Dystopian Fiction

Cautionary tales of altered realities and alternate societies...

Updated November 15, 2025
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The Dream Hotel : A Novel
Lalami, Laila
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER ● READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY ● From Laila Lalami--the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a "maestra of literary fiction" (NPR)--comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman's fight for freedom, set in...
Awake in the Floating City : A Novel
Kwan, Susanna.
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE * An utterly transporting debut novel about the unexpected relationship between an artist and the 130-year-old woman she cares for--two of the last people living in a flooded San Francisco of the future, the home neither is ready...
What We Can Know : A Novel
McEwan, Ian.
Paper Book
"A philosophically charged tour de force by one of the best living novelists in English." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "[What We Can Know] gave me so much pleasure I sometimes felt like laughing. . . . It's the best thing McEwan has written in ages. It's a...
Dengue Boy : A Novel
Nieva, Michel.
Paper Book
A cyberpunk fever-dream of climate catastrophe: the full-length fiction debut from one of the boldest new voices in Argentinian literature, thrillingly translated by Rahul Bery. After the last Antarctic icecaps melt, calamity follows. Landscapes are radically transformed,...
The Compound : A Novel
Rawle, Aisling.
Paper Book
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK Nothing to lose. Everything to gain. Winner takes all. "Every bit as addictive as your favorite guilty pleasure binge-watch, but with all the substance of a literary classic."--Oprah Daily ...
The Island of Last Things
Sloley, Emma.
Paper Book
A SOARING, PROPULSIVE, AND UNFORGETTABLE novel about two zookeepers at the last zoo in the world "An important, engaging read, FILLED WITH THE HOPE for what could be." --San Francisco Chronicle "Sometimes a new author will sidle up...
The Last Murder at the End of the World: A Novel
Turton, Stuart.
Paper Book
"A gripping tale that reads like a Sherlock Holmes novel set in a broken future...Turton is an exciting writer with a knack for strange tales that push the envelope, and this strange story of murder, survival, and the importance of memory might be his best work yet." --Gabino Iglesias for NPR ...
You're safe here
Stephens, Leslie (Novelist)
Paper Book
Wellness, motherhood, and technology converge in a near future California, as three women's seemingly innocuous decisions have further-reaching consequences than any of them could imagine in this timely, clever, and white-knuckled thriller. In 2060, the WellPod is the latest...
Toward Eternity A Novel
Hur, Anton.
Paper Book
"A love story spanning multiple millenniums, life-forms and variations on immortality, the book posits Victorian poetry as a weapon of empire, insists on nature's resilience in the face of genocide, and manipulates prose into something like a new language....Toward Eternity...
Burn : a novel
Heller, Peter
Paper Book
From the best-selling author of The Dog Stars and The Last Ranger, a novel about two men-friends since boyhood-who emerge from the woods of rural Maine to a dystopian country racked by bewildering violence Every year, Jess and Storey have made an annual pilgrimage...
Gliff : A Novel
Smith, Ali.
Paper Book
From a literary master, a moving and genre-bending story about our era-spanning search for meaning and knowing Set in an uncertain future, where children are recruited by the surveillance state and new boundaries are drawn between people daily, Gliff begins when two...
Hum : A Novel
Phillips, Helen.
Paper Book
A Most Anticipated Book for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Goodreads, LitHub, and Book Riot A Best Book of the Summer for Esquire, Electric Lit, and Town & Country A People Book of the...
The Morningside : A Novel
Obreht, Téa.
Paper Book
"A touching, inventive novel about belonging and loss" (People) from the critically beloved, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger's Wife and Inland "I marveled at the subtle beauty and precision of Obreht's prose. . . Read in the context of...
Tomorrow's children
Polansky, Daniel
Paper Book
From Hugo Award nominated author comes a high-octane post-apocalyptic romp set in the ruins of Manhattan. Years ago, Tomorrow - a noxious cloud of funky gas - descended on Manhattan, cutting the island off from the rest of the world and mutating the remaining population. ...
