Looking for a sci-fi dystopian to read

[David]

I'm looking for something new to read as I just finished up Old Man's War and I figured I'd return to something dystopian. My request is for a sci-fi dystopian but more to the point something that is more harsh than the general YA fare. I don't have anything against YA novels in general, I just know that they aren't my thing. Doesn't have to be violent but it should be a bit more on the edgier side than something such as the Hunger Games. Any suggestions?

[Empress, Seeker of wonders]

I would recommend you to give a try to Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1), for a recently written non YA novel, it is really good. Another favorite of mine is The Gate to Women's Country, but it is a slower reading.

If you want something short I really enjoyed The Machine Stops (free) and I Am Legend

And if you are looking for something more futuristic and sci-fi I loved the The Sky Lords trilogy.

Soon I'm gonna start reading The Trial (free) for the group read, you can join us (me).

I need to read more dystopian books.

[David]

Think I'm going to give The Trial a whirl. Thanks!

[Alle Bücher müssen gelesen werden]

I have to recommend "Counting Heads" here.

[Empress, Seeker of wonders]

This Perfect Day and Anthem

I'm really not sure what you meant by edgier, but I divide dystopian books by "pure/classic dystopian" and "all others that have dystopian elements" and the two above fall into the first category.

[Chris]

The Long Walk and Mockingbird are two great ones.

[[deleted user]]

A Shadow in the Flames by Michael G Munz

this is a trilogy but the last book hasn't come out yet. A Shadow in the Flames (The New Aeneid Cycle #1)is the first one and I have read it, loved it! Am getting the second one, it has great reviews for it too!

[[deleted user]]

WE by Yvegeny Zamyatin is a good one. Its from the 1920's, but its clear-cut adult sci-fi dystopia.

[Papaphilly]

Try 'Stand on Zanzibar', 'A Clockwork Orange' or 'Fahrenheit 451'.

'A Clockwork Orange' is brutal. make sure you read the British version. The ending is much better than the original American release.

[Kandice]

Papaphilly wrote: "Try 'Stand on Zanzibar', 'A Clockwork Orange' or 'Fahrenheit 451'.

'A Clockwork Orange' is brutal. make sure you read the British version. The ending is much better than the original American re..."

Papahilly is absolutely correct. The Americanized version of A Clockwork Orange loses so much with that small omission. It IS a brutal book, but well worth the effort.

[Papaphilly]

The book I should have mentioned is Never Let Me Go. It is truly creepy because the story talks around the issue in such an ordinary way, by the time you realize what is actually happening, you are left half-sick and wondering how can a society allows this to happen. One of the best I have read in years and years.

[Kandice]

I belong to a book club at the local library (2 actually) and when it was my turn to choose I chose Never Let Me Go. There were 9 of us at group that month and 5 of them didn't even finish because they disliked it so much. The four of us that did finish (me for the third time!) talked until well after the library was closed and then emailed each other for two weeks regarding things we forgot to mention.

I guess it's a love it or hate it book, but I love it. I don't feel the story is about the three main characters at all. It's about us and how we treat each other. What we allow and what we turn a blind eye to,

I am afraid to really recommend it now, but it's so, so, so good.

[Stephen]

Kandice wrote: "I belong to a book club at the local library (2 actually) and when it was my turn to choose I chose Never Let Me Go. There were 9 of us at group that month and 5 of them didn't even fin..."

I love it too. I've found myself recommending the film if I've been a bit cautious about recommending the book. Trouble is you can't really tell anyone what it's about!

[Kandice]

That's the beauty of the book, (Never Let Me Go) especially the first time you read it. Something is obviously wonky, but Ishiguro never spells it out for you. He slowly peels layers until you flip back to check if you've really understood, and OMG...you did! All of his books are told in such calm voices that you don't realize the horror, pain or fear until a page or two later when it becomes undeniable.

[Abel]

The dystopia in 'The Handmaid's Tale' (Margaret Atwood) is pretty harsh, although it is perhaps more an alternative history than containing any hard science.

I also recommend Zamyatin's 'We', with a more scientific slant and a really different narrative voice.

Abel

[Damon]

I am reading Brave New World and 1984 simultaeneiously.

[Dylan]

I'd second the Wool Trilogy. I love that Papaphilly recommended Stand on Zanzibar. It's a book I read years ago and had forgotten about. I may have to look it up again. A very early example of having a non-western setting for a dystopian novel.

[Amy]

I'm being partial here, but I recommend 'Divided We Stand' by Amy Orr (that's me). A new release and a kind of new dystopian concept.

Or, of course, the unmatchable 'We' by Zamyatin.

[Chris]

Both "Hunger Games" and "Divergent" series would fit that category, but of the two "The Hunger Games" was by far much better. The writing in Divergent was pretty bad.

Also, mentioned above was Anthem. Not only does it meet the criteria, but it's personally my favorite book of all-time.

[Katrina♡••]

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

[SSteppenwolFF]

The Complete Machine Trilogy

[Arie]

I definitely need to check out Never Let Me Go it sounds like. I too like something a little harsher than the general YA fair.

Mine is The Soul and the Seed (and the whole Kyrennei Series). It starts out as if it was YA but it isn't. Things get far more serious and psychological. It is too intense for a lot of readers who aren't into this sort of thing but at core it's about power and social exclusion, how far can people go. But all exceedingly realistic.

[Kandice]

Margaret Atwood has a new book, The Heart Goes Last that expands on her ebook Positron, Episodes 1 - 3 series which was terrific and very different.

[Clare]

Tony Schumacher has recently written two alternate history books set in London after the Nazis win WW2.

The Darkest Hour
The British Lion: A Novel

As you'd expect, they are fairly bleak and violent - make that very - but well realised.

[K]

One dystopian SF novel well worth a read is the now largely forgotten 'Inverted World', by the excellent Christopher Priest - a writer not normally associated with dystopian fiction. First published in 1974, it tells the story of Helward Mann, who lives in the enclosed city of 'Earth', as he is inducted into the Guild of Future Surveyors. We journey with him as he travels outside the city, discovering ever more startling facts about 'Earth' and the universe around it. Like Priests other books, this is complex but rewarding as you travel towards the final, mind-bending reveal.
"One of the most surprising SF novels ever written." (Le Monde)
Thoroughly recommended - enjoy.