SFFKit: November - dystopia

Hello everyone and welcome to the November SFFKit thread dedicated to dystopia! I'll be your hostess for this month and I'm pretty excited to see what everybody else will be reading.

The term dystopia was apparently originally introduced to designate a society that is not desirable, the opposite of a utopia.

This includes many causes, such as tyrannical governments, post-disastersurvival, or dehumanizing societies.

One theme that I find particularly appealing is the kind of society in which people think that they live in a utopia, but we as readers are expected to see at once how wrong this societal organisation is. The word totalitarian often pops up in reviews of such books. These stories often feature a main character who will little by little come to question this organisation.

Classic works of this type include:
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
1984 by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell is a satire of the communist revolution in Russia in which everything starts fine for the animals but little by little the society switches from ideal to terrible.

I will not try to list here all dystopian works. Many lists can be found online, or you can check the dystopia tag here on LT.

In the posts below I will present some works that have come to my attention through the years. I have read most of those books and recommend most of those heartily.

The categorisation is mine and far from perfect. Some categories overlap, and as explained above I have a heavy bias towards the kind of dystopia in which it is not (at first) apparent to the characters that they do not live in a utopia.

Works that did not receive enough attention IMO

The books below are books that I've read that belong to the genre but seem to me to be under-recognised, so I seize the opportunity to make some advertisement for them.

The Uglies and its sequels by Scott Westerfeld is a YA series in which the society that emerged after a meltdown of our own decided that all of humanity's problems comes from the fact that most people are ugly and this creates resentment. Therefore all people who turn 16 undergo cosmetical surgery to becomme Pretties and live happily ever after among other Pretties with not a worry in life. People under 16 cannot undergo this surgery as their growing-up may spoil the results and they are therfore the Uglies of the title. I like YA books and this one is a perfect example of why I like this genre, with a captivating story that makes you think. It also addresses in an undirect but honest way some teenage problems like anorexia and cutting and I found that very good for young readers. It's also interesting that it predates other more widely known books in the genre such as Hunger Games or Divergent.

This perfect day by Ira Levin is IMO an undeservedly unknown classic of the genre. Published in 1970, it presents a society run by an all-knowing computer, in which everything is planned in order to obtain global balance and efficiency. The world is at peace, there is no hunger, and everyone is happy to play their role in this well-oiled machine. Or are they?

We (Nous autres in French) by Yevegeny Zamyatin looks like a 1984 clone except that it was written more than twenty years before and inspired Orwell to write his book. I found it quite fascinating that such a book could be published in 1920 or so in the soviet union.

Kallocain by Swedish Karin Boye author features a drug that forces people to tell the truth and investigate whether they are true followers of the regime or not.

Young adult books

Dystopia is a popular theme in YA books as the fact that the characters come to question the society they live in mirror the coming of age of the readers.
Below is a list of some YA books belonging to the genre.

The giver by Lois Lowry (highly recommended)
The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (highly recommended)
The Hunger games by Suzanne Collins
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Matched by Ally Condie

Fake utopias

The topic of dystopian societies disguising themselves as utopias is a long time favorite of mine. Below are some books belonging to the genre, that are not YA.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. This has nothing in common with the 50 shades of the same colour (except they almost share a title of course) and is the first book in a series in which people's rank in society is evaluated by how well they can see colours (most people can't see them). Although this is part of a series this stands alone well by itself, which is good because the sequel never got published. Mr. Fforde please please please write the sequels in this very good series!

Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro

2084 la fin du monde (2084 the end of the world) by Boualem Sansal

Post apocalypse societies

As mentioned in my first post, the term dystopia can designate any society that is not desirable, and not only those that disguise themselves as utopias. Below are some books in which some kind of apocalypse has happened and people try to survive after that.
For some of these books that I've read and put on top of the list, there is a strong resonance with the fake utopia category because the society has become totalitarian under the pretense that this is the only way to organise recovery after an apocalypse. This makes me think that I might have better categorised the books I present as totalitarian or not. Next year I might propose a "totalitarian dystopia" category. ;)

The handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Is there still a need to present this one?

Wool by Hugh Howey presents the part of humanity that has survived living in a huge underground silo after some castastrophic event that killed all people outside.

Oryx and Crake and its sequels by Margaret Atwood. A very good series of books about life after some kind of virus killed most of humanity. The story progresses in two different arcs, one presenting a lone character after the catastrophe, and the other one presenting his life up to the plague.

The windup girl is a post global warming book in which calories are the currency (if I remember correctly) and in which GMO crops are unavoidable.

