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Socialist, communist, anarchist, or otherwise leftist science fiction and fantasy. The origins of sci-fi as a genre go back to the utopian tradition and despite the appearance of a pronounced conservative bias in the genre, there has always been a strong left-wing influence within both sci-fi and fantasy. Books should include themes of class struggle, anti-racism, anti-imperialism, anti-sexism, and/or anti-homophobia.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 100 |
|
Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine (Bitch Planet Collected Editions, #1)
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4.02 avg rating — 24,843 ratings
score: 185,
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2 people voted
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| 102 |
|
The Running Man
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3.89 avg rating — 154,865 ratings
score: 183,
and
2 people voted
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| 103 |
|
City Come a-Walkin'
by
3.78 avg rating — 593 ratings
score: 179,
and
2 people voted
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| 103 |
|
The Mount
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3.65 avg rating — 1,626 ratings
score: 179,
and
2 people voted
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| 105 |
|
The Ballad of Black Tom
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3.83 avg rating — 33,410 ratings
score: 177,
and
2 people voted
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| 106 |
|
Engine City (Engines of Light #3)
by
3.66 avg rating — 1,053 ratings
score: 175,
and
2 people voted
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| 106 |
|
Steamfunk!
by
4.24 avg rating — 109 ratings
score: 175,
and
2 people voted
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| 108 |
|
Jennifer Government
by
Max Barry (Goodreads Author)
3.68 avg rating — 15,602 ratings
score: 174,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 109 |
|
Moses: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman (Books 1 & 2)
by
Balogun Ojetade (Goodreads Author)
3.93 avg rating — 57 ratings
score: 173,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 109 |
|
Rivers of London (Rivers of London, #1)
by
Ben Aaronovitch (Goodreads Author)
3.85 avg rating — 146,009 ratings
score: 173,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 111 |
|
The Time Machine
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3.89 avg rating — 557,576 ratings
score: 172,
and
2 people voted
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| 112 |
|
The Restoration Game
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3.64 avg rating — 649 ratings
score: 171,
and
2 people voted
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| 112 |
|
DC Comics: Bombshells, Vol. 1: Enlisted
by
3.97 avg rating — 5,013 ratings
score: 171,
and
2 people voted
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| 114 |
|
Jingo (Discworld, #21; City Watch, #4)
by
4.19 avg rating — 72,447 ratings
score: 169,
and
2 people voted
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| 114 |
|
Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride & Joy
by
Brian K. Vaughan (Goodreads Author)
3.98 avg rating — 27,463 ratings
score: 169,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 116 |
|
Woman on the Edge of Time
by
3.91 avg rating — 18,502 ratings
score: 164,
and
2 people voted
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| 117 |
|
The Man in the High Castle
by
3.59 avg rating — 231,792 ratings
score: 157,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 118 |
|
Everfair (Everfair, #1)
by
3.19 avg rating — 2,935 ratings
score: 156,
and
2 people voted
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| 119 |
|
Lagrange Five
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3.13 avg rating — 62 ratings
score: 154,
and
2 people voted
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| 120 |
|
Dread Nation (Dread Nation, #1)
by
Justina Ireland (Goodreads Author)
4.13 avg rating — 35,684 ratings
score: 153,
and
2 people voted
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| 121 |
|
Young Avengers, Vol. 1: Style > Substance
by
Kieron Gillen (Writer)
4.11 avg rating — 11,411 ratings
score: 146,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 122 |
|
Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)
by
Lois McMaster Bujold (Goodreads Author)
4.07 avg rating — 39,756 ratings
score: 145,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 122 |
|
Blue Mars (Mars Trilogy, #3)
by
3.95 avg rating — 32,873 ratings
score: 145,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 124 |
|
The World Inside
by
3.73 avg rating — 3,083 ratings
score: 143,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 125 |
|
Unwind (Unwind, #1)
by
Neal Shusterman (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 246,556 ratings
score: 138,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 126 |
|
The White Stone
by
3.16 avg rating — 25 ratings
score: 134,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 126 |
|
The Colour of Magic (Discworld, #1)
by
3.99 avg rating — 417,116 ratings
score: 134,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse
by
3.75 avg rating — 2,193 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Chocolate Lenin
by
Graham Diamond (Goodreads Author)
3.54 avg rating — 52 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
The Stolen: Two Short Stories
by
Michelle Browne (Goodreads Author)
4.24 avg rating — 113 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Doomsday Diaries: The Complete Series
by
3.69 avg rating — 13 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 128 |
|
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
by
3.97 avg rating — 15,584 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
