James Nicoll Reviews

As with the previous core lists, here are twenty Dystopian works, chosen entirely on the basis of merit and significance¹. No implication is intended that these are the only twenty books you should conside².

• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Swastika Night by Katharine Burdekin 
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
• Bulldozer Rising by Anna Livia
• The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner
• The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter 
• Walk to the End of the World by Suzy McKee Charnas
• This Time of Darkness by H. M. Hoover
• Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta 
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs 
• “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
• The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Drinking Sapphire Wine by Tanith Lee
• The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monáe 
• Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
• The Core of the Sun  by Johanna Sinisalo
• House of Stairs by William Sleator
• Battle Royale by Koushun Takami 
• We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Persons unfamiliar with one or two of the works, congratulations! You’re one of today’s Ten Thousand!

1: There are two filtering rules: 

• Only one work per author per list
• Any given work by a particular author can appear on only one list. A given author may, however, have works on various lists but each instance of their work will be unique. 

2: NO IMPLICATION IS INTENDED THAT THESE ARE THE ONLY TWENTY BOOKS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER³.

3: See footnote 2.