I have a problem.
I need to confess to an addiction.
It’s not drugs, or alcohol, or chocolate, it’s books… a certain kind of book to be more specific.
I am addicted to dystopian fiction.
This post contains affiliate links to help me pay for my addiction!
“dystopia” : An imaginary place or condition in which everything is as bad as possible; opposite of utopia.
– Oxford English Dictionary
I know dystopian fiction sounds kinda depressing, but it’s not, well not all the time, and I just can’t get enough!
I can’t even remember when it started, sometime way back in my youth.
I remember stealing my brother’s copy of Lord of the Flies
on TV and loving every second I was scared out of my mind!
As a 20 something I devoured Margret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and I fell in deep love with Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn Chronicles (I am just about peeing my pants to see that the last book is actually coming out later this year!).
Then I had kids and reading went out the window in favour of sleep, but in the last year or two, now that all my kids are pretty much dealing with their own sleep issues, I have rediscovered my love of reading and realised that I have a definite problem with dystopian fiction – I adore it!
It started with The Hunger Games, then of course I had to read the Divergent series. Then there was When We Wake and While We Run by Karen Healey, The Giver Quartet, and the Wool Omnibus (Oh my did I dream about those people in those silos for weeks!) and then Sand.
I tried to break my habit with a nice historic fiction – In Falling Snow by Mary-Rose MacColl, which I liked a lot, but as soon as I was done I went right back to dystopia and read the Delirium series (awesome) and the Unwind series.
Recently I used my children as a excuse and borrowed The City of Ember and The People of Sparks from the library, but I’m pretty sure the librarian knew they weren’t really for my kids when she handed them over…
And now I’ve got a running list of more dystopian fiction that I want to read…
-
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
The Children of Men – PD James
Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood
Uglies – Scott Westerfeld
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
Article 5 – Kristen Simmons
Across the Universe – Beth Revis
Wither – Lauren DeStefano
The Girl With All the Gifts -M. R. Carey
Now I just need a whole bunch of spare time to read all these books!
What about you?
Have you read any good dystopian fiction lately?
Do you have a book genre addiction?
Can you recommend a book to break my addiction?
I can’t break your addiction because I have one too lol! I mean, I do read other stuff but I don’t love anything the way I love dystopian fiction. I feel like it really makes me think. Also, if you haven’t read it, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 are classic dystopian that are worth reading. The Maze Runner books are dystopian too but they are just eh okay. Didn’t love them for some reason.
You know I tried to read 1984 when I was younger and just couldn’t get into it… I should try again. I’ve not read The Maze Runner yet as I saw snippets of the movie and wasn’t sure it was for me, but it’s another one on my list!
If you didn’t love the movie, I am not sure it’s worth reading the book lol. It is not that great of a book tbh. And I was really intrigued by the plot but I just found it meh overall. It was disappointing.
uglies was good, although I haven’t read the last one; read oryx and crake years ago, although I confess I hadn’t really put Atwood in the dystopian genre, I’ve tended to think of dystopian as YA. But now I think of the bulk of my reading over the last two years has tended towards dystopian as well.
I think reading Margaret Atwood might have been the first time I’d ever come across the word ‘dystopian’… can’t believe I haven’t read the Oryx and Crake books yet! Did you like them?
I’ve read the Oryx and Crake books! I didn’t *enjoy* them, but they were really good. Does that make any sense? And I found the last chapter of the last book really powerful, haha!
I love YA and dystopian fiction!!! The Maze Runner wasn’t bad, but the second book was terrible…I never made it to the third. Check out The Testing trilogy…it’s good. The Selection is entertaining and a different take on dystopian fiction (not as gritty). Matched was pretty good but I haven’t read the rest of that series yet. Check out The Host and The Goose Girl and Graceling. And for a couple of YA but not dystopian reco’s, Check out: Eleanor and Park, When You Reach Me, Counting by 7’s, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and Wonder. All fantastic books. You can read reviews of all of these and more on my blog. Just click on the Books tag. Happy reading!
