I’ve gotten really into dystopian books, but whats been lacking in most of the ones that I’ve read is the why. What event(s) caused the world to get that way? And is there a better conclusion other than nothingness?
For context, I’ve read The Road, The Wall, I Who Have Never Known Man, The Memory Police, The Long Walk (read this one a long time ago), etc. They’ve all been fantastic books but I’m always left unsatisfied on what caused the current state and/or a satisfying resolution (positive or negative).
I don’t always mind that’s there’s no reason given. Nor am I necessarily looking for a happy ending (although that would be okay too)… but I guess I’d like a little more explanation or depth.
Anything similar to the books mentioned above with more meat? I’m less into aliens, robots, elves/fairies, space, super techie stuff, unless the book doesn’t loose its humanity. Thanks everyone!!
by jessi1834
10 Comments
jean clause sophos glass winter
Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is very definitive about the why, and so is Roth’s Plot Against America.
The Passage. Fantastic book and series, but the reason is freaky.
Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072
The postmortal
Silo by Hugh Howey!
The last of huminaty is living in a Silo except inside they don’t really know anything about the what or the why it even the how. You follow the main character trying to figure out all of it.
I really loved the build up and the figuring it out along side the characters. Very interesting prose!
SLEEPLESS by Charlie Huston shows the slow-rolling collapse, and gives a scarily plausible reason for it. Not so much set in “the near future” as it is set “tomorrow”, with the problem itself having snuck in maybe six months ago. One, maybe two-day read, and nearly perfect, as all of his work in the last decade has been.
Rick Moody’s HATER is another one that slowly unveils the why, but it hits at a lot of primordial fears, like who can you trust when the mechanism to trust in your brain has quite literally been shattered?
Oh, and another good two where the mechanism of action is obvious: the oldie but goody LUCIFER’S HAMMER (a comet strikes the earth. We pull an Armageddon-the-movie move to try and avert it, but are only able to kill two thirds of it. To began it was the size of Texas)
And THE STAND (Superflu kills 99.7% of humanity…the remaining good and remaining evil are drawn each to their type, and good must make a stand, hence the title)
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
The passage series by Justin Cronin was really good
So was Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler