This is a list of notable works of

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

n literature. A dystopia is an unpleasant (typically repressive) society, often propagandized as being

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

n. ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

'' states that dystopian works depict a negative view of "the way the world is supposedly going in order to provide urgent propaganda for a change in direction."

18th century

* ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'', is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clerg ...

'' (1726) by

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

19th century

* '' The Last Man'' (1826) by

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...

* '' A Sojourn in the City of Amalgamation'' (1835) by Oliver Bolokitten *'' The Tragedy of Man'' (1862) by

Imre Madách Imre Madách de Sztregova et Kelecsény (20 January 1823 – 5 October 1864) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian aristocrat, writer, poet, lawyer and politician. His major work is ''The Tragedy of Man'' (''Az ember tragédiája'', 1861). It is a dr ...

* '' Paris in the Twentieth Century'' (1863) by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

* '' Notes from Underground'' (1864) by

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

* '' The History of a Town'' (1870) by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin * '' Vril, the Power of the Coming Race'' (1871) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, originally printed as ''The Coming Race'' * ''

Erewhon ''Erewhon: or, Over the Range'' () is a utopian novel by English writer Samuel Butler (novelist), Samuel Butler, first published in 1872, set in a fictional country discovered and explored by the protagonist. The book is a satire on Victorian ...

'' (1872) by Samuel Butler * '' The Begum's Fortune'' (1879) by Jules Verne * '' The Fixed Period'' (1882) by

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

* '' The Republic of the Future'' (1887) by Anna Bowman Dodd * '' The Inner House'' (1888) by Walter Besant * '' Caesar's Column'' (1890) by

Ignatius L. Donnelly Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (November 3, 1831 – January 1, 1901) was an American Congressman, populist writer, and pseudoscientist. He is known primarily now for his fringe theories concerning Atlantis, Catastrophism (especially the idea of ...

* '' Pictures of the Socialistic Future'' (1891) by Eugen Richter * " The Repairer of Reputations" (1895) by Robert W. Chambers * ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller who travels to the year 802,701. The work is generally credited with the popularizati ...

'' (1895) by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

* '' When The Sleeper Wakes'' (1899) by H. G. Wells

20th century

1900s

* '' The First Men in the Moon'' (1901) by

* '' The Purple Cloud'' (1901) by M. P. Shiel * '' The Iron Heel'' (1908) by

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

* '' Lord of the World'' (1908) by

Robert Hugh Benson Robert Hugh Benson AFSC KC*SG KGCHS (18 November 1871 – 19 October 1914) was an English Catholic priest and writer. First an Anglican priest, he was received into the Catholic Church in 1903 and ordained therein the next year. He wa ...

* '' The Machine Stops'' (1909) by E. M. Forster * '' Trylogia Księżycowa'' ''or The Lunar Trilogy'' (1911) by Jerzy Żuławski

1910s

* ''

The Night Land ''The Night Land'' is a Horror fiction, horror and fantasy fiction, fantasy novel by English writer William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1912. As a work of fantasy it belongs to the Dying Earth subgenre. Hodgson also published a much shorter ...

'' (1912) by

William Hope Hodgson William Hope Hodgson (15 November 1877 – 19 April 1918) was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror fiction, horror, fantasy, fan ...

* '' When William Came'' (1913) by Saki as a

future history A future history, imaginary history or anticipatory history is a fictional conjecture of the future used by authors of science fiction and other speculative fiction to construct a common background for stories. Sometimes the author publishes a t ...

, this is among the earliest of ''Pax Germanica'' genre * '' Meccania, the Super-State'' (1918) by "Owen Gregory"(pseudonym) * '' The Heads of Cerberus'' (1919) by "Francis Stevens" ( Gertrude Barrows Bennett)Mark Bould, Sherryl Vint, (2011) ''The Routledge Concise History of Science Fiction''. Routledge, (p.23).

1920s

* '' R.U.R.: Rossum's Universal Robots'' (1921) by Karel Čapek * '' We'' (1921) by Yevgeny Zamyatin * Love in the Fog of the Future (1923 or 1924) by Andrei Marsov * '' Miasto światłości'' (1924) by Mieczysław Smolarski * '' The Trial'' (1925) by

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

* '' O Presidente Negro'' (1926) by Monteiro Lobato

1930s

* '' The Foundation Pit'' (1930) by Andrei Platonov * ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931, and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hier ...

'' (1932) by

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

* '' Cat Country'' (1932/1933) by Lao She * ''

It Can't Happen Here ''It Can't Happen Here'' is a 1935 dystopian political novel by the American author Sinclair Lewis. Set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to pow ...

'' (1935) by

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the America ...

* '' War with the Newts'' (1936) by Karel Čapek * '' Swastika Night'' (1937) by Katharine Burdekin * ''

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

'' (1938) by

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which s ...

* '' Invitation to a Beheading'' (1938) by

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

1940s

* ''

Darkness at Noon ''Darkness at Noon'' (, ) is a novel by Austrian-Hungarian-born novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940. His best known work, it is the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik who is arrested, imprisoned, and tried for treason against the ...

'' (1940) by

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler (, ; ; ; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest, and was educated in Austria, apart from his early school years. In 1931, Koestler j ...

* '' "If This Goes On—"'' (1940) by Robert A. Heinlein * '' Kallocain'' (1940) by Karin Boye * '' The Moon Is Down'' (1942) by

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

* '' That Hideous Strength'' (1945) by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

* '' Peace In Our Time'' (1946) by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

* '' Bend Sinister'' (1947) by

* '' Ape and Essence'' (1948) by

* '' Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen'' (1948) by

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

* '' The World of Null-A'' (1948) by A. E. van Vogt * '' Heliopolis'' (1949) by

Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomology, entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir ''Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful busin ...

* ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

'' (1949) by

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

1950s

* ''

Player Piano A player piano is a self-playing piano with a pneumatic or electromechanical mechanism that operates the piano action using perforated paper or metallic rolls. Modern versions use MIDI. The player piano gained popularity as mass-produced home ...

'' (1952) by

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...

* '' The Sound of His Horn'' (1952) by Sarban * ''

Fahrenheit 451 ''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 Dystopian fiction, dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. It presents a future American society where books have been outlawed and "firemen" Book burning, burn any that are found. The novel follows in the ...

'' (1953) by

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

* '' Love Among the Ruins'' (1953) by

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

* ''

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

'' (1953) by David Karp * '' The Space Merchants'' (1953) by

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American list of science fiction authors, science-fiction writer, editor, and science fiction fandom, fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first ...

and C. M. Kornbluth * '' The Caves of Steel'' (1954) by

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

* '' Lord of the Flies'' (1954) by

William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel '' Lord of the Flies'' (1954), Golding published another 12 volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 19 ...

* '' The Chrysalids'' (1955) by

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his name ...

* '' The City and the Stars'' (1956) by Arthur C. Clarke * '' Minority Report'' (1956) by Philip K. Dick * '' The World Jones Made'' (1956) by Philip K. Dick * '' Atlas Shrugged'' (1957) by

* '' The Naked Sun'' (1957) by

* ''

The Rise of the Meritocracy ''The Rise of the Meritocracy'' is a book by British sociologist and politician Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington, Michael Dunlop Young which was first published in 1958. It describes a dystopian society in a future United Kingdom in whic ...

'' (1958) by

Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington Michael Dunlop Young, Baron Young of Dartington (9 August 1915 – 14 January 2002), was a British sociologist, social activist and left-wing politician. Young was an Urbanism, urbanist, known as an academic researcher, polemicist and instituti ...

* '' Alas, Babylon'' (1959) by Pat Frank * '' A Canticle for Leibowitz'' (1959) by Walter M. Miller Jr. * '' The John Franklin Letters'' (1959) by anonymous (probably Revilo P. Oliver)

1960s

* '' Dr. Futurity'' (1960) by Philip K. Dick * '' Facial Justice'' (1960) by L. P. Hartley * '' Vulcan's Hammer'' (1960) by Philip K. Dick * " Harrison Bergeron" (1961) by

* '' Powrót z gwiazd'' (1961) by Stanisław Lem * '' The Old Men at the Zoo'' (1961) by Angus WilsonThe best dystopias
Michael Moorcock, ''The Guardian'', January 22, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2014. * '' A Clockwork Orange'' (1962) by

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...

* '' The Man in the High Castle'' (1962) by Philip K. Dick * '' The Wanting Seed'' (1962) by

* '' The Game-Players of Titan'' (1963) by Philip K Dick * '' Planet of the Apes'' (1963) by

Pierre Boulle Pierre François Marie Louis Boulle (20 February 1912 – 30 January 1994) was a French author. He is best known for two works, '' The Bridge over the River Kwai'' (1952) and '' Planet of the Apes'' (1963), that were both made into award-winning ...

* '' Farnham's Freehold'' (1964) by Robert A. Heinlein * '' Nova Express'' (1964) by William S. Burroughs * '' The Penultimate Truth'' (1964) by Philip K. Dick * '' The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch'' (1964) by Philip K. Dick * '' "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman'' (1965) by

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave science fiction, New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published wo ...

* '' The Crack in Space'' (1966) by Philip K. Dick * '' The Dream Master'' (1966) by Roger Zelazny * '' Make Room! Make Room!'' (1966) by Harry Harrison * '' Now Wait for Last Year'' (1966) by Philip K. Dick * '' Snail on the Slope'' (1966) by

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky The brothers Arkady Strugatsky (28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Strugatsky (14 April 1933 – 19 November 2012) were Soviet and Russian science-fiction authors who collaborated through most of their careers. Their notable works in ...

* " I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by

(1967) (

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

with elements of dystopia) * '' Logan's Run'' (1967) by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson * '' The Time Hoppers'' (1967) by

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a SFWA Grand ...

* '' The White Mountains'' (1967) by

John Christopher Sam Youd (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012) was a British writer best known for science fiction written under the name of John Christopher, including the novels '' The Death of Grass'', ''The Possessors'', and the young-adult novel series ...

* '' Why Call Them Back from Heaven?'' (1967) by Clifford D. Simak * '' A Very Private Life'' (1968) by

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen (play), Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy (play), Democracy''. Frayn's novel ...

* '' Camp Concentration'' (1968) by Thomas M. Disch * '' The City of Gold and Lead'' (1968) by

* '' Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' (1968) by Philip K. Dick * '' The Pool of Fire'' (1968) by

* ''

Stand on Zanzibar ''Stand on Zanzibar'' is a dystopian New Wave (science fiction), New Wave science fiction novel written by John Brunner (author), John Brunner and first in part published in ''NEW WORLDS'' in 1967 and in book form in 1968. The book won a Hugo Aw ...

'' (1968) by John Brunner * '' Synthajoy'' (1968) by D. G. Compton * '' The Jagged Orbit'' (1969) by John Brunner

1970s

* '' This Perfect Day'' (1970) by Ira Levin * '' The Guardians'' (1970) by

* '' The Lorax'' (1971) by Dr. Seuss * '' The Lathe of Heaven'' (1971) by

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

* '' Los Angeles: AD 2017'' (1971) by Phillip Wylie * '' The World Inside'' (1971) by

* '' 334'' (1972) by Thomas M. Disch * '' The Sheep Look Up'' (1972) by John Brunner * '' The Iron Dream'' (1972) by

Norman Spinrad Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American science fiction author, essayist, and critic. His fiction has won the Prix Apollo Award, Prix Apollo and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple N ...

* '' The Camp of the Saints'' (Le Camp des Saints) (1973) by Jean Raspail * '' The Ultimate Solution'' by Eric Norden (1973) * '' Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said'' (1974) by Philip K. Dick * '' Walk to the End of the World'' (1974) by Suzy McKee Charnas * '' Dhalgren'' (1975) by Samuel R. Delany * ''

The Forever War ''The Forever War'' (1974) is a military science fiction novel by American author Joe Haldeman, telling the contemplative story about human soldiers fighting an interstellar war against an alien civilization known as the Taurans. It won the N ...

'' (1975) by Joe Haldeman * '' The Girl Who Owned a City'' (1975) by O. T. Nelson * '' High-Rise'' (1975) by J. G. Ballard * '' The Shockwave Rider'' (1975) by John Brunner * '' Don't Bite the Sun'' (1976) by Tanith Lee * '' Woman on the Edge of Time'' (1976) by Marge Piercy * '' The Dark Tower'' (1977) – unfinished, attributed to

, published as ''The Dark Tower and Other Stories'' * '' A Scanner Darkly'' (1977) by Philip K. Dick * '' The Eye of the Heron'' (1978) by

* '' SS-GB'' by Len Deighton (1978) * '' The Stand'' (1978) by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

* ''

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

'' (1978) by

* '' The Turner Diaries'' (1978) by Andrew Macdonald * '' Alongside Night'' (1979) by J. Neil Schulman * '' The Long Walk'' (1979) by

under the pseudonym Richard Bachman

1980s

* ''

Mockingbird Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family (biology), family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species Mimicry, mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly ...