I haven't read all of the books below but saw many of them again and again while browsing reviews, and the reviews I read are very good

Station Eleven by EmilyS st John Mendell
A canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Parable of the Sower by Olivia E. Butler
Feed by Mira Grant

I'm not sure how to categorise the books below but they are tagged as dystopia and look good:

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
The power by Naomi Alderman
Vox by Christina Dalcher
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Les lumières de Tel Aviv by Alexandra Schwratzbrod (in French, don't think it has been translated to English)
La zone du dehors by Alain Damasio
The Machine stops by E. M. Forster

I'll stop here. Please tell us what dystopian books you already read
and enjoyed (or not), which you plan to read for this month's theme,
and whether you think my categories are rubbish! :)

I don't know yet what I will be reading - too many possibilities! I currently hesitate between The Machine stops, La zone du dehors, Red Rising and Matched.

Happy reading everyone!

(ETA: touchstones mostly don't work, I'll try to edit my posts to have them working later)

Looks like it might be time for me to finally read Never Let Me Go! I loved The Remains of the Day, but I'm guessing this one will have a different feel. :)

I'm not sure if it fits or not but I will be reading The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

>9 Robertgreaves: The Chrysalids has often been tagged dystopia so it seems like a good fit (and an interesting book). Anyway my approach to these challenges is that anything that you think fits, fits. :)

>8 christina_reads: I have been a bit disappointed by Never let me go but it is highly rated so I must be a fluke! Looking forward to your thoughts on this one.

Seeing as there's a movie in the works for Uglies I might return to that series. I've read, and enjoyed, the first two books and Specials is already on the tbr shelves.

>12 AHS-Wolfy: Glad to see I'm not the only one to like that series. :) I really wonder what the movie will look like!

I am planning on reading A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World by A. C. Fletcher.

>12 AHS-Wolfy: I have been intrigued by this series for a while - I really need to get to it! I did have a reread of 1984 as my choice for this month. We will see!

>14 DeltaQueen50: I hadn't heard of that one as far as I can remember. There are so many interesting books in this topic!

>15 JayneCM: Both are very interesting choices. I've read 1984 many years ago and I wonder how I would feel if I re-read it.

>16 chlorine: A Boy and his Dog At the End of the World is fairly new, published last year, and was offered at a reduced price for the Kindle. I read a good review, posted by an LT friend so I am looking forward to it.

>18 DeltaQueen50: I almost always cho2my books by reading reviews rather than basing my opinion on the blurb as well.

A series I discovered recently is The great library by Rachel Caine. Beginning with Ink and bone it follows Jess, the youngest son in a family of book smugglers. (The great library in Alexandria controls knowledge by controlling books and publishing. It frames itself as beneficial to humanity by 1) providing codexes to everyone that can mirror every book published & 2) keeping itself "free from politics.")

At age 16, Jess is sent to Alexandria to be trained as a librarian, and begins to discover all isn't as it seems.

Ooh this one seems very interesting, thanks for pointing it out! Have you read the series or the beginning of it? What were your thought?

>21 chlorine: It's fast-paced, and I rushed through it, though I think it also would bear slower reading and would be interesting as a springboard for discussions of censorship, who has access to information, the tendency of institutions to protect their existence, etc. It is a YA series.

I think the world-building is good, and it's also well plotted. The first in the series is Ink and bone and it begins in London with Jess (age 10) acting as a runner to deliver a book and receive payment. It ends when those of his classmates in Alexandria who weather their training are given contracts with the Library and begin to count what this has cost them.

I learned about it via a reread hosted at tor.com

>22 markon: Thanks for the feedback! It does sound good and I do love YA litterature!

>2 chlorine: I also enjoyed Scott Westerfield's series until the last one - it was problematic for me that one character would set herself up as a watchdog on the system - though I agree that systems need watching.

I hadn't heard of This perfect day or Kallocain.

If anyone is ever interested in doing a group read of We (Nous autres in French) by Yevgeny Zamyatin I'd be interested in following along. I don't think it's one I would get through on my own.

>24 markon: when you're talking about the last book in the Uglies series you mean Extras right? I see there are new books in the series, starting with Imposters, that I haven't read but they seem to be part of a new series rather than a sequel.
I have poor memory of the books I read in general and Extras is the one I remember the least in the series. Maybe I should read it again, especially since it's quite short.
The group read of We sounds interesting but I won't commit to that as there are so many books I want to read and I have trouble focusing on books currently.