Briefly very beautiful
Dineen, Roz
Paper Book
"Instantly immersive, beautifully imagined, this is an unflinching but inspiring story about some things we're going to lose, and other things we must never lose." --Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series Roz Dineen's Briefly Very Beautiful is a...
Juice
Winton, Tim.
Paper Book
An adventure of epic proportions, Juice is a story of survival, passion, and revenge from two-time Booker Prize-shortlisted author Tim Winton. Survival is only the beginning. Two fugitives, a man and a child, drive across a stony desert. As dawn breaks,...
The lost cause
Doctorow, Cory
Paper Book
It's thirty years from now. We're making progress, mitigating climate change, slowly but surely. But what about all the angry old people who can't let go? For young Americans a generation from now, climate change isn't controversial. It's just an overwhelming fact of life. And so are...
The deluge
Markley, Stephen
Paper Book
A New York Times Notable Book "This book is, simply put, a modern classic. If you read it, you'll never forget it. Prophetic, terrifying, uplifting." --Stephen King From the bestselling author of Ohio, a masterful American epic charting a near future...
The ferryman a novel
Cronin, Justin
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Next to impossible to put down . . . exciting, mysterious, and totally satisfying."--STEPHEN KING   From the author of The Passage comes a riveting standalone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia--where...
End of story : the most original thriller you'll read this year with a twist you won't see coming
Swanson, Louise
Paper Book
THE THRILLER THAT EVERYONE IS RAVING ABOUT THIS SUMMER 'Absolutely show-stopping' JANICE HALLETT 'Unputdownable' SOPHIE HANNAH 'So intense! So gripping!' B.P. WALTER 'A tour-de-force' CHRIS WHITAKER 'Wow!'<...
Camp Zero a novel
Sterling, Michelle Min
Paper Book
In a near-future northern settlement, the fates of a young woman, a professor, and a mysterious collective of researchers collide in this mesmerizing and transportive debut that "delivers its big ideas with suspense, endlessly surprising twists, and abundant heart" (Jessamine Chan, New York...
The drift a novel
Tudor, C. J.
Paper Book
Three ordinary people risk everything for a chance at redemption in this audacious, utterly gripping novel of catastrophe and survival at the end of the world, from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man. "The wildest thriller of the year is three thrillers in one....
The marriage act : a novel
Marrs, John (Freelance journalist)
Paper Book
What if marriage was the law? Dare you disobey? Black Mirror meets thriller with a dash of Naomi Alderman's The Power in this dark, high-concept novel by the bestselling author of The One. Britain. The near-future. A right-wing government believes it has the answer to...
Arch-Conspirator
Roth, Veronica.
Paper Book
In this gripping and atmospheric reimagining of Antigone, #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth reaches back to the root of legend and delivers a world of tomorrow both timeless and unexpected. "I'm cursed, haven't you heard?"
Chain Gang All Stars : A Novel
Adjei-Brenyah, Nana Kwame.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR * FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION * A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from...
Titanium noir : a novel
Harkaway, Nick
Paper Book
A virtuosic mashup of Philip K. Dick and Raymond Chandler by way of Marvel--the story of a detective investigating the murder of a Titan, one of society's most powerful, medically-enhanced elites. * "Cross-genre brilliance from the superbly talented Nick Harkaway." --William Gibson, New...
Prophet song
Lynch, Paul
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 * INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Winner of the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist for the 2024 Kirkus Prize Shortlisted for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award One of The Irish Times's 100 Best Books of...
Julia : a novel
Newman, Sandra
Paper Book
A PEOPLE Magazine Must-Read Book for Fall 2023 | An Esquire Best Book of Fall 2023 | A Guardian Biggest New Book of 2023 | A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2023 An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell's 1984, from the...
Our Missing Hearts A Novel
Ng, Celeste.
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller * A New York Times Notable Book * Named a Best Book of the Year by People, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, Los Angeles Times, and Oprah Daily, and more * A Reese's Book Club Pick * New York Times...