'' (1980) by Walter Tevis * '' Riddley Walker'' (1980) by Russell Hoban * '' Lanark: A Life in Four Books'' (1981) by Alasdair Gray * '' Limes inferior'' (1982) by Janusz Zajdel * '' The Running Man'' (1982) by

under the pseudonym Richard Bachman * '' HaDerekh LeEin Harod'' (1984) by Amos Kenan. 1984 saw the appearance of the first Israeli dystopian novel, and this one appeared shortly after. Like other Israeli dystopian novels, it is concerned with the religious right taking control of the

Jewish state In world politics, Jewish state is a characterization of Israel as the nation-state and sovereign homeland for the Jewish people. Overview Modern Israel came into existence on 14 May 1948 as a polity to serve as the homeland for the Jewi ...

. * '' Paradyzja'' (1984) by Janusz Zajdel * '' Sprawl trilogy'': '' Neuromancer'' (1984) by William Gibson * '' Count Zero'' (1986) by William Gibson * '' Mona Lisa Overdrive'' (1988) by William Gibson * '' Dayworld'' (1985) by

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy novels and short story, short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for two sequences of novels, t ...

* ''

The Handmaid's Tale ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which has ...

'' (1985) by

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

* '' In the Country of Last Things'' (1985) by

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...

* '' Moscow 2042'' (1986) by Vladimir Voinovich * '' Sea of Glass'' (1986) by Barry B. Longyear * '' Obernewtyn Chronicles'' (1987–2008) by

Isobelle Carmody Isobelle Jane Carmody (born 16 June 1958) is an Australian writer of science fiction, fantasy, children's literature, and young adult literature. She is recipient of the Aurealis Award for best children's fiction. Biography Isobelle Carmody ...

* '' The Domination'' (1988) by S. M. Stirling * '' When the Tripods Came'' (1988) by

* '' The Proteus Operation'' (1985) by James P. Hogan * '' The Divide'' (1980) by William Overgard * '' To the Stars'' trilogy (1980) by Harry Harrison

1990s

Fiction

* '' Clash of Eagles'' (1990) by Leo Rutman * '' The Dark Beyond the Stars'' (1991) by Frank M. Robinson * '' Timewyrm: Exodus'' (

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

novel) (1991) by Terrance Dicks * '' Serpent's Walk'' (1991) by Randolph D. Calverhall * '' The War in 2020'' (1991) by Ralph Peters (

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first Paperback#Mass market paperback, mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and ...

, 1991) * '' The Children of Men'' (1992) by P. D. James (

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, 1992) * ''

Fatherland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic nation ...

'' by Robert Harris ( Hutchinson, 1992)''Kirkus Reviews'', May 15, 1992. * '' Snow Crash'' (1992) by

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work explores mathemati ...

(Bantam Spectra, 1992) * '' Parable of the Sower'' (1993) by Octavia E. Butler ( Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993) * '' Virtual Light'' (1993) by William Gibson (Bantam Spectra, 1993) * '' Vurt'' (1993) by Jeff Noon * '' The Memory Police'' (1994) by Yōko Ogawa * '' The Diamond Age, or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer'' (1994) by

(Bantam Spectra, 1994) * '' Gun, with Occasional Music'' (1994) by Jonathan Lethem (Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994) * '' Amnesia Moon'' (1995) by Jonathan Lethem * '' '48'' (1996) by James Herbert * '' Attentatet i Pålsjö skog'' (1996) by Hans Alfredson * '' Infinite Jest'' (1996) by

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American writer and professor who published novels, short stories, and essays. He is best known for his 1996 novel ''Infinite Jest'', which ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine ...

(

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

, 1996) * '' Battle Royale'' (1999) by

Koushun Takami is a Japanese author and journalist. He is best known for his 1999 in literature, 1999 novel ''Battle Royale (novel), Battle Royale'', which was later adapted into two Battle Royale (film), live-action films, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, and fo ...

( Ohta Publishing, 1999) * '' Forever Free'' (1999) by Joe Haldeman * '' The Ice People'' (1999) by Maggie Gee ( Richard Cohen Books, 1999)

Young adult fiction

* '' The Giver'' (1993) by

Lois Lowry Lois Ann Lowry (; née Hammersberg; born March 20, 1937) is an American writer. She is the author of many books for children and young adults, including '' The Giver Quartet'', '' Number the Stars'', the Anastasia series, and '' Rabble Starkey''. ...

