Comments on Best Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction - page 4

Peter wrote: "How could The Hunger Games possibly be better than 1984?"

It's just a question of quantity of current readers. There are more people, especially adolescents and young adults, who are reading at the moment "Hunger Games" than people who are reading 1984. Like what readership never equals the value of a book.

I removed the following books:

-Switched by Amanda Hocking
-Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
-Ascend by Amanda Hocking
-Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
-Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr
-Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr
-Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
-The Fault in Our Stars - John Green
-Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
-Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
-Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

None (to my knowledge) were Dystopian/post-apoc. I only deleted books I specifically know of, though there were several others I'm pretty sure don't fit the category as well.

Heather wrote: "Do people just not know what a Utopia and a Dystopia are?"

Apparently not :/

Deleted:
„Master and Margherita“ for it is neither dys- nor utopian. But a post-revolutionary Russia.
„The Neverending Story“ because Benjamin goes into another world.
„The Brothers Lionheart“ for it is an afterworld we see here, not a vision of the future.
Please be aware, that I only deleted books from this list, that I read myself and that I'm sure were wrong-fitted for this list.

I added "The Former Hero," a newly released book that definitely deserves to be on here!

You could set up a 'Best Steampunk Western set on Mars' list and the eejits would still add Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games to it...

I'm wondering if the Lord of the Flies should be here? It wasn't quite 'dystopian'. . .

Kayla wrote: "I'm wondering if the Lord of the Flies should be here? It wasn't quite 'dystopian'. . ."

I'm not quite sure, for I don't have a copy with me, but doesn't it take place during a war in the future?
Wikipedia does desscribe it as a "dystopian novel [...] The book indicates that it takes place in the midst of an unspecified nuclear war."

So it should be on this list.

Kayla wrote: "I'm wondering if the Lord of the Flies should be here? It wasn't quite 'dystopian'. . ."

It's not a sign of society collapsing. New popular books are always going to get more votes than old classics, because more people have read them recently and are fans of them. Some of those new books will eventually become old classics themselves, and some of them will fade into obscurity.

For an example, have you ever heard of Jonathan Livingston Seagull? It was hugely popular in the early 1970's, but not many people have heard of it today. The Hunger Games might go the same way, or it might be remembered as a classic YA dystopian novel; there's no way to be sure.

You are not going to see me voting for those popular YA dystopian/post-Apocalypitc novels, because YA dystopian novels tend to suck, expect for a few good books. Just a few.

Brian wrote: "Cameron wrote: "Twilight has already been brought up, it should not appear on a list with the word "best" in the title. "

amen"

Lol, I agree 110% !!! XD

I recently read The Dead Lands which definitely deserves a place on this list. It is set 150 years after a plague which has destroyed the United States. There is a community of survivors in Saint Louis who have built a community which is falling apart due to a lack of water and other issues. A small band of people set out to the west in hopes of finding something better. A post-apoc story with a side of horror.

I've removed The Year of the Flood, as it is the second novel of the MaddAddam trilogy. The first one of the trilogy, Oryx and Crake (#19), is already on this list.

I've also removed The Two Towers, as it is the second part of a trilogy. But apart from this, I doubt whether the Lord of the Rings trilogy can be seen as "Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction'.

It is probably all a matter of opinion (which is why I haven't removed them), but to me Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (#813), The Brothers Karamazov (#845), Things Fall Apart (#1648), The Age of Innocence (#1817), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (#1989), Ethan Frome (#2023) and The Hobbit (#2081) don't fit the bill either, as far as I'm concerned.

Deleted Mockingjay because it is not the first book in the Hunger Games series.

why is young adult on this list? it hsould be in its own list.

i really hate how you cant vote down books.

The Relic Keeper

Carolyn wrote: "Why clutter this list with the 'other world' fiction class? "Best" Utopia/Dystopia is a good enough rumble without muddying the waters so much.
Also, who the heck put 'The Color Purple', 'Lemony S..."
Ikr?

arianna wrote: "Genericusername wrote: "how is it that not one phillip k. dick novel made it to this list?"

Add it~!"

I saw at least 2 of them...

How about A Canticle for Leibowitz? A 60's classic that literally defined the genre...

Winter's Tale isn't really dystopian... more an alternate future...

It should not be first , because not even close to being the best ... By the way , this goes for many of those on the list

That's what voting is for ;)

YA fiction should really be removed from this list.

Zeljana wrote: "YA fiction should really be removed from this list."

If it is dystopian or post-apocalyptic, technically YA fiction can be included.

arianna wrote: "Steffi wrote: "How are Tolkien's books utopian or dystopian??"

i guess they are under the other worldy heading...

"
seriously what are you on about?

Kieran wrote: "arianna wrote: "Steffi wrote: "How are Tolkien's books utopian or dystopian??"

i guess they are under the other worldy heading...

"
seriously what are you on about?"

Yeah, no. Tolkien wrote fantasy and there are many other great lists for that genre.

Wool Omnibus contains Wool, which can probably be deleted.

How is City of Bones dystopian?

It seems this list's description varied quite a bit since its creation; that probably explains why there are so many books on here that don't fit anymore.
Take The Lord of the Flies, with all respect it doesn't really fit. Bloody disturbing? Yes. Post-apocalyptic or dystopian? No.

Tomás wrote: "How is not "We", by Yevgeny Zamyatin, on this list? It was one of the first dystopian books to be written, and some aspects of 1984 are heavily inspired on i..."

I quite agree. It's not that well-known though, sadly.

Removed several books for not being the first in the series.

I wonder why Ethan Frome (#2449) is on this list... Same goes for Wild Swans (#938), as well as for some of the other titles I've come across.

The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam have been removed, as they are not the first part of a series.

I came across a few duplicates of books I've read. As the duplicates check for librarians is no longer working, please please please check if a title is already on this list before you decide to add.... I know it is a bit of a bother, as there are 28 pages at the moment, but still...

@Roddy
There's a copy of We on the very first page of this Listopia (#36) and 461 people have voted for it at the moment.

Re Wild Swans: maybe someone (especially non-English-native someone, like me) forgot to check the author and confused this one with The Ugly Swans, which might be considered dystopian as it deals with the emergence of a superhuman race which proceeds to treat non-evolved humans... not always well. But I don't know really =)

As to the duplicates: really not working? And won't be? What a mess our lists are going to turn into :(

Nente wrote: "As to the duplicates: really not working? And won't be? What a mess our lists are going to turn into :(
..."

No, duplicates check is no longer working here, as this list is hit by the bug as well, unfortunately. GR says they're working on it, but it's taking them a long, long time and I can't help thinking that solving the problem is not exactly high on their list :-( as more and more lists are hit by the bug in the meantime.

Cat's Cradle is here twice.

Ben wrote: "Cat's Cradle is here twice."

Read the comment(s) right above yours!

Booklovinglady wrote: "Ben wrote: "Cat's Cradle is here twice."

Read the comment(s) right above yours!"

Whoops, didn't see those

Battlefield Earth is missing from this list!

Children of Men; all of Vonnegut; Never Let Me Go, I recommend as "Dystopian."

Genericusername wrote: "how is it that not one phillip k. dick novel made it to this list?"

How is it that you did not read the list a little more carefully?
P K Dick has three novels on the list.

I just discovered lists. A lot of books here I'd forgotten about and will have to rediscover. I added an independent book called Right of Passage that no one seems to have read, but that I really liked.

William wrote: "I just discovered lists. A lot of books here I'd forgotten about and will have to rediscover. I added an independent book called Right of Passage that no one seems to have read, but that I really l..."

Nice! Welcome and enjoy the somewhat addictive world of Listopia. Ha

Okay. Goodreads emailed me to let me know someone made a comment. I thought they meant someone commented about my comment. No. It was just a random comment posted randomly by a woman I never met. That's okay.
While I was here I looked over the list again. It occurred to me that Harlen Ellison's name was way down on the list. First entry is 191. Ellison should be in the top 100, at least. If you have not had the pleasure of reading Ellison, do so. You are in for a treat.
One more thing-one of my favorites is The Lathe of Heaven by U.K. Le Guin. It's not high on the list but should be. I read the entire book in one sitting-stoned. I recommend it.

The Host was shit though? And some of these books don't even belong on a dystopian list

Great list! I had published my own list of the best dystopian novels a couple years ago but figured I should update it. So here are the best dystopian novels of 2016 and 2017 based on curated lists from the Huffington Post, Vulture, Publishers Weekly and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads and Reddit and ratings on Goodreads and Amazon: https://www.greghickeywrites.com/best....

So, Greg, what you are really saying is the link you refer to is NOT your personal list, but a list of recommendations of others. Is that about right? I guess my response is why bother?
BTW, the link you list is corrupted, according to FireFox. Anyone attempting to navigate to the link will possibly have their personal data stolen. Nice.

Roberto wrote: "So, Greg, what you are really saying is the link you refer to is NOT your personal list, but a list of recommendations of others. Is that about right? I guess my response is why bother?
BTW, the li..."

Thank you Roberto, for pointing out the glitch with Firefox. I apologize for not responding sooner, but I wanted to make sure everything was working properly. As you probably noticed by the HTTPS link, the site is secure. And as you may have noticed, it is recognized as secure by Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc. The issue with Firefox seems to have been with overlapping security measures, but that has been resolved.

As for the content of the list, you are correct that it is not my personal preference of the best philosophical novels of 2017. So why bother? For the same reason researchers conduct meta-analyses—to accumulate data from a larger number of samples than any individual list (or research study) and resolve discrepancies between those lists (or studies).

Lynn wrote: ""This Perfect Day" by Ira Levin isn't here? It should be in the top five!

NOTHING by Stephenie Meyer should be here!"

I added "this Perfect Day" to my list of things I want to read. Thank you. Then I was looking for "Nothing"by Stephanie Meyer lol, before I realized what you meant. Hahaha!!

You know, I can't verify (nor do I want to) at this time if The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester is on the list, but if it isn't, it should be. This story will blow your mind.

Carnegie Hall: The story of a dream come true