While no one knows for sure what will happen when societies around the world crumble, here is a list of the best dystopian book series to give you some ideas.
The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in Prentisstown, a settlement on an alien planet, where the entire population is made up of males only. They can hear each other’s unfiltered thoughts; every man is a living breathing walking chaos – noises are all around. Approaching his 13th birthday, he stumbles upon an area of complete silence in a swamp. The much desired silence apparently comes from a girl whose thoughts are private. In a world like that such a silence could start a war. The Chaos Walking series consists of three books: The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men.
The Sunset Warrior Cycle by Eric Van Lustbader
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in Prentisstown, a settlement on an alien planet, where the entire population is made up of males only. They can hear each other’s unfiltered thoughts; every man is a living breathing walking chaos – noises are all around. Approaching his 13th birthday, he stumbles upon an area of complete silence in a swamp. The much desired silence apparently comes from a girl whose thoughts are private. In a world like that such a silence could start a war. The Chaos Walking series consists of three books: The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men.
The Winterlong Trilogy by Elizabeth Hand
Wendy and her brother Raphael are finally reunited. They must now work together in the face of a menacing force that puts their world in grave danger. Their journey will eventually lead them to Araboth, which is again on the brink of an apocalypse. It will take a resurrection from a special warrior to prevent more destruction to the land. War is a certainty, prompting Wendy to join forces with the rebels. The series starts with Winterlong, followed by Aestival Tide, and the story concludes in Icarus Descending.
Fault Lines Trilogy by Tim Powers
Los Angeles comes in two sections: one part is the urban fantasy and the other is a strange spooky supernatural realm. The latter is a comfortable dwelling of ghost hunters as they yearn to capture souls, spirits, and memories. When Koot Parganas runs away from home, he enters this otherworldly territory of LA. Now the ghost hunters are craving for his essence of life. His adventure is depicted in the first book of the Fault Lines loose trilogy, Last Call. The second book, Expiration Date, tells a stand-alone story vaguely connected to the first one. The third book, Earthquake Weather, is a prequel to the two.
Helliconia Trilogy by Brian W. Aldiss
Planet Helliconia is inhabited by test subjects of a grand-scale science experiment. Every season is meant to last six centuries, several generations will never see the season change at all. As the planet approaches spring after a seemingly endless winter, the Helliconians still have not realized that their world and living conditions are mere variables in a study of climate change. The series takes off with Helliconia Spring, continues in Helliconia Summer, and wraps-up in Helliconia Winter.
Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield
Book 1 of 3 in the Aftertime series tells the story of Cass Dollar, who has just recently discovered her daughter is nowhere to be found. The California she once knew also no longer exists, only a ravaged city full of cannibals. As it turns out, a government experiment had gone horribly wrong and turned people into zombies with insatiable hunger for human flesh. Cass herself doesn’t how she is still uninfected. Her secret makes her a valuable target. The series includes Aftertime, Rebirth, and Horizon.
Towers Trilogy by Karina Sumner Smith
In the City, where every single person is a magic practitioner, Xhea is the sole exception. She is born without the power, making her an outcast. What she lacks in witchcraft, she makes up for in the ability to communicate with the spiritual world. In an instance of such a communication, she comes across another girl named Shai. As their friendship grows, they found themselves in conflict against the City’s most powerful and dangerous magicians. Their stories are told in a three-book series comprised of Radiant, Defiant, and Towers Fall.
Memory Boy by Will Weaver
Mount Rainier, the highest active volcano in Washington, erupts and buries the entire country in ash. Resource scarcity in the aftermath of the natural disaster forces society to resort to violence. Miles Newell, a teenager with a MacGyver-like talent, has what he thinks is a good plan to take his family to an isolated cabin. As soon as they leave home in Minneapolis, the roads to the cabin grow even more chaotic by the mile. The Memory Boy series comes in two books: Memory Boy and The Survivors.
Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts
Earthquakes destroy the planet, create countless cracks on the ground, and open the pathways for the evil deep down to surface. The evil makes its way to penetrate human minds, turning people into heartless yet effective killer drones. Four teenagers take separate paths to different destinations but their fates will intertwine through a common history and goal. They want to forget about the past and survive, while trying to fend off the murderous evil within. Dark Inside series is comprised of three books: Dark Inside, Rage Within, and Fury Rising.
Lawless Saga by Tarah Benner
There are four books in the Lawless Saga, including Lawless, Lifeless, Ruthless, and Dauntless. In the first title of the series, the story follows Lark, an inmate serving time at a women’s correctional facility. Her life during the incarceration is filled with nothing but brutality. Her only consolation comes from the letters sent by an anonymous person in the men’s colony. One letter describes how the civilization outside the fence is crumbling. A big hope crosses her mind: if the world outside the prison walls is about to collapse, there might be a chance to escape her confinement. A chilling tale of survival begins here.
The Low Lying Lands by Bob Williams
A catastrophe known as “The Descent” has turned the majority of the US population into killing machines. An army of Freaks now takes control of the nation under the command of Chaos. Somewhere in the ravaged streets and buildings, Prescott is looking for his sister. When he finally finds her, the shocking reality forces him to run to Nashville where the landscape is just as depressing as in any other city. A dystopian horror series, The Low Lying Lands is wrapped in two books: Music City Macabre and Arch City Apocalypse.
Have you ever wanted to be the despised leader in a dystopian world? I mean, not everybody wants to be one of the rebels, right? As long a you maintain control in your world you can be as ruthless and self-serving as you want. Hmm…sound like politics. Let us know what your thoughts are about this. We’d love to hear from you.
Other things you might want to know about.
1. What are the most popular dystopian novels aimed at adults?
https://www.readbrightly.com/the-best-dystopian-novels-for-adults/ gives us this list:
- The Road. by Cormac McCarthy.
- Station Eleven. by Emily St.
- The Passage. by Justin Cronin.
- The Handmaid’s Tale. by Margaret Atwood.
- On the Beach. by Nevil Shute.
- The Stand. by Stephen King.
- The Giver. by Lois Lowry
2. What is the most famous dystopian text?
George Orwell’s 1984 is probably the best known dystopian novel of all time, though in another hundred years The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins might be the one everybody is still talking about.
3. Why are there no more dystopian novels?
Because the traditional publishers say so. If Hollywood isn’t making the big bucks on every dystopian movie or show that comes out, then that genre will fade away for a while. If Hollywood isn’t in the market for dystopian intellectual property, well, the trad publishers won’t be publishing it. They’ll tell you society is ready for more positive uplifting stories, but in reality, they try to publish only what sells.