(Houghton Mifflin, 1993) * '' Shade's Children'' (1997) by

Garth Nix Garth Richard Nix (born 19 July 1963) is an Australian writer who specialises in children's and young adult fantasy novels, notably the ''The Old Kingdom, Old Kingdom'', ''The Seventh Tower, Seventh Tower'' and ''The Keys to the Kingdom, Keys t ...

* '' Among the Hidden'' ('' Shadow Children'' #1) (1998) by

Margaret Peterson Haddix Margaret Peterson Haddix (born April 9, 1964) is an American writer known best for the two children's series, Shadow Children (series), ''Shadow Children'' (1998–2006) and The Missing (novel series), ''The Missing'' (2008–2015). She also wro ...

21st century

2000s

Fiction

* '' Ella Minnow Pea'' (2001) by Mark Dunn (MacAdam/Cage, 2001) * '' Feed'' (2002) by M. T. Anderson (Candlewick Press, 2002) * '' In the Presence of Mine Enemies'' (2003) by

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed his ...

(2003, the first 21 pages were originally a short story published in 1992) * '' Jennifer Government'' (2003) by Max Barry (Doubleday, 2003) * '' Oryx and Crake'' (2003) by

(Doubleday, 2003) * '' Collaborator'' (2003) by Murray Davies * '' Asphalt'' (2004) by Carl Hancock Rux (Simon & Schuster, 2004) * '' Cloud Atlas'' (2004) by David Mitchell (Sceptre, 2004) * '' The Plot Against America'' (2004) by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin, 2004) * '' Divided Kingdom'' (2005) by Rupert Thomson ( Alfred A. Knopf, 2005) D. J. Taylor
"Anima Attraction"
''The Guardian'' (April 16, 2005). * '' Never Let Me Go'' (2005) by

Kazuo Ishiguro is a Japanese-born English novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. He is one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary fiction authors writing in English, having been awarded several major literary prizes, including the 2 ...

(Faber and Faber, 2005) * '' Armageddon's Children'' (2006) by

Terry Brooks Terence Dean Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly high fantasy, epic fantasy, and has also written two film novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times Best Seller List, ''New York Times'' ...

(Del Rey Books, 2006) * '' The Book of Dave'' (2006) by

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Se ...

( Viking Press, 2006) * '' Day of the Oprichnik'' (2006) by Vladimir Sorokin (Zakharov Books, 2006) * '' The Road'' (2006) by Cormac McCarthy (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006) * ''

Blind Faith Blind Faith were an English rock supergroup that consisted of Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They followed the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton and Baker's former group Cream and ...

'' (2007) by

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire ...

(Bantam Press, 2007) * '' Rant'' (2007) by

Chuck Palahniuk Charles Michael Palahniuk (;, , born February 21, 1962) is an American novelist of Ukrainian and French ancestry who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two ad ...

(Doubleday, 2007) * '' Last Light'' (2007) by Alex Scarrow (Orion Publishing Group, 2007) * '' Nontraditional Love'' (2008) by Rafael Grugman (Liberty Publishing House, 2008) * '' World Made by Hand'' (2008) by James Howard Kunstler (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2008) * '' Farthing'', '' Ha'penny'', and '' Half a Crown'', series by

Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel '' Among Others'', which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian-era novel w ...

(2006–2008) * '' The City & the City'' (2009) by China Miéville (Del Rey Books, 2009) * '' Shades of Grey'' (2009) by Jasper Fforde (Viking Press, 2009) * '' The Windup Girl'' (2009) by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books, 2009) * '' The Year of the Flood'' (2009) by Margaret Atwood (McClelland & Stewart, 2009) * '' Z213: Exit'' (2009) by

Dimitris Lyacos Dimitris Lyacos (; born 19 October 1966) is a Greek writer. He is the author of the ''Z213: Exit, Poena Damni'' trilogy and the composite novel ''Until the Victim Becomes our Own''. Lyacos's work is characterised by its genre-defying form and th ...