The Free:
by
M. Gilliland (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 28 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Breeders (Breeders Trilogy, #1)
by
Ashley Quigley (Goodreads Author)
3.44 avg rating — 280 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Hot Times in the Garden of Eden
by
Fred McKibben (Goodreads Author)
4.38 avg rating — 8 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
AlterWorld (Play to Live, #1)
by
D. Rus (Goodreads Author)
4.13 avg rating — 7,002 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Sinnabar
by
Richard Wolkomir (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 32 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
The Outer Limits at 50
by
4.09 avg rating — 11 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
The Moon and the Other
by
3.58 avg rating — 794 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 128 |
|
Equal Rites (Discworld, #3; Witches, #1)
by
4.07 avg rating — 196,624 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 128 |
|
Sex Quests: Two Tales of Futures Possible
by
Theodore Irvin Silar (Goodreads Author)
3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
After Bees
by
B.C. Nyren (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 80 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 128 |
|
Sword Woman
by
3.71 avg rating — 263 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 128 |
|
Behold the Wanderer: A Novel against Modernity
by
Mathijs Koenraadt (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 18 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Knight in Paper Armor
by
Nicholas Conley (Goodreads Author)
4.22 avg rating — 54 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Looking Backward from the Year 2000
by
3.25 avg rating — 71 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 128 |
|
Thirds
by
Roger Alan Bonner (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Blackfish City
by
Sam J. Miller (Goodreads Author)
3.57 avg rating — 9,503 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
The Jellyfish Device
by
William Marshall (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 14 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Minimum Safe Distance
by
X. Ho Yen (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 11 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Alloy Cooperative (Dialectics of Geos Book 1)
by
K.J. Noakes (Goodreads Author)
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Facts Don’t Care About Your Feelings
by
3.99 avg rating — 468 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 128 |
|
The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
by
Christopher Hitchens (Editor)
4.03 avg rating — 18,873 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 128 |
|
How the Man in Green Saved Pahang, and Possibly the World
by
3.26 avg rating — 152 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Stars and Soil
by
Dax Murray (Goodreads Author)
3.34 avg rating — 58 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 128 |
|
Holindrian & The Human Revolution
by
Macaulay Christian (Goodreads Author)
4.50 avg rating — 8 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 157 |
|
Doomsday Diaries
by
3.60 avg rating — 67 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 157 |
|
Freedom's Landing (Catteni, #1)
by
3.99 avg rating — 12,271 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 157 |
|
The Clan (Play to Live, #2)
by
D. Rus (Goodreads Author)
4.21 avg rating — 5,026 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 157 |
|
Wil Deft
by
Richard Wolkomir (Goodreads Author)
4.22 avg rating — 58 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 157 |
|
Recurrence Plot
by
3.86 avg rating — 87 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 157 |
|
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (Heechee Saga, #2)
by
3.95 avg rating — 13,813 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 157 |
|
The Carnelian Throne (Silistra, #4)
by
Janet E. Morris (Goodreads Author)
3.97 avg rating — 95 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 157 |
|
Black
by
3.49 avg rating — 763 ratings
score: 99,
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1 person voted
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| 157 |
|
Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 1
by
3.87 avg rating — 2,774 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 157 |
|
Memoirs Of The Year Two Thousand Five Hundred V1 (1772)
by
3.20 avg rating — 5 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 157 |
|
The Vote Trader
by
Roger Alan Bonner (Goodreads Author)
4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 157 |
|
Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future
by
3.37 avg rating — 661 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 169 |
|
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever (The Spanners, #2)
by
Sally Ember (Goodreads Author)
4.43 avg rating — 14 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 169 |
|
The Night's Night
by
3.71 avg rating — 17 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 169 |
|
Moloch
by
Luke Hartwell (Editor, Introduction)
4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 169 |
|
Dog Dance of Snikia
by
Richard Wolkomir (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 169 |
|
Ultimatum: Osguards
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 98,
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1 person voted
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| 169 |
|
Wonder Woman Archives, Vol. 1
by
4.04 avg rating — 314 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 169 |
|
The Free: 2021 edition free download
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 169 |
|
Andromedan tähtisumu
by
3.43 avg rating — 617 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 169 |
