Recently, Forbes releases a list of their picks for the best dystopian books of all time. And we will be looking at this list and ranking Forbes 30 best dystopian books of all time and see how good or bad their list is.
The dystopian genre is one of my favorites and I am always looking for new dystopian novels to read. The genre is filled with amazing novels and some have gone on to be classics. We already have a good idea of which dystopian novels will top this Forbes list but I am curious as to the order and any surprise picks.
I would imagine that this list was made with the input of numerous people. As much as I love dystopian novels, outside of the classics, many people aren’t going to seek out many of these titles because of this list. More often than not, they would have read the novel because somebody recommended it.
Forbes 30 Best Dystopian Books of All Time
- Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (2023)
- The Selection by Kiera Cass (2012)
- The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings (2022)
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (2005)
- Followers by Megan Angelo (2020)
- Wool by Hugh Howey (2011)
- American War by Omar El Akkad (2017)
- The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder (1994)
- The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (1895)
- Speak by Louisa Hall (2015)
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (2017)
- The Candy House by Jennifer Egan (2022)
- The Children of Men by P.D. James (1992)
- Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (2023)
- Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses (2017)
- The Circle by Dave Eggers (2013)
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (2004)
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1952)
- Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishigiro (2005)
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (1968)
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (2015)
- The Power by Naomi Alderman (2016)
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
- Severance by Ling Ma (2018)
- The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (2012)
- The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008)
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993)
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
- 1984 by George Orwell (1949)
My Thoughts on Forbes Ranking
The list by Forbes is honestly not a bad one. There are some positions on the list that I don’t agree with but I can see why they went with the books that they did. Compared to my list, they left out The Passage by Justin Cronin and that feels like a crime considering how good that novel is.
I was surprised that Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Was left outside the top ten. And then immediately after it is one of my favorite books that I read this year, The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. I would still have preferred to see it in the top ten but the novel isn’t perfect so I can see what the thought process was for not including it in the top ten.
What stands out to me are some of the newer novels on the list. Prophet Song by Paul Lynch just makes the cut and I don’t know if that is because of recency bias or that they felt like they had to include it. I have yet to read the novel but the fact that they included it at 30 feels like they felt the need to include it.
Overall, this is a good list and I can’t complain. Nobody is surprised that 1984 came out on top that The Handmaid’s Tale is right behind it. The list doesn’t have any controversial picks but they do rank the classics a bit lower than I would have. The Hunger Games is a great novel but I would never put it above the Giver but that’s just me.
Conclusion
What did you think of the Forbes 30 best dystopian books of all time? Did they get it right or left out some must read dystopian novels? I know I will be reading a bunch of books on this list going forward and seeing if they deserve to be on the list. Happy reading!
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Uglies began with the line that sky was the colour of cat’s vomit and i dont know why but it always struck with me it was such a shocking opening lol. The concept of the book overall is nice and the book is also good though it does not feature in my personal favorite books because I think i did not like the books after the first one. Everything kind of became all over the place. Though its definitely worth a try
I haven’t read everything on that list, but I disagree anyway. Here’s my current list, though not all may qualify as dystopian.
Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding: About status anxiety and humans reduced to animalistic social structure of hierarchy and dominance.
The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka
No Exit, by Jean-Paul Sartre
The Giver, by Lois Lowry
The Iron Heel, by Jack London: Note that I grew up in Sonoma County, where Jack London spent some time and his Wolf House burned down, with remnants in what is now Jack London State Historic Park.
We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, by Harlan Ellison: This short story about a[n] horibly sadistic AI named AM really creeped me out.
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley: Brave New World Radio Drama (1956) with Aldous Huxley as Narrator ]
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dick: This book was the inspiration for the movie Bladerunner, which I believe is a reference to running on a knife blade – something difficult, and also between two sides. I don’t know if he obtained some illegal information or if Dick lost his mind, and I never finished watching this interesting video about him He Literally Cracked Reality…Then DIED.
The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick: I haven’t read this one yet, but have read good things about it.
The Traveler, by John Twelve Hawks: This was an entertaining read but I never continued the series (I think I bought this before the subsequent books came out).
Changeling, by Roger Zelazny: I think my sixth- or possibly second-grade teacher read this to the class. I remember it being about an age of magic that returns after people learn to fear technology. Coincidentally, the day after typing this, the video The Most Dangerous Philosophy in History Is Unfolding Right in Front of Us referencing his book Lord of Light popped up on my YouTube feed. It mentions accelerationism, “a range of ideologies that call for the use of processes such as capitalism and technological change in order to create radical social transformations.”
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson: I haven’t finished this lengthy classic.
Planet of the Apes, by Pierre Boulle: This is actually a political novel that I haven’t finished.