List of dystopian literature


This is a list of notable works of dystopian literature. A dystopia is an unpleasant society, often propagandized as being utopian. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction 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 by Jonathan Swift

19th century

The Last Man by Mary ShelleyA Sojourn in the City of Amalgamation by Oliver Bolokitten

20th century

1900s

The First Men in the Moon by H. G. WellsThe Purple Cloud by M. P. ShielThe Iron Heel by Jack LondonLord of the World by Robert Hugh BensonThe Machine Stops by E. M. ForsterThe Lunar Trilogy by Jerzy Żuławski

1910s

The Night Land by William Hope HodgsonWhen William Came by Saki as a future history, this is among the earliest of Pax Germanica genreMeccania by "Owen Gregory"The Heads of Cerberus by "Francis Stevens"

1920s

R.U.R.: Rossum's Universal Robots by Karel ČapekWe by Yevgeny Zamyatin

1930s

The Foundation Pit by Andrei PlatonovBrave New World by Aldous HuxleyCat Country by Lao SheIt Can't Happen Here by Sinclair LewisWar with the Newts by Karel ČapekSwastika Night by Katharine BurdekinAnthem by Ayn RandInvitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov

1940s

Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler"If This Goes On—" by Robert A. HeinleinKallocain by Karin BoyeThe Moon Is Down by John SteinbeckThat Hideous Strength by C. S. LewisPeace In Our Time by Noël CowardBend Sinister by Vladimir NabokovApe and Essence by Aldous HuxleySome Time Never: A Fable for Supermen by Roald DahlThe World of Null-A by A. E. van VogtHeliopolis by Ernst JüngerNineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

1950s

Player Piano by Kurt VonnegutThe Sound of His Horn by SarbanFahrenheit 451 by Ray BradburyLove Among the Ruins by Evelyn WaughOne by David KarpThe Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M. KornbluthThe Caves of Steel by Isaac AsimovLord of the Flies by William GoldingThe Chrysalids by John WyndhamThe City and the Stars by Arthur C. ClarkeMinority Report by Philip K. DickThe World Jones Made by Philip K. DickAtlas Shrugged by Ayn RandThe Naked Sun by Isaac AsimovThe Rise of the Meritocracy by Michael Young, Baron Young of DartingtonAlas, Babylon by Pat FrankA Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.The John Franklin Letters by anonymous

1960s

Dr. Futurity by Philip K. DickFacial Justice by L. P. HartleyVulcan's Hammer by Philip K. Dick

1970s

This Perfect Day by Ira LevinThe Guardians by John ChristopherThe Lorax by Dr. SeussThe Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le GuinLos Angeles: AD 2017 by Phillip WylieThe World Inside by Robert Silverberg334 by Thomas M. DischThe Sheep Look Up by John BrunnerThe Iron Dream by Norman SpinradThe Camp of the Saints by Jean RaspailThe Ultimate Solution by Eric Norden Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. DickWalk to the End of the World by Suzy McKee CharnasDhalgren by Samuel R. DelanyThe Forever War by Joe HaldemanThe Girl Who Owned a City by O. T. NelsonHigh-Rise by J. G. BallardThe Shockwave Rider by John BrunnerDon't Bite the Sun by Tanith LeeWoman on the Edge of Time by Marge PiercyThe Dark Tower – unfinished, attributed to C. S. Lewis, published as The Dark Tower and Other StoriesA Scanner Darkly by Philip K. DickThe Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le GuinSS-GB by Len Deighton The Stand by Stephen King1985 by Anthony BurgessThe Turner Diaries by Andrew MacdonaldAlongside Night by J. Neil SchulmanThe Long Walk by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman

1980s

Mockingbird by Walter TevisRiddley Walker by Russell HobanLanark: A Life in Four Books by Alasdair GrayLimes inferior by Janusz ZajdelThe Running Man by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard BachmanHaDerekh LeEin Harod by Amos KenanParadyzja by Janusz ZajdelSprawl trilogy: Neuromancer by William Gibson Count Zero by William GibsonMona Lisa Overdrive by William GibsonDayworld by Philip José FarmerThe Handmaid's Tale by Margaret AtwoodIn the Country of Last Things by Paul AusterMoscow 2042 by Vladimir VoinovichSea of Glass by Barry B. LongyearObernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle CarmodyThe Domination by S. M. StirlingThe Proteus Operation by James P. HoganThe Divide by William OvergardTo the Stars trilogy by Harry Harrison

