The Dystopian Timeline to The Hunger Games [INFOGRAPHIC]

Wow!!!

Very interesting. I'd like to read all the books listed here. Thanks!

OH. MY. GAWD! I did not know that! My brain is now processing this new information. Thanks for sharing this amazing facts!

This is why I love this website - you give us insight as well as suggestions. Interesting comments.

This is great! Really nicely made! :)

Fascinating and well presented. Thanks

I wrote a thesis on dystopian literature in 2011 and this is a perfect graphic breakdown of my claims. Dystopian literature is on a boom and therefore, incredibly important to society and especially the classroom. It's important to understand the numerous different ways in which you could approach all of these novels as a critical reader.

That's interesting thing to know.
Thanks.

So interesting. I find my writing fits into this category as well. Thanks.

Yes, I think The Hunger Games will soon pass 1984. They are both very relevant, but as society changes the newer novels will definitely invoke more interest.

Mind=blown

To answer the question about The Hunger Games, I also believe that it will eventually pass 1984 in popularity. With the movie coming out this week, a lot of new readers are becoming interested.

This graph is really neat :)

Good summary, thanks... a couple of other great recent young adult dystopian novels which come to mind are "Feed" and "House of the Scorpion".

You asked about the next trend in this genre? What about food/water/environmental anxiety? Not sexy, but actually scary and anger-inducing... Or perhaps we will go back to a wave of "Fear of the State" as our governments fail to protect our best interests...

Enjoyed some and ALL the rest been on my to-read since forever. interesting one.

Ps, someone forgot to pin something on Pinterest Goodreads!!

The Giver has to be added to this list! It was the first dystopian novel I read years ago and I bet many people have read it!

I absolutely love this! I love to know stuff like this... Anyways I'm all up for 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 as much as I love The Hunger Games. Would it surpass 1984? I hope not, I support the classics and then we might inspire people to write something better.

This post shows how far behind I am in terms of reading. I haven't read any of these books listed here. Arrrggghhh.... Should find time to read more.

Great post, btw.

I agree with Abigail that The Giver should be in this list. I also loved Enclave.

I need to start reading these!

I'd argue that Brave New World -- with its biologically engineered social caste system -- is about biological, reproductive, and economic issues, in addition to its other themes.

I think Chemical Garden should be mentioned too with it's reproduction and disease theme that I think is quite relevant considering all the different pandemics etc. Interesting read though, I've only read Crossed and Hunger Games of the mentioned though so I have some reading to do in the future!

So interesting! I have read a lot of these books OR I have been meaning to read them. Can't wait to start comparing them once I have read more.

I don't know, it seems to me that books like The Day of the Triffids; Alas, Babylon; The Postman; Earth Abides belong on this list too. Are they too overtly SF to make the cut? Or perhaps post-apocalypse and dystopia are two different genres. I love this list though, and I'll be checking in on it for some future reading material.

I hope the next big trend is: corporations controlling the government.

Great fun facts! I don't know how I feel about the Hunger Games surpassing 1984 or even Farenheit 451 as the best ever. The writing writing style in both of those books are beyond the Hunger Games in my opinion. Definitely a big fan of all of the above!

INSECT OVERLORDS!

Faacinating. :) Although I believe the 'Chaos Walking' Trilogy should definitely be on this list. Fantastic dystopian series. I STRONGLY recommned it.

Isabelle wrote: "Faacinating. :) Although I believe the 'Chaos Walking' Trilogy should definitely be on this list. Fantastic dystopian series. I STRONGLY recommned it."

definitely! it's captured my heart and became my favorite series.

Love your infographic posts.

Despite being female, I prefer the older "fear of the state" dystopian novels. "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451", especially.

Although, in the current "bad times", I'd just as leave have some escapist fantasy. Don't need more worries in my reading material.

This is amazing. What eye-opening information! Thanks, Patrick!