(Shoestring Press, 2009)

Young adult fiction

* '' Gathering Blue'' (2000) by

(Houghton Mifflin, 2000) * '' Mortal Engines'' ( The Hungry City Chronicles #1) (2001) by Philip Reeve (Scholastic, 2001) * '' Noughts and Crosses'' (2001) by Malorie Blackman (Random House, 2001) * '' The House of the Scorpion'' (2002) by Nancy Farmer (Atheneum Books, 2002) * '' Among the Barons'' ( Shadow Children #4) (2003) by

(Simon & Schuster, 2003) * '' Among the Betrayed'' ( Shadow Children #3) (2003) by

(Simon & Schuster, 2003) * '' The City of Ember'' (2003) by Jeanne DuPrau (Random House, 2003) * '' Among the Brave'' ( Shadow Children #5) (2004) by

(Simon & Schuster, 2004) * ''

Messenger Messenger, Messengers, The Messenger or The Messengers may refer to: People * Courier, a person or company that delivers messages, packages, or mail * Messenger (surname) * Bicycle messenger, a bicyclist who transports packages through cities * M ...

'' (2004) by

(Houghton Mifflin, 2004) * '' The People of Sparks'' (2004) by Jeanne DuPrau (Yearling, 2004) * '' Among the Enemy'' ( Shadow Children #6) (2005) by

(Simon & Schuster, 2005) * ''

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

'' (2005) by Malorie Blackman (Random House, 2005) * '' Uglies'' (2005) by

Scott Westerfeld Scott David Westerfeld (born May 5, 1963) is an American writer of young adult fiction, best known as the author of the ''Uglies series, Uglies'' and the ''Leviathan (Westerfeld novel), Leviathan'' series. Early life Westerfeld was born in Dal ...

(Simon Pulse, 2005)My Top Five...Dystopian Novels for Teens
''The Guardian'', August 4, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2015. * '' Pretties'' (2005) by

(Simon Pulse, 2005) * '' Among the Free'' ( Shadow Children #7) (2006) by

(Simon & Schuster, 2006) * '' Genesis'' (2006) by Bernard Beckett (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006) * '' Life as We Knew It'' (2006) by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt Children's Books, 2006) * '' Specials'' (2006) by

(Simon & Schuster, 2006) * '' Extras'' (2007) by

(Simon & Schuster, 2007) * '' Incarceron'' (2007) by Catherine Fisher (Hodder & Stoughton, 2007) * '' Unwind'' (2007) by Neal Shusterman (Simon & Schuster, 2007) * '' The Host'' (2008) by

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...

(Little, Brown and Company, 2008) * '' The Dead and the Gone'' (2008) by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt Children's Books, 2008) * '' The Declaration'' (2008) by Gemma Malley (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2008) * '' From the New World'' (2008) by Yusuke Kishi (Kodansha Novels, 2008) * '' Gone'' (2008) by Michael Grant (HarperCollins, 2008) * ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' are a series of Young adult fiction, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The series consists of a trilogy that follows teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and two ...

'' (2008) by

Suzanne Collins Suzanne Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American author and television writer who is best known as the author of the young adult literature, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian book series ''The Hunger Games''. She is also the author ...

(Scholastic, 2008) * '' The Diamond of Darkhold'' (2008) by Jeanne DuPrau (Yearling, 2008) * '' The Resistance'' (2008) by Gemma Malley (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2008) * '' Sapphique'' (2007) by Catherine Fisher (Hodder & Stoughton, 2008) * '' Catching Fire'' (2009) by

(Scholastic, 2009) * '' The Forest of Hands and Teeth'' (2009) by Carrie Ryan (Random House, 2009) * '' The Maze Runner'' (2009) by James Dashner (Delacorte Press, 2009)

2010s

Fiction

* '' The Envy Chronicles'' (series) (2010) by Joss Ware (Avon, 2010–2015) * '' The Passage'' (2010) by Justin Cronin (Ballantine Books, 2010) * '' Super Sad True Love Story'' (2010) by

Gary Shteyngart Gary Shteyngart ( ; born Igor Semyonovich Shteyngart on July 5, 1972)' is a Soviet-born American writer. He is the author of five novels (including ''Absurdistan'' and '' Super Sad True Love Story'') and a memoir. Much of his work is satirical ...

(Random House, 2010) * '' Ready Player One'' (2011) by Ernest Cline (Random House, 2011) * '' Shimoneta'' (2012) by Hirotaka Akagi (

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

, 2012) * '' Bleeding Edge'' (2013) by

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...