|
Thirds Rising
by
Roger Alan Bonner (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 169 |
|
The Last Days of New Paris
by
China Miéville (Goodreads Author)
3.54 avg rating — 7,539 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 169 |
|
The Authoritarian Moment: How the Left Weaponized America's Institutions Against Dissent
by
4.18 avg rating — 2,566 ratings
score: 98,
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1 person voted
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| 180 |
|
Slave To Marshmallows: A Steampunk Fairy Tale
by
N.R. Grabe (Goodreads Author)
3.14 avg rating — 21 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 180 |
|
Paranormal Detective (Mona Livelong, #1)
by
Valjeanne Jeffers (Goodreads Author)
4.32 avg rating — 22 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 180 |
|
Discarded Faces
by
Betty Cross (Goodreads Author)
3.71 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 97,
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1 person voted
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| 180 |
|
Child of Two Worlds (Star Trek: The Original Series)
by
4.06 avg rating — 470 ratings
score: 97,
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1 person voted
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| 180 |
|
For the Win
by
Cory Doctorow (Goodreads Author)
3.80 avg rating — 6,552 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 180 |
|
The Shape of Things to Come: The Ultimate Revolution
by
3.55 avg rating — 1,310 ratings
score: 97,
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1 person voted
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| 180 |
|
You Are Not a Gadget
by
3.57 avg rating — 6,315 ratings
score: 97,
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1 person voted
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| 180 |
|
The War for Reality
by
T.C. Weber (Goodreads Author)
4.60 avg rating — 5 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 180 |
|
Bullies
by
3.96 avg rating — 2,391 ratings
score: 97,
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1 person voted
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| 189 |
|
Colony Ascension
by
Valjeanne Jeffers (Goodreads Author)
3.54 avg rating — 13 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 189 |
|
The Hammer and the Cross (Hammer and the Cross, #1)
by
4.03 avg rating — 1,354 ratings
score: 96,
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1 person voted
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| 189 |
|
Battlestar Galactica (Battlestar Galactica Miniseries, #1)
by
Jeffrey A. Carver (Goodreads Author)
3.83 avg rating — 654 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 189 |
|
Princeless, Vol. 1: Save Yourself
by
Jeremy Whitley (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 8,537 ratings
score: 96,
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1 person voted
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| 189 |
|
New Moon (Luna, #1)
by
3.74 avg rating — 8,621 ratings
score: 96,
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1 person voted
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| 189 |
|
Aelita
by
3.56 avg rating — 1,597 ratings
score: 96,
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1 person voted
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| 189 |
|
Born in Salt
by
T.C. Weber (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 19 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 189 |
|
Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth
by
3.64 avg rating — 1,581 ratings
score: 96,
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1 person voted
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| 197 |
|
Enemy Mine
by
4.22 avg rating — 1,524 ratings
score: 95,
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1 person voted
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| 197 |
|
Wolf Moon (Luna, #2)
by
3.94 avg rating — 3,823 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 197 |
|
The Story
by
T.C. Weber (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 200 |
|
Collision of Worlds (Immortal, #4)
by
Valjeanne Jeffers (Goodreads Author)
4.84 avg rating — 19 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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Ian
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Jul 03, 2012 11:04AM
Philip K. Dick?
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Why is "1984" on this list at all? It's an anti-big-government book. It's completely anti-liberal. George Orwell was a conservative (or at least a Libertarian). The only reason this book is on that list is because it makes liberal kids feel cool.
George Orwell was not an anarchist nor a conservative. He was a member of a british left-wing group that belonged to the so called London Bureau, sister organisation of the spanish POUM (not really trotskyite, but similar). The older he became he got more anti-communist, but all is life he was anti-stalinist (both 1984 and Animal Farm are basically anti-stalinist books). He also left the organisation and probably became a liberal and not a socialist later in his life. But one author mentioned in the list that's not left-wing at all is Orson Scott Card.
Ursula K. Le Guin is a known anarcho-feminist
Chris wrote: "Why is "1984" on this list at all? It's an anti-big-government book. It's completely anti-liberal. George Orwell was a conservative (or at least a Libertarian). The only reason this book is on that..."George Orwell was a democratic socialist, with some anarchist leanings. Being against the authoritarian Bolshevism of Stalin isn't just the purview of the right wing. He witnessed the Soviet backed communists in the Spanish civil war's brutal suppression of the anarcho-syndicalist communities.
"Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it."
This is a wonderful list, my to-read shelf is rapidly expanding.
I'm not sure if Aldous Huxley was a leftist at the time he wrote BNW although BNW can be read as critical to capitalism, & Huxley did turn to the left later. Also Sheri Tepper's politics is a bit bizarre.
1632 by Eric Flint? I do wonder about that one. Seems rather nativist/right-wing.
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin occurs twice.
Communist shouldn't be in the description. Communism is very authoritarian, which seems to contradict left-wing philosophies (Communist countries also tend to be imperialistic, sexist, homophobic, etc.). Communism differs from Marxism as Marxism is a philosophy while Communism is a type of government which on the outside resembles Marxism while in reality keeping a small ruling class of "haves" ruling in an authoritarian style over the majority of "have-nots" while spouting rhetoric that everyone is equal because everyone is poor (that doesn't reflect reality).
Buzz H. wrote: "1632 by Eric Flint? I do wonder about that one. Seems rather nativist/right-wing."I agree with you - I was startled to see this... very pro-patriot
The Iron Heel by Jack London also occurs twice
Chris wrote: "Why is "1984" on this list at all? It's an anti-big-government book. It's completely anti-liberal. George Orwell was a conservative (or at least a Libertarian). The only reason this book is on that..."1984 is a thoroughly socialist book. It examines the methods by which class regimes maintain hegemony of ideas, albeit through greatly exaggerated satire. It examines the mutually supporting nature of state "enemies". It even contains the very words "If there is hope . . . it lies in the proles" https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwe...
Alicja wrote: "Communist shouldn't be in the description. Communism is very authoritarian, which seems to contradict left-wing philosophies (Communist countries also tend to be imperialistic, sexist, homophobic, ..."Richard wrote: "The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin occurs twice."
Communism is definitely a left-wing philosophy. Under communism the producers, the working class, democratically control the wealth of society in the interest of human need rather than profit. What you are talking about could more accurately be called "Stalinism" and "Maoism". The international left is still profoundly influenced by these philosophies even though they have shown themselves to be incompatible with the communism of Marx. A book based on the Cuban revolution could certainly be considered left wing, even if the reality of present day Cuba is neither communist, nor particularly progressive.
Also, communism isn't a "type of government" at all (unless you're using a broad definition of government, I guess). It's stateless by definition.
Chris wrote: "Why is "1984" on this list at all? It's an anti-big-government book. It's completely anti-liberal. George Orwell was a conservative (or at least a Libertarian). The only reason this book is on that..."Damn right it does.
Also, Orwell was an open socialist.
Lol, why is a Clockwork Orange on this list? Besides not being a left-wing novel, seems more concerned with free will and a hatred for apathy, the author was himself strongly right-wing. Indeed he even wrote a book attacking the Labour government in the 70s, 1985, and stated in the Paris Review that he was, ideally, a Catholic Jacobite imperial monarchist.
Dune's story has nothing to do with socialism.
Chris wrote: "Why is "1984" on this list at all? It's an anti-big-government book. It's completely anti-liberal. George Orwell was a conservative (or at least a Libertarian). The only reason this book is on that..."Libs ain't leftist lol. Leftist have always been subversive and insurrectionary. Orwell was an Anarchist until he sold out to liberalism and betrayed the working people to the fascists. 1984 however is a good book about how hierarchies
can be dangerous.
I don't think dune belongs on the list. In fact, it definitly doesn't.
I don't think Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials really belongs on this list. The main struggle of the series is against "The Authority" ( =God), but many major characters enthusiastically participate in hierarchical relationships.Eg. Lord Asriel, the leader of the revolution, is heavily authoritarian towards those surrounding him.
Lyra, the main protagonist, has the following thought in the 2nd book: "“You had to come through,” she said, furious. No one should speak to her like this. She was an aristocrat. She was Lyra."
Reverted title back to the original. Someone (not the list creator) had changed it.
If you dutifully wear your ideology goggles, you will find it easy to read right past any information contradicting your worldview - in the books on this list or otherwise - by applying the simple my team = good, everyone else = bad filter, but just fyi, a good chunk of the top "left wing literature" presented here is based in some part on real-life communist dystopias.
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