Utopia and Dystopia

2026 marks the ten-year anniversary of my list of The 110 Best Dystopian Novels. Every year since then, I have produced annual lists of the best new dystopian fiction. This year’s list compiled curated lists from The Honey Pop, Amazon, The Guardian, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads, and ratings on Goodreads and … Read more

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* … Read more

For the eighth year running, it’s time for the annual update to my list of The 110 Best Dystopian Novels. I started with over sixty contenders for the best dystopian novels of 2023 and eventually selected the top five* titles of the year. The final rankings are based on curated lists from Amazon, The Guardian, The New York Times, Publishers … Read more

Welcome to the seventh year of annual updates to my list of The 110 Best Dystopian Novels. Starting from dozens of contenders, I narrowed the field to these four best dystopian books of 2022. Rankings are based on curated lists from The Guardian, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads, and ratings on Goodreads … Read more

For the sixth year running, here is the annual update to my list of The 110 Best Dystopian Novels. These four best dystopian novels of 2021 were selected from dozens of contenders based on curated lists from The Guardian, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads, and ratings on Goodreads and Amazon. To complement … Read more

After an especially dystopian year, it’s time for the annual update to my list of The 110 Best Dystopian Novels. Here is the best dystopian fiction of 2020* based on curated lists from Book Riot, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads, and ratings on Goodreads and Amazon. To complement these rankings, I have … Read more

It’s time for my annual addendum to my roundup list of The 110 Best Dystopian Novels. Here are the best dystopian books of 2019 based on curated lists from Book Riot, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads, and ratings on Goodreads and Amazon. To complement these rankings, I have created two pieces of … Read more

An article I wrote for The Curious Reader to celebrate the release of Margaret Atwood’s new novel The Testaments. Margaret Atwood did not launch the feminist dystopia genre. But by writing its most visible work, she helped bring the genre into the popular consciousness. From the post-World War II dystopian boom to the American feminist movement, Atwood drew on a … Read more

In my dystopian fiction novel Our Dried Voices, I imagine a future world in which humans have cured all diseases and live in a utopian society free from worries about cancer, infection and other ailments. It seems like the makings of an ideal world, but things are not as perfect as they seem. In this article published on the website … Read more