I also highly recommend The Giver. I generally don't care for dystopian themes, but I was impressed with that book.

>26 fuzzi: Sorry to hear dystopia is not your thing. I hope you find something you like if you decide to participate. The giver is indeed something special.
I had heard that the other books in the series were not as good but I did enjoy Gathering Blue, the next book (though I did not find it as good as The giver). It was set in the same universe as The giver but is unrelated to it. Apparently reading all four books makes a coherent picture though, so maybe I'll try to read the 3d book at some point.

I'll be reading The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow if I can. My library system only has one ebook copy, currently on loan, but I think I can get it this month.

I've read the opening. Imagine we had an alien invasion immediately before the pandemic would have started in our timeline. The aliens start to colonize Earth for their latest vacation spot. Then imagine one girl copes with the horrors of how humans are being governed by maintaining a secret loaning library, and one of the aliens, a collector of human music, wants to help her. That's The Sound of Stars.

Another dystopian novel I've been wanting to read is The Fever King by Victoria Lee. Magic has becomes real but is controlled by a nation that forms from the southeast corner of the fractured United States of America. A young immigration advocate, born from refugees, gets caught up in the government school for magical students, where he learns the political situation is worse than what it looked like from the protest lines. Can he help, or will his new powers and his idealism only make everyone's lives worse?

...I think that's what the first Feverwake book is about, anyway. I've read the webcomic based on it. As Young Adult fiction, there are predictably strong themes on identity and interpersonal relationships. The main characters' traits are uncommon in fiction. But so is the way the government leaders are portrayed.

Dystopian books I've already read, years and years ago, include 1984, A Canticle for Leibowitz, Divergent, Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, and The Windup. I've tried reading Never Let Me Go, but it's not to my tastes.

I have been eyeing Kallocain for a while. Now that I know of it, We looks interesting. There's a wait list for the Ink and Bone ebook in my library system. But dystopian fiction is a popular enough and broad enough category that something that fits will be accessible by the end of the month, assuming our internet connections remain.

>28 chlorine: I'll be watching other people's choices, maybe something will strike my fancy.

>2 chlorine:
>24 markon:

I'm a fan of this perfect day by Ira Levin. One of the first sci-fi novels I ever read. I got my whole family to read it back then and I have an autographed first edition!

I also like YA dystopia.

Dust Lands Trilogy by Moira Young.
The Line and sequels by Teri Hall.
Wolf of Shadows by Whitley Strieber

And how about
Anthem by Ayn Rand.
Hungry Plague by M. R. Carey, first one is Girl with All the
gifts
A Gift upon the Shore, M.K. Wren
One Second After by William R. Forstchen
Survivors by Terry Nation

Currently reading Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner, which has been tagged as a dystopia.

>20 markon: >21 chlorine: Did you see that Rachel Caine died on Sunday?

>34 Robertgreaves: Oh no I hadn't seen, I'm sorry to hear that!

>29 aspirit: I hope you get something that you like from the library soon!
I read Never let me go but was rather disappointed by it. One book I had really liked by this author, which is not dystopia, is The buried giant.

>31 nrmay: Did your family like This perfect day? And congrats on getting a signed book!

>32 nrmay: Thanks for the suggestions! I'm amazed by the amount of choice there is for this theme!

>33 Robertgreaves: How are you liking Stand on Zanzibar? I read it when I was quite young during a period when my dad was giving me his SF books to read and I remember being very impressed. Brunner and Spinrad have been authors that have left a mark on me since that time.
I wonder what I would think of Stand on Zanzibar now that both the book and I have aged.

>37 chlorine: I read it some time in the early 1980s. I'm just over half way through now. I still find the media quotes a great way to do the worldbuilding and working out what the slang terms mean is fun. The attitude to "shiggies" hasn't worn well, but I'm not sure whether it reflects the author's own views or whether he just thought it was a reasonable projection from trends in his own time.

I picked up Near Enemy and found to my dismay that I had no recollection of what happened in the first book, so I am skimming Shovel ready ro re-acquaint myself.

>37 chlorine:

It was back in the 70s, I think, but I remember my dad and sister liked it. More recently my son and my nephew read it and also liked it.

Another one I liked was Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien.
Skip the movie. It was unwatchable and they changed the story.

I have finished Shovel ready which was interesting enough for a re-read. On to the sequel.

COMPLETED Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

>34 Robertgreaves: Yes, I did see that. Thanks for posting.

Voting for Cats for 2021 is available here through Sun. Nov. 8.

