Best Dystopian Novels of All Time
Kirsten and I wanted to make a list of the best dystopian novels from our point of view. Many dystopian fiction novels have a strong interplay with science fiction since these books often take place in the future and depict a post-apocalyptic world.
While a lot of the classic dystopian novels are depressing and end on a sad note, many of the new dystopian novels have more of a glimmer of hope when you reach the end of the book.
This list of the best dystopian novels has a little bit of everything. So whether you are new to this type of fiction of have been reading dystopian novels since you read The Giver in middle school, we think there is something on this list for everyone to love.
The Best Dystopian Novels of All Time
Each colorful block below represents the best book in a subgenre. Click on the arrow to reveal my “best” pick in any category. You’ll also be able to use a page jump to see more books in that section.
Dystopian Novels
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy- Jump to Section
Celebrity Book Club Picks
The Measure by Nikki Erlick- Jump to Section
Classic Dystopian Novels
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood- jump to section
*Post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through links result in a small commission to us at no cost to you. Some books have been gifted. All opinions are our own.
Dystopian Novels
Wild Dark Shore
Author: Charlotte McConaghy
Year: 2025
Genre: Literary Fiction
More info: November 2025 Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick
Spice Rating:💋💋
Age Range: 16+
Plot
This novel is unique, compelling, and unputdownable. It’s the story of a tiny island near Antarctica that holds one of the world’s seed vaults, a place that holds the last parts of life should the world be destroyed. Due to climate change, the island is being swallowed by the sea, and the caretakers and scientists need to pack up the seeds to prepare to move them to a new location.
But the isolated island holds lots of secrets – including that none of the scientists remain, the communications lines to the outside world no longer work, and now a mysterious woman has washed ashore with secrets of her own.
Trigger Warnings
Destruction by fire, death
Why Kirsten loves it
I can’t stop thinking of this INCREDIBLE story. The premise, the set-up, and the writing combined to create a narrative that held me captive and had me gasping and crying in equal measure. I felt the ending in my bones as I reluctantly turned the last page. I’ll be recommending this book for years to come. #gifted
Why Jackie Loves it
This is a unique story that is scary in how relevant this story is with its references to fires and climate change. The story immediately captivated me, but I was even more invested with every chapter. This is a dystopian mystery thriller with family drama all rolled into one powerful book. The end had me gasping. #gifted
Find this book in: Winter Books / Best Books for Book Clubs to Read / Dystopian Novels / Best Fiction Books of 2025 / Best Reese Witherspoon Book Club Books / Reese Witherspoon Book Club 2025 / Best Books of 2025/ Best Winter Books
Station Eleven
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Year: 2014
Genre: Sci-fi
More info: National Book Award Finalist
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range: 16+
Plot
I do not know where to start with this award-winning dystopian Novel. The story begins with the famous Hollywood actor, Arthur Leander, dying of a heart attack on stage during the production of King Lear.
That is also the same night that a pandemic overtakes the entire planet, quickly ending civilization within a matter of weeks. Now, without power, fuel, running water, phones, etc. those that are left must start over.
Kirsten Raymonde was a little girl when she watched Arthur die and now, twenty years later, she travels with The Traveling Symphony, a small group who try to give back some music and theatre to the small towns of survivors. When they come back to St Deborah by the Water to retrieve their friends, they are no longer there. What remains is a new kind of threat.
Trigger Warnings
Pandemic
Why Jackie likes it
This is such a well-written book, I knew I needed to see how it ended. However, the events of the pandemic were difficult to read.
Find this book in: Dystopian Novels / Books About Road Trips / Books With Numbers in the Title
Plot
It’s a dystopian thriller about a dinner party in a wealthy area that coincides with the dawn of a dystopian apocalypse.
When Liz begrudgingly goes to influence Britta’s dinner party, the last thing she expects is the glimmer – a strange sparkling cloud that kills everything it comes in contact with. Now Liz needs to find a way to survive the evening in a completely different way than she expected.
Why Kirsten loves it
This sci-fi book is funny, scary, and poignant – a true genre-defying work of fiction unlike any other! I was completely immersed in this novel. I didn’t want to put it down, though it did have me wondering if I could in fact survive the apocalypse. #gifted By Dreamscape Media
The Prynne Viper
Author: Bianca Marais
Year: 2022
Genre: Sci-Fi
More info: Amazon Exclusive
Age Range: 16+
Plot
Is there anything author Bianca Marais can’t do? This amazing sci-fi packs everything into a short story without the story feeling rushed. Yet, we get a full cast of characters with histories, a glimpse at the future, and a story that doesn’t stop for one minute.
Somehow in this imperfect perfect world, there is still something to fight for. Each viable human (Viper for short) must face a jury who will decide on their right to live. That jury consists of the lives that will be directly affected if that person is allowed to be born.
Why Jackie loves it
What an amazing idea for a story. I loved it. This is one of the best dystopian novels I have read in a long time. It is an Audible exclusive and 100% a must-listen.