1990s

Fiction

Clash of Eagles by Leo RutmanThe Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. RobinsonTimewyrm: Exodus by Terrance DicksSerpent's Walk by Randolph D. CalverhallThe War in 2020 by Ralph PetersThe Children of Men by P. D. JamesFatherland by Robert Harris Snow Crash by Neal StephensonParable of the Sower by Octavia E. ButlerVirtual Light by William GibsonVurt by Jeff NoonThe Memory Police by Yōko OgawaThe Diamond Age by Neal StephensonGun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan LethemAmnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem'48 by James HerbertAttentatet i Pålsjö skog by Hans AlfredsonInfinite Jest by David Foster WallaceBattle Royale by Koushun TakamiForever Free by Joe HaldemanThe Ice People by Maggie Gee

Young adult fiction

The Giver by Lois LowryShade's Children by Garth NixAmong the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

21st century

2000s

Fiction

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark DunnFeed by M. T. AndersonIn the Presence of Mine Enemies by Harry TurtledoveJennifer Government by Max BarryOryx and Crake by Margaret AtwoodCollaborator by Murray DaviesAsphalt by Carl Hancock RuxCloud Atlas by David MitchellThe Plot Against America by Philip RothDivided Kingdom by Rupert ThomsonNever Let Me Go by Kazuo IshiguroArmageddon's Children by Terry BrooksThe Book of Dave by Will SelfDay of the Oprichnik by Vladimir SorokinThe Road by Cormac McCarthyBlind Faith by Ben EltonRant by Chuck PalahniukLast Light by Alex ScarrowNontraditional Love by Rafael GrugmanWorld Made by Hand by James Howard KunstlerFarthing, Ha'penny, and Half a Crown, series by Jo Walton The City & the City by China MiévilleShades of Grey by Jasper FfordeThe Windup Girl by Paolo BacigalupiThe Year of the Flood by Margaret AtwoodZ213: Exit by Dimitris Lyacos

Young adult fiction

Gathering Blue by Lois LowryMortal Engines by Philip ReeveNoughts and Crosses by Malorie BlackmanThe House of the Scorpion by Nancy FarmerAmong the Barons by Margaret Peterson HaddixAmong the Betrayed by Margaret Peterson HaddixThe City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrauAmong the Brave by Margaret Peterson HaddixMessenger by Lois LowryThe People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrauAmong the Enemy by Margaret Peterson HaddixCheckmate by Malorie BlackmanUglies by Scott WesterfeldPretties by Scott WesterfeldAmong the Free by Margaret Peterson HaddixGenesis by Bernard BeckettLife as We Knew It by Susan Beth PfefferSpecials by Scott WesterfeldExtras by Scott WesterfeldIncarceron by Catherine FisherUnwind by Neal ShustermanThe Host by Stephenie MeyerThe Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth PfefferThe Declaration by Gemma MalleyFrom the New World by Yusuke KishiGone by Michael GrantThe Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsThe Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrauThe Resistance by Gemma MalleySapphique by Catherine FisherCatching Fire by Suzanne CollinsThe Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie RyanThe Maze Runner by James Dashner

2010s

Fiction

The Envy Chronicles by Joss WareThe Passage by Justin CroninSuper Sad True Love Story by Gary ShteyngartReady Player One by Ernest ClineShimoneta by Hirotaka AkagiBleeding Edge by Thomas PynchonThe Bone Season by Samantha ShannonThe Circle by Dave EggersMaddAddam by Margaret AtwoodThe Office of Mercy by Ariel DjanikianWool by Hugh HoweyDominion by C. J. SansomStation Eleven by Emily St. John MandelThe Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. CareySubmission by Michel HouellebecqThe Heart Goes Last by Margaret AtwoodFriday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-BrenyahTears of the Trufflepig by Fernando A. FloresThe Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Young adult fiction

Matched by Ally CondieMockingjay 2010) by Suzanne CollinsMonsters of Men by Patrick NessThe Scorch Trials by James DashnerAcross The Universe by Beth RevisCrossed by Ally CondieThe Death Cure by James DashnerDelirium by Lauren OliverDivergent by Veronica RothLegend by Marie LuShatter Me by Tahereh MafiThe Unwanteds by Lisa McMannWither by Lauren DeStefanoArticle 5 by Kristen Simmons Pandemonium by Lauren OliverInsurgent by Veronica RothThe Selection by Kiera CassSon by Lois LowryReached by Ally CondieRevealing Eden by Victoria FoytUnder the Never Sky by Veronica RossiProdigy by Marie LuThe Elite by Kiera CassThe 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

2020s

Fiction

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

Young adult fiction

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne CollinsSunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne CollinsReady Player Two by Ernest Cline