Due to an LT issue, voting is off-site: https://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5f9edd67e4b0899ae5a15d8c

I'm reading The seep by Chana Porter with Women of the future over on Goodreads.

>43 MissWatson: And I have finished Near enemy which is even bleaker.

Thank you for this theme and suggestions. I think I may re-read Farenheit 451. It was tough to read of course, but the idea of vast swaths of humanity being glued to watching giant screens sounds so much like the recent binge-watching being a hobby over the past few months. Books, people, books!!

>49 threadnsong: You are right that Farenheit 451 seems very relevant to the current times! I used to hate books that I had to read for school even though I loved reading, because I hated _having_ to read that book I guess. But Farenheit 451 is one of the very few that I loved at 13. :)

BTW the movie is available on Netflix in France, I don't know about other countries (not that I'm trying to push people away from books and towards screens ! ;)

>39 Robertgreaves: Glad to know that Stand of Zanzibar stands the test of time. :) What are the "shiggies" though? I'm guessing gay people...

>40 MissWatson: >41 nrmay: I am thrilled to see so many mentions of books in the topic that I never had heard about! I hope y'all enjoy your reads!

>47 markon: This seems like a very interesting group and The Seep does sound very interesting!

I'll resist the temptation to join the group though as I tend to be over-enthusiastic in joining and then I fail to follow through.

>48 MissWatson: I see there is no sequel to Near Enemy. Is it because the story is finished or because the sequel hasn't been written yet?

I have read Matched by Ally Condie.
This is a YA dystopian novel and it embraces many of the tropes of the genre, for good and for bad. I really enjoyed reading it, the slow discovery of the Society through the main character's eyes was really interesting and the oppression that she felt without knowing it was really well depicted. I wasn't as captivated by the second part of the book though and will not be reading the sequels right now.

Recommanded if you want to dive completely into an absorbing, easy to read book.

>51 chlorine: shiggies are women, codders are men, bivs are gay men

I just discovered there were 2 sequels to one of my favorite post-apocalyptic novels -
Emergence by David Palmer.
It was hard to find for a long time but I just saw that this one and the sequels have been reprinted; available from Amazon. It was nominated for several awards, including the Hugo.

And that one >57 nrmay: reminded me of Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre.
Dreamsnake won both Hugo and Nebula.

>54 chlorine: These were a recommendation from a fellow LTer, I cannot remember who it was. And the story ends with Near Enemy, more or less. I could imagine a sequel set in the virtual dimension, though.

I have completed my read of A Boy And His Dog At The End Of The World by C. A. Fletcher and I loved it. This isn't a fast moving, action packed story but rather a slow moving story of courage and survival, loyalty and love. Of course, the addition of Jip, a lively doggie companion made it all the better!

Here's December's thread, https://www.librarything.com/topic/326340

I read The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I've hardly read anything in this area, but this is pretty good adventure fiction.

I read The Giver by Lois Lowry. I can see why it won the Newbery Medal!

>63 leslie.98: that's a good one. I read that earlier this year as part of my Newbery challenge.

I decided to revisit Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? via the audiobook I acquired earlier this year. Such a great book!

I've started Medusa Uploaded which is far better than I'd expected.

>5 chlorine: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I'm reading Bird Saviors by William J Cobb, which is set in some vague near future dystopian world that really looks very much like the one we live in. It's a literary novel that is really about the relationships between the characters living in this world, one of them and ornithologist, another a young birdwatcher and her raving ultra religious father.
I also liked Into the Forest by Jean Hegland, which is in the same category, in that it is about the relationship between two sisters as they try to survive in a world where society has broken down completely.

COMPLETED The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

My review:

A group of telepathic children grow up in a post apocalyptic society where genetic purity and the eradication of mutants are primary values.

Well paced picture of David becoming more aware of the nature of his society and the danger he is in as he grows up.

I just finished the short story collection A People's Future of the United States, which contains a number of stories about dystopias. There are a number of quite good stories in here.

I finished Fahrenheit 451 and if it hadn't been for this group I don't know if I could have made it through. It is sooo darkly dystopian, and the thought of all those books . . . . anyway, I am glad I re-read it. I even found an old theater ticket that I used as a bookmark, which gives me an idea of how long ago I first read it!

>71 threadnsong: I tried reading it but just couldn't get into it. I didn't like any of the characters.

>72 fuzzi: It is hard to get into, and agree that none of the characters are likeable. Bradbury's description of his wife's friends who come to visit to participate in the "group watch" of the broadcast smacks of the 50's mentality towards women.