Below I’ll give you my selections for the best Dystopian books by a few categories. I will cover these and other great books more in depth later.
- Animal Farm (Modern Classics) (1951)
- Oryx and Crake (2004)
- Zombie Diaries Homecoming Junior Year: The Mavis Saga (2017)
- Ready Player One (2011)
- Black Virus: An Apocalyptic Thriller (Black Rust) (Volume 1) (2016)
- The Amplified (Volume 1) (2016)
- Configured: Book #1 in The Configured Trilogy (Volume 1) (2016)
- Surviving The Evacuation Book 2: Wasteland (Volume 2) (2014)
- The Wretched: Book 1 of The Wretched Series (2019)
- The Gender Game (Volume 1) (2016)
- The Watchers of Eden (The Watchers of Eden Trilogy, Book 1) (Volume 1) (2015)
- Turbulent: A Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (Days of Want Series Book 1) (2019)
- American Exodus: A Post Apocalyptic Journey (Catalyst) (2018)
- The Handmaid’s Tale (1998)
- The Last Woman 2 (2018)
Animal Farm (Modern Classics) (1951)
A stunning hardback edition of the classic novel. is one of the most famous warnings ever written. Orwell’s immortal satire — ‘against Stalin’ as he wrote to his French translator — can be read on many levels. With its piercing clarity and deceptively simple style it is no surprise that this novel is required reading for schoolchildren and politicians alike.
Oryx and Crake (2004)
Pigs might not fly but they are strangely altered. So, for that matter, are wolves and racoons. A man, once named Jimmy, lives in a tree, wrapped in old bedsheets, now calls himself Snowman. The voice of Oryx, the woman he loved, teasingly haunts him. And the green-eyed Children of Crake are, for some reason, his responsibility. ‘In Jimmy, Atwood has created a great character: a tragic-comic artist of the future, part buffoon, part Orpheus.
Zombie Diaries Homecoming Junior Year: The Mavis Saga (2017)
While most high school juniors are worried about acne, grades, and dating, Mavis Harvey has a host of issues to deal with, like her appetite for human flesh. Don’t worry, the bullies won’t get far.
Ready Player One (2011)
It’s the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We’re out of oil. We’ve wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
Black Virus: An Apocalyptic Thriller (Black Rust) (Volume 1) (2016)
Alienated in a world where he didn’t fit, young Christian Black survived because he was “different.” Then the virus came and made the world turn different, too—with new rules, new players, and new realities. Now people are dying by the million. Food supplies are short. Riots are blazing through the streets, and Christian’s only goal is to keep his family alive. But safety lies far from the city, and just getting out will be more difficult than anyone thinks.
The Amplified (Volume 1) (2016)
15-year-old Mari Quillen is about to become invincible. Just like everyone else. For years, Mari has been anxiously awaiting the day when she will receive her Amplifier; a small device implanted behind the ear that gives someone limitless capabilities through verbal commands.
Configured: Book #1 in The Configured Trilogy (Volume 1) (2016)
There will come a day when love will mark you as a traitor. In a society where emotions are nothing and function is everything, Avlyn Lark is just trying to blend in. She’s lucky to be alive, unlike her twin brother Ben who died when they were four. And she’s lucky to have been taken from her biological parents and assigned to a Level Two family. But mastering her emotions?
Surviving The Evacuation Book 2: Wasteland (Volume 2) (2014)
Billions died during the global civil war that followed the outbreak. Anarchy took grip. Chaos ruled. The world collapsed. In Britain, the evacuation failed. Nowhere is safe from the undead. Three months after the outbreak, Bill Wright has found safety in a ruined Abbey in southern England, but he is still alone.
The Wretched: Book 1 of The Wretched Series (2019)
Early fall. A top-secret research project goes terribly wrong. A new species, the Reapers, are unleashed onto the unsuspecting citizens of Philadelphia and soon the rest of the country. The Reapers are stronger, faster, and have no mercy for any humans who have the misfortune of crossing their paths.Philadelphia Cop Malcolm Foster quickly discovers a routine disturbance call is anything but ordinary.
The Gender Game (Volume 1) (2016)
For fans of The Hunger Games and Divergentcomes a story like no otherA toxic river divides nineteen-year-old Violet Bates's world by gender.Women rule the East. Men rule the West. Ever since the disappearance of her beloved younger brother, Violet's life has been consumed by an anger she struggles to control. Already a prisoner to her own nation, now she has been sentenced to death for her crimes.But one decision could save her life.
The Watchers of Eden (The Watchers of Eden Trilogy, Book 1) (Volume 1) (2015)
Her gift is her curse. Her world is her prison. Her fate is bigger than she knows. In the hot and harsh farming region of Agricola, Cyra Drayton prepares to be tested. Along with all 16 year olds, she’s about to discover what duty she’ll hold for life. For most, their paths are set – they’ll follow in their parents’ footsteps. For Cyra, however, the little world she knows is about to become a whole lot bigger. Because Cyra isn’t just a normal girl.
Turbulent: A Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (Days of Want Series Book 1) (2019)
How would you get home?When coordinated EMP and Cyber attacks wipe out the nation’s power grid, communications and transportation systems, ultra marathon runner, Maddie Langston is forced to run for her life. Stranded in a Chicago airport when the lights go out, Maddie is in a race against time. According to her father, she doesn’t have long before the city descends into chaos. She must leave the airport before it is too late.
American Exodus: A Post Apocalyptic Journey (Catalyst) (2018)
. Steven Porter had a mostly charmed life, one that most people would envy,that is, until it all vanished. He was away from home on the day his world changed forever. How far does the devastation reach – the whole country, the world? Millions of people are fleeing the cities trying to find safety. Steve finds himself as one of those lost souls wandering the highways. Each step forward is fraught with peril.
The Handmaid’s Tale (1998)
In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian future, environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War. The result is the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead’s commanders.
The Last Woman 2 (2018)
With no desire to live in a world void of all human life, Faye sets a goal of making it home to die. Then she encounters Dodge and two young boys, who ignite a spark long lost in her: the will to live. Following radio calls, they discover they are not alone and decide to join a growing camp of survivors. But another discovery threatens their new-found safety and the rules begin to change.
Best Dystopian Books You Should Enjoy
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some dystopian books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Dystopian Depictions of Serbia in British Travel Literature
Author(s): Dimitrios Kassis
ID: 3193983, Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Year: 2022, Size: 2 Mb, Format: pdf
The Palgrave Handbook of Utopian and Dystopian Literatures
Author(s): Peter Marks (editor), Jennifer A. Wagner-Lawlor (editor), Fátima Vieira (editor)
ID: 3235739, Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, Year: 2022, Size: 9 Mb, Format: pdf
COVID-19: A Dystopian Delusion: Examining the Machinations of Governments, Health Organizations, the Globalist Elites, Big Pharma, Big Tech, and the Legacy Media
Author(s): Scott Ventureyra PhD, Enrique C. G. Ventureyra, Phil Fernandes, Valérie A. G. Ventureyra, Martina J. Speck, Travis Louisseize, Scott D. G. Ventureyra
ID: 3309010, Publisher: True Freedom Press, Year: 2022, Size: 4 Mb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not final. Some books are truly hot items according to The New York Times, others are written by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.