Don't forget about the 1994 Newbery winner The Giver, by Lois Lowry! Blood Red Road by Moira Young is another new dystopian YA, and I found it both epic and literary.

great list. I would also add "Parable of the Sower", and perhaps "Catch 22", "Girlfriend in a Coma", "Parable of the Sower", the Enders Game Trilogy, and "The Passage".

Dystopian themed books are just about all I've been reading so far this year! I'm greatly enjoying them, however I wish there were more adult (versus YOUNG adult) dystopian novels that included romance. Of course, I could just not be aware of them as yet.

the hunger games is one of those books that i feel would have been much better off if it was only given praise to the extend it deserves, some books when alot of people start to read them and a lot of people begin to say they're the best books and so and so, they lose their integrity...The Hunger Games is a very good book, i love it, but it is not brilliant and will never be as 1984 or brave new world. Giving it more than it deserves makes literary scholars start to point out the many faults and segregates people to 'haters' and 'lovers'... the same story happened to twilight and the mortal instruments, and it's not fair for adequately good books...

How interesting! I would love for robotics to be the next "big thing"...just minus the sci-fi (think FIRST Robotics Competition!). But, I don't want to see the newest phase of dystopian novels dissipate anytime soon! Also, wouldn't a better index/indicator of how well a book does in comparison is by its sales? After all, Twilight has a ton of sales AND reviews, but how many people have you heard made a stink about them?

Excellent infographic! The overlapping themes that are used in the novel have allowed it to capture a wider audience.

Thanks for all the comments, everyone! This is a tremendous reaction to the post.

We definitely left a few big dystopian novels off our graphic to save some space. The Giver, Unwind, and others were definitely on our map. We also tried to draw a distinction between dystopian books -- where there is some order to the world -- and post-apocalyptic books, where there's not. Books like The Road, The Crossing, etc. seemed more post-apocalyptic to us.

Thanks again for the comments and for sharing the graphic.

Hey, it would be great if there were active links in this so we could add these books to our To Read lists.

"Gaia's Children by Paul Kieniewicz-- Dystopian novel in near-future Scotland. Check it out!

I'm a massive fan of dystopia and so I shared it on my blog: http://prettybooks.tumblr.com/post/19... (with a link back, of course!). It's brilliant - thank you for posting!

Women prefer the society of The Handmaid's Tale? Really? Are you sure?

Wow, wonderful post!

Hannah wrote: "Women prefer the society of The Handmaid's Tale? Really? Are you sure?"

I think it means whether men or women enjoyed/read the book more (I may be wrong though...).

prettybooks wrote: "Hannah wrote: "Women prefer the society of The Handmaid's Tale? Really? Are you sure?"

I think it means whether men or women enjoyed/read the book more (I may be wrong though...)."

ahh that makes sense, I assumed because all the others seemed to fit with the internal genders as well >.<

What annoys me again and again and again is that people brand The Hunger Games as some amazing, unique, ground breaking masterpiece. No. It's Battle Royale for children, and I think it is a great shame that so few people know about that book.

FANTASTIC! Please do more post like this one.

this is amazing! thank you!

Hunger Games is riding the Young Adult popularity wave like the Harry Potter series and like the Twilight series. Will it eventually become a "must read" classics like 1984, Soylent Green, THX-1138 or I, Robot (please, not the movie)? Will the story itself stand the test of time? Thirty years from now, will people rate it amongst the mentioned masterpieces? Personally, I don't believe so, although, who can tell? For now, it will remain popular until the next "must follow" book/film comes along.

Dystopian fiction has always made us think and possibly warned but this current trend, and desire for it, is a reflection of these never-before times. I believe these stories help us feel less isolated in our suffering and offer a glimmer of hope.

If you like those listed above- there are plenty more in Sci-fi land such as Ender's Game and the more recent Across the Universe Trilogy. And yes the YA Lois Lowry Giver Series: The Giver, Messenger, Gathering Blue all fall into this genre. Check out www.thrivemovement.com for a real trip into the Matrix.

LOVE! Dystopia is now my favorite genre thanks to the Hunger Games! I have now read 4 of the 5 books under the YA Explosion: Romance section!!! :) I feel so proud!