Find this book in: Best Books of 2022 / Best Sci-Fi Books
The Circle
Author: Dave Eggers
Year: 2013
Genre: Fiction
More info: The Circle #1, New York Times Bestseller
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range: 16+
Plot
The Circle is about a social network whose founders are trying to get everyone in the world to use it. They link social media, emails, banking, and purchasing in one system.
Mae Holland is hired to work at the Circle and cannot believe her luck at the opportunity. As she spends more time with the company, she begins to wonder how ideal the company really is.
The Circle does some pretty dastardly things, though it takes a while for them to flesh out completely in the book. Soon Mae begins to question how much information is too much.
Why Kirsten loves it
This is a book that I think about years later because Dave Eggers predicted some of the very tech problems our world is facing today. The moral questions he raises in this book are playing out in the present day.
Find This Book in: Best Dystopian Novels of All Time / Books About Women in STEM
Vox
Author: Christina Dalcher
Year: 2018
Genre: Sci-Fi
More info: National Bestseller
Age Range: 15+
Plot
Once I got into this sci-fi book /dystopian novel, I could not put it down. The story takes place in the United States when a fundamentalist has become president.
Slowly, he has removed all rights from women, including the right to speech. Every woman is given 100 words a day and a bracelet with a counter to ensure compliance.
Trigger Warnings
Removal of women’s rights
Why Jackie loves it
This book was so well-written and creepy. I loved it, although I have to say that it was a little close to how I feel these days. The scariest dystopian novels, in my opinion, are the ones that seem plausible. This one does hit close to home.
Find this book in: Dystopian Novels / Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time
Celebrity Book Club Picks
The Measure
Author: Nikki Erlick
Year: 2022
Genre: Sci-Fi
More info: July 2022 Read With Jenna Book Club Pick
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range: 16+
Plot
This is one of the most unique books I’ve ever read. One day everyone over the age of 22 wakes up to find a string on their doorstep. It’s soon clear that the length of one’s string determines the length of their life.
Soon short stringers are being discriminated against around the globe which begs the question – what is the true measure of a valuable life?
Why Kirsten loves it
This would be a fabulous book club book. There is so much to talk about. Don’t let the fact that this is a sci-fi book deter you if it is not your usual genre.
Find this book in: Best Books for Book Clubs / New Dystopian Novels /Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time / Best Read With Jenna Books / Read with Jenna Book Club List 2022
Chain-Gang All-Stars
Author: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Year: 2023
Genre: Sci-fi
More info: May 2023 Read with Jenna Book Club Pick
Age Range: 18+
Plot
This book was a doozy in the most thought-provoking way. The story is about the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the reality tv show that pits prisoners against each other in gladiator-type fights to the death.
Thurwar and Staxxx are stars of the show, brutally killing anyone they come up against, but as Thurwar gets ready to win her freedom after 3 years on TV, the creators of the show throw many hurdles in her path.
Trigger Warnings
Violence
Why Kirsten loves it
This searing look at racism and classism feels highly relevant to today’s world, when a show like this could easily exist in some states. The reality TV book was so unique. Even days later, I can’t stop thinking about the all-stars, the protesters fighting for their rights, and the stunning conclusion.
Find this book in: Dystopian Novels / Best Read With Jenna Books / Reality TV Novels / Read with Jenna Book Club List 2023
Klara and the Sun
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Year: 2021
Genre: Sci-fi
More info: March 2021 Good Morning America Book Club Pick
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range:
Plot
I’m not usually a sci-fi girl, but this book was just so special. It’s told from the perspective of Klara, an artificial friend who starts the story waiting to be purchased.
We see Klara’s life in the store as she waits for a friend, and then what her life is like when she’s chosen to be a companion for a young girl with a mysterious illness.
Klara draws her power from the sun, and so she believes she can use the sun’s healing rays to save her friend too.
Why Kirsten loves it
This moving story had me caring for a robot in a way I knew would have thought possible. It is definitely on my list of best sci-fi books of all time.
Find this book in: Best Sci-Fi Novels/ Popular Dystopian Novels / Good Morning America Book Club
The School for Good Mothers
Author: Jessamine Chan
Year: 2022
Genre: Sci-fi
More info: January 2022 Read with Jenna Book Club Pick
Age Range: 18+
Plot
When Frida has a very bad day, she is sent to a school to become a better mother for her daughter, Harriet. Because of her poor choices, she’s been rounded up by the government and sent to a school where she will practice and learn to become a mother fitting the standards of the institution she is sent to.
Kirsten’s Thoughts
This book, about a mother sent to a reform institute after making a parenting mistake, is billed as satire. The problem was I felt equal parts uneasy and angry.
The “school” she was sent to simulates parenting under extreme conditions in a way that is detrimental to the parents and the kids. I didn’t find it entertaining, but rather disturbing and anger-provoking. The scenarios and treatment of mothers and kids were strange and unreasonable. It was just not a great story for me at this point in the pandemic.
Find this book in: Modern Dystopian Novels / Books About Mothers / Read with Jenna Book Club List 2022
The Light Pirate
Author: Lily Brooks-Dalton
Year: 2022
Genre: Sci-fi
More info: December 2022 GMA Book Club Pick
Age Range: 16+
Plot
Set in the not-so-distant future, this dystopian novel describes a world where climate change is wreaking havoc on our planet.