(Penguin Press, 2013) * '' The Bone Season'' (2013) by Samantha Shannon (

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, 2013) * '' The Circle'' (2013) by Dave Eggers (Alfred A. Knopf, 2013) * '' MaddAddam'' (2013) by

( Nan A. Talese, 2013) * '' The Office of Mercy'' (2013) by Ariel Djanikian (Viking Books, 2013) * ''

Wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

'' (2013) by Hugh Howey (Simon & Schuster, 2013) * ''

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

'' (2014) by C. J. Sansom ( Mulholland Books, 2014) * '' Submission'' (2015) by

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas on 26 February 1956) is a French author of novels, poems, and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker, and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. H ...

(Groupe Flammarion, 2015) * '' The Heart Goes Last'' (2015) by

(Penguin Random House, 2015) * '' Friday Black'' (2018) by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Mariner Books, 2018) * '' Tears of the Trufflepig'' (2019) by Fernando A. Flores (FSG Originals, 2019) * '' The Testaments'' (2019) by

(Nan A. Talese, 2019)

Young adult fiction

* '' Matched'' (2010) by Ally Condie (Dutton Children's Books, 2010) * '' Mockingjay'' 2010) by

(

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

, 2010) * '' Monsters of Men'' (2010) by Patrick Ness (Candlewick Press, 2010) * '' The Scorch Trials'' (2010) by James Dashner (Delacorte Press, 2010) * '' Across The Universe'' (2011) by Beth Revis (Razorbill Books, 2011) * '' Crossed'' (2011) by Ally Condie (Dutton Children's Books, 2011) * '' The Death Cure'' (2011) by James Dashner (Delacorte Press, 2011) * '' Delirium'' (2011) by Lauren Oliver (HarperCollins, 2011) * '' Divergent'' (2011) by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books, 2011) * ''

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

'' (2011) by Marie Lu (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2011) * '' Shatter Me'' (2011) by Tahereh Mafi (HarperCollins, 2011) * ''The Unwanteds'' (2011) by Lisa McMann (Aladdin Paperbacks, 2011) * '' Wither'' (2011) by Lauren DeStefano (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2011) * '' Article 5'' (2012) by Kristen Simmons (Tor Teen, 2012) * '' Pandemonium'' (2012) by Lauren Oliver (HarperCollins, 2012) * ''

Insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

'' (2012) by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books, 2012) * '' The Selection'' (2012) by Kiera Cass (HarperCollins, 2012) * '' Son'' (2012) by

(Houghton Mifflin, 2012) * '' Reached'' (2012) by Ally Condie (Dutton Children's Books, 2012) * '' Revealing Eden'' (2012) by Victoria Foyt (Sand Dollar Press, Inc., 2012) * '' Under the Never Sky'' (2012) by Veronica Rossi (HarperCollins, 2012) * '' Prodigy'' (2013) by Marie Lu (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2013) * '' The Elite'' (2013) by Kiera Cass (HarperCollins, 2013) * '' The 5th Wave'' (2013) by Rick Yancey (Penguin Group, 2013) * ''Unravel Me'' (2013) by Tahereh Mafi (HarperCollins, 2013) * '' Allegiant'' (2013) by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books, 2013) * '' Champion'' (2013) by Marie Lu (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2013) * '' Reboot'' (2013) by Amy Tintera ( Harper Teen, 2013) * '' The Infinite Sea'' (2014) by Rick Yancey (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2014) * '' Red Rising'' (2014) by Pierce Brown (Random House LLC, 2014) * '' Golden Son'' (2015) by Pierce Brown (Random House LLC, 2015) * '' Red Queen (novel)'' (2015) by Victoria Aveyard (Harper Teen, 2015) * '' Morning Star'' (2016) by Pierce Brown (Random House LLC, 2016) * '' The Last Star'' (2016) by Rick Yancey (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2016) * ''

Scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...

'' (2016) by Neal Shusterman (Simon & Schuster, 2016) * '' Iron Gold'' (2018) by Pierce Brown (Del Rey Books, 2018)

2020s

Fiction

* ''Prophet Song'' (2023) by Paul Lynch (writer), Paul Lynch (Oneworld Publications, 2023)

Young adult fiction

* ''The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'' (2020) by

(Scholastic, 2020) * ''Sunrise on the Reaping'' (2025) by

(Scholastic, 2025) * ''Ready Player Two'' (2020) by Ernest Cline (Ballantine Books, 2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dystopian literature, List of Dystopian literature, Science fiction bibliographies

18th century

19th century

20th century

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

Fiction

Young adult fiction

21st century

2000s

Fiction

Young adult fiction

2010s

Fiction

Young adult fiction

2020s

Fiction

Young adult fiction

See also

References