist. I may well be those things too but my love for dystopia novels is about something else.

We live in a strange disconnected world where we are bombarded with conflicting information from all sources. Chances are most of us have more worries and fears than we should. When I read dystopia novels, I realized I wasn’t alone with those fears. I saw how someone dealt with those fears and addressed them. The novels also taught me prudence and the value of considering the consequence of your actions and the importance of behaving as responsible stewards for our planet. Not to mention… it’s just usually a damn good story!

When fears can be addressed and given form and shape through the written word, they cease to be so nebulous and it becomes easier to look for answers and not feel so overwhelmed or alone.

Thus I remain a champion of dystopia novels everywhere and submit the following list for your own enjoyment so you may hunt down the ones you have missed!

1984 by George Orwell
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Giver by Lois Lowry
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
After by Francine Prose
Fast Eddie, King of the Bees by Robert Arellano
The Running Man by Stephen King as Richard Bachman
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick
324: A Novel by Thomas Disch
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro.
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Utopia X by Scott Wilson
The Goodness Gene by Sonia Levitin
The Postman by David Brin
The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner
The World Inside by Robert Silverberg
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
Kallocain by Karin Boye
Dystopia: Collected Stories by Richard Christian Matheson
In the Country of Last Things by Paul Astuer
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov.
Children of Men by P.D James
The Stand by Stephen King
Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut
A Wind from Bukhara, also published under the title Arslan by M.J. Engh
China Mountain Zhang by M.J. Engh
Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham