If you are like us, then you are also drawn to dystopian novels, But not all dystopian novels are the same. That is why we decided to list the 20 best dystopian novels of all time. Keep reading to find out which ones made the list!
Choosing 20 dystopian novels feels like the right amount. There are some classics that make up most lists and a few others that may be overlooked by readers. You can see the full list below
The 20 Best Dystopian Novels of All Time
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- Divergent by Veronica Roth
- The Children of Men by Phyllis White
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- The Maze Runner by James Dashner
- Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- The Passage by Justin Cronin
The Handmaid’s Tale
One of the most notable dystopian novels must be The Handmaid’s Tale. Some people may have read it in school while others read it for fun but either way, it is an impactful novel. Another classic dystopian novel that is up there is 1984. They both tackle serious issues and make us imagine the worst-case scenarios.
1984
1984 is a classic dystopian novel by George Orwell that imagines a future where the government watches and controls our every movement. The novel is based on Soviet Union in the era of Stalinism, and Nazi Germany. But when Americans realized that their government was secretly spying on them, this novel soared in popularity.
The Hunger Games
It is hard to ignore the impact of The Hunger Games as it led to many dystopian novels releasing soon after. Collins novel captured everything that made a dystopian novel impossible to put down. A multi-billion dollar movie franchise followed soon after. But what is most telling is that no other dystopian novel released around the same time had the same effect on readers like The Hunger Games did.
Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mendel’s novel Station Eleven is one of the best dystopian novels ever written. It is about a band of actors and musicians who travel around the Great Lake region in a post-apocalyptic word. But the band runs into trouble when they encounter a self-proclaimed ‘Prophet’ who uses violence to get whatever he desires.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
One of my favorite books on this list is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. It is a brilliant novel that will have you thinking a lot. It is must read sci-fi and the questions in the novel are more relevant today than ever before. The movie adaptation was given the title The Blade Runner and is considered a classic movie that fans of the novel are sure to love!
Conclusion
That is all for our list of the 20 best dystopian novels of all time. How many of these dystopian novels have you read? What books should we have included on our list? Let us know in the comments below!
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Anthem by Ayn Rand is read by hundreds of thousands of high school students annually.
Hi – Not to be pedantic, but Children of Men was written by PD James. Fabulous list, I just wish there was something on it I hadn’t already read as I’ve been a fan of dystopian and utopian literature all of my life.
A Canticle for Leibowitz should be on the list.
I think Soylent Green should have been included.
Soylent Green is from the novel Make Room,Make Room by Harry Harrison, I believe
The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess.
The Postman is my favorite!
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Better than most on the list.
Laziest drek I’ve ever seen. Have you even read these novels? Some of these are post-apocalypse settings where mass society never recovered and lots of them just plain aren’t dystopian. And for the ones that are, books like ready player one and hunger games are closer to the da vinci code than literary powerhouses like atwood, orwell or Philip k dick. A high schooler could do a more thorough job researching such a list.
Also shout out to there’s always one douchnozzle trying to shoehorn Ayn Rand into everything. She spent her twilight years on welfare.
Unum salbrium lobular aster tablum. Horas ascybus calamutus dors’a!
Any Rand on welfare? Really? Free Market Zealot support by the very institutution she most scorns. You couldn’t make that up, so somebody should–turning it into the story it deserves!
The Passage is not a dystopian novel. Children of Men is from PD James
A Canticle for Liebowitz, William Miller. Dystopia destruction of civilization 3 times over. Now that one is as good and as dark, with moments of searing humor, as any of them.
The Shore Of Women
Along the “women in charge” theme, there’s Division: The Chronicles of the Fallen States of America
The Bridge at Andou by Mitchner, Atlas Shrugged, the children’s story by Clavel, the Giver, and Agenda 21 should be considered as well.
The Devil’s Advocate by Taylor Caldwell published in 1952.
Did ChatGPT write this?
Wool by Hugh Howey. If you haven’t read it, I can assure you – you’re missing out. One of my all time favorite dystopian novels
Along the “women in charge” theme, there’s Division: The Chronicles of the Fallen States of America
“A Canticle for Leibovitz” (1959) by Walter M. Miller, Jr. and “Dhalgren” (1975) by Samuel R. Delany Both are both on my top-10 dystopian novels.
The Memory Police
This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
Riddley Walker clearly post apocalyptic
Gibran Kahlil Gibran “The Prophet”
I’ve heard good things about children of men.