I want to read a stack of them this year and would be very glad of some inspiration.

Already plan to read my favourites: Brave New World, In The Country of Last Things, Memoirs of A Survivor, Riddley Walker.

Was also thinking of Children of Men. Are there some Atwoods and Lessings people recommend?

Is Solar any good? Might break my small-minded pact with myself never to read another McEwan as it sounds so interesting.

What are your favourites? If you could only recommend one - what would it be?

There're also YA ones, such as Noughts and Crosses, and Checkmate, by Malorie Blackman

So not my genre, but Angela Carter's Heroes and Villains is pretty good. And The Handmaid's Tale, of course...

Emma

Never Let Me Go plus film coming along in Feb.

Maggie Gee has written a bunch.

You must have read Ray Bradbury? His short stories are amazing and you would love Susannah!

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"The Golden Apples of the Sun" - short stories by Ray Bradbury. My favourite - "Embroidery". Have been searching for a download of this particular story online but can't find one. It may possibly be my most favourite short story ever.

Someone read a Ray Bradbury at the Gothic Tales night at the festival. I loved it and had completely forgotten about him. I meant to look him up. Aaaah, futuristic dystopian short stories . Literature can't get any better. Bliss. Thanks for the reminder.

Thanks for the other tips too.

1984 (Orwell), Erewhon (Samuel Butler), Gulliver's Travels (Jonathan Swift), various novels by J G Ballard (e.g. High Rise), Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), The Time Machine (H G Wells)...

Huxley's Island is possibly worth a look - it's his attempt to show a positive, non-dystopian society, but like the Houyhnhnms in the last part of Gulliver's Travels, the society described is all very worthy but not very believable.

In a strange way, I've found Catherine O'Flynn's two novels (What Was Lost & The News Where You Are), while not dsytopian lit per se - are very incisive about the dystopian aspects of modern Britain, while also being funny, sad and a lot easier to read than most of the novels I've mentioned above. She's one of the few writers I've come across (except J G Ballard of course) who seriously explores the effect buildings and the built environment has on people and society.

Lots of feministy books in this genre. Doris Lessing's The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five is 'mythical', but could also be described as dystopian.

I'm sure there was a similar thread on this not too long ago - perhaps worth doing a search...

La Invencion de Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares (Morel's Invention / The Invention of Morel) is definitely worth a look in this connection. Eng translation should be available.

Chris

You will love Ray Bradbury's short stories! Also, you must read his "Farenheit 451" - one of the greatest novels I have ever read, and your skin will crawl when you see how accurate he was about the future, both technologically and politically. Absolutely astonishing!

Also, try "My Petition for More Space" by John Hersey, and yes, I second "The Handmaid's Tale".

Catkin

Also, try "My Petition for More Space" by John Hersey

I haven't read that (but may do so now you've brought it to my attention) but Hersey's 'The Child Buyer' is another disturbing view of how things might be going to delevop (superbly written in the format of court hearing proceedings).

Chris

Oh, oh, oh [jumping up and down on the spot] can I include more YA? I think this is where the most exciting dystopian YA is happening right now. Here's a list of crackers:

Hunger Games trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Uglies trilogy - Scott Westerfield
Unwind by Neil Schusterson

I'm sure there are more...a brilliant adult one is The Unit by Ninni Holmkvist, a Swedish writer. Another adult one I loved last year was The Rapture by Liz Jensen.

Sorry, you only asked for one, didn't you!

There was also Bradbury's "The Illustrated Man" which obviously influenced Jacqueline Wilson's novel's title "The Illustrated Mum".

Atwood's "Oryx and Crake" and sequel "The Year of the Flood" are even better than "The Handmaid's Tale", IMO. Fabulously witty and inventive.

I'd add Meg Rosoff's "How I Live Now" to the YA list. Marvellous.

I suppose I should mention Cormac McCarthy's "The Road", even though I absolutely hated it.


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I enjoyed McEwan's "Solar" - parts were hilarious and I love rabidly awful MCs - but it's neither particularly futuristic or dystopian.

Why did you hate The Road, Emma? I thought it was amazing, personally...had forgotten about that one.

"The Year of the Flood" didn't go down well with the real sci-fi accicianados at our book club.