Thanks for all your recommendations… my list just keeps getting longer! LOL
I have to comment… living with teens and reviewing tons of books means that heaps of the dystopian genre crosses our paths. Have you read the Slated series by Teri Terry… hugely quick reads because they are so good you cannot put them down and you have to just inhale them in a sitting. I could probably think of tons more, in fact a whole post comes to mind… but I had to just mention those.
Oh do please write a post with lots more recommendations… but no rush, I already have a long list and I am a slow reader! LOL
Just remembered that I do have a post for teen/young adult reads… http://www.se7en.org.za/2014/10/15/the-ins-and-outs-of-teen-reads-right-now there are reads that you will like in there!!!
Don’t fight the addiction! Just roll with it! Dystopian fiction is so good.
Yes you MUST read Station Eleven, one of my favourite books. The rights to put it on screen have also recently been bought – read it before you see it!
I want to read Girl With All The Gifts too. Two other titles that I haven’t read but have heard good things about – Find Me by Laura Van Den Berg, and The Fever by Megan Abbott.
OHhhhh…mine started with The Giver many years ago…I’ve read much of the same ones as you, BUT thanks for the list!! Summer reading…here we come!!
Aw man, everyone’s hating on the Maze Runner trilogy. I like it. Pretty different from the movie, in a good way. The writing in the second book DOES get a bit annoying at parts (come on, there are better phrases to use when he’s telling his story YET AGAIN to new characters) but I still thought it was well written overall. I’m midway through the third book and really enjoying it. Finding it hard to put down!
The Divergent trilogy drove me crazy. The first book rocked. The second book was meh, the third book sucked except for the very ending. I mean… EVERYTHING repeated and the characters, who started out strong just got… weak. I JUST finished that before I started Maze Runner, which was probably why I enjoyed Maze Runner so much…
Had no idea that is what this genre is called but there you go… I learn something new every day… Here’s me thinking they’re just great reads Sorry but I am another Maze Runner non-fan. So-so but after seeing the movie – meh not for me. But with 14yr old twins (Boy & Girl) plus their older siblings I’ve done the gauntlet of different genres of vetting and funnily enough, I hear about a series read it, pass it on to the kids, not interested… they watch the movies… suddenly that weird book Mum told us about not so bad can we read the whole series… ha ha ha.
My list is huge but have to say at the moment reading the Outlander series – Diana Gabaldon… oh my… really making me want to visit the Highlands of Scotland tho this Aussie lass would probably curl up in a ball screaming for more heat.
Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush Hush series and now Black Ice. Amanda Hocking, Tess Black, Mike Mullin –
Ashfall series just a couple that spring to mind.
I’m staying in Scotland this year for my husband to attend uni…the highlands are worth the cold! Make the trip someday!
The Way We Fall is a good series that kind of starts with seeing how things get to the dystopian state…in this instance, it’s a new virus that is highly contagious. The last two are better than the first but worth the read! Also, it has a diverse cast of main characters, which can be rare, & a smart female lead!
Oooh that sounds fabulous! thanks!
some I love and haven’t seen others mention are “a brave new world” by Aldous Huxley and “blind faith by ben elton
I’ve heard Brave New World mentioned several times in the past week… so odd as I’d not come across it before! LOL
Thanks for the suggestions, will check them out!
The Host is a fabulous book. I read all 4 of the Maze Runner Trilogy :) It could have been written better but it was ok. I have just put The Way We Fall on my list of books to read this summer :)
I too love the dystopian genre, but have not read quite a few of your recommendations – off to add them to my list! I think the book that got me into it was way back when I was in junior high and read “shades children” by Garth Nix. I probably read that book at least a dozen times it’s one of my favorites.
I should really look away from this list now until the school term is over and I’m on holidays! Although I had planned on re-reading ‘Brave New World’ which started my love of dystopian fiction back in high school. Adding a few to my wish-list now for the longer summer break :)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a good one I don’t think anybody mentioned!
(that one is zombies though, does that count as dystopian?)
The Maze Runner is a great series. So are the movies.
Another dystopian you can add is The Wikkeling by Steven Arntson. Its got a little bit of a fantasy element to it.
Station Eleven
Into The Forest
Vox
Wool
Blindness