Wanda is born during her namesake hurricane, to a mother who dies on the same night. As Wanda grows, she has to deal with the worsening landscape of a world dying around her. As she tries to survive, she also navigates relationships with loved ones and the surrounding community.
Trigger Warnings
Death, Climate Change
Why Kirsten loves it
I’ve never read a dystopian novel that hit so close to home. With the climate crisis at a breaking point, this felt like reading about an inevitable future.
Find this book in: Thought-Provoking Books / Best Books for Book Clubs / Dystopian Novels / Books Set at the Beach / GMA Book Club List 2022
Classic Dystopian Novels
The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Year: 1985
Genre: Dystopian
More info: A hit series on Hulu
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range: 16+
Plot
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read.
She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant because, in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable.
Offred remembers when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge, her husband Luke, and her daughter But all of that is gone now….
Trigger Warnings
Dystopian, lack of women’s rights
Why Jackie loves it
This dystopian novel is scary because of how convincing it is. There is a reason this novel by Canadian Author, Margaret Atwood, has won awards. It will make you think differently about everything.
Find this book in: Thought-Provoking Books / Book Adaptations on Netflix / Dystopian Novels / Epistolary Novels / Best Full Cast Audiobooks
Plot
Bradbury’s dystopian classic is one of the most well-known pieces of modern literature but I hadn’t read it! I don’t usually gravitate to books like this, but I heard so many people speak about the relevancy of this novel today.
It’s so true. This sci-fi book offers a grim look at our future if our society continues down the road of this technology obsession we seem to have.
Guy Montag is a fireman whose job is to destroy anything illegal including books. People are expected to spend the day with their television. When he meets a new young neighbor, he begins to question everything he has learned.
Why Kirsten likes it
If you liked 1984 or The Circle, you will devour this book. Sci-fi is usually not my preferred genre, but I did enjoy this book. This is a dystopian novel that was ahead of its time. Not only does this book stand the test of time, but more than 60 years after its publication, it is even more relevant to our society and our obsession with technology.
Find this book in: Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time / Best Dystopian Novels
1984
Author: George Orwell
Year: 1949
Genre: Dystopian Fiction
More info: PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick
Age Range: 14+
Plot
This dystopian novel was published in 1949, just 4 years after the end of WWII. Therefore, it is not surprising that this novel centers around totalitarianism and a state he modeled after Nazi Germany.
This book takes place in an imagined 1984 in which the world is in a constant state of war. This is where the term Big Brother originated. Of all the big three dystopian novels, to me, this one is the scariest and the darkest. That is probably because everything he wrote was based on something that had happened already- we just got an alternate ending.
Why Jackie likes it
I would not say that I love this book, but I will say that it is a must-read. This is dark dystopian at its finest and, remarkably, does not seem to be so far off from the world in which Big Brother is watching. This fact makes the book even scarier.
Find this book in: Books Set in the 80s / Best Dystopian Novels of All Time
Brave New World
Author: Aldous Huxley
Year: 1932
Genre: Classic Sci-Fi
Spice Rating:💋💋
Age Range: 18+
Plot
I won’t say how many years it has been since I read this book. But I will tell you that I haven’t forgotten any of it. It is one of those thought-provoking books that will have you thinking about it for years to come.
Set in a future in which all humans are genetically bred to uphold a particular place in society without question, the cost has been freedom in all aspects of the word.
Trigger Warnings
Drug use, Suicide
Why Jackie loves it
This dystopian novel was published in 1932 and more than 90 years later, it is more true than it ever was. When the book was published, genetic engineering was a concept from sci-fi novels, and now this book reads more like an anti-how-to guide.
Find this book in: Dystopian Novels / Thought-Provoking Books
Plot
Twenty thousand years in the future, humans live on multiple planets. The most important substance is called Spice. It is a psychedelic substance that is the only thing that allows for space travel and it is found in only one place, Dune. As forces fight for control of Spice, they are also fighting for existence and continuing their way of life. This is the first in a series of six books.
Why Jackie loves it
I read this sci-fi book after I watched the first movie. The movie was surprisingly true to the first half of the book and I cannot wait to see the second movie.
Find this book in: Best Sci-Fi Books / Best Dystopian Novels of All Time
Expert Tip
There is a lot of variability in dystopian novels. Some are a lot more disturbing than others. If you are trying to pick your next read, here are some suggestions.
- Jackie and I have read all these books. Have a look at the descriptions. This will give you a great idea of the plot and trigger warnings
- Are you a “Kirsten” or a “Jackie”? See who read and loved the book to decide if you want to read it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Dystopian Novel
A dystopian novel is a book that is centered around a society that is full of injustice. Many dystopian fiction novels have a strong interplay with science fiction since these books often take place in the future and depict a post-apocalyptic world.
Dystopian Novels like the big three, often have a social commentary as well.
What Are The Big Three Dystopian Novels?
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Epilogue
What is your favorite dystopian novel?
