As we open a new year, it’s time for the annual update to my list of The 110 Best Dystopian Novels. Starting with nearly seventy contenders, I used curated lists from Amazon, The Guardian, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads, and ratings on Goodreads and Amazon to narrow the field to the five* best dystopian books of 2024.
To complement these rankings, I have created two pieces of bonus content:
- Recommendations for the best dystopian novels from seventeen contemporary dystopian authors like Scott Alexander Howard (author of the fifth ranked novel on this list), A.G. Riddle and Lois Lowry.
- A one-page PDF shopping guide to the complete list of The Best Dystopian Novels.
You can access both of these free resources using the form below. And now, here are The Best Dystopian Books of 2024!
5. The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
In a wilderness town bordered by its own past and future, an ambitious teenager sees the grieving parents of the boy she loves and must weigh trying to save him against preserving her own future. Howard’s debut novel was a Goodreads Choice Award finalist in science fiction.
Click here to download dystopian fiction recommendations from Scott Alexander Howard and several other dystopian authors.4. Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
In a future where humans are utterly dependent on artificial labor, a domestic robot murders its human owner and escapes into a robot ecosystem searching for a new purpose. Service Model was a Goodreads Choice Award semifinalist in science fiction.
3. Toward Eternity by Anton Hur
What does it mean to be human in a near future where nanotechnology can cure cancer and make humans virtually immortal and a sensitively engineered consciousness inhabits an android body? The Guardian named Hur’s debut novel one of the best sci-fi and fantasy books of the year.
2. I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
A grieving musician sails across a sentient Lake Superior in search of his beloved departed wife in a lawless, illiterate, near-future America. Amazon listed I Cheerfully Refuse as one of its twenty best books of the year, and it was a Goodreads Choice Award finalist in science fiction.
1. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
A robot designed to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner tries to become more human but becomes less perfect as a result, making her wonder what her owner really wants and question her burgeoning selfhood. Amazon called Greer’s first novel one of the best debuts of 2024, and it was a Goodreads Choice Award finalist in science fiction.
*-When compiling these annual updates, I exclude books that are prequels or sequels to novels that appeared on one of my previous dystopian lists. This year, Jasper Fforde’s Red Side Story (the sequel to Shades of Grey) was a critically and popularly acclaimed novel which fit that description.