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Books about utopian/dystopian societies

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We've all read a book on a utopia/dystopia, whether it be for school or on our own. Though the plot is usually the same, (government attempts to create perfect society to "protect the people", the main character, perhaps with the help of others, revolts) the concept is quite interesting. I've read some of the more popular utopian books, suck as Hunger Games and The Giver, but there are a few lesser known books that I also enjoyed, such as All Good Children and Slated. Do you guys have any good ones?

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I really love these kinds of books. Most of the ones I can think of are the really popular ones like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, etc...As for lesser known ones, Ella Minnow Pea and Huxley's Island are pretty good ones. If you were going to read/have read Brave New World or Island, it's really worth it to read the other because they give a nice contrast on dystopian vs utopian societies.

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I enjoyed reading "Ancillary Sword." I've read/watched better sci-fi, but it was still fun. It's set in a semi-dystopian future that's heavily dependent on AIs and space travel.

Edited by m_overdone

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I haven't read much dystopia, but I want to. Didn't like The Giver tbh

I didn't either, though most people did. I read it on my own to see what all the hype was about, then at school, but it never really caught on with me. It's not especially bad, but not all too good either. A lot of people dislike dystopia books, because the idea is "overused", but for me, it somehow never gets old.

 

 

And to everybody else, I'll have to look into those books!

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Not entirely sure if it qualifies as dystopian(it may actually be dystopian if you look at how the Kurian Zones are run), but I have been liking the Vampire Earth series by E. E. Knight. So far at least. I am just getting to the fourth book.

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I liked E.E. Knight's Age of Fire series, but I haven't read his vampire works.

 

1984 and Brave New World are dystopian classics; for newer authors I enjoyed The Soldier's Sympathy by Chris Guillory. I recommend all three books.

 

I agree with you, predator, I've liked everything I've read in this genre. I want to check out more stories.

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The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld was my favorite series for about a year straight, and Scott Westerfeld remains my favorite author.

There's the shadow children series by Margaret Haddox, which is aimed for middle school kids, I think, but is still really good. I read the 12 books in about two days; they are pretty short.

There's also Matched by Allie Condie.

Loop, a great dystopian involving time travel was written by Karen Akins, a personal friend of my older sister.

I'd be happy to elaborate on the plot of any of these if anyone is interested.

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The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld was my favorite series for about a year straight, and Scott Westerfeld remains my favorite author.

There's the shadow children series by Margaret Haddox, which is aimed for middle school kids, I think, but is still really good. I read the 12 books in about two days; they are pretty short.

There's also Matched by Allie Condie.

Loop, a great dystopian involving time travel was written by Karen Akins, a personal friend of my older sister.

I'd be happy to elaborate on the plot of any of these if anyone is interested.

If it's not too much trouble, I'd just love to hear more about all of these books!

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I liked The Giver and I read it only almost two months ago. However, it is the only book I have read about utopian/dystopian societies. Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son are set in the same world and I was planning to read those books. Has anyone read them? How are they? Are they any better?

 

When I have the time, I will read the books that have been mentioned here. Thank you for your recommendations!

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Not sure if it really counts as "Dystopian", but I did enjoy reading Doctorow's "Little Brother"

 

To summarise, the main character, Marcus, is a Tech Expert and Hacker whom, with his friends, after a terrorist attack on San Fransisco, is taken in by the DHS (homeland security) and are interrograted on suspicion of being connected with the attacks. Meanwhile one of his friends was stabbed in the crowd, and his whereabouts are unknown.

 

After the interrogations are done, the DHS tells Marcus that his every move and action are being heavily monitored. The city enters into a strict Surveillance state, and Marcus is infuriated at how his civil rights are ignored. So he chooses to revolt by launching technological attacks to thwart the DHS' restrictions on personal liberty. He creates a platform in which young people can still talk freely without surveillance. This leads to a war between revolting youth and the DHS.

 

I won't say any more because no one likes a spoiled ending, otherwise there is no point if you choose to read. xd.png

 

However, the book does also have a few other "heavy" themes, such as sex and torture, so if you can't handle that sort of stuff, I would stay away.

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned Divergent yet. I'm pretty sure it counts, somewhat, as a dystopian. I loved the first book so much...but then I went and bought the other two assuming they would be just as good and the author severely disappointed me. Taught me a lesson in buying books before reading them. Complete waste of my money. And of course there is also The Maze Runner. The movie was much better than the book, in my opinion, which is embarrassing for me to say. But they do make you rethink society and how on earth people can let other people get away with some off-the-wall, sometimes terribly awful, stuff.

 

I absolutely loved Hunger Games, however, and read it many times over, something I don't usually do. Katniss' practicality enticed me so much. Actually, I guess I am just a sucker for young adult fiction that cages kids in dangerous situations, lol.

 

I admit I haven't read many other utopian/dystopian novels besides those, that I can think of. I primarily stick to young adult fiction, but I am a huge fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, definitely adult material, which categorizes more as fantasy anyway.

 

I don't even know what some of these other novels are about. I think I'll have to give some of them a try.

Edited by purplenewt

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