The pharmacist
Atalla, Rachelle
Paper Book
*DON'T MISS RACHELLE ATALLA'S NEW THRILLING BOOK THIRSTY ANIMALS - OUT NOW* ***SHORTLISTED FOR THE SCOTTISH FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR*** 'Rachelle Atalla nails the claustrophobic atmosphere and brings this world to life convincingly in her impressive...
The Men
Newman, Sandra.
Paper Book
From the author of The Heavens, a dazzling, mindbending novel in which all people with a Y chromosome mysteriously disappear from the face of the earth Deep in the California woods on an evening in late August, Jane Pearson is camping with her husband Leo and their five-year...
The Measure : A Novel
Erlick, Nikki.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! "A story of love and hope as interweaving characters display: how all moments, big and small, can measure a life. If you want joy, love, romance, and hope--read with us." --Jenna Bush Hager ...
Aurora : A Novel
Koepp, David
Paper Book
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM NETFLIX AND ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR KATHRYN BIGELOW "Fantastic story, a real page-turner. Impossible to put down." - Stephen King From the author of Cold Storage comes a riveting, eerily plausible thriller, told with the menace and flair...
The Immortal King Rao A Novel
Vara, Vauhini.
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction * One of The New York Times 100 Notable books of 2022 * One of NPR's Books We Love in 2022 * Named a Best Book of the Year by Esquire, Vox, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Literary Hub Shortlisted for the...
The last white man
Hamid, Mohsin
Paper Book
A NEW YORKER "ESSENTIAL READ" A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER, VOGUE, AND NPR "Perhaps Hamid's most remarkable work yet ... an extraordinary vision of human possibility." -Ayad Akhtar, author...
Liberation Day : Stories
Saunders, George.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "One of our most inventive purveyors of the form returns with pitch-perfect, genre-bending stories that stare into the abyss of our national character. . . . An exquisite work from a writer whose reach is galactic."--Oprah Daily  
Poster Girl
Roth, Veronica.
Paper Book
"Poster Girl is a captivating story full of twists and turns--and no easy answers. I couldn't put this book down." --Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of Girl, Forgotten  From #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth, a...
The school for good mothers
Chan, Jessamine
Other
Longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence | Shortlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize | Selected as One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Year! In this New York Times...
The Book of Sand
Clare, Theo.
Paper Book
The first in an epic series created by one of our finest and most inventive storytellers, also known as the international bestseller Mo Hayder Sand. A hostile world of burning sun.Outlines of several once-busy cities shimmer on the horizon. Now empty of inhabitants, their buildings lie in...
To paradise
Yanagihara, Hanya
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of the classic A LITTLE LIFE--a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia....
Machinehood
Divya, S. B.
Paper Book
Zero Dark Thirty meets The Social Network in this "clever...gritty" (Ken Liu, author of The Grace of Kings) science fiction thriller about artificial intelligence, sentience, and labor rights in a near future dominated by the gig economy--from Hugo Award nominee S.B. Divya.<...
After the revolution : a novel
Evans, Robert
Paper Book
In the not-so-distant world Evans conjures we find advanced technology, a gender expansive culture, and a roving Burning Man-like city fuelled by hedonistic excess. This powerful debut novel from Robert Evans is based on his investigative reporting from international conflict zones and on...
Salt lick
Allison Lulu
Paper Book
Britain is awash, the sea creeps into the land, brambles and forest swamp derelict towns. Food production has moved overseas and people are forced to move to the cities for work. The countryside is empty. A chorus, the herd voice of feral cows, wander this newly wild land watching over changing...
The last wild horses : a novel
Lunde, Maja
Paper Book
Translated into 40 languages, winner of the Norwegian Bookseller's Prize, and the most successful Norwegian author of her generation, Maja Lunde returns with a heart-wrenching tale, set in the distant past and the dystopian future, about extinction and survival, family and hope. ...

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