Featured: 10 Ways to Expand Your Bookshelf: Dystopia

Dystopia is a genre of writing that has rapidly gained popularity again in the past few years. But what exactly makes these alternate worlds so intriguing to us? Is it the idea of a world so vastly different to our own, or is it the draw of disaster that these tales so often tell? Either way, the following ten books are a must-read for anyone looking for a new world to delve into!

Battle Royale – Koushun Takami

If you’re looking for something with blood, guts and a corrupt political system that differs vastly from the governments we currently live under, then Battle Royale is for you! Takami writes the tale of a class of 42 Japanese students from Shiroiwa Junior High School. Under government legislation, these students are spirited away in the night and placed on a deserted island with only one order: kill or be killed. What ensues is a horrifying bloodbath, with only one way to survive – kill everyone else.

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

Set in 2540 London, Brave New World opens with a seemingly peaceful unity – all countries under the same rule, all with no fighting. At birth, all children – now genetically modified – are placed into certain castes, or sections which determine their job and social status. We are introduced to the main conflict in the story through a holiday taken by one of the characters, where Bernard Marx comes across a woman and her illegitimate child. The three travel back to London, where they are criticized and ridiculed for their outlandish behaviors and characteristics.

Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell

Widely cited as one of the greatest novels of all time, Nineteen Eighty-Four is the story of Winston Smith, a man who is little more than a worker bee for a society that has been divided into three super states that are almost always at war with one another. Free thinking has been almost completely eradicated and around every corner, a mysterious entity called Big Brother is watching for any form of behaviour that could be construed as potentially dangerous to the state. But Winston has other ideas – ideas that could get him into serious trouble if they were ever to be found out.

Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro

Hailsham is a fictional school in England, where children are sent to take part in a non-dangerous curriculum. The final job for these children is grim – they are to become donors, people that give up their organs for the higher classes. The story follows three of these particular students: Kathy, Tommy and Ruth. As the story progresses, so does their progression towards being donors to the wealthy.

The House of the Scorpion – Nancy Farmer

Opium is a country sandwiched between Mexico and the U.S. Run by notorious drug lord El Patrón, this country lives for one sole purpose – to produce and distribute opium. To ensure that his work is continued, El Patrón creates a clone of himself – Matt – so that when his organs eventually fail, he can transplant Matt’s organs into his own body. But when push actually comes to shove and Matt is finally set-up to be used for the purpose he was created for, he doesn’t exactly want to lie down and allow himself to die that easily.

Noughts & Crosses – Malorie Blackman

Ever wonder what the world would be like if the world hadn’t evolved into its current state? Noughts and Crosses shows this. In this novel, Pangaea never split and there was no barriers between the races and as a result, slavery as we knew it was reversed – the Africans, or crosses, have all of the power and the Europeans, or noughts, are what is classed as the ‘inferior’ race. This story and its sequels follow the lives of Sephy Hadley – a cross – and Callum McGregor – a nought – and their seemingly impossible relationship in a world that refuses to acknowledge equality.

Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood

In a post-apocalyptic world, you would expect people to camp out for safety, but none of those recluses could be as unusual as Snowman - a man who helped with the pandemic that killed off most of the human race to begin with. The story is mainly told in flashbacks by Snowman of the build-up to the end of existence as everyone knows it.

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

In a similar vein to Battle Royale, The Hunger Games is a book that deals with a dystopian world where children are forced to battle against each other for survival. The world of Panem is split into thirteen districts – twelve of them operational and one of them destroyed after a rebellion against Panem’s hub, The Capitol. The book follows the events of the 74th Annual Hunger Games battle, told through the eyes of reluctant heroine Katniss Everdeen.

Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

Imagine a world where books are illegal and firemen do the opposite of their current job, and you have a vague idea of Ray Bradbury’s dystopian masterpiece. Fahrenheit 451 follows the story of Guy Montag, a fireman in this futuristic world, and his discovery of the outlawed books that secretly circle the city. After a young girl named Clarisse starts his obsession, he finds himself spiraling into a world that he has no control over.

Fatherland – Robert Harris

War is a genre that a lot of people use for writing due to the high amount of emotion and action that can be merged throughout, but Fatherland takes this genre and completely tears it up. Xavier March is a police detective in a world where Nazi Germany won the war and is assigned to a case in which high-ranking Nazi officials are being murdered. However, when he looks further into the case, he realizes that something far more sinister is going on in the background.

Special thanks to sheepcat; and Norman Reedus for editing!