Best dystopian novels of all time that are must-read classics
The human fascination with dystopian fiction reflects our inner morosity.
For while authors of science and meta-fiction cannot be considered oracles, their predictions for the future are certainly not baseless. They are often born out of real-life moments of tragedy, disruption and death. We know it's not the cheeriest of topics, but you’re not on the hunt for dystopian fiction for a light read, are you?
Arguably the first piece of dystopian literature was written in 1921. We by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin was the first novel of its kind to pose a complete hypothesis on what the world would look like under totalitarian control. After the ‘One State’ has taken control of the entire world and its now nameless citizens, it begins to seek out extraterrestrial planets to conquer with the help of very real weapons of mass control including secret police, mass surveillance tactics and public executions.
Zamyatin’s seminal novel was, of course, banned. In fact, it was the first bookserved as the inspiration for canonical texts such as by Aldous Huxley (1931) and George Orwell’s (1949).
